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MainStage

April 25 - 29, 2012
Malaspina Theatre at VIU
Tickets at the Port Theatre Box Office




TheatreOne presents the Canadian premiere of Tamarack by
Edward Kuhn
Nanaimo, BC –
Tamarack will tickle your funny bone and bring tears to your eyes. It is one of
the final pieces in a lifetime of writing by Mr. Kuhn, who was an accomplished
poet, playwright, songwriter, and jazz musician. It is a lovely, warm, and
often funny story about a foolish, aging man, Henry Weiss. Henry battles with
the forces of nature threatening to destroy his log cabin home that he built
with his own hands; he battles with his friend Norman, a simple man who is only
trying to help; and battles with himself as he tries to hold on to some shred of
the man he once was – a man of vitality and early promise as a poet. Through it
all, Tamarack is a humorous and poignant love story about Henry and Annie, who
have been battling through married life together for nearly 45 years.
As the play
opens, they’re in the middle of a snow-storm, the power is out, the fire won’t
start because Henry insisted on buying “green” wood. The roof is groaning under
4 feet of snow, Annie is ready to throw in the towel, and Norman the neighbour
is trying to help keep the peace. Will the roof hold, will their marriage
survive?
Tamarack
is the top-prize winner of the 2009 National Playwriting Competition, but sadly
Mr. Kuhn passed away before he learned of this success. With the Kuhn family’s
support, (two sons and their families reside in the mid-Vancouver Island area),
TheatreOne has been working to bring the play to the stage ever since. Under the
direction of Artistic Director Garry Davey, Tamarack has been undergoing
development work during the past two years. The play was originally workshopped
through TheatreOne’s Emerging Voices series of staged readings in January 2010,
and received further development at TheatreBC’s New Play Festival in July 2010.
After attending
the first reading one patron wrote: “I loved the play…the actors took the
audience with them, I "saw" the cabin in the woods, the precarious nature of the
structure itself and more…” CA.
And another
wrote: Everything about the play was so human…I will be first in line to buy a
ticket to see a full-scale production...”JL.
TheatreOne is
very pleased to have received Project Grant funding from both the Canada Council
and the BC Arts Council to help produce the Canadian and World premiere
production of a new Canadian play: Tamarack by Edward Kuhn. These awards,
together with money raised through TheatreOne’s other fundraising efforts such
as the Bite of Nanaimo and their annual Christmas concert with the Tidesmen
Barbershop Chorus, allows the company to stage a fully professional production
at Vancouver Island University’s Malaspina Theatre at the end of April, 2012.
TheatreOne
wishes to thank their community partner The Port Theatre which is handling the
ticketing service for this production. Order by phone: 250.754.8550, Drop in: at
125 Front Street, Nanaimo or online:
www.porttheatre.com
Please
note that all parking at VIU is pay parking. Parking lot C is closest to the
Theatre (bldg 310)
Click here for a site map,
http://www.viu.ca/map/docs/NanaimoCampus-colour.pdf
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