Henry V
by William Shakespeare
November, 2010
Le Monument-National
Directed by Gabrielle Soskin with Christopher Moore
King Henry has recently reformed from the wildness of his youth into a respected king, worthy of great loyalty. After receiving information concerning his rightful claim to the throne of France and the full support of the church, Henry begins a military campaign on the heels of an insulting message from Le Dauphin who believes Henry to be nothing but a “shallow youth”. What follows is the unlikely victory of a small ruined band of English soldiers who lose their numbers and their spirits only to be reignited by Henry’s power of rhetoric, surging forward to win glory and honour.
Le Monument-National
Directed by Gabrielle Soskin with Christopher Moore
King Henry has recently reformed from the wildness of his youth into a respected king, worthy of great loyalty. After receiving information concerning his rightful claim to the throne of France and the full support of the church, Henry begins a military campaign on the heels of an insulting message from Le Dauphin who believes Henry to be nothing but a “shallow youth”. What follows is the unlikely victory of a small ruined band of English soldiers who lose their numbers and their spirits only to be reignited by Henry’s power of rhetoric, surging forward to win glory and honour.
Aaron Turner - King Henry V
Aaron's preparation for the role of Henry V began at age six. He fought and won several medieval battles with his brother and a few friends at a field right next to his house. These battles usually ended around suppertime. Then he grew up a little bit more.. Next thing he knew, he was in the theatre department at John Abbott declaiming "Once more unto the breach" as though he were still six. No worries, Gabrielle Soskin, his teacher, straightened him out. He played other roles like John Proctor in the Crucible, Orsino in Twelfth Night, and appeared in Persephone's production of To The Green Fields Beyond as the tank commander Child. Then he grew up a lot more... He participated in Persephone's 2010 Gala fundraiser, and now finally, after nineteen long years Aaron finally gets to play... Henry V.
To Mom Dad and bro and the Montreal Irish Rugby Football club, thank you.
To Mom Dad and bro and the Montreal Irish Rugby Football club, thank you.
David Sklar - Archbishop of Canterbury/Burgundy
David is a Montreal actor/playwright. He is a graduate from Dawson College Professional Theatre Program and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in England. He is also set to finish off his B.F.A in theatre from Concordia University. Yes, you're right, that is a lot of time spent in school. But while skipping class, he has toured with the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet as Hamlet. This summer he had the great opportunity of working as an A.D. at the Stratford Festival's Shakespeare School. He is thrilled to be a part of this production and working with such a supportive cast. Thank you Gabrielle and Chris for all your hard work. Merde to all!
Alex Goldrich - King Charles of France/Williams
Alex Goldrich was born in Ottawa, grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, and has lived in Montréal since 2007. He has been active in theatre for about fifteen years. Previous roles include Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, Rev. Hale in The Crucible, and Hotspur in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Pt. 1. Alex is grateful to his family, and to Steph, for their love and support, as well as to Montreal's wonderful artistic community.
Clive Brewer - Exeter
Clive has been involved with theatre in and around Montreal for more than sixteen years. Past credits include Brabantio in Othello and Sid in West for Persephone Productions, Chandebise / Poche in A Flea in Her Ear for Hudson Village Theatre, Paravicini in The Mousetrap for Hudson Players, Gerald Lyman in Bus Stopfor Level II Theatre, and John Malcolm in Separate Tables for Lakeshore Players. Clive is thrilled to be working with Persephone again on this production.
Julianna Kun - Hostess/Bates/Governor of Harfleur/Alice
Julianna was born and raised in Montreal. She took up acting as a means of conquering a fear of public speaking. She is a 2008 graduate of the John Abbott College Professional Theatre Program. Select roles include Juror 11 in 12 Angry Jurors, a Tribe member in Hair, Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It With You, and Electra A in Elektra. She has also appeared in Suddenly, Last Summer (Village Scene Productions), and most recently in Aladdin (Left of Centre Theatre Company). Julianna would like to take this moment to thank Persephone Productions for the wonderful opportunity to perform alongside the talented cast of Henry V.
