CENTAUR THEATRE PRESENTS
By Colleen Murphy Directed by Micheline Chevrier With Danielle Desormeaux and Brian Dooley Set, Costume & Prop Design Julie Vallée-Léger Lighting Design Luc Prairie Stage Manager Danielle Laurin Assistant Stage Manager Elyse Quesnel Assistant Director Masha Bashmakova Assistant Set, Costume & Prop Designer Gabrielle Chabot
Show Runtime: 90 minutes, no intermission Holiday in Zürich is produced by arrangement with Kensington Literary Representation, kensingtonlit@rogers.com Colleen Murphy is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Centaur Theatre Company is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement. Centaur Theatre Company performs under the auspices of the Centaur Foundation for the Performing Arts.
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TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Montreal is an incredible place in which to have the privilege to make theatre. It has such a rich and unique story of its own. Long before Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and encountered a nation of Iroquoian people in a place called Hochelaga, the island that the European settlers chose to call Montreal had been a point of conflict, conference, creativity and exchange since time immemorial for many Indigenous peoples including the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg, Huron-Wendat, and Abénaki Nations. The people of the Kanienkéha:ka Nation — known in English as the Mohawk — are now considered the caretakers of the unceded land and water around Montreal. In their language, this island bears the name of Tiohtià:ke, which means “broken in two,” because of the way the river breaks around it. I love how this Indigenous language identifies the island as part of the river because it reminds me that we are all in the flow of a much larger story. This mighty river has for centuries carried people here from all over the world in search of new opportunities and new lives, and the Lachine Rapids that sit just off the western tip of this island have given pause to many of those journeys. The river has made contemporary Montreal into a vibrantly diverse city. I find that diversity inspiring because it is by telling each other our stories that we build bridges between our different cultures and languages.
Eda Holmes Artistic and Executive Director Centaur Theatre Company
WELCOME As the leaves on the trees change colours and drift to the ground, we are thrilled to welcome you back to the theatre for the second production of our 58th season at Centaur! In a playbill devoted to putting great stories in the spotlight we would be remiss if we didn’t include a great love story and that is exactly what Holiday in Zürich offers. However, in true Centaur fashion, it is not a typical love story. Instead of a pair of blushing teenagers or some passion-driven 30-somethings, this play celebrates the vibrant relationship between two people who have been in love for over 30 years. As Frank and Tiny plan their first vacation to Europe, they must navigate all the challenges that the later part of their lives present—including mortality. There is a lot of laughter, a lot of honesty, and—as with all good drama—some tears. But as Céline Dion reminds us, our hearts “will go on” when, like Frank and Tiny, we have found someone with whom to share a lifetime of great love. I wish you a beautiful time in the theatre and I thank you for joining us! Bon spectacle!
Eda Holmes Artistic and Executive Director Centaur Theatre Company
Pictured: Brian Dooley as “Frank” and Danielle Desormeaux as “Tiny”. Photo by Emelia Hellman.
Colleen Murphy Playwright
Colleen Murphy was born in Rouyn, Quebec, and raised in Manitouwadge, in Northern Ontario. She is a two-time recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, and the Carol Bolt Award for Outstanding Play, for both Pig Girl and The December Man / L'homme de décembre. Other plays include Jupiter, The Society For The Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius (winner of 6 Jessie Richardson Awards including Outstanding Production, and 3 Elizabeth Sterling Awards including Outstanding Production), The Breathing Hole / AGLU (nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, U.S.A., and the Carol Bolt Award), I Hope My Heart Burns First, Armstrong's War, The Goodnight Bird, The Piper and Beating Heart Cadaver (nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama). Colleen is also an award-winning filmmaker. She has been Writer-in-Residence at seven Canadian universities, and Playwright-in-Residence at Finborough Theatre in London UK. She is a member of the Order of Canada.
Micheline Chevrier Director
For over 40 years, Micheline has had the good fortune of working across Canada and abroad (in both official languages) as director, dramaturge, artistic director and teacher. She is an award-winning director, with 100 productions to her credit. Her work draws from plays aimed at theatre for young audiences, the classical repertoire, translations and adaptations, and from the Québécois and Canadian canon. She has worked as an Associate Artist at several theatres across the country, was the Artistic Director of the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa from 1995 to 2000, and the Artistic & Executive Director of Imago Theatre from 2013 to 2022. She has also taught at several universities across the country in the fields of design, direction, acting and production.
