Hot Off the Press: 1979
Reading plays is not only for actors who need monologues for auditions or for producers in search of their next show. It’s for theatre lovers who can’t get out to the theatre, or who’ve heard about a play that’s not being presented in their city, or who want to return to a story they loved watching unfold on stage. It’s for anyone who feels like they don’t have the time to read novels, or who skim over the long descriptions in novels to get to the dialogue. Reading plays is for anyone who likes to read.
About the play
It’s December 1979 and Clark’s minority Progressive Conservative government is under threat of dissolution before it has a chance to accomplish anything — even pass a budget. But Clark is young and idealistic, resolute on making his mark in office. When he steals a moment at his desk to make a crucial decision, his colleagues, including Brian Mulroney and Pierre Trudeau, take the opportunity to steer him in different directions.
PRIME MINISTER: So this is it. This is the hill to die on. This budget, right now. Get this through, start down this path, and then all the bullshit, all the “Joe Clark, who’s he? Some asshole from out west. Sure he’s got a hot wife, but really he’s a nobody with no ideas that nobody has to listen to because I mean look at the guy, friggin’ brown suit, not a fancy little Quebec dude with charisma and a convertible and a chainsaw. He’s just some guy, nobody likes him, he just backed into the job, did nothing to earn the leadership, did nothing to convince the country his ideas are worthy, he’s just a shit guy from nowhere who has no business anywhere near the public trust. You know?”
About the playwright
Michael Healey is one of Canada’s leading theatrical voices. Some of his plays include Courageous, The Drawer Boy, Proud, and Rune Arlidge, among others. With an outstanding breadth of work, Michael has won a number of awards as a playwright, including Dora Mavor Moore awards, a Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, and a Chalmers Canadian Play Award. He lives in Toronto.
1979 has its world premiere on Friday, April 7, with Alberta Theatre Projects, directed by Miles Potter.
Click here for more information or to purchase 1979
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