Owen Clark - Ely/Nym/Gower
Owen studied at Concordia University where he received a BFA in theatre. He was part of the management team at the short lived but well loved Theatre 314. He is also a founding member of Kick the Pricks Sketch comedy who perform regularly around the city. Past credits include, Jeff Kubik's Second Hand Tapes, Circle One's production of Chamber Music, the Café Café cycle of plays by Alain Mercieca and Geordie Productions A Christmas Carol. Owen is very pleased to be participating Henry V. Since childhood it has been his favourite of Shakespeare's plays. He is very grateful for the opportunity to present this piece and would like to thank Persephone and the audience for this opportunity.
Karine Lefebvre - Princess Katherine/French soldier
Karine graduated from the John Abbott College Professional Theatre Programme in May 2009. A native French speaker, she faced the challenge of learning a new language while developing her acting skills. Karine's favorite roles include Emily in Our Town and Elektra in Elektra. Last fall she played the role of Ina inDomestik, an experimental production where four plays take place simultaneously. Over the past year, Karine has performed and been assistant director for the Sudden Impact Entertainment Company in shows in Australia and Canada. She is excited to now be working with Persephone Productions in her first Shakespearian play et espère que vous apprécierez le spectacle!
Christopher Moore - Co-Director/Mountjoy/Boy
Christopher attended the John Abbott College Professional Theatre Program where he received The Pamela Montgomery Award upon graduation in 2005. Since then he has performed on and directed for several stages around Montreal. Directing credits include Fiddler on The Roof (John Abbott) and I Don’t Know Where Here Is (Vanguard Productions). Acting credits with Persephone include Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello and Duff in Nick Whitby’s The The Green Fields Beyond (winner of the 2007 MECCA for Best Ensemble). Elsewhere: Max in Sherman’s Bent (Altera Vitae), David in Katherine Dempsey’s Penumbra (Lapin Dans Un Chapeau) and Benjamin in The Graduate (Hudson Village). In June Chris participated in a special Gala fund raiser for Persephone at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts celebrating Persephone's tenth birthday
Davide Chiazzese - Dauphin/Grey
Davide is very excited to be one of the many alumni of John Abbott’s Professional Theatre Program to work with Persephone Productions. Since graduating in May, he has had the opportunity to work with Teesri Duniya Theatre on a new development and to be a part of the CETM Festival, where he played Sir Pent in Jean Elliot Manning’s musical Daisy and the Wonder Weeds. He is also part of Il Gruppo Teatrale Trincaria - a Sicilian theatre company. “All things are ready if our minds be so” - Henry V.
Dustin Ruck - Fluellen
This is Dustin's third show with Persephone Productions. His other roles include Michael in Unity (1918) and Venus in To The Green Fields Beyond - winner of the 2007 MECCA for Best Ensemble. Some of his most memorable roles include the one man show Bang boy, Bang!, which was presented in the UK at the Birmingham Rep before touring theatres in England and Wales, Bert in The Man Who Came to Dinner(Townships Theatre), Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest(Dogcart Productions), and Eli Jenkins in Under Milk Wood (Vanguard Productions). He is also an accomplished martial artist, and has worked with Ubisoft as the motion capture actor for the Rocky Balboa video games. Enjoy the show!
Joel Fishbane - Pistol
Joel is a writer, actor and director. His plays have been honored in several contests and festivals, including the Toronto Fringe New Play Contest, the Dayton Playhouse FutureFest and the Samuel French New Canadian Play Contest. His fiction has appeared in several literary magazines, some of which are less obscure than others. As an actor, he's had the good fortune of working with numerous Montreal companies including Tableau d'Hôte in Suburban Motel and Lion in the Streets, Mainline in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and his own company, Pumpkin Theatre, which he founded in 1999. He is grateful that he can now add Persephone Productions to his resume. Joel has a diabetic cat and once taught himself to play the clarinet.
Travis Martin - Westmoreland
Travis is a young actor who recently graduated from the Dawson College professional theatre programme. He has been doing Shakespeare since he was 15 years old, and is very thankful to Persephone Theatre for allowing him the opportunity of performing in arguably Shakespeare's most celebrated historical account. Since graduating, he's performed as Toad in Toad of Toad Hall with Coffee House Theatre, Ketch Freeman in Our Country's Good with Griffintown Theatre, Hanford in I Like Cowboys with The New New Underground, and Depressed Man In Blackface/Large Inmate in Several Scenes Involving a Decomposing Corpsewith Nanny Bumpkin Presents.
