Reaney's Easter Egg at the Grand

[David Eden]

TH&B Company presents:

THE EASTER EGG
by
James Reaney


TH&B Company (in association with the Grand Theatre and the Graduate
Centre for Study of Drama at U of T) presents award winning playwright
James Reaney’s absurdist comedy The Easter Egg, directed by David Eden,
at the McManus Studio of the Grand Theatre January 17th to 19th.

Social-climber Bethel Henry’s dinner party is starting in just two hours
and her house is in an uproar.  Her stepson Kenneth, traumatized by his
father’s suicide fifteen years earlier, is starting to recover his wits
and won’t stay hidden away in the attic any longer.  Her stepdaughter
Polly has quit librarian school to announce her engagement, unless
Bethel can stop it.  And it looks as though Bethel’s bootlegging mother
might leave her shack in the woods and crash the party.  What will
Bethel do?  Reaney puts a gothic spin on the social aspirations of a
group of misfits in a small university town.

Best known for his masterful trilogy The Donnellys, James Reaney’s work
has been performed on stages across Canada as well as Britain and the
US.  Among his most famous plays are The Killdeer, Listen to the Wind,
and Colours in the Dark (commissioned by the Stratford Festival for the
Canadian Centennial Year).  Reaney is the recipient of three
Governor-General’s awards, a Chalmers’ award, and is a member of the
Order of Canada.  Largely neglected in recent years, Reaney’s work is
long overdue for a revival and re-examination.

This production was originally seen in Toronto in September to mark the
40th anniversary of The Easter Egg’s first production.  That production,
by Alumnae Theatre of Toronto in November of 1962, generated great
critical controversy; a high-profile production was seen at the National
Arts Centre in 1970 starring Amelia Hall and the Stratford Festival
company.  The play’s only London production was at the Talbot Theatre in
July of 1967.

The cast includes Jay Chellew, Jessica Gardiner, Glenn Walsh, Dallas
Worthy and Eve Wylden. Sound design is by Dario Del Degan, sets by
Claudia Kada, costumes by Aleksandra Podbereski, and lighting by
Alexandra Prichard.

The Easter Egg
McManus Studio
The Grand Theatre
471 Richmond Street, London
January 17 and 18 at 8pm, January 19 at 2pm
Tickets:  $15
519-672-8800