Wild Dogs at Nightwood

"A perspective on love and loss [that] will haunt you for days." Entertainment Weekly

’ÄúLove is like... wild dogs. If it hunts you down, it will not let you go.’Äù from Wild Dogs

NIGHTWOOD THEATRE LAUNCHES THEIR 2008-2009 SEASON

WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF HELEN HUMPHREYS’Äô

WILD DOGS

From the novel by Helen Humphreys / Arranged for the stage by Anne Hardcastle / Directed by Kelly Thornton

Starring: Tamara Podemski, Les Carlson, Steve Cumyn, Raven Dauda,

Stephen Joffe, Tony Nappo and Taylor Trowbridge

October 4 to November 8, 2008 - Berkeley Street Theatre, Downstairs

Produced by Nightwood Theatre in association with The Canadian Stage Company

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Toronto, ON’Ķ Nightwood Theatre is thrilled to embark on its 29^th season with the world premiere of Helen Humphreys’Äô Wild Dogs, arranged for the stage by Anne Hardcastle. Winner of the 2005 Lambda Award for fiction; Wild Dogs was one of NOW Magazine’Äôs Top 10 Books of 2004 and has been optioned for film. This world-premiere stars Tamara Podemski, who was the winner of the Sundance Film Festival 2007 Special Jury Prize for Acting ’Äì both the first Canadian and first aboriginal in history to win this prize -- and an IFC nomination for her work in Four Sheets to the Wind.

Each evening at dusk, six people gather at the edge of the woods calling their dogs back ’Äì dogs that have turned wild. Drawn together by need, this unlikely group forms a community ’Äì until violence strikes unexpectedly. Wild Dogs is an unforgettable story about the wild in all of us.

’ÄúIt is not often that a script comes across my desk that excites me as much as Wild Dogs. It is one of he most daring and original texts I’Äôve seen in some time, so much theatricality and an array of brilliant characters told with naked gusto. It’Äôs arrestingly honest with a profound message about love and our need to belong’Äù says Nightwood Artistic Director Kelly Thornton.

Joining Podemski, the acting ensemble for Wild Dogs includes such Canadian film, television and theatre luminaries as Les Carlson (renowned actor who has appeared on every major stage across the country including six seasons at Stratford Festival), Steve Cumyn (Dora Award-winning lead actor from Angels in America), Tony Nappo (Alias Godot, Da Vinci’Äôs Inquest), Raven Dauda (Intimate Apparel, Da Kink in my Hair) and introduces Taylor Trowbridge and Stephen Joffe in their Toronto stage debuts.

Wild Dogs Details

DATES: October 4 to November 8, 2008

MEDIA/VIP: Thursday, October 9, 2008

SHOW TIMES: Monday to Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m.

TICKETS: Single tickets: $20 - $42, Mondays: PWYC, Previews: $25

Tickets are available in advance by calling (416) 368.3110 or online at www.nightwoodtheatre.net

NIGHTWOOD PASSHOLDERS: Save up to 50% on tickets by calling (416) 944.1740 x8

LOCATION: Berkeley Theatre, Downstairs, 26 Berkeley Street

Mark the date!!

Upcoming at Nightwood:

I. Bear With Me written and performed by Diane Flacks

January 7 to January 24, 2009 (Opening Night: January 9, 2009)

Berkeley Upstairs Theatre

Produced by Nightwood Theatre

Directed by Kelly Thornton

Bear With Me finally hits the Toronto stage!! Based on her laugh out loud book by the same name comic marvel Diane Flacks serves up a hilarious and poignant account of her reluctant journey into the secret and insane world of motherhood. Ms. Flacks delivers a knock-out punch.

Tickets: $20-$42

Box Office: (416) 368.3110

II. Groundswell Festival 2009

January 26 to 31, 2009

Berkeley Upstairs Theatre

New Plays by: Madeleine Blais Dahlem, Lisa Codrington, Florence Gibson, Maia Kareda, Natalie Meisner, Beatriz Pizano, Sally Stubbs

Seven bold women playwrights grapple with war, religion, poverty, reconciliation and choice. Canadian work about the world around us.

Tickets: $10

Box Office: (416) 368.3110

lll. Prisoner of Tehran - Exclusive Sneak Peak

Based on the best-selling autobiography by Marina Nemat

Adapted by Maja Ardal / Directed by Kelly Thornton

May 16, 2009 - Nightwood Studio, Distillery District (Open only to Nightwood donors and passholders)

Based on her girlhood in Tehran, when Ayatollah Khomeini took power, the play chronicles Nemat’Äôs unbelievable journey: captured at age 16, condemned to death and suddenly, in a twist of fate, spared her life. This inconceivable story is a testament to the sheer will and determination of a woman facing her darkest hour and a delicate portrait of youth and stolen dreams.

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ABOUT NIGHTWOOD THEATRE

Nightwood Theatre ’Äì Artistic Director Kelly Thornton and Producer Monica Esteves.

As Canada’Äôs national women’Äôs theatre since 1979, Nightwood has launched the careers of many of the leading theatre artists in the country creating a repertoire of Canadian plays including Ann-Marie MacDonald’Äôs Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, Djanet Sears’Äô Harlem Duet and Sonja Mills’Äô The Danish Play.

We have touched the lives of thousands in our history and today we are thriving. We have won Canada’Äôs highest literary and performing arts awards and more than ever our success proves the need for theatre that gives voice to women and celebrates the diversity of Canadian society. Nightwood is a national theatre and we remain actively engaged in mentoring young women and promoting women’Äôs place on the local, national and international stage.

Wild Dogs is part of the Berkeley Street Project initiative, where The Canadian Stage Company, Nightwood Theatre and other vital theatre companies are partnering to transform the Canadian Stage’Äôs Berkeley Street Theatre into a dynamic home for contemporary performing arts.