BIO

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Nic’s literary vocation surfaced at the age of six, when he wrote and illustrated a story on index cards about a rampaging robot. He stapled the cards together and sold “Le Robot” to his mother for a tidy profit.Today, his work is known for its challenging subject matter blended with humour, twists, and deep humanism.The Elephant Song, Nic’s first play, premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2004; it has since been produced around the world and was made into a feature film in 2014. Several of his other plays, most notably Iceland and Butcher, have had major productions across Canada and internationally. Accolades include a Governor-General’s Award for Drama, a Canadian Screen Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award.Nic is a strong supporter of the serial comma and of Caryl Churchill’s adage that “Playwrights don't give answers, they ask questions.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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PLAYS

THE NEIGHBOURS

DENISE: “How is the world so ugly and so beautiful at the same time?”

Simon and Denise reside in a modest house on a quiet street, their life blissfully low-key and unassuming. But when it comes to light that their next-door neighbour has been hiding a sinister secret, it forces the couple to re-examine the past, leading the audience to a surprising conclusion that asks hard questions about the bonds that unite us.

• ~90 mins
• 1W, 2M

• Apple Books

BUTCHER

HAMILTON: “If — if — you are who you say you are, you’d be dead.”

Who is the Butcher? At a police station a mysterious old man is found wearing a foreign military uniform and a Santa hat, with a meat hook dangling around his neck. As a lawyer, a police officer, and a translator struggle to unravel the truth, they uncover a past that won’t stay buried, and a decades-old quest for justice that must be served. Haunted by events a world away, no one is who they seem to be.

• ~85 mins
• 2W, 3M

• Apple Books

ICELAND

KASSANDRA: “There is no meritocracy in country that sell lottery tickets.”

Set against the backdrop of the 2008 banking crisis, an Estonian master’s student turned escort, a capital-C capitalist real estate agent, and a recently-evicted devout Christian collide in an unexpected and tragic encounter.

• ~60 mins
• 2W, 1M

• Apple Books

GREENLAND

JUDITH: “Maybe the one thing we have in common is that we've no idea what the other one does for a living.”

Receding ice levels off the coast of Greenland have revealed that an area thought to be part of the mainland is actually a separate island. This discovery mirrors a growing rift between the island’s discoverer and his increasingly distant family, set adrift after a catastrophic loss.

• ~60 mins
• 2W, 1M

THE MEASURE OF LOVE

MABEL: “Age is the proof my life happened; but where is the warmth that is supposed to come with decades of work, friendship, love?”

Joan Sinclair receives an unexpected gift from her friend Mabel: a handwritten play and a theatre audience. The two women will re-enact their friendship from its beginning in high school to the event that led to a 40-year hiatus. But does Mabel’s depiction of the events accurately tell the story?

• ~60 mins
• 2W

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• Apple Books

THE ELEPHANT SONG

DR GREENBERG: “Were you close to your mother?”
MICHAEL: “For about nine months. Then she gave birth.”

An eminent psychiatrist has vanished from his office. The last person to see him is Michael, a troubled patient obsessed with all things elephants. Dr Greenberg, the hospital director, is determined to interrogate Michael, despite the head nurse’s cryptic warnings. Michael speaks of elephants and opera — with the occasional hint of murder and foul play – and lures the hospital director into a devious trap.

• ~75 mins
• 1W, 2M

ADAPTATIONS

• Apple Books

STEVENSON'S TREASURE ISLAND

TRELAWNEY: “Gold’s not for you, Silver.”

When Jim Hawkins finds the map to a legendary treasure, he embarks on a
perilous voyage to claim it. His journey leads him to uncover a pirate
mutiny, a chance meeting with a marooned misfit, and ultimately to the
discovery of what kind of person he wants to be in the world.

Adapted from the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

• ~120 mins
• 5W, 12M

AESCHYLUS' AGAMEMNON

OLD MAN: “Ah yes. Peace. The religion of tyrants.”

After a ten year siege led by Agamemnon, the city of Troy finally lies in ruin. The Greek army scatters and returns home, laden with the spoils of war. Meanwhile, Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, awaits her husband's return with murder in her heart — bitter still about the loss of her daughter Iphigenia and full of her own political ambitions. The opening chapter of Aeschylus’ Oresteia is re-imagined as a visceral, contemporary fable.

Freely adapted from Agamemnon by Aeschylus.

• ~60 mins
• 5W, 4M

BRECHT & STEFLIN'S RIFLES

MRS PEREZ: “I can’t teach children who believe two times two is five.”

In the midst of the Spanish Civil War, Senora Carrar refuses to pick sides: her husband died in combat and she’s determined to keep her two sons alive and out of the conflict. But as Franco’s army marches towards their village, her resolve is challenged.

Adapted from Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar by Bertolt Brecht and Margarete Steffin.
Based on a literal translation by Nina Gerschack.

• ~60 mins
• 3W, 5M

EURIPIDES' IPHIGENIA AT AULIS

AGAMEMNON: “A clever tongue is hateful in a dishonourable man’s mouth.”

