Past Productions

Voices from the Front

The Radio Show

by John Cook and Teri Loretto
directed by Teri Loretto
co-produced with Amplitude Theatre

A perennial Gladstone favourite, The Radio Show returned to The Gladstone in 2022 with a reprise of Voices from the Front: The Radio Show, first presented in 2017. The first act features stories of the Great War, the second act, World War 2. Verbatim theatre at its finest, Voices from the Front is a moving and powerful theatrical event, with letters written by actual soldiers and family members, reenactments of famous political speeches and retelling of some of the pivotal events in the world wars that affected all Canadians. This work is currently being developed as an educational resource for local schools. 

Suspense

The Radio Show
Hallowe’en Edition

an “unstaged” reading

three episodes of the Old Time Radio series
selected, adapted and directed by David Whiteley
with Nick Amott, Rebecca Benson, Jacqui Du Toit, Robin Guy, Alex Panneton and Kat Wong

30-minute individual episodes October 28, 29 & 30, 2020 @ 7:30pm
90-minute Hallowe’en triple-bill October 31, 2020 @ 7:30pm

Prior to the pandemic’s second wave in the fall of 2020, Plosive Productions and The Gladstone had hoped to be able to offer a return to the theatre with a special Hallowe’en Edition of our annual Radio Show. While public health required the cancellation of the production, Plosive invited audiences to listen to an “unstaged” reading by the cast of the material we had been preparing.

For Hallowe’en 2020, Plosive brought the stars of Old Time Radio back from the dead: a series of readings from our annual Radio Show with a spooky twist. Audiences travelled back in time to 1944 as we recreated three of the scariest episodes from the top thriller series of the Golden Age of Radio, Suspense:

• October 28, 2020  Alfred Hitchcock’s Jack the Ripper tale The Lodger with Peter Lorre
• October 29, 2020 The First Lady of Suspense Agnes Moorehead in the proto-feminist spook story The Yellow Wallpaper
• October 30, 2020 The goofy yet ghoulish Ghost Hunt starring comedy legend Jack Benny
• October 31, 2020 featured all three episodes in a Hallowe’en triple bill

Midsummer

[a play with songs]

by David Grieg and Gordon McIntyre
directed by Bronwyn Steinberg
featuring Vivian Burns and David Whiteley

 YES! Plosive Productions offered a live—and safe—in-person show just four months after the onset of the pandemic. We worked with The Gladstone Theatre to create an ad hoc outdoor patio, to present the Ottawa première of Midsummer to socially-distanced audiences.

“It’s midsummer. It’s raining. And there’s these two people having sex. They’ve only just met.” Thus begins a whirlwind weekend of revelry, romance, and self-discovery set along the magical backdrop of Edinburgh. Upscale lawyer, Helena, and petty conman, Bob, are worlds apart, but their respective midlife crises create a deep and surprising connection. Playwright David Greig and composer Gordon McIntyre pair up to deliver that rarest of beasts, a romantic comedy with a good head on its shoulders as well as a huge heart at its centre. Greig’s story and McIntyre’s songs offer the thrilling possibility that we can take our lives in hand and reinvent ourselves. Or, as the machine in the Edinburgh Castle car park puts it: “CHANGE IS POSSIBLE”.

Casablanca

The Radio Show

inspired by the 1944 LUX Radio classic
adapted and directed by Teri Loretto-Valentik
featuring John Cook, Iyono Ede, David Gerow, Adam Goldberg, Robin Guy, Michelle LeBlanc, and Laurence Wall

The Radio Show returned in high style in 2019. Plosive proudly paid homage to the 1944 LUX Radio classic Casablanca. We invited our faithful audience to join some of their favourite radio show voices and some shiny new talent for a wonderful night at the theatre. It was a unique night out full of music, love, history, classic villains and flawed heroes.

The Ugly One

by Marius von Mayenburg
directed by Peter James Haworth
featuring Sasha Dominique, Andrew Hosale, Julie Le Gal and David Whiteley

“Your face is unacceptable.” Lette thought he was normal. When the extent of his ugliness is revealed he turns to a plastic surgeon for help. But after the bandages come off, Lette soon learns that there is such a thing as too beautiful.

