Reaney's The Killdeer

[David Eden]

Please circulate.

Thanks.


__________


      Hart House Drama Society presents:


  THE KILLDEER
  By James Reaney

Hart House Drama Society presents award-winning playwright James 
Reaney’s macabre comedy The Killdeer, directed by David Eden, at the 
George Ignatieff Theatre at the University of Toronto November 29th to 
December 2nd.

When Rebecca confesses to the murder of Clifford Hopkins, she becomes 
like a killdeer as she tries to save her childlike husband Eli. But Eli 
didn’t commit the murder, and it is up to Harry, just returned from law 
school, to solve the puzzle of who murdered Hopkins. These three young 
people are trapped by the oppression of their small town, and somehow 
they must find a way to save each other. Behind them lurks the figure of 
Madam Fay, the evil cosmetics saleslady, with a secret of her own that 
is the key to their salvation. Can Harry solve the case before Rebecca 
is hung for murder?

This production of The Killdeer is being produced by Hart House Drama 
Society in honour of James Reaney’s 80th birthday. Set in Stratford, 
Ontario, in the late 1940s, this, Reaney’s first play, shocked and 
delighted audiences when it was first produced in Toronto in 1960. It 
went on to win awards, and has been produced across the country, at such 
venues as the Vancouver Playhouse and the National Arts Centre, and also 
in Britain. Not seen in Toronto for over thirty years, this fascinating 
play, at times satiric, tragic and even farcical, brings to life a large 
cast of characters in the post-war era of Reaney’s home 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 an alumnus of the University of 
Toronto, and is also 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.


        The Killdeer


          George Ignatieff Theatre


            15 Devonshire Place, Toronto

November 29th, December 1st and 2nd at 8pm


          Tickets: $15, $10 for students and seniors

Available at UofTtix (www.uofttix.ca)

416-978-8849


-- 
David Eden, B.F.A., M.A.
Supervisor, Stacks and Short Term Loan
Robarts Library, University of Toronto
416-978-4817