PRESENTS

Nightwood Theatre’s International Women’s Day Celebration! This sell-out event is now in its 28th year. The only cabaret in town where performers of every discipline come together in an irreverent and boisterous celebration of women!! This year’s event will be hosted by Sandra Battaglini, Canadian comedy award-winner. FemCab 2011 line-up: Judy Rebick (Keynote) Sandra Battaglini (comedy) Donna Grantis Band (music) Shakura S’Aida (music) Judith Thompson (theatre) Alejandra Ribera (music) Chelsea Manders (comedy) Lara Bozabalian (spoken word) Julia Aplin (dance) and Guiomar Campbell and company as the House Band

Date: March 1, 2011 Time: 8 pm Where: Brigantine Room / Harbourfront Centre Price: $32 (HST included) For tickets call 416-944-1740 x5 or email hilary@nightwoodtheatre.net

A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Welcome to the 26

th annual Groundswell Festival of

New Work by Women. I am particularly proud to let you know that this year’s festival features 4 new FULL-LENGTH plays from our young writers program, Write from the Hip. For anyone who has joined us for the Hip readings in the past they will know what a seismic shift this truly is. In the past our Hipsters wrote short plays, usually about 20 minutes, which were all read on one night. This year they’ve been able to sink their teeth into a full dramatic work and each have come up with exciting results. Joining them are 4 senior writers from our playwrights unit and residencies. The work is provocative, from a distinctive woman’s perspective and we are thrilled to share them with our Groundswell audience. By joining us tonight you have become a vital part of our play develop-ment. Thank-you so much for being here.

Kelly Thornton, Artistic Director

For Groundswell and Write from the Hip Dramaturgy Erica Kopyto, Kelly Thornton and Anna Chatterton Director of Youth Initiatives Anna Chatterton Associate Director Write from the Hip Audrey Dwyer Youth Programs Intern Lauren Binhammer Additional Dramaturgy and Casting Kelly Straughan Special Thanks to Nightwood’s Emerging Actors who participated in the Groundswell Retreats: Jennifer Balen, Eric Craig, Melissa Haddad, Natalie Morgan, Kaitlyn Riordin, Richard Young

KINDLY TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE

AND OTHER BEEPY THINGS

Nightwood Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement,

professional artists who are members of the Canadian Actor’s Equity Associa-tion, and is a member of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA)

and Theatre Ontario.

Registered charitable number 123709339 RR0001

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Thanks to our supporters

**For Aftermath, Lisa Codrington would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council Creator’s Reserve and their Playwright Residency Program. She would also like to acknowledge the support of the Toronto Arts Council.

Thursday, February 15-7:30pm

The Peace Maker

By: Natasha Greenblatt

The Peace Maker takes us on one woman’s journey from Israel to the West Bank as her attempts to make peace backfire. Directed by: Aviva Armour-Ostroff With: Jordi Mand, Richard Young, Bahareh Yaraghi, Richard Greenblatt, Michael Rubenfeld, William Greenblatt, Ronen Segall, Mike Landoni Natasha Greenblatt A graduate of the National Theatre School’s Acting program, Natasha Greenblatt's acting credits include: The Diary of Anne Frank (Segal Centre and Theatre Aquarius), A Boy Called Newfoundland (Theatre Smash), Get Yourself Home Skyler James (Roseneath Theate, Dora Award) and The Mill: Ash (Theatre Front). She wrote and performed We Lived in a Palace (Summerworks '07) and co-wrote Drawing Blood: Therapists, Movie Stars and other Vampires with Theatre Passe Muraille's emerging creators unit, Up-starts. Playwright in Residence at Theatre Passe Muraille, excerpts of her play The Peace Maker have been featured in the Buzz Festival three times. In the spring of 2009 she taught drama in the West Bank with her friend, Amy Seigel. She would like to dedi-cate this play to Amy and the multitude of people they met in Palestine.

Friday, February 16—7:30pm

The Washing Machine

By: Radha S Menon

An Anglo-Indian woman returns to the coconut plantation of her childhood and desperately tries to wash away her past and dissolve a shameful secret that stains her existence.