The Ugly One is a scalpel-sharp comedy on beauty, identity and getting ahead in life. Plosive wishes to thank the City of Ottawa and the Goethe Institute for funding that made it possible to bring this work to Ottawa.

It’s a Wonderful Life

The Radio Show

adapted from Frank Capra’s film by Tony Palermo
directed by Dave Dawson
music direction by Robin Guy
featuring Vivian Burns, Robin Guy, Michelle LeBlanc, Brad Long, Chris McLeod, Chris Ralph and Doreen Taylor-Claxton

Plosive celebrated the 10th Anniversary of The Gladstone by revisiting an all-time audience favourite: It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Show. This adaptation of Frank Capra’s beloved film offered all the charms of the heart-warming holiday classic audiences know and love. And of course, we offered our perennial Radio Show experience, inviting attendees to be part of a live studio audience as their favourite voice actors and a live-on-stage foley artist recreate a broadcast from the Golden Age of Radio. As always, the Gladstone Sisters were there with holiday tunes to spread their pixie dust. The result was pure enjoyment for the whole family.

Sylvia

by A.R. Gurney
directed by Peter James Haworth
starring Madeleine Hall as Sylvia
with Doreen Taylor-Claxton, David Whiteley and Jerushah Wright
lighting designed by Ben Thomas
stage managed by Kat Wong
a co-production with the Sylvia Collective

Plosive was delighted to support the Sylvia Collective to share this smart, silly comedy about relationships, nature and growing older. Starring a dog.

Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg’s career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate’s career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park—or that has found him—bearing only the name “Sylvia” on her name tag. A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. She offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of his job and the unknowns of middle age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. And Sylvia thinks Kate just doesn’t understand the relationship between man and dog. The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives.

Blink

by Phil Porter
directed by Teri Loretto
featuring Gabriella Gadsby and David Whiteley

Plosive Productions was honoured to bring the quirky comedy that took the world by storm to English-speaking Canada. This is the tale of Jonah, Sophie, and a fox called Scruffilitis. It’s a love story. A dysfunctional, voyeuristic and darkly funny story, but a love story all the same. The lives of two shy individuals virtually collide and a charming, delicate and darkly funny story unfolds before your eyes. From Edinburgh to India by way of Mexico, Australia, Italy, Turkey and the USA—and a French-language staging in Montreal—Blink proved an international sensation. Plosive Productions was thrilled to present Canada’s English-language première right here in Ottawa.

Award Nominations:
Prix Rideau Award for Outstanding Director – Teri Loretto
Prix Rideau Award for Emerging Artist – Gabriella Gadsby
Capital Critics Circle Award Best Director (Professional) – Teri Loretto

“Blink offers spectators a warm-hearted and comforting piece that is a love story at its very core.”
—Kelly Ann Speagle, Ottawa Citizen

“a parable for our times … Blink is a charming enough tale, but the real reason to see this production is to see the talented Gadsby and her nuanced interaction with Ottawa veteran Whiteley.”
—Brian Carroll, Apt613

Basket of Deplorables

“Almost true stories for a post-truth world”

by Tom Rachman
conceived for the stage and directed by David Whiteley
narrated by Teri Loretto-Valentik, Paul Rainville, David Whiteley, Brad Long and Rachelle Casseus

British-Canadian author Tom Rachman gives us five funny-scary stories about nasty women and men. Plosive observed the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency with the world’s first live staged reading of Rachman’s witty, cutting tales of Democrats and Republicans in a divided America. Each story in Basket of Deplorables is told by a different narrator sharing their unique view of our Deplorable New World. Originally commissioned to be an audiobook, Basket was always meant to be heard, not read. For this first-ever live presentation of Rachman’s work, Plosive lined up a basket of all-star Ottawa talent: Teri Loretto (Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Plosive Producctions), Paul Rainville (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Bear & Co.), David Whiteley (The Norman Conquests, Plosive Productions), Brad Long (The End of Civilization, Same Day Theatre) and Rachelle Casseus (The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble, GCTC).