The Greek army, bound for Troy, is stalled at Aulis because the winds have died down. The Gods’ price for setting sail is the life of Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, whom he calls to Aulis under the false pretense of marrying her to Achilles. Will Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter for his country?

Adapted from Ιφιγεvειœ εv Αùλíδι by Euripides.
Based on a literal translation by Roger Beck.

• ~60 mins
• 5W, 4M

MOLIÈRE'S THE SICILIAN

DON PEDRO: “I would be quite happy were you not thought so beautiful, and I would be obliged if you ceased being so in the eyes of others.”

Adraste and Isidore are madly in love, but so long as Isidore’s husband watches over her like a hawk, they cannot be together. Adraste and his trusty servant pull out all the stops to free Isidore from her husband’s clutches — but will it be enough?

Freely translated and adapted from Le Sicilien by Molière.

• ~45 mins
• 2W, 6M

CHEKHOV'S THREE SISTERS

VERSHININ: “Well. If they’re not going to serve us tea, then let’s philosophize.”

The Prozorovs — Olga, Masha, Irina and their brother Andrei — yearn to return to their native Moscow after more than a decade stuck in a Russian backwater. Their only friends are a handful of soldiers and officers from the local garrison, who spend their time philosophising about the meaning of life. As the Prozorovs each attempt (and fail) to find happiness through marriage, work, or love affairs, Moscow remains their last beacon of hope to finding the life they envision for themselves.

Translated from Tri Sestry by Anton Chekhov
Based on a literal translation by Yanna Meerzon

• ~165 mins
• 6W, 9M

OPERA

R.U.R. (A TORRENT OF LIGHT)

Composer: Nicole Lizée | Libretto: Nicolas Billon

HELENA: “The lesson I taught you was this: Compliance and Intelligence are Incompatible.”

R.U.R., an artificial-intelligence company founded by couple Helena and Dom, dominates the software market and powers the now-ubiquitous androids that serve their human owners.As Dom becomes more focused on growing profits, Helena’s creative research leads to an unexpected technological breakthrough that pits the couples’ visions squarely against each other. They’ve reached a turning point for humanity, but is humanity ready?Inspired by Karel Čapek’s 1920’s science-fiction play Rossum’s Universal Robots — which introduced the word “robot” to the English language — R.U.R. (A Torrent of Light) asks big questions about tech innovation and ethics, and the risks we accept when we invite artificial intelligence into our lives.

• ~90 mins

TELEVISION

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STREET LEGAL

Writer (Ep 104, “Homecoming”), Co-Producer (Season 1)

A serialized one-hour legal drama about an upstart law firm embroiled in a class-action suit against a pharmaceutical company.The show was originally broadcast on CBC Television in 2019.

• Watch Episode 104 Teaser

Showrunner: Bruce M. Smith

• Wikipedia
• IMDB
• YouTube

X COMPANY

Writer (Ep 304, “Promises”), Story Editor (Season 3)

Set in World War II, X Company is a one-hour, character-driven espionage drama that takes place in Europe and Camp X, the ultra-secret spy training facility located in Whitby, Ontario.The show was originally broadcast on CBC Television from 2015 to 2017.

• Watch Season 3 Trailer

Showrunners: Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern

FEATURE FILM

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ELEPHANT SONG

An eminent psychiatrist has vanished from his office. The last person to see him is Michael, a troubled patient obsessed with all things elephants. Dr Green, the hospital director, is determined to interrogate Michael, despite the head nurse’s cryptic warnings. Michael speaks of elephants and opera — with the occasional hint of murder and foul play – and lures the hospital director into a devious trap.Elephant Song is the film adaptation of Nic's play of the same name.

• Watch Trailer

Director: Charles Binamé
Key Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Xavier Dolan, Catherine Keener, Carrie-Anne Moss

SHORT FILMS

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HYPERLIGHT

Two elite astronauts wake up in the abyss of space; they return to their stranded ship and discover the surprising reason behind their mission’s catastrophic failure.

• Watch HYPERLIGHT (17 mins)

Director: Nguyen-Anh Nguyen
Key Cast: Jeananne Goossen, Peter Shinkoda, Caroline Dhavernas

• IMDB
• YouTube

How Tommy Lemenchick Became a Grade 7 Legend

Ophelia recalls the events that led to her first kiss, at the age of 12, to a smelly boy with a knockout smile named Tommy Lemenchick.

• Watch TOMMY LEMENCHICK (12 mins)

Director: Bastien Alexandre
Key Cast: Charli Birdgenaw, Sam Ashe Arnold, Caroline Dhavernas

• IMDB

A KINDNESS

A bouncer observes the fallout of an argument between a couple, and then performs an unexpected act of kindness.

• Watch A KINDNESS (4 mins)

Director: E. Jane Thompson
Key Cast: André Sills, Amy Rutherford, Brandon McGibbon

• IMDB

THE EXIT

The morning after a friend’s wedding, Peter and Samantha – living together but on a relationship hiatus – discover that each has brought home a lover.

• Watch THE EXIT (8 mins)

Director: E. Jane Thompson
Key Cast: Caroline Cave, Gord Rand, Lyndie Greenwood, Colin Williams