Productions

Theatre at Grenfell’s Fall 2023 Season

Upcoming Productions

She Kills Monsters, by Qui Nguyen

“She Kills Monsters” is a story about Agnes, an average teen from an average town and her sister Tilly. Though they shared the same parentage the two young girls had very little in common. Agnes, being of average disposition, was into more typical things such as boys, music and popular television programs, while Tilly became fascinated with the dark arts, Magic, Dragons and the vanquishing of pure evil. As the sisters grew, Agnes grew more and more engrossed with transcending her permanent state of averageness. However, frustrated by seeing her sister’s unique brand of uniqueness, she made a terrible wish during her junior year of high school. She wished she did not have a geeky sister. And so, the gods answered her wish and struck her sister Tilly down in a car crash…

But fear not adventurer, this is not the story of that tragic tale. No, this is the story of how Average Agnes finally learned how to Fight and Kill Monsters.

The play, written by Qui Nguyen follows Agnes as she tries to learn about her recently lost sister, Tilly, through a found D&D module that she designed. With the help of Chuck, and the rest of Tilly’s D&D party, Agnes follows the campaign through the world of New Landia to restore the lost soul of Athens and understand who Tilly Evans truly was.

She Kills Monsters will be directed by Adam Brake with set design by Vickie Marston, costume design by Bonnie Garland, and lighting and projection design by Jim Smagata. The production will feature the work of our talented Grenfell Theatre school students. 

She Kills Monsters runs November 1st to 4th at 8:00pm in the Fine Arts Theatre.

The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ioneco and 

Will They Never Leave? Based on Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exit, adapted by Jerry Etienne

The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco is an absurd one-act play about blather and just how important it all is. We talk and talk and talk and talk and talk so that we don’t have to talk. And pretty soon we don’t even realize we aren’t really talking as we talk and talk and talk. And all this talking is very important indeed. To quote more contemporary sources – “All we are is radio gaga” – Queen – “Da do do do, da da da da, is all I have to say to you” The Police. 

Will They Never Leave is based on Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exit. It’s a delightful little existential one-act play about what hell might be like. Three horrible, pathetic, damned people spend time together making excuses, belittling each other and hoping to find a way out of hell while knowing they never will. Once they discover that hell is other people, they settle in to torture each other for all eternity.

The Bald Soprano and Will They Never Leave will be directed by Jerry Etienne, with set design by Vickie Marston, costume design by Bonnie Garland, and lighting design by Jim Smagata. The Bald Soprano and Will They Never Leave runs November 22nd to 25th at 8:00pm in the Fine Arts Theatre.

Past Productions

Anything to Declare, by Maruice Hennequin and Pierre Verber. Adapted by Jerry Etienne

Anything to Declare is a comedic farce that takes place around 1910, during the Belle Époque in Paris. It was a time of peace, prosperity, and an abundance of art. Paris was alive with cafes, painters, sculptors, musicians, theatre, the Moulin Rouge, the Follies Bergère, and Burlesque. Young people were innocent and pure. At the same time, affairs and courtesans were commonplace. A collection of colourful characters, costumes and coincidences, an unusually profuse use of euphemisms, and an unabashed abuse of an abundance of useless alliterations catapult us along at break-neck speed down a perilous path in search of the awesome and delectable mystery of marriage.

Hedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen

Grenfell Theatre is proud to present Hedda Gabler by the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Hedda is the proud daughter of a general trapped in a marriage and stuck in a world she can't control. This production re-frames this 1890's classic in the early 1970's - the time of shag carpets, wide lapels, and the dawn of modern feminism. 

Hedda Gabler will be directed by Michael Waller with set and costume design by Vickie Marston and roy Hansen-robitschek, and lighting design by Renate Pohl. The production will feature the work of our talented Grenfell Theatre school students. 

Hedda Gabler runs November 2nd to 5th at 8:00pm in the Fine Arts Theatre.

The Winter’s Tale, by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare returns again and again to themes of jealousy and remorse, and the passions associated with these emotions. In The Winter’s Tale he throws a spotlight on the psychological ‘instant’ when something is perceived that can never be unseen - that all-too-human tendency to jump to conclusion - the blink of an eye when an assumption unleashes a flood of willful misunderstanding. Out of the ensuing wreckage a lot of questions emerge: how much punishment is sufficient when you have committed a serious crime? Where does passion-killing fall on the spectrum? What about regret and penance? Is forgiveness possible? These complex questions are illuminated through the innocence of children, and the wonder of a fairy tale. This play offers a young creative ensemble the chance to dig deep into themes of immediate topical relevance, through a variety of meaty roles, by means of Shakespeare’s glorious and challenging language.

The Winter’s Tale will be directed by by guest artist Jeannette Lambermont-Morey, with set and costume design by Vickie Marston and roy Hansen-robitschek, and lighting design by Renate Pohl. The Winter’s Tale runs November 23rd to 26th at 8:00pm in the Fine Arts Theatre.