FallOut is a brand new play, produced by Off The Leash, that will tour to Junior High Schools in the Spring of 2014.
The tour will feature three actors and a stage manager, hitting as many schools in 3 weeks as possible (that's thirty shows to up to 400 students a show.)
FallOut is written by Cara MacPhail and we just completed the workshop of the second draft of the play.
We believe that this important piece of theatre and the accompanying workshop/Q&A/ discussion session is important and needs to be seen by as many students as possible.
Aside from applying for Provincial funding and funding from other sources, we are holding some grassroots fundraising events and starting THIS campaign.
The play will be offered to schools via Theatre Nova Scotia's PERFORM program.
FallOut received a Provincial creation grant to get it through the writing phase.
Off The Leash recognizes the support of the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage. We are pleased to work in partnership with the Culture Division to develop and promote our cultural resources for all Nova Scotians.
Help us get FallOut into schools and help us get the conversation started.
www.offtheleash.ca
SYNOPSIS
When Jamie, Alyssa and Becky attend a hometown wedding, their shared history of relentless bullying is right there waiting for them.
The three women relive their past and explore the three sides of the drama that plagued their junior high school years: the victim, the bully and the girl who stood by.
Years earlier, when Alyssa met Becky, at junior high, her existing friendship with Jamie was put to the test.Things escalate for all three girls when a viral video of Jamie rips through their lives. Jamie knows it must be Becky’s handiwork, but Alyssa doesn’t believe her new friend could be capable of such cruelty.
Things spiral out of control when the bullying takes the form of anonymous, threatening texts and cruel chat-room comments. Alyssa finally sees how bad things have become, tries to step in, exposing the situation. Is it too little, too late?
All three women are still dealing with their own fallout; no-one walked away unscathed. Alyssa is carrying the guilt from being a passive bystander for so long.
In a play where no one person is entirely innocent, nor completely unsympathetic, FallOut asks the question ‘if it were you, what would you do?’
FallOut is a play for three actors and will tour to junior high schools in Spring 2014.
Cara MacPhail - writer
Cara holds a BA (Hons) in English from the University of Strathclyde and an MLitt in Dramaturgy and Playwriting from the University of Glasgow, both in her native Scotland.
While in Scotland she worked variously as a dramaturg, director and youth facilitator. Previous work includes a Scottish Government project for a group of young carers, facilitating the creation and performance of a new play based on their experiences caring for family members. She was also an assistant director with Gateways Productions’ performance of a new musical by writer Rachel Jury. She has worked as a director and dramaturg for various productions with Strathclyde Theatre.
Since moving to Canada she has been fortunate to work with organisations such as Vancouver Youth Theatre, Halifax Theatre for Young People and Neptune Theatre’s Theatre School. She currently runs a playwriting class for teens.
In addition to working in Canada she also has a production of her new play, The Silkie, slated for performance early 2014 in Scotland.
The Director – Susan Stackhouse
SUSAN STACKHOUSE is an actor as well as a specialist voice, speech and dialect coach. She received her training at Dalhousie University, the National Theatre School of Canada and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England (as a recipient of the Chevening Scholarship).
Susan has spent sixteen seasons with the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake both as a member of the acting ensemble and as a voice coach. She has also performed at many other theatres over the years, including Neptune Theatre, The Royal Alexandra Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, the Blyth Festival, Persephone Theatre, Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre and Ship’s Company. Susan began her career as an educator at George Brown College in the Performing Arts Department, and then moved to her home province of Nova Scotia to take a position in the Department of Theatre at Dalhousie University where she teaches in the Acting Program and has directed and voice coached many DalTheatre productions.
In the past few years she has acted in Romeo and Juliet (Nurse) and Rabbit Hole (Nat) at the Neptune Theatre, recorded the role of Anna Dobchuk in the CBC radio series Backbencher, collaborated with mezzo-soprano Marcia Swanston in The Belle of Amherst (words and music of Emily Dickinson) and How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways . . . (words and music of Elizabeth Barrett Browning). In that same time Susan has also voice/dialect coached the feature films Copperhead and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter as well as the stage plays Romeo and Juliet, The Seafarer and Strong Poison – all for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Susan sits as Vice-Chair on the Board of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust <www.nstalenttrust.ns.ca>.
Jeremy Webb - Producer founded Off The Leash in 2009. He moved to Canada,
from his native UK, in 1998. He grew up in Cambridge and trained at The Bristol
Old Vic Theatre School.
Most recent Canadian stage appearances include First
Voice/male roles in Under Milk Wood, ‘Paul Fisher’ in Fishing (OTL, also
writer/producer), ‘Beowulf’ in Beowulf
(Two Planks & A passion), 'Duke Solinus' in The Comedy of Errors, ‘The Wizard’ in The Wizard of Oz and ‘Friar Laurence’
in Romeo & Juliet (Neptune Theatre, Halifax), ‘Milo Tindle’ in
Sleuth (Festival Antigonish, 2010), ‘Duncan’ and ‘The Porter’ in MacBeth
(Shakespeare By The Sea, 2009) ‘Iago’ in Othello (2008), ‘Peter Quince’ in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, ‘Maurice’ in Beauty & The Beast (Silvermist
Productions, Niagara Falls) and ‘Cogsworth’ in Neptune Theatre’s long-running
Beauty and The Beast.
His one-man version of A Christmas Carol was a great success in 2003, 2005, 2008-12 playing at
Neptune Theatre’s Studio Theatre and touring Nova Scotia schools and venues.
Shakespeare On Trial returns to North Carolina and Georgia in October/November
2013 for a five-week tour, after a successful 5-week, 30-show tour in 2011.
His new comedy about the perils of internet
dating, Fishing, opened in May 2012 (with a 3 week tour) and, last
Summer, played Festival Antigonish, Live Bait Theatre for the month of August. It then played Neptune Theatre in November 2012. In Summer 2013, Fishing plays the Chester Playhouse as part of their Summer Season.
It is already taking bookings for 2014.
Under Milk Wood performed in March 2013 and played the Al Whittle
Theatre in Wolfville for 2 weeks in August 2013. Webb produced the play,
featuring Susan Stackhouse and himself, directed by Rhys Bevan-John.
In 2011, Off The Leash released a 2-disc CD of A Christmas Carol, featuring Symphony
Nova Scotia and over thirty characters all voiced by Webb.
In March 2009, Jeremy won a Best Actor Merritt
Award for his portrayal of Iago in Othello, for Shakespeare By The Sea. He won
the 2010 Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre and The Coast (Halifax’s
weekly newspaper) Best Theatre Actor Award in 2007, 2009 and 2010 (2008 wasn’t
such a great year!)
In October 2013, he receives the Creative Nova Scotia Established Artist award, the night before departing on another 5 week tour in the USA with Shakespeare On Trial.