Voices from the Front

The Radio Show

by John Cook and Teri Loretto
directed by Teri Loretto
featuring Katie Bunting, David Gerow, Michelle LeBlanc, Chris Ralph, Laurence Wall and Alex Zwierzchowski
“Gladstone Sisters” Robin Guy, Nicole Milne and Doreen Taylor-Claxton

Perennial Gladstone favourite, Plosive’s The Radio Show returned in 2017 with a difference: Voices from the Front featured verbatim reports, testimonials, letters and radio broadcasts from Canadians in the two world wars. Audience sweethearts, the Gladstone Sisters, once again sang their way into audiences hearts with the songs from the eras. The first act featured stories of the Great War, the second act World War 2. Verbatim theatre at its finest, Voices from the Front: The Radio Show was a moving and powerful theatrical event for the Remembrance Day week.

Maestro

by/par Claude Montminy
English version translated by/version anglaise traduite par Nina Lauren and/et Danielle Ellen
directed by/mise en scène par Gilles Provost
featuring/avec Manon Lafrenière, Serge Paquette and/et David Whiteley

The NAC Orchestra’s principal second violin is gunning to be concertmaster, and invites her eccentric new conductor to her home to convince him to promote her, but the Maestro has something else in mind. To make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend composer shows up and insists on making himself a third wheel for the tête-à-tête. How low will they stoop to conquer the Maestro?

The English-language première of Québécois playwright Claude Montminy’s hit comedy was presented in alternation with performances of the French-language original on Thursdays and Saturday matinees. Plosive was thrilled to offer this uniquely bilingual staging to Gladstone audiences.

« It’s the play to see. If you like comedy, you have to see this one! »
—Martin Perreault, Radio-Canada

En pleine rupture amoureuse, Maude réalise qu’il est temps pour elle d’obtenir le poste qu’elle mérite. Elle n’en peut plus d’être second violon de l’Orchestre du CNA, elle veut devenir soliste. Maude décide d’inviter le nouveau chef d’orchestre chez elle pour le convaincre de l’engager, mais le capricieux chef ne se laisse pas séduire si facilement. La situation se complique encore quand l’ex de Maude, aussi musicien, s’invite au souper. Maude réalisera que nous sommes parfois prêts à bien des bassesses pour réaliser nos rêves professionnels….

La version originale française fut présentée en alternance avec des présentations de la traduction anglaise, avec la même distribution. Plosive était ravie d’acceuillir le public francophone pour cette double mise-en-scène bilingue.

« C’est la pièce à voir. Si vous aimez le théâtre d’été, allez voir ça absolument! »
— Martin Perreault, Radio-Canada

Romeo & Juliet Redux

by William Shakespeare
adapted and directed by David Whiteley
soundscape by Scottie Irving
lighting by Laura Wheeler

William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy reimagined: 4 actors, 80 minutes of raw, intimate passion. With this breathless, immersive take on Shakespeare’s classic, Plosive proposed to audiences: “Don’t see Romeo & Juliet Redux. Feel it.”

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

by Christopher Durang
directed by David Whiteley
featuring Mary Ellis, Sarah Finn, Teri Loretto, Drew Moore, Chris Ralph and Beverley Wolfe

This rollicking farce for the digital age is a mash-up of well-known Chekhov characters in an entirely contemporary setting. Two middle-aged siblings, Vanya and Sonia, live a dull existence on the family farm. That is until a surprise visit from their movie-star sister Masha, with her 20-something boy toy Spike in tow. Hilarity ensues.
Plosive was thrilled to present the Ottawa première of this 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play and Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding Play.

Love Letters

by A.R. Gurney
directed by Teri Loretto Valentik
featuring Pierre Brault and Lucy van Oldenbarneveld

Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III are childhood friends who begin a correspondence that will last 50 years. As their lives take very different paths, they share with each other their hopes and dreams, ambitions and disappointments, victories and defeats through their notes, cards and letters. Plosive was proud to bring two Ottawa legends to The Gladstone’s stage to tell Gurney’s tale of life-long love.

