MONTREAL September 2007 – Persephone Productions is excited to bring you the Montreal English language premiere of this moving, Governor General award-winning play. Kevin Kerr's Unity (1918) is set in the small town of Unity, Saskatchewan in 1918. As the Great War rages on, claiming the lives of thousands of soldiers, the world is suddenly stricken by a mysterious and deadly virus. The small town of Unity seals itself off in an attempt to keep the flu at bay, but despite all the precautions, the disease descends. The community struggles to survive with courage, humour, compassion and romance. Unity (1918) is set in a chapter of Canadian history now long past, when more people died of the Spanish flu epidemic, affecting young people in the prime of their lives, than at the front lines. Kerr however, has dramatized these events with a contemporary treatment both in the creation of the characters, their painful and funny dialogue, and the structure of the play.

Director Gabrielle Soskin comments on the play’s relevance and significance, “Unity (1918) explores, with humour and empathy, the familiar shortcomings of human nature in the face of tragedy.” She continues, “In so doing, Kerr connects us to our own world and journey as we too deal with the very real fear of a possible pandemic and the continual threat of warfare. It is not, by any means, just a period piece.”

In keeping with Persephone Productions’ mandate, Unity (1918) will feature some sixteen emerging professional theatre artists. Bringing the citizens of Unity to life are: Stephanie Baker, Becky Croll, Gilda Monreal, Chris Moore, Jessica Rose, Dustin Ruck, Kathleen Stavert, Aaron Turner and Eleanor Young. Set: Patrice Charbonneau Costumes: Lucile Denys Lighting: Sarah Yaffe Sound: Jesse Ash Stage management: Jacky Lalonde

I think I will write a poem for the soldiers when they get back. It must contain words that scare you to speak them;

a naked part of you to show them that their bravery has made you brave as well. Bea

Unity (1918)
Monument-National, Studio Hydro-Québec
1182 St. Laurent
Thursday, September 27-Sunday, October 7

BOX OFFICE (514) 871-2224

9 shows only
Tickets: $25 Adults $17 Students $16 Groups
Evenings: Wednesday to Saturday 8:30 p.m.
Matinées: Sunday 2:00 p.m.
http://www.persephoneproductions.org
Audiences can post their comments about Unity (1918) on the Persephone Discussion Board

About Persephone: Founded in 2000 by Artistic Director Gabrielle Soskin, Persephone Productions was created with a mandate to provide work opportunities to emerging professional theatre artists in their respective areas of expertise. The company is committed to doing excellent plays that are innovative and of social and literary significance. Persephone has staged 11 very successful shows including Kindertransport, West, Prodigy and most recently, To the Green Fields Beyond. Persephone’s production of SubUrbia won the 2004–05 MECCA for best production and best director. Other MECCA nominations include best actor Glenda Braganza for Jane Eyre and best lighting designer Lisa Vording for Spring Awakening. “I am really proud that the productions we do provide such terrific showcases for the wonderful talent of our professional young artists,” says Soskin. “Many of the actors who have performed with Persephone have gone on to work on Montreal’s major stages,” she adds. Plans for a remount of The Loves Of Shakespeare's Women, with new material, are underway for the spring of 2008. Fall 2008 plans include Othello.

Kerr’s splendid new creation is a work of powerful and moving familiarity, a kind of secular liturgy that celebrates love, sex, death and the sorrowful mysteries of war and plague. Globe & Mail
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In 1970, Gabrielle came to Montreal from her native England in search of an adventure. As a graduate of The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Trent Park College and Concordia University, Gabrielle started her theatrical journey as an actor before becoming a teacher and a director. She has had a challenging and fascinating career participating in the training of so many vital young artists in the community and directing all sorts of exciting plays. In 2000 she founded Persephone Productions to provide young theatre professionals with quality work experiences. Gabrielle has recently performed in a very successful run of The Loves Of Shakespeare's Women as a special fundraising initiative for the company, as well as A Room of One’s Own.

Kevin Kerr- Playwright

Kevin Kerr is a playwright, director, actor and founding member of Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre, with whom he’s co-written numerous plays including The Wake, The Score, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Flop, The Fall, and Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla. In the 1999/2000 season, he was Writer in Residence at Touchstone Theatre where he developed Unity (1918), which earned him the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2002. Recent works include The Remittance Man, Studies in Motion and the feature-length screen adaptation of the Electric Company play The Score for CBC Television. His latest work, Skydive, received its premiere in January of this year at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver. Kerr was recently appointed as the Lee Playwright in Residence at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, a two-year position in the university’s department of drama.

''Humanity doesn’t begin and end in 1918, it is forever. " Kevin Kerr