the cast (in
alphabetical order)
Susie Burnett (Rita)
Drayton Entertainment: Halfway There, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Run For Your Wife, Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, Who’s Under Where?, On Golden Pond, The Heiress, One For the Pot, The Mousetrap. Other theatre (selected): Chapter Two, Screwball Comedy, (Stage West Calgary); Clown in The 39 Steps (Grove Theatre); Darlene in the world premiere of Hurry Hard (Lighthouse Festival Theatre); The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); two seasons with the Stratford Festival including Blithe Spirit; four seasons with The Shaw Festival including The Coronation Voyage. Susie is thrilled to be returning to Drayton Entertainment with this heartwarming and hilarious show!
Rebecca Gibian (Janine)
Drayton Entertainment: Halfway There (2024), Perfect Wedding. Other theatre (selected): Casey and Diana (Neptune Theatre); Dear Robert (VideoCabaret); Open House (Infinitheatre); Paradise Lost (Centaur Theatre); Dracula (Shaw Festival); Madness of George III (Shaw Festival.) Directing (selected): How to Survive in the Wild (Segal/Persephone Productions); The Flick (Centaur/Persephone Productions); Pool No Water (Persephone Productions); All Shall Be Well (Repercussion). Upcoming, Rebecca will be directing The Importance of Being Earnest at Repercussion Theatre. Film/TV (selected): Indéfendable (TVA); Sex/Life (Netflix); Most Dangerous Game (Roku.) Rebecca is a graduate of NTS, associate artist at Centaur Theatre, and artistic director of Persephone Productions. Grateful to be back in Stewiacke with this gang.
Tyrone Savage (Sean Merritt)
Drayton Entertainment: A Few Good Men. Other theatre: Fifteen Dogs (Mirvish/Crow’s); Cymbeline; The Diviners (Stratford); 9 seasons at the Stratford Festival in productions including; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, Death and the King’s Horseman, Grand Magic, Richard II, School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and The Grapes of Wrath. His work has taken him from theatres across the country from St John’s to Vancouver, including roles at The Arts Club, The Mayfield Theatre and Neptune. Film/TV: Law and Order, Reign, Hallmark, Wind at my Back Voice: Caillou, Redwall, Assassin’s Creed, Immortals: Phoenix Rising. Tyrone is a proud dog dad and gardener and dedicates this production to the memory of his mentor Marti Maraden.
Helen Taylor (Mary Ellen)
Drayton Entertainment: Halfway There, Looking. Other theatre (selected): 12 seasons with the Shaw Festival, including Lulu, The Plough and the Stars, You Never Can Tell. Over 80 productions across Canada, including Much Ado/Measure for Measure (Shakespeare in High Park); Same Time, Next Year (Lighthouse Festival); God of Carnage (Theatre Calgary); Twelfth Night (Citadel Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (Tarragon Theatre); Fire (Theatre Passe Muraille). TV/Film: recurring role on Reacher, Season 3, Painkiller, Murdoch Mysteries. Dora Award for her performance in Wrecked for Roseneath Theatre, which toured Toronto high schools. For four years Helen was the voice of Volvo for radio/TV ads.
Karen Wood (Vi)
Drayton Entertainment: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Steel Magnolias, Halfway There, Sweet Delilah Swim Club, All Shook Up, Ladies Foursome, Too Many Cooks, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Perfect Wedding, See How They Run, Oliver!, Damn Yankees, Vaudeville. Other theatre: Danny and Delilah (Foster Festival); The Birds and the Bees (Lighthouse/STC); James and the Giant Peach (YPT); Addams Family (Neptune Theatre). Karen was directed by George F. Walker in his play The Ravine (LTP). Karen spent eight seasons at the Stratford Festival and 10 seasons at the Shaw Festival. She was dramatic coach at the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy.
the creative team
Max Reimer (Director)
Drayton Entertainment: Norm Foster plays: Halfway There, The Men’s Foursome (2017, 2007, 2006), Office Hours. Other theatre: Norm Foster plays: The Ladies Foursome (Regina’s Globe); The Last Resort (Globe, Theatre Aquarius); The Love List (Vancouver Playhouse, Aquarius); Opening Night (Aquarius); The Long Weekend (Port Dalhousie, Aquarius, Grand Theatre Kingston); Looking (Aquarius); Office Hours (Guelph River Run, Aquarius); Jasper Station (Thousand Islands, Aquarius); Self Help (Stage West, Aquarius); The Foursome (Stage West, Aquarius). Max has directed over 200 other plays by other writers, such as Strawberries in January (Aquarius) featuring actor Norm Foster, and Come Blow Your Horn (Aquarius) by Neil Simon, USA’s Norm Foster.