Directed by: Sasha Kovacs With: Allegra Fulton, Paulino Nunes, Ronica Sajnani, Aparajit Bhattacharjee, Asha Vijayasingham, Steve Cumyn, Ishwar Mooljee, Doris Rajan

Radha S Menon Born in the East but raised in the West, Radha S Menon had a great deal of success as an actor on stage and also appeared in many popular British television comedy series and dramas. To boost parts of substance for those of East Indian heritage, Radha began writing plays. The Cave Theatre in Birmingham, U.K., staged her play, Windows, after which the play was adapted and broadcast as a radio production on BBC Radio Pebble Mill. Radha signed a three-year publishing deal with BMG as a songwriter, and sold many albums and singles. Following this she was signed by Central Television to host a multicultural magazine television show, Xpress. Carlton Television nationally syndicated the show due to its success and Radha worked on the show for three years until moving to Canada. Radha continued writing but focused on screenplays and has written a num-ber of short films that have been produced and screened at film festivals and on televi-

sion.

Saturday, February 19-7:30pm

Little Sara aka The Clicking Venus

By: Meghan Swaby

A hauntingly poetic look at the tragic life story of Sara Baartman, also known as Saartjie Baartman. A woman, who journey's from her home in South Africa, to London, England in the early 1800s and becomes Europe's famous freak show performer, the Hottentot Venus. Directed by: Dian Marie Bridge With: Ordena, Eric Craig, Hendrik Von Jong, Bruce Hunter, Maurice Dean Wint, Marika Schwandt, Natalie Morgan, Jennifer Balen, Melissa Haddad Meghan Swaby Meghan Swaby is a Toronto born actor/writer. In October 2010 she completed b cur-rent’s three year professional training program; rAiz’n the sun. She has written and per-formed in Who the Hell is Eleanor? at Hysteria (2007) and rock.paper.sistahz 7&9. Meghan is also current member of Nightwood's Write from the Hip program. Thea-tre credits include: wise. woman (b current), Half Life (BFCF/ Rose Theatre),The rAiz'n Beauty Project (rps 9 and Waves festival/ Luminato 2010), Tough! (Magnetic North) and Radiance ( b current) and Family Story (Birdtown and Swanville). Upcoming: Tout Comme Elle (Necessary Angel / Luminato 2011).

Tuesday February 22-7:30pm

Kissy Kissy

By: Aisha Sasha John

A devastating investigation into the lurid face of love: a young woman confronts her shame and finds relief. Directed by: Kelly Straughan With: Cara Ricketts, Kaitlyn Riordan, Marc Senior Aisha Saha John Aisha Sasha John is a poet. Her first book of poems, The Shining Material, will be pub-lished by BookThug in May 2011. Visit her at hugetime.tumblr.com

Nathalie Bonjour Margot Boyd Paul Butler George & Martha Butterfield Michele Coleman Heather Conway Kendra Court Bonnie de Merlis Janet Dey Martha Durdin Barbara Fingerote Ellen Flanders & Tamira Sawatzky Catherine Frazee Barbara Godard Anne Hardcastle Beverly Harris Lynn Hashinsky Joyce Henry Leslie Hetherington Joan Jamieson & Shelley Hobbs

Astrid Janson Liz & Stevie Joffe Jon Kaplan Diana Kolpak Walter Kuplowsky Cecil Louis Larry Lubin Kelly MacIntosh Rona Maynard Ruth McKay Ann Medina Mary Nasello Eleanor O’Connor Mary Oko Maureen & John Orton Frances Price Maria Racanelli Jennifer Rieger Catherine Riggall Jim Roe Eric & Lynn Salsberg Shelley Scott Deborah Sinclair

Linda & Alan Slavin David Smuckler Victoria Steele Tanja Thomson Laila Wierzba Friend $20+ X2 Anonymous Donor Judith & Phil Aber Pauline Abrahams Phyllis Angel Anne Marie Applin Sherry Bie Linda Bissinger Ardith Boxall Sally Burnett Celia Chassels Jordana Commisso Maria Costa Gordon Doctorow

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We would like to thank all of our supporters who

make Nightwood possible.

Nightwood is blessed by our continuously growing network of support. In our 30 year history, individuals and businesses have stepped up and directly enabled our excep-tional artistic record. In addition to invest-ments in top notch theatrical productions, many of our supporters choose to directly support our first-rate play development pro-grams that don’t just ‘talk the talk’ - we get excellent theatre from the page to the stage. And others, who share our commitment to seeding a new generation of female artists, prefer to directly invest in our youth and train-ing programs. To our current supporters: we thank and celebrate you. To our audience members who are considering joining this distinguished company of support we welcome you and look forward to speaking with you soon.