“A.R. Gurney’s deceptively simple 1988 epistolary two-hander, Love Letters, is that rare work whose emotional richness requires no embellishment in order to become a full-bodied theatrical experience.”
—The Hollywood Reporter

Winnie-the-Pooh

The Radio Show

by A.A. Milne
adapted by David Whiteley
directed by Teri Loretto

Before Disney, before even the books, Winnie-the-Pooh was broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Day, 1925. No one is too old or too young to enjoy the tales of the Bear of Very Little Brain and his friend Piglet—a source of more inspiring wisdom than perhaps you remember! In 2015, our annual Radio Show, always full of songs and sound effects, brought audiences back in time into the sound studio to relive this historic moment.

The Norman Conquests

Table Manners | Living Together | Round and Round the Garden

by Alan Ayckbourn
directed by John P. Kelly
featuring AL Connors, Michelle LeBlanc, Julie Le Gal, Margo MacDonald, Steve Martin and David Whiteley

In August through October of 2015, Plosive Productions collaborated with SevenThirty Productions to offer one of the most ambitious—and most entertaining—of theatrical undertakings Ottawa has ever seen: all three plays of Alan Ayckbourne’s trilogy The Norman Conquests, presented in repertory at The Gladstone Theatre.

From the comic genius behind How the Other Half Loves and Absurd Person Singular come not one but three scintillating comedies about one farcical weekend with a dysfunctional family. Each play portrays different events of the weekend from a different location (dining room, living room and garden) as assistant librarian Norman attempts to seduce the three women present at the house with varying results. Each show stands on its own, but the hilarity multiplied for audiences who got to see all three of the shows together.

Table Manners
(Aug 27–Sept 5 and again in rep Sept 30–Oct 10)
The weekend as seen from the dining room: Reg finds food rather scarce despite having it thrown at him by Sarah, Sarah is scandalised by Annie, Annie is disappointed by men in general and Tom in particular, Tom knocks down Norman, Norman’s romantic proposals are ruined thanks to Ruth, Ruth loses her patience, her temper and her glasses, and everyone has trouble deciding where to sit.

Living Together
(Sept 10–19 and again in rep Oct 1–10)
The weekend as seen from the living room: Reg is driven mad by Tom, Tom tells Annie a thing or two, Annie nearly comes to blows with Sarah, Sarah sees a different side of Norman, Norman sorts things out with Ruth, Ruth discovers the charms of a fireside rug, and nobody enjoys playing board games.

Round and Round the Garden
(Sept 24–26 and again in rep Sept 29–Oct 10)
The weekend as seen from the garden: Ruth thoroughly confuses Tom, Tom succeeds in asking Annie, Annie gets a glimpse of Norman’s pyjamas, Norman tells Sarah stories by moonlight, Sarah disapproves of Reg’s outdoor sports, and everyone gets to roll in the grass.

“This is an excellent production that goes beyond anything we have ever seen on the local theatre scene and should definitely not be missed.”
—Alvina Ruprecht, CBC Radio One theatre critic

Venus in Fur

by David Ives
directed by Catriona Leger
featuring Chandel Gambles and David Whiteley

2015 saw Plosive present The Gladstone’s most sizzling show of the season, the Ottawa première of Venus in Fur. This award-winning play by David Ives is a delicious, suspense-packed study of the erotics of power. A writer-director laments the woeful parade of actresses who have auditioned for his new play. Enter Vanda, an out-of-work actress who turns the tables and takes charge in this sexual roundelay about power and powerlessness! Venus in Fur redefines the classic sex comedy.

