Orpheus Revival In Toronto

Tennessee Williams' Classic Drama Gets A New Look

Dec 7, 2006

Based on the hit Stratford Festival production, Orpheus Descending returns to Toronto as part of the 2006-2007 Mirvish Season at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

According to the press release, Tennessee Williams originally wrote the play as BATTLE OF ANGELS in 1940. He reshaped the material as a modern version of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, premiering on Broadway in 1957 as Orpheus Descending. The play was adapted into a 1959 film entitled The Fugitive Kind, starring Anna Magnani and Marlon Brando, and has subsequently joined the ranks of Williams’ great dramas.

Set in the American South of repressed desires, guitar-playing drifter Val Xavier arrives in a small town looking for work and the opportunity to renounce his wild ways. He is hired as a clerk by Lady Torrance, one of the town’s upstanding citizens, for her ailing husband’s dry-goods store. Although other women in town are drawn to this charismatic stranger, it is in Lady that Val finds a soulmate. As he tries to help her break the chains of a suffocating marriage, we witness the awakening of passion, love and life, as well as its tragic consequences.

The cast includes Seana McKenna and Jonathan Goad, reviving the roles they originated in the Stratford Festival production, and they are joined by an outstanding cast, including Walter Borden, Rod Campbell, Joyce Campion, David Ferry, Michelle Fisk, Catherine Fitch, David Francis, Dana Green, Valerie A. Hawkins, Keith James, Jason Jazrawy, Ron Kennell, Thom Marriott, Jennifer Mawhinney, Terry Tweed and Brigit Wilson.

Led by Director Miles Potter, the creative team features Set & Costume Designer Peter Hartwell, Lighting Designer Kevin Fraser, Composer Marc Desormeaux, Sound Designer Peter McBoyle, Fight Director Robert Borges, Stage Manager Anne Murphy, Assistant Stage Manager Angela Marshall and Apprentice Stage Manager Kathryn Ball.

Orpheus Descending begins performances on January 3rd, 2007, running until February 11th, 2007 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

For ticket and show information, click here.

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