For more information on donating and other ways to deepen your rela-tionship to Nightwood Theatre, please contact Hilary Green at 416-944-1740 x5 or hilary@nightwoodtheatre.net

SEASON DONORS FOUNDATION AND PUBLIC SUPPORTERS Creative Trust George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation George Lunan Foundation Ontario Arts Foundation The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Foundation RBC Foundation Theatre Ontario CORPORATE SUPPORTERS BMO Financial Group Diageo Scotiabank Sublime Catering GOVERNMENT Canada Council for the Arts Ontario Arts Council Toronto Arts Council INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS GLORIOUS ASSEMBLY $5,000+ Noella Milne McLean Smits Family Foundation Nancy’s Very Own Foundation PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE - $2500-$4999 Bales Beall LLP Deborah Gray Stephen Lewis & Michele Landsberg

Mary Thomson and Jan Ruby BENEFACTOR - $1000-$2499 X2 Anonymous A Friend of Nightwood Zanana Akande Sylvia Chrominska Susan Clark Mark Daniels & Andrea Weissman Daniels Emerald Foundation Margot Franssen Peggy Gilmour Donna Hayes Emanuela Heyninck Valerie Hussey Family Fund of Tides Canada Foundation Sussannah Kelly Susan Lawson & Christine Young Geri Sanson Pam Shime Susan Quinn, X-Design Inc. Julie White & Ross McGregor Phyllis Yaffe Lisa Zangari PLAYWRIGHTS’ CIRCLE - $500-$999 Gordon & Kathie Baker Petra Cooper Debbie Findlay Julia Foster Lynn Haight Adele Hurley Jane Kinney Donna Kinoshita Judy Mathews Colleen Moorehead & Daniel McCarthy

Barbara Moses Anna Pesme Owen Shime Linda Silver Dranoff Susan Storey Pamela Taylor Kelly Thornton The Cast of the Lawyer Show 2010 PATRON - $250-$499 X2 Anonymous Donors The Gail Asper Family Foundation Michele Bailey Susan Baker Ruth Brown Margaret Cockshutt BJ Danylchuk Albert & Nancy Friedberg Gillian Hewitt Judith Huddart Donna Ihnatowycz In Honour of Pam Shime Barbara Keenan Barbara Linds Trish McGrath Stella Nahmani Iris Nemani Christine & Francis Pope Cathy Preston Kathryn Quirke Deanna Rosenswig Patricia Rozema Eric & Lynn Salsberg Donna Scott O.C. Michele Walkau Donald Wilson SUPPORTER - $100-$249 X5 Anonymous Donors Rena Blatt Henry & Marcia Blumberg Sherry Boeckh

Wednesday February 23- 7:30pm

The Pact

By: Jayne Collins

Patti survives a suicide pact with her husband and is left to examine the broken pieces of her life- a darkly comic look at living life among the ruins. Directed by: Ruth Madoc-Jones With: Jon de Leon, Nicky Guadagni, Esther Maloney, Burgandy Code Jayne Collins Jayne Collins is a playwright and actor originally from St. John's, Newfoundland. Her first play, Ablaze, was developed through the Paprika Festival, and the SummerWorks YouthReading Series. Ablaze was later produced by Theatre in Her Shoes as part of the SummerWorks Festival. Her second script, Pigeon, was developed through Nightwood Theatre's 'Write from the Hip' program. It went on to premiere at the New Ideas Festival, along with her one-woman show Not Like Her. Jayne is thrilled to be part of Groundswell and to have the support of this wonderful company.

Thursday February 24-7:30pm

Between The Sheets

By: Jordi Mand

A teacher is visited by the mother of one of her students. One is fighting to protect her family. The other is fighting for the family she has always wanted. A play about love, loy-alty and betrayal.

Directed by: Kelly Thornton With: Susan Coyne and Christine Horne Jordi Mand Jordi Mand is a writer, actor and administrator. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. She is currently an Associate Artist with Dutch Uncle Puppetry. Jordi’s plays have been workshopped as part of the SummerWorks Theatre Festival, The Canadian Stage Company’s Festival of New Ideas and Creations and the Ignite! Festival in Calgary. She is also the Program Director and Co-creator of the Summer-Works Leadership Intensive Program. Her voice can be heard on the new TVO series Rob the Robot, which premiered this fall. This is Jordi’s second year as a member of Write from the Hip— she would like to thank Kelly, Anna and Audrey for their tremen-dous support and encouragement.

