By David S. Young
Adapted from the novel by Alistair MacLeod
Originally produced by Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, Ontario

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• An acclaimed saga of familial love and loss, NO GREAT MISCHIEF is a bittersweet reflection on the ties that bind. Haunted by the stories and songs of their Scottish ancestry, two brothers seek to understand and reconcile their past. Through live music, evocative movement and riveting acting, this piece uses eight actors to take us from a seedy rooming house in Toronto, to Cape Breton’s stormy shores, to the deep mines of Elliot Lake.

  NO GREAT MISCHIEF premiered at Tarragon Theatre in 2004 and subsequently was presented in Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax.

  “A beautifully literate work…directed with a wonderful sense of dramatic choreography… crisp and evocative.”
  – Ottawa Citizen

  “Lovely, heartbreaking, funny and shocking.”
  – The Ottawa Sun

  “Sometimes magic happens in a theatre when all the forces align in a near perfect configuration. Such is the Tarragon’s production of NO GREAT MISCHIEF.”
  – Classical 96.3FM, Toronto

  “Exquisite and transporting.”
  – Halifax Chronicle Herald

• 

  Playing at the Springer Theatre from September 13 to October 5, 2013

  Evening Performances: Tuesday through Saturday 8:00PM
  Matinees: Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday 2:30PM
  Student Matinee: Wednesday, October 2 11:00AM

  Running Time:
 2 hours with intermission

• Cast

  Calum MacDonald: David Fox
  Brother 1: Daniel Giverin
  Brother 2: Stephen Guy-McGrath
  Cousin Alexander: Ben Irvine
  Alexander MacDonald (Oct 1 – Oct 5): John Koensgen
  Grandma: Nicola Lipman
  Serious Grandfather: Jack Nicholsen
  Grampa: Paul Rainville
  Alexander MacDonald (Sept 13 – Sept 29): R.H. Thomson

  Creative Team

  Director: Richard Rose
  Set & Costume Design: Charlotte Dean
  Lighting Design: Graeme Thomson
  Sound Design: Todd Charlton
  Music Direction: Kate Stevenson
  Stage Management: Kristen Kitcher
  Assistant Stage Manager: Emilie Aubin
  Assistant Director: Kate Stevenson
  Assistant Lighting Designer: Nick Andison

  DAVID FOX (Calum MacDonald)
  For the Playhouse: Quarry. Elsewhere: The Golden Dragon, No Great Mischief (Toronto); The Price (Soulpepper); Forests (Tarragon); Lennin’s Embalmer, (Winnipeg, Toronto); Stuff Happens (Toronto). Film: Dream House (2010); Boys and Girls, When Night is Falling, Across the River to Motor City (Chum); The Pin, Mama, Pacific Rim, Harold & Lorna. Television: Road to Avonlea, King Lear, Due South, This is Wonderland, Puppets Who Kill, Heartland, The Border, The Ron James Show, Being Erica. Other: In 40 years as a professional actor he has been nominated 11 times for stage roles across the country, and has won three times – The Invention of Poetry by Paul Quarrington (Edmonton); Jacob’s Wake by Michael Cook (Nova Scotia); and The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey (Toronto).

  DANIEL GIVERIN (Brother 1)
  For the Playhouse:  Debut. Elsewhere:  Theatre: No Great Mischief (The Tarragon); All’s Well that EndsWell (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); John Grey’s Rock ‘N’ Roll (GCTC); The Goat, The Beauty Queen ofLeenane, The Winter’s Tale (The Centaur Theatre); The Tempest, A Night in November (Segal Centre); The Wake of the Bones, Stormwatch, Educating Rita (Hudson Village Theatre).  Film and Television: Louis Moreno (Degrassi: The Next Generation); Benjamin Fry (The Mummy III); Pato (South of the Moon).  Upcoming:  Daniel will be re-visiting his one man show about WB Yeats (Location(s) to be determined).  Other:  Daniel is absolutely thrilled to be working at The Thousand Islands Playhouse – the Holy Grail of Ontario Summer Theatre 🙂

  STEPHEN GUY-McGRATH (Brother 2)
  For the Playhouse: Debut.  Elsewhere:  No Great Mischief (Tarragon, GCTC, Vancouver Playhouse, and Neptune); SwingStep, Fire, Tent Meeting (The Blue Water Summer Playhouse); The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Jack and the Giant Beanstalk (YPT); Power Of The Unemployed (The LSPU Hall); The Edible Woman, Small Time, Raceday, Culture Shock (Theatre on the Grand); Pelagie (Canstage, NAC); Much Ado about Nothing (Resurgence); A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Perils of Persephone, Dear Santa (Theatre Orangeville); A Midsummers Nights Dream. Three Penny Opera, The Time of Your Life, Three Sisters, As You Like it, Blink, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper).  As Director: Marry Me A Little (Theatre on the Grand).