Sean Mulcahy (Set Designer)*
Drayton Entertainment (selected): An Inspector Calls, Halfway There, Evita, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, A Few Good Men, Blue Champagne. Other theatre (selected): The House That Will Not (Shaw Festival); In Seven Days (The Grand/HGJT). Awards: Guthrie and The Tom Patterson Award (Stratford Festival); 3 Merritt awards for Outstanding Design (Theatre Nova Scotia); Best Group Costume Design (PRIDE Toronto); Laureate of the prestigious Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award for Costume Design (OAC/OAF, 2020). Sean is a graduate and MFA candidate of York University, a member of the Associated Designers of Canada, IATSE 659, and a design instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Dalhousie University. www.seanmulcahydesign.com.
Julia Holbert (Costume Designer)
Drayton Entertainment: Halfway There, Beehive – The ‘60s Musical, Halfway There, Beehive, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, You’ll Get Over It … The War Show (2019), The Rain Maker (2018), Out of Order (2018), Office Hours (2017). Other theatre: Costume Designer: The Haunting of Hungerford (Tweed & Co., 2019); Stalkyard Hurts (Tweed and Co., 2015). Associate Designer: Wendy and Peter Pan (Stratford Festival, 2024); Assistant Designer: Henry VIII, Mother’s Daughter, Nathan the Wise (Stratford Festival, 2019); Macbeth (Stratford Festival, 2016); She Stoops to Conquer (Stratford Festival, 2015). Film/TV: Reacher Season 1 and 2 (Amazon Prime; Costume Assistant).
Siobhán Sleath (Lighting Designer)*
Drayton Entertainment: Halfway There, Steel Magnolias, The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, Sexy Laundry, The Ladies Foursome, The Men’s Foursome, It Runs in the Family, Unnecessary Farce. Other theatre: Witness for the Prosecution, Horse and His Boy, Wilde Tales (Shaw Festival); Heist, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, In Seven Days (Grand Theatre); The Hobbit (Adirondack Theatre Festival); Ring of Fire, Steel City Gangster (Theatre Aquarius); Ann (Arkansas Rep Theater); Wow Factor: A Cinderella Story (Canadian Opera Company); Anahita’s Republic (Bustle and Beast); Brighton Beach Memoirs, (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company). For more information: www.siobhansleathdesign.com.
*Indicated designers on this production are represented by the Associated
Barbara McLean Wright (Stage Manager)
Drayton Entertainment (selected): Halfway There, Death of a Salesman, Legends of Rock and Roll (2016, 2015, 2007), Canadian Legends (2016, 2015), Anne of Green Gables, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, Sorry I’m Canadian. Other theatre: The Thanksgiving Play (Mirvish); Rock Of Ages (More Entertainment, Elgin Theatre); Drinking Alone (Upper Canada Playhouse); The Addams Family, The Little Mermaid (Capitol Theatre, Moncton); Miracle on 34th St (Theatre Northwest). Personal: As always, Barb thanks her family and friends for their never ending love and support.
Ben Tuck (Assistant Stage Manager)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: The Phantom of the Opera (Sheridan College); Old Love, Buying The Farm, Tip of the Iceberg, Come Down From Up River, Where You Are, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Panto, Doris & Ivy in the Home, The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, Memphis to Motown, Cinderella: The Panto (Lighthouse Festival Theatre); The Bluff (Theatre Orangeville); All love to my friends, family and Clare for their endless support. Enjoy the show!
the author
Norm Foster (Playwright)
Norm Foster has been called Canada’s preeminent comic playwright, and he is also one of the most prolific and most produced of all Canadian playwrights. Halifax Chronicle-Herald columnist Ron Foley writes, “Foster’s stage writing remains one of Canada’s greatest theatrical treasures”, and the Calgary Herald describes him as “one of the funniest writers of intelligent comedy in Canadian theatre today”. Mr. Foster has close to forty plays to his credit including Ethan Claymore, The Foursome, The Melville Boys, The Affections of May, Wrong For Each Other, Jasper Station (with Steve Thomas), The Last Resort (with Leslie Arden), The Love List, Outlaw, Jenny’s House of Joy, and Mending Fences. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for his play, The Melville Boys, and he was recently honoured with an award from Theatre Ontario for his “distinguished service to Ontario’s theatre community.”
