From Press Release
A NOBODY’S BUSINESS THEATRE DOUBLE-BILL OF HITS!
Fringe favourites celebrate their 10th anniversary with two remounts
Following their immense success at the Next Stage Theatre Festival this January with Scheherazade, Nobody’s Business Theatre return to the Fringe stage. Co-artistic producers Morgan Norwich and Johnnie Walker have charmed Fringe audiences for a decade with their bold, weird, and hilarious new plays, and they are thrilled to celebrate their 10 years of collaboration by remounting two of their biggest hits, Amusement and Redheaded Stepchild, at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival.
In Amusement, Norwich and Walker play Rose and Sebastian, two friends seeking their fortune at a certain Orlando amusement park. They soon become embroiled in a series of conspiracies, hijinks, and musical numbers, thanks to the interference of a quirky cast of characters including a mean teen queen, nonagenarian costume mistress, and talking smell machine. Discover a whole new world of secrets at the happiest place on earth, in this darkly comic fairy tale for grownups. Amusement is directed byTom Arthur Davis, whose Fringe credits include Elizabeth and Darcy (2013, Outstanding Direction – NOW Magazine) andMahmoud (2012, Best of Fringe & Patron’s Pick). Amusement premiered last summer at the Edmonton Fringe Festival to sold out houses and glowing reviews.
Praise for Amusement
“★★★★… Resplendent… a breath of fresh Fringe air.” VUE Weekly
“★★★★… Walker and Norwich are an appealing pair, with classic showbiz caper chemistry.” Edmonton Journal
“Devilishly funny… high-speed, hip, and hilarious.” Edmonton Sun
In Redheaded Stepchild, directed by Norwich, playwright and performer Walker shares the hilarious and heartbreaking story of Nicholas, a 12-year-old with redhair whose dad just remarried, making him a redheaded stepchild. Literally. And tomorrow at lunch, the biggest boy in grade six plans to beat him up. Walker plays Nicholas; his ex‐Jehovah’s witness golf-pro step mom, Mary-Anne; and his fabulous alter ego and imaginary friend, Rufus Vermilion. Walker was awarded the Steam Whistle Emerging Artist Award for Redheaded Stepchild when it premiered at the Summerworks Festival in 2010. The play has since toured across North America to festivals in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria and New York City, playing to sold out houses. This July Redheaded Stepchild travels to Halifax as part of the Queer Acts Festival.
Praise for Redheaded Stepchild
“★★★★★ … Laugh-out-loud funny…Walker is a deft performer with brilliant comedic timing and an excellent writer.” Uptown Magazine
“★★★★1/2… Insightful, funny, uncannily performed… A big, flaming winner.” Edmonton Journal
“★★★★★… An hour-long virtuoso display of storytelling.” The Calgary Herald
A Toronto indie theatre institution, founded in 2004 by Johnnie Walker and Morgan Norwich, Nobody’s Business Theatre is a critically acclaimed company of young artists dedicated to the creation and production of new work that is exciting, accessible to all communities, and completely hilarious.
Nobody’s Business Theatre
In association with the Toronto Fringe Festival
Amusement & Redheaded Stepchild
written by Johnnie Walker
performed by Morgan Norwich and Johnnie Walker
directed by Morgan Norwich (Redheaded Stepchild) and Tom Arthur Davis (Amusement)
July 2-13, 2014
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79 St. George St on the U of T Campus
Performances:
Wednesday July 2, 6:30pm – Amusement
Friday July 4, 8:45pm – Amusement
Saturday July 5, 11:00pm – Amusement
Sunday July 6, 7:15pm – Redheaded Stepchild
Wednesday July 9, 12:00pm – Amusement
Thursday July 10, 4:15pm – Redheaded Stepchild
Friday July 11, 1:45pm – Redheaded Stepchild
Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.
Tickets: $10
On sale June 12, 2014
Online: fringetoronto.com.
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).
For more information please visit www.nobodybusiness.ca