Danielle Desormeaux “Tiny” Pelletier
Brian Dooley Frank Pelletier
Born and raised in Northern Ontario, Danielle studied Music at Queen's University and began acting professionally in 1991 after making the natural transition from working for the Government of Canada to performing in Canadian Theatre. Favourite performances and projects include: The Comedy of Errors (Centaur Theatre / National Arts Centre), Thinking of Yu (Imago Theatre), MöcShplat (Clowns Gone Bad / Geordie Theatre), If We Were Birds for which she received a META Nomination for Outstanding Original Composition (Imago Theatre), Urban Tales (Théâtre Urbi et Orbi), Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike (Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon), Les foudres d’Ernest et d’Ernestine (Hudson Village Theatre), Around the World in 80 Days (Theatre Lac Brome / Hudson Village Theatre / Geordie Theatre), The Seagull (Segal Centre for Performing Arts), National Capital/e Nationale (National Arts Centre). Danielle is very proud to have spent 23 years working with the award-winning Platypus Theatre bringing music and theatre to young audiences with symphony orchestras across Canada, the US, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Brian Dooley is an award winning actor and producer. For 45 years Brian has worked throughout the country and abroad. His skills include directing, writing, producing and performing in a variety of media including radio, animation, film, television and the theatre. Trained at the National Theatre School, Brian has performed in many theatres across the country, among them - the Citadel Theatre, Theatre Network, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre , The Vancouver Playhouse and The Belfry in Victoria along with several others. . Brian is proud to be part of this dynamic team and is very pleased to team up, once again with Colleen Murphy and Micheline Chevrier for this exciting premiere. Throughout his career he has regularly drawn inspiration form Victor Banda’s fervent message: “The theatre moves, illuminates, disquiets, disturbs, lifts the spirit, reveals, provokes and violates conventions. It is a conversation shared with society. Theatre is the first art to confront emptiness, shadows and silence to make words, movement, lights and life surge forth.”
Julie Vallée-Léger Set, Costume & Prop Design Julie graduated in 2002 from the Set Design program at the National Theatre School of Canada. She continued her training by assisting set designers Jean Rabasse at Cirque du Soleil and Stéphane Roy on music hall and opera projects, then as a set decorator on several film and television series projects and as an exhibition designer at the architectural firm Lupien & Matteau and for GSM Project. She focuses on theatrical set design and stage writing, as well as research in object theatre and the manipulation of raw materials. She is a set designer for several companies, notably the Théâtre de la Pire Espèce and Théâtre Le Clou. She also collaborates with Mammifères, Système Kangourou, Kleine Compagnie, La Banquette arrière, Mandoline Hybride, and Hotel Motel, among others. She has taught set design at UQAM and currently teaches at the National Theatre School of Canada.
Luc Prairie Lighting Design Since 1974, Luc has been lighting up stages for theatres and operas across the country, including the Belfry Theatre, Duceppe, TNM, Pacific Opera, Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, Théâtre du Rideau Vert, Théâtre le Clou, Théâtre Bouches Décousues, Centaur Theatre, the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Canadian Stage, Theatre New Brunswick, Tout à Trac, PorteParole, and others. He is currently teaching at the National Theatre School of Canada.
Danielle Laurin Stage Manager
Elyse Quesnel Assistant Stage Manager
Danielle (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Tiohtia:ke/Montreal. She holds a BFA in Design for the Theatre from Concordia University, apprenticed in stage management and theatre design at the Portland Playhouse in Portland, Oregon (where she fell in love with stage management as a craft, and as an approach to life in general). She later earned her MFA in Stage Management from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and interned at the Public Theatre in New York. She has been a working stage manager in Montreal since 2017. Dani is the Managing Producer at Imago Theatre, and is also the founder of Interplay Performing Arts Agency. She is grateful to be a part of the Montreal theatre community, where she has had the pleasure of working with a variety of companies including Centaur Theatre (Stone and Bone Spectacular (2025), For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (2025), Theatre for One (2023), The Shoplifters (2019)), the Segal Centre, Geordie Theatre, Repercussion Theatre, Porte Parole, Imago Theatre, and Tableau D'Hôte.