  BEN IRVINE (Cousin Alexander)
  For The Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: The Charge of the Expormidable Moose (One Little Goat); No Great Mischief (Tarragon); Lysistrata, Beowulf (Two Planks and a Passion); Ms. Right Now (Forerunner Playwrights’ Theatre); The Threepenny Opera, The Beggar’s Opera (Opera NS); A Question of Sex (Atlantic Fringe: Best Performance by an Ensemble Award); Edward II, The Jew of Malta (Vile Passeist Theatre); Tecumseh as a Doorstop (Ajar Productions); Phaedra’s Love (Taboo Theatre); Rent (DGM Music); Speak for Yourself/Parle, C’est L’idéal (Canadian Parents for French). Other: Graduated with multiple awards and top distinction from the Dalhousie Classical Acting Program in Halifax, NS. www.benirvine.ca.

  NICOLA LIPMAN (Grandma)
  For The Playhouse: Shirley Valentine. Elsewhere: Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Belfry theatre); High Society,Another Home Invasion , Black Comedy, Boeing Boeing (Arts Club Theatre); All the Way Home (Electric Co); No Great Mischief, Humble Boy, Scorched, simpl (Tarragon); December Man (Citadel/Can Stage/Centaur); Doubt (Theatre Aquarius). Upcoming: Driving Miss Daisy (Arts Club Vancouver).  Other: Niki is a graduate of UBC and the National Theatre School, and is a 2012 recipient of the Queens’ Diamond Jubilee medal.

  JACK NICHOLSEN (Serious Grandfather)
  For The Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: Dear Johnny Dear (Blyth Festival, Lighthouse); No Great Mischief (Tarragon Theatre); Goodness (Volcano Theatre); Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out (Neptune).  Film & TV: The Shape of Rex (Factoria Films); Copper (BBC America); Mayday (Cineflix).

  PAUL RAINVILLE (Grampa)
  For the Playhouse:  Debut. Elsewhere: Along the St. Lawrence: Hamlet, Maid for a Musket (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again/Encore Une Fois Si Vous Permettez, The Ballad of Weedy Peetstraw (Festival Players Of Prince Edward County).  For Richard Rose: Scorched (MTC, Citadel); The Oxford Roofclimbers Rebellion (Tarragon); The Collected Works of Billy The Kid (GCTC); Not Wanted On The Voyage (MTC, Canadian Stage).

  R.H. THOMSON (Alexander MacDonald) Sept 13- Sept 29
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: Baroque London (Tafelmusik); Chloe (Atom Egoyan); Antanasia (Panos Karkanevatos); The Englishman’s Boy (CBC Television); Democracy, Forests (Toronto); To Kill a Mockingbird (Theatre Calgary); Harvey (Montreal). Upcoming: R.H. is currently working on a multi-nation WWI Centenary project called The World Remembers. Other: R.H. Thomson is a Canadian actor and director and has worked for decades in Canada, the United States and the EU. He graduated with a BSc from the University of Toronto and then attended The National Theatre School in Montreal and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts in London. He wrote and performed a solo theatre piece ‘The Lost Boys’ based on the 700 letters from his five great uncles who served in WWI. He has co-created many arts/history projects like Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil, Canada 1914-1918 Ypres.

  JOHN KOENSGEN (Alexander MacDonald) Oct 1- Oct 5
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: No Great Mischief, Circle, Mirror, Transformation, Heroes, (Great Canadian Theatre Company); Blackbird, Antigone, God of Carnage (Third Wall Theatre); Measure for Measure (The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Macbeth, Mother Courage (NAC); Pentecost, Othello (Stratford Festival). As Director: The Player’s Advice to Shakespeare, The Extremely Short Play Festival (New Theatre of Ottawa); Blood on the Moon (Sleeping Dog). Other: Awards: 2002 Capital Critics Circle Contribution to the Theatre Award, 2010 Capital Critics’ Circle Ensemble Acting Award, 2010 Audrey Ashley Award Contribution to the Theatre, 2012 Capital Critics Circle and Prix Rideau Award for Best Director.

