Andrew Gillies (10/06 Retreat from Moscow)
The MTC Warehouse 10/11/06: Andrew Gillies
DISCOVER the WAREHOUSE: 06/07 SEASON
THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW
By William Nicholson
Starring Susan Clark, Andrew Gillies and Gordon Tanner
Directed by Robb Paterson
October 26 to November 11, 2006
MTC Warehouse
“I’m trying to tell the truth about the pain of loving badly, because I too have loved badly.”- William Nicholson
WINNIPEG, OCTOBER 11, 2006 - The MTC Warehouse season opens with William Nicholson’s beautifully written family drama THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. In the preface to THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW, Nicholson writes that the play is not a documentary, although it was inspired by the failure of hisown parents’ marriage.
How well do we know the people we marry? Is it wrong to decide it’s time to be honest? Is love enough to save a family? In THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW,William Nicholson tells the powerful story of a husband who decides to be truthful in his marriage, and of the wife and son whose lives will neverbe the same.
Making her first appearance at MTC, Susan Clark stars as the poetry-loving and strong-willed Alice, opposite Andrew Gillies (THE WINSLOW BOY, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY) as her schoolteacher husband Edward. Gordon Tanner (GUYS & DOLLS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL) plays their grown son Jamie, who is reluctantly dragged onto the marital battlefield, resulting in some battle scars of his own.
Director Robb Paterson leads an impressive creative team which includes Set & Costume Designer John Thompson, Lighting Designer Larry Isacoff, Composer Danny Carroll, Stage Manager Georgette Nairn and Apprentice Stage Manager Julia Wiebe.
THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW runs at the MTC Warehouse from October 26 to November 11. Ticket prices range from $11.66 to $39.22. For showtimes and ticket information, please call the MTC Box Office at 942-6537, toll free at 1-877-446-4500 or visit www.mtc.mb.ca. For bios and the playbill, follow the link to THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW section of the MTC website.
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THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW
“I don’t want a sunny marriage. I want a real marriage.”- Alice
MEDIA CALL
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23
2:30PM
MTC Warehouse, 140 Rupert at Lily
Please join us for the first media call of the 2006/07 season at the MTC Warehouse. A scene from William Nicholson’s exquisite play THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW will be performed for television/radio media and print photographers. The cast will be available for interviews immediately following.
TO CONFIRM YOUR INTERVIEW, RSVP TO: Sue Caughlin, Publicity Manager, at 934-0302 By 4:30 PM, Thursday, October 19
© The MTC Warehouse
Excerpt from Canoe Jam Theatre 10/25/06: Andrew Gillies (Dr. Ken Harrison)
Susan Clark's 'Retreat' from Hollywood
October 25 2006
By PAT ST. GERMAIN -- Winnipeg Sun
Susan Clark has racked up dozens of film, TV and theatre credits during a 50-year career -- starring in movies with Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford in the late '60s and cementing a spot in television history as the adoptive mom to TV's Webster in the '80s.
So, naturally, the Ontario-raised actress has been itching to work at Manitoba Theatre Centre, where she debuts tomorrow as a dowdy housewife in MTC Warehouse's The Retreat from Moscow. Seriously, Clark asked her agent Ronda Cooper to introduce her to MTC artistic director Steven Schipper five years ago, when she stopped in Winnipeg en route to see Churchill's polar bears with a delegation from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.
"I asked Rhonda to set up a meeting with Steven because I have friends on both sides of the border who praised MTC to the heavens, so I was interested in working here and interested in meeting Steven," Clark says.
That meeting was fruitful. Over brunch at the Fort Garry Hotel, Clark, 66, suggested Schipper check out the vibrant young Rubicon theatre in Ventura, Calif., where she's appeared in several productions. So far, that intro has led to three MTC/ Rubicon co-productions. And Schipper made good on a promise to think of Clark when a suitable role came up at MTC.
"He's a man of his word and he said, 'Trust me, something will come along, you'll be right, we'll get together.' And this is it."
The play by William Nicholson (Shadowlands, Gladiator) is about a 32-year-old man caught in the middle when his parents split. Andrew Gillies (The Winslow Boy) plays the father, who is about to leave his wife Alice for another woman, and Gord Tanner (Guys and Dolls) plays son Jamie.
"It's a challenging play, it's really a very interesting play about relationships," Clark says.
"Everybody can relate to all the themes: What it feels like to be in a relationship when you know you're leaving and lying through your teeth. We've all been dumped at some point in our lives, we've all been in the middle of something where two parents or grandparents or whatever are trying to pull you, and you're trying to be neutral."
Canoe Jam