Unconfined
WRITTEN/PERFORMED BY: Elizabeth Richardson
DIRECTED/DRAMATURGED BY: Ed Thomason
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN BY: Stewart Legere
LIGHTING DESIGN BY: Leigh Ann Vardy
STAGE MANAGED BY: Jessica Lewis
PRODUCED BY: LizCo Creative
Unconfined, a new solo performance piece, premieres at Eastern Front’s STAGES Festival in 2020.
For Writer/Actor Liz Richardson, Unconfined is a second venture into solo drama. Her first, Going On, was an autobiographical piece, delving into her unexpected tour with Peter Toole as a young actress, her worried mother, and her spiritual search. Unconfined is a new direction, not autobiographical but based on true events. As well as being a respected actor, Richardson is an accomplished teacher of meditation programs. In that context, a prison chaplain colleague introduced her to the story of the remarkable transformation of a death row prisoner. Over the course of many years, he disciplined himself to become an outstanding artist and a compassionate spiritual adept.
In Unconfined Richardson tells the story by playing three very different people who knew the prisoner well: Eleanor, an English painter who was his long-term pen pal; Barbara, an American professor of Comparative Religion and his spiritual counselor; and Benny, a streetwise fellow convict. Their journeys and insights paint an intimate and moving portrait of the unseen prisoner.
For Writer/Actor Liz Richardson, Unconfined is a second venture into solo drama. Her first, Going On, was an autobiographical piece, delving into her unexpected tour with Peter Toole as a young actress, her worried mother, and her spiritual search. Unconfined is a new direction, not autobiographical but based on true events. As well as being a respected actor, Richardson is an accomplished teacher of meditation programs. In that context, a prison chaplain colleague introduced her to the story of the remarkable transformation of a death row prisoner. Over the course of many years, he disciplined himself to become an outstanding artist and a compassionate spiritual adept.
In Unconfined Richardson tells the story by playing three very different people who knew the prisoner well: Eleanor, an English painter who was his long-term pen pal; Barbara, an American professor of Comparative Religion and his spiritual counselor; and Benny, a streetwise fellow convict. Their journeys and insights paint an intimate and moving portrait of the unseen prisoner.
THE TEAM
STEWART LEGERE is an artist from Halifax/K’jipuktuk. He makes performances (mostly) with The Accidental Mechanics Group and Zuppa Theatre Co. His most recent performance, Let’s Not Beat Each Other To Death (created in collaboration with the National Arts Centre), has been presented at: The Queer Acts and Stages Festivals (Halifax), OUTstages (Victoria), SummerWorks (Toronto), PuSh (Vancouver), FTA (Montreal), IMPACT (Kitchener), Chapter Arts Centre (Cardiff, Wales) and MAYFEST (Bristol, UK).
He is a vocalist with orchestral pop outfit The Heavy Blinkers, and in 2017 released his debut solo album, Quiet The Station. He composes music for theatre and film.
He is a vocalist with orchestral pop outfit The Heavy Blinkers, and in 2017 released his debut solo album, Quiet The Station. He composes music for theatre and film.
JESSICA LEWIS has been working in Halifax as a Lighting Designer, Production Manager and Stage Manager for close to 15 years. She has taken Productions across Canada, throughout the Southern States and Asia. Selected Works Include: Neptune Theatre:The Last Five Years, Shakespeare In Love, Big Thing Little Thing, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Zuppa Theatre:Tiny, The Archive of Missing Things, This Is Nowhere, Slowly I Turn, How Small How Far Away. Eastern Front Theatre (Stages Theatre Festival): Obey Convention Music and Arts Society. Mermaid Theatre:I Love My Little Storybook & Guess How Much I Love You.
ELIZABETH RICHARDSON is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and has performed in theatre, film and TV productions in Canada, the US and England. She has played leading roles in London’s West End, the Bristol Old Vic, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage in Toronto, and in ten seasons with Neptune Theatre, where most recently she appeared as Annabel in Snake in the Grass.
Her previous solo performance, Going On, premiered at Eastern Front Theatre’s STAGES Festival in 2012, followed by successful runs in Mexico, Vancouver and Upstate New York. It later ran at the Halifax Fringe Festival and was commissioned by KAZAN CO-OP for the Waiting Room in 2015.
Her previous solo performance, Going On, premiered at Eastern Front Theatre’s STAGES Festival in 2012, followed by successful runs in Mexico, Vancouver and Upstate New York. It later ran at the Halifax Fringe Festival and was commissioned by KAZAN CO-OP for the Waiting Room in 2015.
ED THOMASON was Artistic Producer of Festival Antigonish for twelve seasons. For the Neptune he directed Travels With My Aunt by Giles Havergal and Closer by Patrick Marber. He has worked extensively with playwrights developing new work here and in the U.K. where The Golden Pathway Annual by John Burrows and John Harding, and Rose by Andrew Davies transferred to London’s West End. His own scripts for Willpower Theatre include The Afterlife Of George Cartwright, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Shakespeare Unplugged, and Outside The Frame. The Double Man, a solo show about W.H. Auden, written for Mark Wing Davey was revived in 2017 at the Public Theatre in New York.
LEIGH ANN VARDY is an award-winning lighting designer based in Halifax. Recently she designed The Neverending Story (Stratford, NAC), The Third Colour (Prairie Theatre Exchange), Secret Life of a Mother (Theatre Centre, Crows Theatre), The Colour Purple and Calendar Girls (Neptune Theatre), The God That Comes (2b), Between Breaths (Artistic Fraud). Her work has been seen throughout Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the US.
Leigh Ann is a teacher and coach at National Theatre School of Canada.
Leigh Ann is a teacher and coach at National Theatre School of Canada.