BY JELANI GRANT
Beginning January 13th, continuing until January 28th, playwright Michael Healey will present his two-act play at the Scarborough Village Theatre.
The Drawer Boy is being described as moving and funny and the Globe and Mail has already named the play a Canadian classic in the making. The play is expected to fill the 250-seat capacity of the Scarborough Village Theatre for opening night.
The opening night will include a wine and cheese reception where guests will be able to interact with members of the cast, following the performance. Anyone who misses the first night will also have an opportunity to meet the cast again on the 26th with Audience Talk Back.
The play stars Chip Thompson as Morgan, Greg Nowlan as Angus and the lead role by Will Moynihan as Miles. Moyniham plays a young Toronto actor who visits a rural Ontario home to research farm life to help him develop a theatrical script. The quiet farm of Morgan and Angus begins to reveal itself, proving there is more mystery on their property than meets the eye. Miles learns more about Angus and Morgan and their quiet life on the farm soon becomes threatened by a past that is too painful to remember and impossible to forget. Associate produced by Carolyn Williamson, with stage manager Angelique Marius and Bodene Corbitt and directed by Katherine Turner, the play is recommended for those over the age of twelve and up. “We are thrilled to be bringing this touching and funny play to the stage,” said Turner, “Not only is it a wonderful story with endearing moments to which all can relate, but it also is a fantastic opportunity to bring a Canadian story to life which was based on actual events”.
Healey is a Canadian playwright and actor, born August 25, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Brockville, Ontario. In 1985, Healey graduated from Ryerson Theatre School’s acting program. His acting credits include The League of Nathans, Reading Hebron, Three in the Black, Two in the Head, The End of Civilization, The Optimists and Better Living. In 1995 Healey encountered the history of The Farm Show while acting at Blyth Festival which in turn was inspiration for his own play, The Drawer Boy. Healey began writing plays in the early 1990s, producing and acting in his first play, Kicked, in 1996 at the Toronto Film Festival. Kicked toured across Canada and Australia winning a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 1998. In 1999 he produced his first full-length play, The Drawer Boy, at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto and remounted it by Ed Mirvish Productions at the Winter Garden Theatre. The Drawer Boy received international acclaim and has been produced internationally and across North America. It has been translated into German, French and Japanese. The Drawer Boy has won the Governor General’s Award for Drama in 1999, the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play, A Chalmers Canadian Playwriting Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award. In 2002, Healey co-authored the Road to Hell with Kate Lynch and won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play for his play Plan B premiered at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. In March of 2003 he also premiered one of his plays, Rune Arlidge, a three-act tragedy, at the Tarragon Theatre. It was nominated for the Governor General’s Award in 2004.
Founded by John Caldwell, the Scarborough Village Theatre was formally known as Playhouse 66, created by three smaller community theatre groups. They began as a non-profit community theatre group who held musical concerts, in the early 1960s, organized by the Church of the Master Senior Choir. Its first full season of entertainment began with musicals during the beginning of the 1970s. From there, they expanded into theatre plays as well and moved to their current location in 1982.
While seniors and students are charged $19, the regular price for tickets is $22. Tickets can be purchased at 416-267-9292 or online at the Scarborough Theatre website. The Drawer Boy has been chosen by Scarborough Players to be entered the ACT-CO Festival and on January 21st, the play will be attended by ACT-CO adjudicator, Trevor Smith Diggins, who will provide feedback to the performers immediately following the performance.
