Centaur Theatre Presents the Canadian Premiere of THE GOODNIGHT BIRD Starring Nicola Cavendish, Christopher Hunt and Graham Cuthbertson

The Canadian premiere of THE GOODNIGHT BIRD, Centaur Theatre's fourth play of six in the 2014-15 season, plays from February 24 to March 22, 2015. The joint production with Vancouver's Kay Meek Centre, where the production made its Western Canadian premiere in January, is written by Colleen Murphy and directed by Centaur's Artistic and Executive Director, Roy Surette. A young homeless man mysteriously appears in the bedroom of Lilly and Morgan's new condo. With retirement fast approaching, their routine of daily medications and auto-pilot bickering is knocked for a loop as the uninhibited intruder causes them to take stock of their lives, reawakening dreams and feelings that somehow got left behind and rekindling a youthful desire to connect with the world more profoundly before time runs out.

The three hander stars stage, film and TV dynamo, Nicola Cavendish, (SHIRLEY VALENTINE, FOR THE PLEASURE OF SEEING HER AGAIN) as Lilly, a married, recently retired school teacher. Five-time winner of Calgary's Betty Mitchell Award, Christopher Hunt, makes his Centaur Theatre debut as Lilly's soon-to-be-retired husband recovering from a heart attack, and Montrealer Graham Cuthbertson (TRAD AND AUGUST, AN AFTERNOON IN THE COUNTRY) is Parker, their mysterious, uninvited evening guest. "It's always a treat to work with Nicola; she is one of Canada's great contemporary actors. Since our first collaboration in the 80s, I've been extremely fortunate to work with her numerous times in various parts of the country," said Roy Surette. On her return to Centaur after her 2009 triumph as Shirley, Nicola remarked, "I love Shirley but I relish having company on stage. I get to share the responsibility for a play rather than shoulder it alone and the fellows I am working with have very dedicated shoulders."

Ms. Murphy, who won the 2007 Governor General's Award for THE DECEMBER MAN, was born in Quebec and brought up in Northern Ontario. She has been a playwright-in-residence at numerous prestigious theatres and universities across Canada- including the Stratford Festival- as well as in the UK, where THE GOODNIGHT BIRD world premiered in London's Off West End at the Finborough Theatre in 2011. When asked where the idea for THE GOODNIGHT BIRD came from in a 2013 interview, Ms. Murphy replied, "I once visited friends who lived in a fine apartment/condo on Bloor Street East, just above Rosedale Valley Road. The whole time I was there, I kept thinking that someone dirty and angry was going to burst in. A lot of lost people live down in the ravine - what if one of them were so lost and so sad that they went right up to the top of my friend's building just so that they could jump off. And what if they landed on my friend's balcony and it turned out that he or she wasn't so lost? What if they had enough strength to affect another person's life?"

Mr. Surette is assisted in his direction by actor-director Sherry Bie while multi-award winning, 25-year design veteran, Pam Johnson, creates the sets and costumes illuminated by one of Canada's lighting design masters, Luc Prairie. Nico Rhodes signs the evocative soundscape with Coquitlam's Terry Fox Theatre Manager, Rick Rinder, providing stage management.

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