Elyse (she/her) is a Montreal-based stage manager and assistant stage manager. Recent assistant stage management credits include: Kisses Deep, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Thy Woman’s Weeds, At the Beginning of Time, Playing with Fire (Centaur Theatre), April Fools, Indecent (Segal Centre), The Snow Queen (Theatre New Brunswick). Recent stage management credits include: Grow (Segal Centre). Crash (Imago), Three Women of Swatow (Centaur Theatre), Diggers (Black Theatre Workshop), Cymbeline (Repercussion Theatre) Meet Me (LATP/Teesri Duniya Theatre), Sinkhole (or Six Ways to Disappear), Extra/ Beautiful / U, Omi Mouna (Infinitheatre), White Lion, Brown Tiger, Psycho 6 (Teesri Duniya Theatre), The Sound Inside, Between Riverside and Crazy, Category E, Orphans (Coal Mine Theatre), Twelfth Night, As You Like It and The Taming of the Shrew (SLSF). She has been awarded the following: Shaw Festival Rookie of the Year Award (Cricket Team -2015), Pamela Montgomery Award (John Abbott College 2013).
Masha Bashmakova Assistant Director
Masha (she/they) is a queer and neurodivergent actor and director with a background in physical theatre and a love for new work development. Born in Russia, raised in the United Arab Emirates, and based between Toronto and Montreal, a big focus in Masha’s work is exploring how situated knowledge and worldview impact how we tell stories. A graduate of Concordia’s Performance Creation BFA program, she has continued her postgraduate training internationally with ArtHaus Berlin, the Grotowski Institute in Poland, Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont, and Frantic Assembly in London. As an actor, Masha has worked across film, TV, theatre, and voice, including on Season 3 of CTV/NBC’s Transplant and in Geordie and Imago’s co-production of The Wolves, which scored her a nomination for Outstanding Emerging Artist and won Outstanding Ensemble. Masha is also awardnominated as a director (for Silk Road’s The Rishta).
Gabrielle Chabot Assistant Set, Costume & Prop Designer Gabrielle Chabot is a Montréal-based multidisciplinary artist working with puppetry, objects, costumes, and scenography. She holds a BFA in Scenography from Concordia University, an MFA in Costume and Set Design from Northwestern University in Chicago, and a DESS in Contemporary Puppet Theatre from UQAM. Her practice focuses primarily on live performance, including theatre and circus, while also extending to film and television. She collaborates with artists and companies on projects that bring together visual storytelling, material exploration, and the expressive possibilities of puppetry.
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CENTAUR THEATRE STAFF Eda Holmes Artistic & Executive Director
ADMINISTRATION Simon Anthony Abou-Fadel General Manager
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR
Susan Da Sie, CFA
Micaela Fernandez
Box Office & Sales Manager
Rebecca Gibian
Associate Artist
Victoria Hall Scott Leydon Charlie McKendy
Artistic & Executive Associate
Haleema Mini Layne Shutt Sarah Sum
Front of House Manager
Nadia Trudel
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
DIRECTORS
Dr. Patricia A. Baker
Chief Executive Director, Waterford Consulting PB Inc.
Jérôme Bichut, CFA Partner, Boyden
Silvia Galeone
VP – Canadian Insurance Operations, Manulife Financial
Richard Kaplin
Partner Emeritus, GKC Architects
Rose-Ann Merulla
Senior Manager, Anglepoint
Adela Nitu
Vice-President, Finance & Administration, Altex Inc.
Guillaume Saliah
Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
Steven Trafford Taylor Lawyer, Equity Markets
Norma Tombari
Principal, Norma Tombari Consulting FOUNDERS
Herbert C. Auerbach Founding Chairman
Assistant Box Office & Sales Manager
Head of Maintenance Director of Development
Box Office & Development Associate
PRODUCTION Head Scenic Painter Daniel Barkley Sonya Bayer Head of Wardrobe Peter Cerone Audio & Video Engineer Claire Macaulay Head of Props Howard Mendelsohn Production Director
Liana Rose Mundy
Technical Director
Michael Tonus
Head Technician C2
Zachary Weibel
Head Technician C1
FOR THIS PRODUCTION Julie Casault
Make-up Consultant
Ronald Rolfe
Hair Consultant
CREW Stephanie Barnes Katrin Dodd Benoit Isabelle Andrea MacMillan Trinity McQuillan Carmen Mancuso Adrian Manicom Jordana Natale Luisa Pasturel Valerie Wong
Maurice Podbrey
Founding Artistic & Executive Director
Special Thanks Maureen Labonté Linda Sorgini Consulate General of Switzerland in Montreal Switzerland Cheese Marketing Marisa Testa