SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI*
Mamahood Bursting into Light
OCTOBER 10 – 20, 2018
Written & Performed by Nicolle Nattrass (BFA ’91)
Director TJ Dawe (BFA ’97)
Jessie Award-nominated playwright and actress – and mother – Nicolle Nattrass, courageously shares her ode to motherhood in this witty and profoundly moving one-woman play.
In turns both hilarious and heart-breaking, she chronicles her journey of becoming a new mother at the age of 40.
From initial idyllic dreams of motherhood and the pressure to choose a stylish diaper bag, to her real struggle to become the“perfect mom,” her years of sleep deprivation, and her own postpartum experience, Nicolle uses humour (and ’80s music) to present important realities that are rarely discussed.
“Nattrass is a big-hearted and fearlessly vulnerable performer” that will entertain everyone who has a mother – but Mamahood is especially “a gift” for “mothers who’ve believed themselves to be alone in falling short of ideals.” (Georgia Straight)
*The Spotlight on Alumni program invites our graduates to present their current work at the Phoenix Theatre.
Nicolle Nattrass
Nicolle is an actress, playwright, creativity coach, and theatre instructor. She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Victoria (’91). She has also been a certified as an addiction counsellor since 2007.
She has performed across Canada in regional theatre, on the radio, in commercials, TV and film. Her favourite roles include: “Character B” in the 2015-2016 Canadian premiere of PostSecret: The Show (Firehall Theatre), Patsy in Perfect Pie (Great Canadian Theatre), Isabelle in The Orphan Muses (English Canadian Premiere at the Belfry Theatre/ Western Canada Theatre), Constanze in Amadeus (Western Canada Theatre), Carol in Oleanna (Nanaimo Festival Theatre) and in her own comedy duo, The Drama Queens.
Her first solo show, Brownie Points (Boldly Going Where No Brownie Has Gone Before), received nominations for Outstanding Original Play and Outstanding Performance at the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. The play was adapted into a short film which garnered Best Comedy Award in 2003 and Best Performance in 2008.
Mamahood: Bursting into Light has been presented with TheatreOne (Nanaimo BC), Firehall Theatre (Vancouver BC),
As an actor, Nicolle is a member of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and the Union of BC Performers. She also currently serves on the National Forum for Playwright Guild of Canada (Vancouver Island & Gulf Islands region) and is Artistic Associate for TheatreOne (Nanaimo) as a Dramaturg/Director in their Emerging Voices program. She has worked as a director & dramaturge for the New Play Festival (Theatre BC), Leaping Thespian Theatre Company, Enlightenment Theatre and for many individuals on their one person/solo shows.
As a facilitator, Nicolle is passionate about helping others carry and voice their personal, professional or artistic message. She has facilitated many writing and creative exploration workshops for a diverse range of groups and ages with an emphasis on personal growth, creative self-expression and healing.
For a full update on current projects and credits, visit www.nicollenattrass.com
TJ Dawe
TJ Dawe grew up in Vancouver, and was a UVic theatre student from 1992 – 1997. He wrote and performed his first solo show for a SATCO (Student Alternative Theatre Company) slot and hasn’t taken a break since.
He’s participated in more than one hundred theatre and comedy festivals, including the Victoria UNO Festival of Solo Performance, the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Adelaide Fringe and thirteen Victoria fringes. Seven of his scripts have been published, and four full shows released as CDs. He’s been broadcast nationally on CBC Radio and Bravo Television.
He created The Slipknot in 2001. It’s his most bought script, and his most produced show to date – including the inaugural Spotlight on Alumni run in 2003. It’s about working horrible jobs, and it made him enough money to get out of the world of horrible jobs.
TJ collaborated with Charlie Ross on The One Man Star Wars Trilogy and One Man Lord of the Rings. He’s since co-written, directed or otherwise had a hand in about thirty new plays. He teaches a course on creating a solo show at Langara in Vancouver.
He cowrote Toothpaste and Cigars – a two person play – with fellow UVic grad Mike Rinaldi, which was made into the feature film The F Word, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver. He co-created and directed PostSecret: the Show, a theatrical adaptation of the popular blog, which has toured extensively through the US.
TJ lives in Vancouver and continues to write, act, direct, dramaturg, teach, tour, bike, listen to music, read, meditate, eat, sleep and waste time on social media.
Presented by
Show Dates
Tickets
Single ticket sales for this show begin October 2, 2018
Friday & Saturday Evenings
All Seats $26
Tuesday to Thursday & Matinees
Adults $26
Seniors $21
Students $16
Call: 250-721-8000 or see Ticket information
Performed in the Chief Dan George Theatre
Cast
Director TJ Dawe
Set Designer Pia Guerra
Lighting Designer TJ Dawe
Sound Designer Paul Tedeschini
Rehearsal Stage Manager Gabrielle Marcolin
Performance Stage Manager Leah Anthony
CAST:
Nicolle Nattrass
Lecture
Recorded on Friday, October 12 at 7pm
With: Dr. Sheila Rabillard, Associate Professor of English
Maternal figures have spoken from the stage in the past: Euripides’ Medea, Shakespeare’s Gertrude, Ibsen’s Nora. Women playwrights, too, since the days of the suffrage movement, have written significant roles for mothers — although often from a daughter’s perspective, and often cautiously. What happens when mothers now speak in their own voices, out and loud?
Listen to lecture now:
Advisories
The show is recommended for all new moms, old moms, dads, parents, grandparents – and anyone who has a mom.
Suitable for ages 16+