Aftermath

By: Lisa Codrington In the face of impending catastrophe and despite widespread evacuation there are sim-ply those that shall not be moved. A harrowing and humorous exploration of survival, The Aftermath takes us to the eye of the storm to reveal the humanity of those left be-hind to ride it out. Directed by: Audrey Dwyer With: Lisa Codrington and Ijeoma Emesowum Lisa Codrington Lisa Codrington is an actor/writer based in Toronto. She was born in Winnipeg and holds a BA in Criminology from the University of Manitoba and a BFA in Acting from Ry-erson University. Her writings include Opera on the Rocks (Ambient Opera Society/Toronto Fringe Festival); The Colony (Opera To Go at Tapestry New Opera Works); Skylar (CBC Radio); The Vegas Monologue in The Demonstration (Theatre Di-rect Canada) and Cast Iron (Nightwood Theatre/Obsidian Theatre) which was nominated for a Governor General's Award. Last season Lisa was playwright in residence at Night-wood and prior to that spent four years running their Write From The Hip and Emerging Actors program. Currently she is working on a couple of plays and a libretto.

Friday, February 25-7:30 pm

Saturday, February 26-7:30 pm

The Happy Woman

By: Rose Cullis

What happens to a woman of a certain age who's lost a husband, but gained a life? Margaret has a perfect son, a beautiful daughter, and a grandchild on the way. Why would anyone want to burst that bubble? The Happy Woman is a tragi-comic exploration of the nature of happiness. Directed by: Kelly Thornton With: Nancy Palk, , Ingrid Doucet, Gray Powell, Charlotte Gowdy Rose Cullis Rose Cullis is a playwright/writer/performer. A number of her plays have been produced at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, The Theatre Centre, and in Summerworks. Her plays and short fiction have been published in a variety of anthologies including Outspoken, Two Hands Clapping, You’re Making a Scene, and in Red Light: Saints, Sluts & Super-heroes. She also does theme-based performances for festivals and cabaret nights such as Hysteria and Cheap Queers. In addition to The Happy Woman, she’s currently col-laborating on a film script based on her short stories about growing up in Scarborough in the seventies.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair– Karon Bales Kendra Court

Peggy Gilmour Sussannah Kelly Donna Kinoshita

Anna Pesme Pamela Shime

Karen Thomson

ADVISORY BOARD Susan Clark Noella Milne

The Hon. Nancy Ruth Sonja Smits

Pamela Taylor Julie White

Lisa Zangari

BOARD EMERITUS Susan Baker

Sally Han Michele Landsberg

Barbara Linds Kelly MacIntosh

Trish McGrath Sarah Neville

Iris Nemani Susan Quinn

Kathryn Quirke Anne Tomsic

Lascelle Wingate

NIGHTWOOD THEATRE IS STAFF Kelly Thornton-Artistic Director Denyse Karn-Producer and General Manager Rebecca Peirson-Dir. of Marketing and Audience Development Hilary Green-Associate Producer Kelly Straughan-Associate Artistic Director* Erica Kopyto-Literary Manager/Dramaturg Anna Chatterton-Director of Youth Initiatives Audrey Dwyer-Associate Director of Youth Initiatives (Write from the Hip) Yael Farber-Playwright-in-Residence** Heather Young and Sam Zimmerman-Bookkeepers Michelle Alexander, Lauren Binhammer, Shirley Marquez*** and Lisa Li-Season Interns *Made possible through the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation **Made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts ***The services of Shirley Marquez were made possible through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program, funded by the Ontario Arts Council FOUNDING MEMBERS: Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, Maureen White

Saturday, February 26-9:30 pm

Women Writing Women - Panel Discussion Join us after the February 26th reading of The Happy Woman as we sit down with the Groundswell and Write From The Hip playwrights for a round-table discussion. We’ll delve deep into the writer’s process and tackle questions surrounding women’s voices and women’s stories. Stay for a drink at our reception afterwards as we celebrate the close of the 2011 festival.