February 24, 2005 -

Humble ’s the bee’s knees!
The Vancouver Province

Humble-ing experience banishes winter blahs
The Vancouver Sun

High marks for all concerned.  Nothing to be humble about here.  A hot show.
Vancouverplays.com

Ottawa -- Following a hugely successful run in Vancouver, the NAC English Theatre/Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company coproduction of Charlotte Jones’s internationally-acclaimed Humble Boy comes to the NAC Theatre as part of the 2004-2005 Main Stage Series.  Winner of the Critics’ Circle Best New Play award and the People’s Choice Best New Play Award after its premiere in London in 2002, this lovely play was called “a marvelous play” by the London Sunday Times, and “a delightful play bursting with ideas and characters that you come to care about deeply” by the London Daily Telegraph.  Humble Boy runs in the NAC Theatre, March 3 to March 19 (Preview March 2) with performances at 19:30, Saturday matinees at 14:00 and a 12:30 matinee on Wednesday, March 9 for Students and Seniors.  Tickets for Humble Boy are available at the NAC Box Office or through Ticketmaster at (613) 755-1111 (a surcharge applies). 

When Felix Humble, socially-inept but academically brilliant astrophysicist, returns home to bury his father, chaos theory meets family dynamics with startling results.  Felix’s mother Flora, a middle-aged ice queen, disappointed by her mediocre life and even more so by her mediocre son, holds court over the willing victims of her entourage, including a devoted hanger-on and a passionate paramour, and lays waste to any emotional stability Felix might have had.  Their complicated quasi-Oedipal relationship matches life against love and in the end love wins.  A play about the complexities of the human heart, hope and reconciliation, Humble Boy teases us with the echoes of another complex mother-son relationship and ends up being a powerful Hamlet for the twenty-first century.

Glynis Leyshon, Artistic Director of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company directs this coproduction with Pam Johnson designing set and costumes and Gerald King designing the lighting.  Sound Design is by Noah Drew.    Jessica Chambers is the Stage Manager for Humble Boy, and Matthew Byrne is Assistant Stage Manager.

The superb cast is:  Fiona Reid (most recently seen at the NAC in Hamlet and Indian Ink) as Flora Humble, Dean Paul Gibson (The Overcoat) as Felix Humble, Megan Leitch as Rosie Pye, Peter Millard as Jim the Gardener, Bridget O’Sullivan (Ideal Husband) as Mercy Lot and Norman Browning as George Pye.

Praise for the NAC English Theatre/Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company coproduction of Humble Boy:

Blooming beautiful! A witty script and the perceptive cast needed to deliver it make Humble Boy a great cure for the February blahs. Reid is a marvel, making Flora a middle-aged ice queen whose sharp comments cutting friends and family to the quick can't hide essential goodness. Gibson plays perfect counterpoint to Reid as Felix's doleful soul deals with the baleful bitch who bore him. Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun

Glynis Leyshon's Playhouse production sparkles with a first-rate cast led by the incandescent Fiona Reid. From her opening line....Reid absolutely nails queen bee Flora. It's a special treat to hear her deploy Flora's sarcasm with that exquisitely modulated voice that slices Felix's broken heart like a laser through butter. Reid anchors impeccable performances by Dean Paul Gibson as Felix, Norman Browning as George, and the rest of the fine cast on Pam Johnson's gorgeous garden set. High marks for all concerned. Nothing to be humble about here. A hot show. Jerry Wasserman, Vancouverplays.com and The Province

Fiona Reid realizes every lacquered inch of Flora with exquisite precision. The woman is a star, so completely in control every minute she is on stage - so still, so deadly - that I could barely watch anybody else. And Dean Paul Gibson makes a nuanced Felix, painfully befuddled yet capable of being wickedly sly. Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight 

Tickets for Humble Boy are available at the NAC  Box Office in person or through Ticketmaster at 755-1111, and on-line through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s web site at www.nac-cna.ca  (a service charge applies to all purchases made through Ticketmaster). Students (with a valid student card) may purchase half-price tickets at the NAC Box Office only. Ticket prices are from $27.00 to $59.00.  Students should visit the Live Rush™ page online at www.liverush.ca to find out how to obtain Live Rush seats ($9.50) available on a first-come, first-served basis after 18:00 on the day of performance. Groups of 20+ save up to 20% on NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances.  To book call 947-7000 ext: 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca

The NAC English Theatre is pleased to have The Ottawa Citizen as its media partner for the English Theatre Main Stage 2003-2004 Season.

Humble Boy-  Listings Info.

• March 3 to 19 (Preview March 2)  No performances Sundays or Mondays
• NAC Theatre
• 19:30 Tuesday through Saturday
  Wednesday matinee for students and seniors at 12:30, March 9
  Saturday matinees 14:00, March 5,12,19
• Tickets available at NAC Box Office in person; through Ticketmaster 755-1111 or on-line through Ticketmaster link www.nac-cna.ca
• Tickets from $27.00 to $59.00; Students (with valid student card) may purchase half-price tickets in person at the Box Office.

Other activities related to Humble Boy are:

• Pre-Show Chat – An informal discussion before the Saturday Matinee performance – Saturday, March 5 at 13:00 in the NAC Panorama Room  Guest Speaker:Glynis Leyshon, Director and Artistic Director, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company.
• Thursday Talkbacks –  A Post-Performance Question and Answer session with performers - Thursday, March 10 and 17

For more information contact:
Laura Denker,
Publicity and Media Relations Coordinator,
NAC English Theatre
(613) 947 7000 ext. 389;
ldenker@nac-cna.ca

Digital photography: Production images from Humble Boy are available for download in digital format (jpeg) at http://www.nac-cna.ca/media Just follow the links to Humble Boy