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