Community Players premiere original London thriller at Palace Theatre
A London playwright’s award-winning script hits the stage for the first time in October.
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A London playwright’s award-winning script hits the stage for the first time in October.
Sean Brennan’s Finding Hyde, which won a Brickenden Award for best original script in April, will premiere at the Palace Theatre Arts Commons.
It’s one of six plays included in London Community Players’ new season.
With the exception of the holiday show, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Enchanted edition), a co-production with Musical Theatre Productions running Nov. 24-Dec. 4, the season features an all-Canadian lineup including:
- Halfway There, a comedy by Norm Foster, Sept. 15-25, that tells the story of a Toronto doctor who takes a posting at a Nova Scotia clinic to escape the heartache of a cheating fiancé
- Brennan’s Finding Hyde, Oct. 20-30, which mixes fact and fiction to tell the story of a restaging of Thomas Russell Sullivan’s 1887 play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in honour of actor Richard Mansfield — who originated the dual role — a year after his death. American actor Frederick Douglas is brought in but struggles to find the Hyde character as he is haunted by a strange visitor
- Natalie Meisner’s Speed Dating for Sperm Donors, Jan. 19-29, about a lesbian couple who want to have a baby but also want to know who the sperm donor will be
- W.O. Mitchell’s The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon, which tells the story of a shoemaker and recreational curler who is approached by the Devil with an offer to play his rink, which includes Macbeth, Judas Iscariot and Guy Fawkes
- Peter Colley’s The Donnellys, May 4-14, a docu-drama that premiered at the Grand Theatre in 1974 and tells the story of the 1881 Donnelly massacre.
“It’s an eclectic season and it’s got everything — comedy, music, horror and drama,” said Kelli Gough, chair of the board of directors. “We’re super excited about this season. It’s our first full season since COVID began.”
Brennan, a London lawyer who is vacationing with his family in Ireland, said in a Facebook message it’s “a surreal and humbling experience being produced, especially by such a great group like (London Community Players.)”
Brennan has been involved in theatre as an actor, director and playwright since he was a child. After graduating from King’s University College, he formed Banished by the King Theatre Productions that has produced several shows, including Submerged, Get Away and A Creetin Christmas at The Arts Project.
Brian Speagle will direct Finding Hyde on the Palace Theatre’s main stage.
“I saw a staged reading of Finding Hyde in 2018 and I just fell in love with the script,” said Speagle, who directed Doubt: A Parable and Penquin Blues at the Palace’s Procunier Hall.
“Finding Hyde definitely touches on horror,” he said. “There’s violence, murder and elements of the supernatural.”
Visit palacetheatre.ca for more information or to buy tickets for the 2022-2023 season.
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