FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2005
Saint John Theatre Company To Mark Anniversary Of 9/11
Four years to the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Saint John Theatre Company will present a powerful new play inspired by the tragic events of 9/11.
The Guys, a stunningly simple, two-character theatrical work, has earned acclaim with star-studded productions in New York City and across the United States. It has also been made into a movie starring Sigourney Weaver.
“The subject matter is heavy, but not depressing,” explains Kizzy Kaye, director of the SJTC production. “It’s a very moving story. Folks will definitely need a tissue or two. But there are moments that will make the audience smile and laugh.”
The story of how The Guys was written is as compelling as the play itself. Anne Nelson, a journalism professor at Columbia University, helped a New York City fire chief write eulogies for firefighters who died in the twin towers. She was inspired to write a play about the experience.
In The Guys, an editor named Joan (played by Suzanne Short) helps a fire chief (Stephen Tobias) write honest, moving tributes to be read to families and friends of firefighters who lost their lives.
“After reading the script, I felt very strongly that this was something we should do,” explains Stephen Tobias, Artistic Director of the Saint John Theatre Company. “It is extremely well-written, very moving and very topical. It’s an intensely personal story that I felt should be told.”
Kizzy Kaye, an accomplished Saint John actor who is making her directorial debut with The Guys, found the script in a bookstore during a business trip to Rochester, New York.
“A lot of what Anne Nelson wrote in the words of Joan hit me like a tonne of bricks,” Kaye says. “I really related to Joan feeling like she had little right to feel so devastated about the 9/11 attacks, since she and her friends and family were safe. Also, I love that the play is not about terrorism, or politics, or blame. It’s about people.”
The Guys is the first production in the new SJTC: Studio series of plays. The goal of the series is to produce cutting-edge theatrical works in an intimate setting. The audience will be seated on the stage of the Imperial Theatre.
“It was the discovery of this script that prompted me to request the permission of the SJTC board to introduce the new Studio series,” Tobias says. “Kizzy Kaye was so obviously committed to producing the play and had done such incredibly good work in preparing for the show. It didn’t feel right to let this project slip by.”
The Guys will be presented at 1 PM and 4 PM on the afternoon of Sunday, September 11th. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased at the Imperial Theatre box office or by calling 674-4100 or 1 (800) 323-SHOW (7469).
“I am honoured to be directing this play,” Kaye says. “I think the audience will continue thinking about what they’ve watched long after the actors take their bows. Each person will take something unique from it because the events of that day affected everyone in a different way.”
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