  RICHARD ROSE (Director)
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: Artistic Director (Tarragon), As Director: No Great Mischief, The Real World?, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Forests, The Misanthrope, Courageous, Another Home Invasion, Molière, Alias Godot, Democracy, Scorched, The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion, Léo, Humble Boy, No Great Mischief, simpl, Remnants, Three in the Back, Two in the Head, It’s All True(Tarragon); Founding Artistic Director, 1978-2003. Inexpressible Island, Seven Lears, Glenn, Coming Through Slaughter, The Castle, Mein, Tamara (Necessary Angel); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in High Park); Nine Seasons (Stratford Festival); (Theatre Calgary); (Great Canadian Theatre Company); (Neptune Theatre); (Theatre by the Bay); Inexpressible Island (The Savoy Theatre); (Rising TideTheatre); (Canadian Stage); (Manitoba Theatre Centre). Other: Recipient of an honourary doctorate from the University of Thorneloe, the 2012 Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award and the 2011 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.

  DAVID S. YOUNG (Playwright)
  David Young has written books, plays and screenplays for film and television.  His plays include Glenn, a theatrical portrait of pianist Glenn Gould, and Inexpressible Island, a play about Antarctic exploration, both of which were nominated for the Governor General’s Prize.  He’s currently at work on a novel.

  CHARLOTTE DEAN (Set & Costume Designer)
  For The Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere:  As Costume Designer: Our Betters, The Admirable Crichton, The Doctors Dilemma, A Little Night Music, Design for Living (Shaw Festival); The Arsonists (Canadian Stage); Love Labour’s Lost, To Kill A Mockingbird, Ghosts (Stratford Festival); Mrs. Warren’s Profession; White Christmas; The Drowsy Chaperone, The Importance of Being Earnest (Manitoba Theatre Centre);  My Fair Lady, Suddenly Last Summer, The King and I (Citadel Theatre); Betrayal, A Christmas Carol, The Philadelphia Story  (Theatre Calgary);  The Amorous Adventures of Anatol, The Real World?, The Misanthrope, Molière, Democracy, Humble Boy, Remnants (Tarragon Theatre).

  GRAEME THOMSON (Lighting Designer)
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: Scorched, Leo, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, No Great Mischief, Three in the Back, Two in the Head, On the Verge, Blood Relations, Member of the Wedding (Tarragon). Other: This is Graeme’s fourth time lighting No Great Mischief.  Recipient of Five Dora Awards, including Outstanding Set Design for The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, Outstanding Lighting Design for Remnants.

  KATE STEVENSON (Music Director & Assistant Director)
  Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: The Last Five Years, Next to Normal (Clearwater Theatre Company/Tarragon);  Seussical The Musical, Guys and Dolls, Crazy For You, Seasons of Love (Meadowvale Theatre); Oliver! (The Living Arts Centre); The Company We Keep-Cabaret  (Theatre 20).  Upcoming:  Marry Me a Little (Tarragon Theatre).  Other: Kate is the Artistic Director of Clearwater Theatre Company.

  KRISTEN KITCHER (Stage Manager)
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: No Great Mischief, Was Spring, After Akhmatova, If We Were Birds, The Sankofa Trilogy (Tarragon Theatre); Wild Dogs (Nightwood Theatre); The Drawer Boy (Theatre Orangeville); Out of Order, Drinking Alone, Run for Your Wife, Rumours, Love List, Chapter Two (Upper Canada Playhouse);  Bird Brain, Love You Forever and More Munsch, Duel at Dawn (Young People’s Theatre). Other: Kristen would like to thank her incredibly supportive family, especially her husband Scott and daughter Abigail.

  EMILIE AUBIN (Assistant Stage Manager)
  For the Playhouse: Debut. Elsewhere: Late Company (Suburban Beast and surface/underground theatre); carried away on the crest of a wave, No Great Mischief, The Real World?, The Golden Dragon (Tarragon Theatre); The Homecoming, The Grapes of Wrath (Stratford Festival); Kingfisher Days (The Grand Theatre), Turandot (Opera Lyra Ottawa).

• Photos

  Photography by Jay Kopinski

    

    

  For more photos, visit our Facebook page.

  David Fox as Calum MacDonald, Daniel Giverin as Brother 1, Stephen Guy-McGrath as Brother 2, Ben Irvine as Cousin Alexander, Nicola Lipman as Grandma, Jack Nicholsen as Serious Grandfather, Paul Rainville as Grampa, and R.H. Thomson as Alexander MacDonald.

  Video

  Ashlie’s Inside Story

  
  

• Reviews

  5 Stars!
  No Great Mischief Review
  -Connie Meng, North Country Public Radio

  4 stars!
  A Production You Don’t Want to Miss!
  -Greg Burliuk, Kingston Whig Standard

  Articles

  No Great Mischief will capture your imagination
  -St Lawrence News

  Playhouse Opens Heart-Felt Play Based on National Bestselling Book
  -Eastern Ontario Network

  “No Great Mischief” Brings Cape Breton to the TI Playhouse
  -Lorraine Payette, blogger

  Video & Radio

  Radio Interview with R.H. Thomson
  -North Country Public Radio

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