2014/2015 Season
by Michael Healey
November 6 – 16, 2014
Venue: The Rachel Browne Theatre – 211 Bannatyne Ave. (at Main Street)
Shortly after the Conservatives win a majority government in the 2011 federal election, the prime minister discovers a secret weapon in his caucus—Jisbella Lyth, a single mother with a limited understanding of her role as an MP. Using her ignorance to his advantage, the PM hatches a plan to have Jisbella front and centre in a campaign of misdirection and distraction. Humorous and clever, Proud explores the corrosive nature of the politics of division.
A biting political satire from the acclaimed author of The Drawer Boy
“Four out of four stars! It makes you proud of Canadian Theatre…dazzlingly witty, surgically precise and scathingly satirical.”
-Toronto Star-
Artistic Team
Directed by Ardith Boxall
Featuring:
Ross McMillan as the Prime Minister
Eric Blais as Cary Baines
Daria Puttaert as Jisbella Lyth
Kevin P. Gabel as Jake
Set Design: Brian Perchaluk
Costume Design: Angela Vaags
Lighting Design: Hugh Conacher
Sound Design: Chris Coyne
Stage Manager: Michelle Lagassé
Apprentice Stage Manager: Holly LaJambe
Michael Healey
Michael Healey trained as an actor at Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre School in the mid -eighties. He began writing for the stage in the early nineties and his first play, a solo one-act called Kicked, was produced at the Toronto Fringe in 1996. He subsequently toured the play across Canada and internationally, and in 1998 it won a Dora Mavor Moore Award as best new play.
The Drawer Boy, his first full-length play, premiered in Toronto in 1999 and won the Dora Award for best new play, a Chalmers Canadian Playwriting Award, and the Governor General’s Literary Award. It has been produced across North America and internationally, and has been translated into German, French and Japanese.
His other plays include The Road to Hell (co-authored with Kate Lynch), Plan B, Rune Aldridge, The Innocent Eye Test, Generous, The Nuttalls, Courageous, Are You Okay, and Proud. In all, his plays have won the Dora Award for best new play five times.
Michael starred as the mentally unstable James Ryder in the acclaimed series This Is Wonderfland for the CBC. He has appeared in CBC’s Republic of Doyle, CTV’s Saving Hope, and CBC’s The Murdoch Mysteries.
Michael’s most recent acting credits include Proud (Proud Productions), Clybourne Park (Studio 180), Are You Okay (Necessary Angel), Courageous (Citadel Theatre), Stuff Happens (Studio 180 and Mirvish Productions), Frost/Nixon (Vancouver Playhouse and Canadian Stage Company), and George Walker’s Dead Metaphor for Mirvish Productions.
Ardith Boxall
A graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Ardith has performed with Prairie Theatre Exchange, Manitoba Theatre for Young People (touring Northern Manitoba three times!), Theatre Projects Manitoba, Adhere and Deny, and the Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Selected acting credits include, Three Sisters (zone 41 / TPM), Shakespeare’s Dog at the Manitoba Theatre Centre/National Arts Centre, Zaidie’s Shoes and The Norbals at Prairie Theatre Exchange, Sarah Cane’s Crave with English Suitcase and The Darling Family with Graham Ashmore at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
Ardith won a Blizzard Award in 2004 for her performance in Jeffrey Erbach’s feature film, The Nature of Nicholas. She has appeared in Canadian films such as The Stone Angel and Milgaard. In 2009, Ardith was nominated by her peers for the Making A Mark Award which applauds established artists who are receiving critical recognition for excellence in their art practice in Winnipeg and beyond.
In 2005, Ardith took the reins as Artistic Director of Theatre Projects Manitoba where her directing credits include John and Beatrice, North Main Gothic, Age of Arousal, The Daffodil Man, God’s Country: Tales of Doom from the North End, The Monster Trilogy, Chekhov and Me, Area 51, Hi Diddle Dee Dee, Seeing Red, and Floodgates.
Ross McMillan: Prime Minister
Ross McMillan is a Winnipeg actor, playwright and director who has been working in theatre for several decades. He was last seen at TPM in Steven Ratzlaff’s play Dionysus in Stony Mountain. Recent work includes Dr. Dorn in The Seagullat RMTC and the Emperor Nero in Quo Vadis at the Winnipeg Fringe, a role he regarded as a warm-up for playing the Prime Minister in Proud. Ross also works as an actor in TV and film, and received a 2013 Canadian Screen Award nomination for his work in the award-winning TV series Less Than Kind. Got to go to Toronto and everything!
Angela Vaags: Costume Design
Angela is excited to be part of Proud. Costume design credits include: They’re Playing our Song for Surflight Theater in beautiful LBI NJ, Montreal 2008 Fringe production of Acne Japonaise, Wise Man of Chelm for the Segal Center, Group Bec-de-lievre Festival FIL production Project Walser and Le Grand Cahier (being remounted a third time at the Theatre de Quate’Sous in Montreal), and most recently, That Way Production’s 2014 Winnipeg Fringe presentation of Quo Vadis.
