TWO WOMEN, ONE LIFE-CHANGING ENCOUNTER: "BETWEEN THE SHEETS" OPENS JAN. 25th AT WESTERN EDGE THEATRE
Nanaimo’s Western Edge Theatre continues its 15th Anniversary season with "Between the Sheets" by Jordi Mand, an explosive drama about two women and a single night that changes their lives.
Set in a grade three classroom on parent-teacher night, "Between the Sheets" begins as a seemingly-innocent meeting between Marion, the mother of a special needs child, and “Miss Stewart,” her child’s teacher. Before it’s through, however, it will have turned into a passionate confrontation in which the needs of the two women are also powerfully laid bare, as they battle for the child, themselves, and what they believe to be true.
“There’s a kind of hush while it’s playing,” says The National Post, “the sound of an audience caught, held, rapt.” Says director Tamara McCarthy: “Canadian playwright Jordi Mand has penned a tightly woven dialogue for two women. Sharp, witty, juicy. Silences you can cut with a knife. This is my kind of play."
"Between the Sheets" comes with an audience advisory for adult language and content.
The Western Edge production features Sherri Wade as Marion and Brianna Wiens as Teresa, the teacher. A graduate of the University of Victoria's Theatre Department, Wade has made a welcome return to acting in recent years, appearing in "Looking" at Bard to Broadway and "Once Upon a Mattress" and "The Gentleman Clothier" at Ladysmith Little Theatre. Wiens returns to Western Edge after 2017’s "Reasons to be Pretty." She is the co-creator, co-producer, and co-star of the web series "Girls vs. the City," now in its second season, and proprietor of Cantadora Coaching, “for actors and creative types.”
Tamara McCarthy is a multiple Jessie Award nominee for her work as both a director and actor. In addition to Western Edge’s "Reasons to be Pretty," recent directing credits include "The Out Vigil" (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador), "The Double Axe Murders" (Rusticate Theatre/Presentation House), "Into the Woods" (VIU Theatre Dept.), "A Brief History of Human Extinction" (upintheair/The Cultch), and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (Naked Goddess). She also appeared in the TheatreOne production of "With Glowing Hearts."
Set designer and stage manager is Michael Armstrong, with lighting design by Erik Tully and sound design by Jocelyn Dickson. Lorna McLellan is costume coordinator, and the props coordinator and assistant stage manager is Sam Wharram.
"Between the Sheets" plays for six performances only: Jan. 25, 26, 31 and Feb. 1, 2 at 7:30 pm, with a matinee on Feb. 3 at 2 pm, at Harbour City Theatre, 25 Victoria Rd., Nanaimo.
Tickets for the Thursday performance on Jan. 31 cost $22 for Adults, $18 for Seniors (65 and over), and $12 for Young Adults (29 and under) and Students.
Tickets for all other performances cost $24 for Adults, $20 for Seniors, and $15 for Young Adults and Students. Tickets are available online at westernedge.org, by phone at 250-816-6459, and at Amethyst Forest, #27 – 1925 Bowen Rd., Nanaimo (in Bowen Centre).
The 2018-19 Western Edge Theatre season is generously supported by Romper Room Indoor Rock Climbing Centre, InPrint Graphic Design and Printing, and the Nanaimo News-Bulletin. It is also made possible by financial support from the City of Nanaimo and the Province of British Columbia.