For Immediate Release

February 23, 2006

THE ART OF BEING JONATHAN

Saint John Theatre Company to present ‘Sight Unseen’ March 16-18

Scott Thomas is spending the winter getting used to being rich, famous, brilliant…and miserable.

Thomas will play Jonathan Waxman in the Saint John Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Sight Unseen, an acclaimed modern play about a wildly successful artist who has somehow lost his way.

“Jonathan’s pursuit of fame and recognition has lead to the casting off of some of his more admirable qualities – passion, inspiration, creativity,” Thomas explains.  “He is a person facing a future without a knowledge of who he is or what he truly needs or why he even exists.  Like many people, he is searching for himself.”

Sight Unseen is the work of Donald Margulies, a Yale University professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.  The play was a hit off-Broadway in the early 1990s and made its Broadway debut two years ago. 

Shane MacMillan, one of the founders of the Saint John Theatre Company, is directing the local production.  He describes the script as gritty, realistic and challenging.

“Sight Unseen is a memory play consisting of eight scenes or moments in the artist’s life,” MacMillan explains.  “However, they are not performed in chronological order. It’s a very unique style of writing.  You really have to stop and think about where you are sometimes.”

The story centres on the relationship between Jonathan Waxman and Patty, his former lover.  Fifteen years after callously breaking her heart, Jonathan has an awkward visit with Patty and her husband in England.

“I love the role of Patty,” says actor Beth Herron.  “The character is so true and rich. And we get to see her as a young idealistic college student, as well as the rather more tired, resigned, rural English archaeologist.  It’s quite a contrast, while still being the same person, keeping the same soul.  That would be the biggest challenge, I think.”

There are only four people in the cast of Sight Unseen.  David Cook is portraying Nick, Patty’s cynical and unromantic husband.  Amber Jackson is Grete, a German journalist who grills Jonathan at his art show in London. 

“With a small group of people, you are very exposed and there are few places to hide both physically and emotionally,” explains Thomas, who has performed with professional and amateur theatre troupes around the Maritimes.  “You just have to get used to the fact that you have to be on, in my case, for about 95 percent of the show.  However, because our relationships are so intimate during rehearsal, real connections can be made on stage.”

Sight Unseen runs March 16-18 at 8 pm at the Imperial Theatre.  There is also a 2 pm matinee on Saturday, March 18.  Tickets can be purchased from the Imperial Theatre box office at 674-4100 or 1 (800) 323-SHOW (7469).

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