Bankrupt

by Stéphanie Turple
directed by Kevin Orr

In 2015 Plosive presented the world première of a dirty, sexy new comedy by local playwright Stéphanie Turple, about the high price of low finance. Anna, deep in debt, decides that bankruptcy is her only option. She meets with bankruptcy trustee James Larson, whose dry, uncaring information about the bankruptcy process hits poor Anna like a cold shower after a hot day of shopping. In order to avoid a life without Louis Vuitton, Anna takes up an ancient profession that promises a lot of income in a short amount of time. This intertwines her fate with that of James, his ex-wife and their son, in a series of hilarious and unexpectedly sexy ways.

The Radio Show

Christmas Classics

Featuring works by O. Henry and others
Directed by Teri Loretto-Valentik and David Whiteley

Always a song and story spectacular, Plosive presented its annual Radio Show with a Christmas theme in December of 2014. This incarnation was evening of heart-warming holiday classics for the entire family, featuring live re-tellings of The Gift of the Magi, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Little Prince and other timeless treats. The Gladstone Sisters returned with some local celebs and sing along carols for pure holiday fun.

Billy Bishop Goes to War

sritten & composed by John Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson
directed by Teri Loretto
featuring Chris Ralph, with James Caswell
produced in collaboration with The Accting Company

In 2014, we remounted our very successful production of Billy Bishop Goes to War at the Avalon Studios. The production saw the return of the creative team behind Plosive’s February 2013 production, starring Chris Ralph as 18 characters and featuring James Caswell on piano. This musical about Canada’s flying ace brought John Gray the 1981 Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award, the 1982 Chalmers Canadian Play Award, and the 1983 Governor General’s Award for drama.

The School for Wives

by Molière
translated by David Whiteley
directed by John P. Kelly
co-presented with SevenThirty Productions

Perhaps the funniest play by probably the world’s funniest playwright, in a fresh new translation by possibly Canada’s greatest translator of French comedies, directed by perchance Ottawa’s best director. Plosive presented the world première of Whiteley’s new translation-adaptation of L’école des femmes that playfully coupled faithful re-creating the original’s rhymed Alexandrine verse with irreverently contemporary English idiom. The result was a lively and hugely entertaining new take on Molière’s classic.

Detroit

by Lisa D’Amour
directed by Chris Ralph
featuring Dave Brown, Christine Isaak, Teri Loretto and David Whiteley

In a “first ring” suburb outside a midsize American city, Ben and Mary fire up the grill to welcome the new neighbours who’ve moved into the long-empty house next door. The fledgling friendship soon veers out of control, shattering the fragile hold that newly unemployed Ben and burgeoning alcoholic Mary have on their way of life—with unexpected comic consequences. Detroit is a fresh, offbeat look at what happens when we dare to open ourselves up to something new. Premièred at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre to rave reviews, Plosive Productions is thrilled to be the first to bring this devastating comedy to Canada.

The War of the Worlds

by H.G. Wells, radio drama adaptation by Orson Welles
conceived for the stage and directed by Teri Loretto

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles sent America into a panic with his adaptation of The War of the Worlds in the form of a series of news bulletins, which many listeners mistook for breaking news of an alien invasion. Plosive celebrated the 75th anniversary of this infamous Hallowe’en broadcast, when Wells’s story and Welles’s words receiving our trademark Gladstone Radio Show staging, with live music and on-stage foley bringing audiences back to the 1938 radio studio where the legend was born.

Private Lives

by Noël Coward
directed by Craig Walker
featuring Alix Sideris, David Whiteley, Steve Martin, Bronwyn Steinberg and Camille Beauchamp

Plosive launched The Gladstone’s 2013-14 season with the second wittiest play in the English language, Noël Coward’s classic 1930s comedy of bad manners. When a divorced couple discover they are honeymooning with their new spouses in adjacent hotel rooms, it isn’t long before the sparks fly and their stormy romance is reignited.