Jaa Smith-Johnson - Cambridge/Orleans
A recent graduate of Dawson's Professional Theatre Program (Dome),Jaa is thrilled to be a part of Persephone's production of Henry V. He's also very excited to be acting with such a company of talented, focused and versatile actors. Jaa performed in the Griffintown Theatre production of Our Country's Good as Aborigine/Black Caesar and in the Dome Theatre's Small Family Business as Benedict Hough and Romeo & Juliet as Benvolio just to name a few, and a couple of film projects. He is once again ready to embark on a beautiful journey into the world of Shakespeare. With that said, sit back open your minds & hearts and enjoy the show.
Toma Weiderman - Scroope/Constable /Bardolph
Over the last two years Toma has been building his Youth Walkways art education program for youth in Montreal. He's thrilled to be back on stage and at the Monument National, a theater that he has always admired. Toma has performed with Persephone Productions in To the Green Fields Beyond, winner of best ensemble, and is honored to be back on stage with some of his friends from that play. Toma has also performed in such plays as The Scavengers Daughter(Scapegoat Carnival Theater), Chimera (McGill Players), Office Hours (Hudson Productions)and To The Green Fields Beyond (Walkway Productions). He would like to thank Gabrielle and Chris for this wonderful opportunity and wishes everyone, Merde!!!
Alycia O'Keefe - Stage Manager
Alycia recently received her DEC in Technical Theatre from Cegep John Abbott. Her freelance schedule has allowed her to work predominately at the Segal Centre, among other performance spaces such as D.B. Clarke Theatre and Centaur Theatre. For Persephone Theatre's production of Be My Baby, she was the Sound Designer & Sound Board Operator, at the Monument National. She was the Stage Manager, Sound & Lighting Board Operator for the production of Rob Denton's Triptych, at Theatre Ste-Catherine. For Tableau D'Hôte's production of A Line in the Sand, she was Assistant to the Sound Designer; performed at the Segal Centre. Most recently she was the Head Technician for Processed Theatre's production of Reefer Madness: The Musical, at Mainline Theatre. A tip-of-the-hat goes out to Henry V's ridiculously talented cast and crew! Next Goal: Lighting Design.
Pater Vatsis - Lighting Designer
Peter is a graduate of both the John Abbott College Professional Theatre program and National Theatre School's Lighting Specialization program. In the past he has worked with the Cirque du Soleil, Les Sept Doigts de la Main, and designed for companies like Montreal Theatre Ensemble and the Hudson Village Theatre. Since 2005, he has returned to John Abbott to teach lighting design and technical drawing. He wishes to thank all the cast and crew of Henry V for such a wonderful experience.
Gordon Neil Allen - Composer
Gordon is a Montreal-based composer for film and theatre whose music has been featured in shows presented in Avignon, Lyon, Paris, Marseilles, Rennes, Nantes, Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. His involvement in the Montreal music scene began in 1993 as a DJ for Radio-McGill CKUT 90.3 FM. In 1998 while living in Toronto, he co-founded Technot, an organization committed to the presentation of live experimental electronic music which featured performances by over 100 international and Canadian artists. Shifting his focus to composing music for theatre, Gordon has had the pleasure of accompanying multimedia artist Renée Gagnon to the 2009 Festival d'Avignon for her presentation of Project McQueen. His diversity of musical styles includes contemporary classical, rock, hip hop, techno, ambient, jazz, salsa, East Asian and Middle Eastern music. Clips of his work can be heard on: his website.
Sabrina Miller - Set and Costume Design
Sabrina is a set and costume designer who made a very happy move from Victoria, British Columbia to Montreal. This summer she attended the SITI Theatre Company's workshop in New York and was creatively rejuvenated.
Design credits in Montréal include Mission Drive (Rabbit in a Hat), Domestik (Nervous Hunter), Glass Box, a puppetry piece for Journée de la Culture, and various event designs. Designs in Victoria include Animal Farm (Kaleidoscope Theatre), Tartuffe (Phoenix Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (Victoria Operatic Society) and MacBeth (Victoria Shakespeare Society).
Design credits in Montréal include Mission Drive (Rabbit in a Hat), Domestik (Nervous Hunter), Glass Box, a puppetry piece for Journée de la Culture, and various event designs. Designs in Victoria include Animal Farm (Kaleidoscope Theatre), Tartuffe (Phoenix Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (Victoria Operatic Society) and MacBeth (Victoria Shakespeare Society).