Angela’s day job is the School Costume Coordinator for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She doesn’t own a kitten but cares for fish named Gill. Enjoy the show.
Chris Coyne: Sound Design
Chris Coyne has been involved in the theatre and film industry In Winnipeg for many years. Currently working for the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg, Chris is also a graduate of the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology. Chris has had the pleasure of working with many local and international theatre groups including The Black Violin, Rick Hansen Society, The Winnipeg International Fringe Theatre Festival, Fem Fest, Theatre Projects Manitoba, and many others. Credits include Angels in America and Peristroika with Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, EDEN – Sarasvati Productions, Three Sisters – Zone 41, Bashir Lazhar – Theatre Projects Manitoba, and recently is Head of Production Sound at Rainbow Stage.
Daria Puttaert: Jisbella Lyth
Daria was last seen on the TPM stage in The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz and previously in Stretching Hide. She has also appeared in productions with the RMTC, PTE, and Tom-Tom Theatre as well as the Belfry Theatre in Victoria and the NAC in Ottawa. Daria lives in Winnipeg with her husband and baby son. She is very excited to be back at TPM and working with such an extraordinary team.
Eric Blais: Cary
Eric is very pleased to be working with Theater Projects Manitoba again. Previously he appeared in Stretching Hide, Age of Arousal and North Main Gothic. He began his training at the University of Winnipeg and has since worked in theatre, film and television across the country. Recently he obtained an MFA from York University in Theatre and will be seen later this season at RMTC in Private Lives, The Woman in Black and Clever Little Lies.
Kevin P. Gabel – Jake
Kevin is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg honours acting program, having performed there in The Diary of Anne Frank, The Possibilities, The Whole Ninth Floor, Sainte-Carmen of the Main, and The Dumb Waiter. Other credits include Eden (Sarasvàti) and Lion in the Streets (Black Hole Theatre). This year he wrote and starred in the one-man show Undress Me, which played in the Winnipeg and Calgary Fringe Festivals and was nominated for the Harry Rintoul Award for playwriting. He has written and directed several short films (including the upcoming Seven Drinks), and acted in such film projects as Passionflower.
Hugh Conacher: Lighting Designer
For over 30 years, Hugh has collaborated with artists, choreographers, dance companies and theatres across Canada and abroad, including Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Gearshifting Performance Works, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Q Dance, Theatre Calgary, and the National Arts Centre. Hugh has designed many shows for Theatre Projects, including the recent Sargent and Victor and Me, Bashir Lazar and John and Beatrice. He has expanded his process beyond traditional lighting design to include various forms of interactive media and photography: Freya Björg Olafson’s HYPER_ and AVATAR, Jolene Bailie’s Sensory Life, Infinite World and Hybrid Human at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published internationally.
Brian Perchaluk: Set Designer
Brian is very pleased to be designing the set for Proud. Previous TPM productions include John and Beatrice, and The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz.
Brian’s work has been featured on Winnipeg stages and at theatres across the country. Recent credits include Small Things for PTE, Sherlock Holmes and the case of the Jersey Lily for RMTC, The Little Mermaid for Rainbow Stage, A Man of No Importance for Dry Cold Productions, and Le Dieu du Carnage for Le Cercle Moliere. Brian is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg and the National Theatre School of Canada. He has received a Gemini award, A Jessie Richardson award, and a Prix Rideau award for his work.
Michelle Lagassé: Stage Manager
Michelle is looking forward to Stage Managing TPM’s production of Proud and being reunited with Ardith, Brian, Hugh, Chris, Holly, Daria, Eric, Ross and working with Angela and Kevin.
Some selected productions include Sargent and Victor and Me, Stretching Hide (TPM), Harvey, A Few Good Men, After Miss Julie (MTC); Harvest, the dishwashers, Til it Hurts (PTE); Ivanov, Broken Glass (WJT); Fort Mac (Theatre Vice Versa); The Millionairess, Fanny’s First Play (Shaw Festival).Michelle has also worked for the Wpg Fringe festival, for PTE’s Carol Shield’s Festival of New Works and on the last 4 Federal Elections.
Michelle is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and has taught Stage Managing at Brock University.
Holly LaJambe: Apprentice Stage Manager
Holly LaJambe is a graduate from the University of Winnipeg with a triple Honors in History, Production, and Stage Management. She has also completed the requirements for a B.A. in Acting and a specialization in Costuming.
She has Stage Managed for the University of Winnipeg, the Fire and Water Music Festival, and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society multiple times. Holly has also Stage Managed for the University of Manitoba’s Opera Theatre School Tour, Girls Only Productions and has Apprentice Stage Managed for Manitoba Theatre Centre and Winnipeg Jewish Theatre.