In the Next Room

or the vibrator play

by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Bronwyn Steinberg
co-presented with Same Day Theatre
featuring Dylis Ayafor Sascha Cole, Sarah Finn, David Frisch, Michelle LeBlanc, Robin Toller and David Whiteley

Imagine a time when electricity was a novelty and female “hysteria” was considered a treatable problem. Now imagine what happens when they both come together…

Sarah Ruhl’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-nominated comedy is set in a genteel, Victorian-era spa town where Dr. Givings specializes in treating hysteria with a mysterious, electrically powered device, but is blind to the state of his own unfulfilling and sterile marriage. As patients arrive for their electrically powered, secret treatment, his wife Catherine becomes curious… and jealous. What is going on in the next room?

Ruhl’s play is at once a deftly comic skewering of societal repressions and a lyrical exploration of love. It has been staged across North America and Europe and has been translated into Spanish, Hebrew and German. Plosive Productions was proud to team up with Same Day Theatre to present the Ottawa première.

Prix Rideau Award for Best Production

False Assumptions

by Lawrence Aronovich
directed by Teri Loretto

In 2013, Plosive collaborated with The Ottawa Theatre School to present the world premiere of False Assumptions, an exciting, entertaining and uplifting new play about Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie.

Written by local award-winning playwright, Lawrence Aronovitch, False Assumptions is part mystery, part history, part drama, and part romance. In this world, the ghosts of three scientists discover a set of radium-soaked notebooks and uncover the hardships, heartbreaks and hard-won achievements that led to Marie Curie becoming the first woman ever awarded the Nobel Prize.

Billy Bishop Goes to War

written & composed by John Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson
directed by Teri Loretto
featuring Chris Ralph, with James Caswell

Plosive was delighted to bring one of Canada’s most popular stage plays to The Gladstone in February of 2023. This musical about Canada’s flying ace brought Gray the 1981 Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award, the 1982 Chalmers Canadian Play Award, and the 1983 Governor General’s Award for drama.

Reviews excerpts:

“Chris Ralph is one of the finest actors working in Ottawa or the country for that matter and always plays with honesty and directness. His affable connection with the audience
earned him a well-deserved standing ovation.”
—Jim Murchison, Charlebois Post

“All Canadian history should be delivered this way!”
—Allan Mackey, Production Ottawa

“Chris Ralph absolutely nails the many and challenging demands of his role… He pulls it all off with charm and style, entertaining every step of the way.”
—Kevin Reid, The Visitorium

“Director Teri Loretto-Valentik although not a pilot herself is from a flying family and this helps infuse an understanding into the play. The lobby of the theatre is filled with artistic renderings of WWI planes in action, on loan from the Canadian War Museum. When you get inside the theatre there are working models of various fighter planes suspended from the ceiling.”
—Jim Murchison, Charlebois Post

Prix Rideau Award nominations for Outstanding Male Performance by Chris Ralph and Outstanding Production

Miracle on 34th Street

The Radio Show

adapted by John Cook with assistance from Teri Loretto and Nicole Milne from the book by Valentine Davies
directed by Nicole Milne

Could the Macy’s department store Santa be the real thing? For the 2012 holiday season, Plosive took audiences back to the Golden Age of Radio with a new adaptation of everyone’s favourite Christmas story, Miracle on 34th Street. This much-loved holiday classic was a treat for families of all ages!

How it Works

by Daniel MacIvor
directed by Stewart Matthews
featuring Michelle LeBlanc, Hannah Kaya, Geneviève Sirois and David Whiteley

A heartwarming tale told with humour and love, about reinventing family and the healing power of storytelling. Well known to local audiences for Marion Bridge, This Is What Happens Next and Communion, MacIvor’s works have earned him Governor General, Chalmers, Dora and Genie Awards and the Siminovitch Prize. How It Works maintains MacIvor’s impeccable standard, “a wise, witty and warm family drama, shot through with insights.”—The Toronto Star.

Death and the Maiden

by Ariel Dorfman
directed by Craig Walker
featuring Paul Rainville, Geneviève Sirois and Chris Ralph

The hated dictatorship has been overthrown.  Democracy has won a difficult victory. But now former torturers, murderers and oppressors mingle quietly amongst one’s neighbours. And when Paulina’s husband brings home the good Samaritan who had helped him when his car broke down, she believes she recognizes the voice from her past nightmarish ordeal… A play about innocence and guilt, vengeance and paranoia.

