August 7, 2024… Slip into a riotous world of Victorian satire as London Assurance takes to the Festival Stage. Directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, the production is brimming with sexual innuendo, word play and farcical comedy.
It features Geraint Wyn Davies in the lead role of Sir Harcourt Courtly, an over-the-hill London fop. When he embarks on a trip to the countryside to claim a wealthy and scandalously young bride, Grace Harkaway (Marissa Orjalo), his plan for a get-rich-quick weekend is scuttled by his dissolute son, Charles (Austin Eckert), and a cast of eccentrics, including the unforgettable Lady Gay Spanker (Deborah Hay) and her husband, “Dolly” (Michael Spencer-Davis).
Celebrated as one of the great British stage comedies, Dion Boucicault’s London Assurance laid the groundwork for the radical works of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, which would emerge several decades later. It is as funny today as when it first took London and New York audiences by storm in the mid-19th century.
“The play is filled with unbridled joy,” says Cimolino. “The sense of modernity about the piece may surprise audiences, as will the strength of the female characters. Lady Gay Spanker is a marvel: a free-thinking, spirited, joyful and independent woman.”
London Assurance also features David Collins as Max Harkaway, Emilio Vieira as Richard Dazzle, and Rylan Wilkie as Cool, with Graham Abbey as Mark Meddle, Hilary Adams as Pert, Bola Aiyeola, Joella Crichton, Sarah Dodd, Nick Dolan as Seth Soakem, Thomas Duplessie as Martin, Brad Hodder, Jenna-Lee Hyde, Andrew Iles, John Kirkpatrick as James, Tarique Lewis, Jonathan Mason, Glynis Ranney, Antonette Rudder, Vanessa Sears, Mark Uhre and Scott Wentworth as Constable Samuel Squeezer.
The creative team includes Set and Lighting Designer Lorenzo Savoini, Costume Designer Francesca Callow, Composer Wayne Kelso, Sound Designer Ranil Sonnadara, Fight and Intimacy Director Anita Nittoly and Choreographer Adrienne Gould.
London Assurance officially opens on August 22 and runs until October 25 at the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.
The 2024 season also features Twelfth Night, Something Rotten!, Romeo and Juliet, La Cage aux Folles, Wendy and Peter Pan, Salesman in China, Cymbeline, Hedda Gabler, The Diviners, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? and Get That Hope. For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.
This production is dedicated to the memory of senior craftsperson Lisa Hughes, whose incredible creations as a fabric painter and breakdown artist were central to the Festival’s work for 42 seasons.
The 2024 season is generously supported by Ophelia Lazaridis. Proud 2024 Season Partners: BMO Financial Group and RBC.
Support for the 2024 season of the Festival Theatre is generously provided by Daniel Bernstein & Claire Foerster.
Production support is generously provided by Dr. Dennis & Dorothea Hacker, Jane Fryman Laird, Dr. M.L. Myers, Catherine Elliot Shaw, Dr. Robert J. & Roberta Sokol.
CAST (in alphabetical order)
Graham Abbey Mark Meddle
Hilary Adams Pert
Bola Aiyeola Ensemble
David Collins Max Harkaway
Joella Crichton Ensemble
Sarah Dodd Ensemble
Nick Dolan Seth Soakem
Thomas Duplessie Martin
Austin Eckert Charles Courtly
Deborah Hay Lady Gay Spanker
Brad Hodder Understudy
Jenna-Lee Hyde Ensemble
Andrew Iles Ensemble
John Kirkpatrick James
Tarique Lewis Ensemble
Jonathan Mason Ensemble
Marissa Orjalo Grace Harkaway
Glynis Ranney Ensemble
Antonette Rudder Ensemble
Vanessa Sears Understudy
Michael Spencer-Davis Adolphus Spanker
Mark Uhre Understudy
Emilio Vieira Richard Dazzle
Scott Wentworth Constable Samuel Squeezer
Rylan Wilkie Cool
Geraint Wyn Davies Sir Harcourt Courtly
ARTISTIC CREDITS
Director Antoni Cimolino
Set and Lighting Designer Lorenzo Savoini
Costume Designer Francesca Callow
Composer Wayne Kelso
Sound Designer Ranil Sonnadara
Fight and Intimacy Director Anita Nittoly
Choreographer Adrienne Gould
Assistant Director Nicole Wilson
Assistant Set Designer Freddy Van Camp
Assistant Costume Designer Mary-Jo Carter Dodd
Assistant Costume Designer Patricia Reilly
Assistant Lighting Designer Sruthi Suresan
Assistant Sound Designer Clarence (CJ) Jura
Stage Manager Judy Farthing
Assistant Stage Manager Tiffany Fraser
Assistant Stage Manager Caitlin Mears
Apprentice Stage Manager Conner Bustamante
Production Stage Manager Krista Blackwood
Production Assistant Lourdess Sumners
Technical Director Robbin Cheesman