Cyrano de Bergerac

by Edmond Rostand
translated and directed by David Whiteley
featuring Richard Gélinas as Cyrano,
Élise Gauthier as Roxane and
Warren Bain as Christian
with Katie Bunting, Zach Counsil, Robin Guy, Scott Humphrey, Stewart Matthews, Chris McLeod, Tim Oberholzer, Garret Quirk and Chris Ralph
assistant directed by Lucy Collingwood
costume and set designs by Grace Solman
lighting design by John Solman
props design by Rachel-Dawn Wallace
stage managed by Jess Preece

Timed for Valentine’s Day 2012, Cyrano de Bergerac warmed audiences hearts in the dark of winter. Tragic romantic hero and Renaissance man, Cyrano is skilled with both sword and pen, but his deformity dooms him to solitude. Presented in a new English translation which renders the original rhymed verse with “panache”—a word this very play introduced into our vocabulary.

“Spirited”, “Gélinas makes a brash, conflicted and engaging Cyrano.” – Ottawa Citizen
“The whole thing is a rousing, raucous joy.” “Plosive’s CYRANO does indeed have Panache.”
—The Visitorium
“An epic tale cracked open to reveal an intimate portrait of love and loss that moves the heart and soul.”
—The Charlebois Post

The Shadow

A Christmas Mysteries Radio Show

directed by Kel Parsons

In prior years, The Gladstone had presented a Christmas-themed show in the style of a 1940s live radio show. Plosive took over this tradition with The Shadow: A Christmas Mysteries Radio Show. The show included two holiday special episodes of The Shadow, voiced by Tim Oberholzer, Allan Pero, Katie Bunting and Michelle LeBlanc, with live sound effects performed by Karen Benoît and festive songs by The Gladstone Sisters. The Arthur Murray Swing Dancers kept the place hopping before the show and during intermission.

Speed-the-Plow

by David Mamet
directed by Teri Loretto
set, costumes and sound design by Ivo Valentik
lighting eesign by David Magladry
featuring Kyla Gray, John Muggleton and Chris Ralph
stage managed by Christine Hecker

Speed-the-Plow by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Mamet was Plosive’s first show as part of the Autumn 2011 season at The Gladstone. Some feedback from critics and audiences:
“It’s awesome to watch”
“very funny”
“in a word, it was great”
“Anyone who wants to see three great, well-directed local actors bring a genius script to life on an unbelievable set should see this production.”
“Director Teri Loretto-Valentik has captured the high powered rhythm of Mamet’s intense exchanges”
“[The set is] a thing of bizarre beauty — a marvel of rampaging black and white lines”
“Ivo Valentik’s set design is one of the most beautiful and transformative structures I have seen on a small independent stage in this city for a long time”
“Ralph positivley rocks the joint”
“John Muggleton’s performance as Bob Gould was absolutely impeccable”
“Muggleton and Ralph wear their roles as comfortably as old shoes”
“As Karen, Kyla Gray has a very good debut”
“[Kyla Gray’s] work is infinitely preferable to Madonna’s”

Prix Rideau Award for Outstanding Design

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde
directed by David Whiteley
featuring Katie Bunting, Sean Conforti, Teri Rata Loretto, Stewart Matthews, Kel Parsons, Garret Quirk, Chris Ralph, Henna Kaur Sodhi, and Bronwyn Steinberg

We were overwhelmed by the audience support we received for our first show. Produced in association with The Gladstone and SevenThirty Productions, this rollicking new production of Wilde’s masterful comedy moved the action to colonial India of the 1920s — a setting that underscored the frivolous nature of the ruling class of the era and when “mad dogs and Englishmen” went out in the midday sun.

Plosive was thrilled to be able to work with several of Ottawa’s best-known actors for our inaugural production, many of whom are no strangers to The Gladstone stage. We were also proud to have Henna Kaur Sodhi, a student at Canterbury Arts High School, make her professional début with us.