Controlled Damage

January 17 to January 29, 2023
Opening Night January 20
Spriet Stage
Controlled Damage

By Andrea Scott
Directed by Ray Hogg

Running Time: 120 minutes

Age Recommendation: 10+

Content Advisory: The historical nature of this production contains the use of words that are offensive, demeaning, and inappropriate in our current world, including the n-word. Its themes of racism include racial slurs and similar-related language.

Sexual content and sexual violence are also depicted on stage.

Please further be advised that video, strobe, haze, and atmosphere effects will be used in this production.

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Controlled Damage

Upcoming Shows & Tickets

"I didn't do anything wrong."

The Story

Do you know the real story behind the face of Canada’s ten-dollar bill?

On November 8, 1946, Halifax business owner, Viola Desmond went to a movie at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Unaware that she was sold a lower-priced ticket for the balcony, where Black patrons were expected to sit, Viola took a seat on the main floor: the whites-only section. Although she offered to pay the one cent tax difference, Viola was dragged from the theatre, jailed, and charged. Her story would impact history forever.

In Controlled Damage, award-winning playwright Andrea Scott illuminates the true story of Canadian Civil Rights icon, Viola Desmond – a woman who took a stand against racial discrimination, by taking a seat at a theatre.

Enhance Your Experience

AfterWORDS

On Wednesday evenings, immediately after the performance, come up to the Drewlo Lounge for a brief guided discussion with Grand staff members, guest artists, and creative team members.

  • Wednesday, January 18, 2023
    With special guests: Beck Lloyd - Viola Desmond, and Cameron Grant - Man 1
  • Wednesday, January 25, 2023
    With special guests: Beck Lloyd - Viola Desmond, and Kaylee Harwood - Woman 4, Assistant Director

Creative Conversations

Enjoy cookies, tea or coffee, and stimulating discussion about Grand productions during Creative Conversations, pre-show in the Spriet Theatre. Arrive by 12:00pm to ensure you don’t miss out on the conversation prior to the 1:00pm matinee.

Artistic Director Intern at the Grand, and Assistant Director of Controlled Damage, Lennette Randall, will lead a conversation with President of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, Dorothy Wallace.

  • Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 12:00pm

London Black Community Night

Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 8:00PM

Doors will open at 6:30PM for pre-show reception, including Q&A with playwright Andrea Scott.

Open Caption performance:  Saturday, January 28, 2023 at 2:00pm

From the Stage Door

“It is so much more than a simple history lesson.” - Halifax Presents
“There’s so much interest in seeing Desmond’s story dramatized that it’s actually a tougher ticket to get than Hamilton.” - The Globe and Mail
“Andrea Scott immerses audiences into a pivotal moment in Canadian history with incredible grace and power. It will captivate you. And, it will stick with you for years to come. We are truly honoured to have this powerful play on our stage.” - Dennis Garnhum, Grand Theatre Artistic Director
 

The Cast

Wade Bogert-O'Brien
Wade Bogert-O'Brien
Man 3
For the Grand Theatre: Chariots of Fire.

Theatre Credits (Selected): It's a Wonderful Life (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Charles III (Studio 180/ Mirvish Productions); Saint Joan, Mrs. Warren's Profession, The Divine, Pygmalion, The Sea, Major Barbara, Our Betters, Misalliance, When the Rain Stops Falling, Candida (Shaw Festival); The Prince of Homburg (Talk is Free Theatre); A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre).

Film and TV Credits (selected): Frontier, Workin’ Moms, Anne with an E, Locke and Key, Fellow Travelers.
Krystle Chance
Krystle Chance
Woman 1
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): We Will Rock You, Obeah Opera, DreamGirl, The Wizard of Oz, Newsies, Da Kink in My Hair. Musical Direction: Once on This Island (Lower Ossington Theatre); Songs for a New World (Randolph College).

Other: Krystle is the Vocal Head at the Conservatory of Music and the Arts, and Creator of Vocalfy, an online vocal training platform.
Starr Domingue
Starr Domingue
Woman 2
For the Grand Theatre: Room, Oil and Water.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Red Velvet (Crow’s Theatre); Dixon Road (Musical Stage Company/Obsidian Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors, Billy Elliot (Stratford Festival); An Octoroon, Me & My Girl, Pygmalion, Sweeney Todd (Shaw Festival); Hairspray (Mirvish); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Broadway Nat’l Tour/European Tour); Cookin' at the Cookery (Alabama Shakespeare Festival).

Film and TV Credits (Selected): Hudson & Rex (Shaftesbury / Pope Productions); Hairspray (New Line Cinema); Odd Squad Mobile Unit (TVO / Sinking Ship); 4 Square (Treehouse TV); Code 8 - Part II (Netflix); Priya Tate: Super Taster (Bad Hats Theatre).

Other: Sheridan College (Undergrad in Musical Theatre); University of Guelph (Masters in Theatre). Creator/Producer and Host of the digital talk show, The Blacktor's Studio. IG:@starrdomingue; YouTube: starrdomingue. https://starrdomingue.wixsite.com/-starrdom
Cameron Grant
Cameron Grant
Man 1
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): 1851: Spirit & Voice (Soulpepper); Serving Elizabeth (Stratford Festival); Getting Married, SEX, Henry V, Hounds of The Baskervilles, Madness of George III, Dracula (Shaw Festival); Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Alice The Magnet (Theatre Animal). Playwriting: Meet Chloe (Carousel Players). Assistant Directing: Harlem Duet (Bard on The Beach); among men (Factory Theatre); the cecil hotel (Theatre Erindale).

Other: A graduate of Sheridan College & University of Toronto, Mississauga
Kaylee Harwood
Kaylee Harwood
Woman 4
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): The Invisible (Catalyst); Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (1st & 2nd National Tours); Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway, Stratford, La Jolla Playhouse); Camelot (Stratford); Cabaret, Trifles, The Light in the Piazza (Shaw); Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Sweeney Todd (Citadel); The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (Western Canada Theatre); Les Misérables (Arts Club); The Jazz Singer (HGJTC); Musical Stage Company, Niagara Symphony.

Film and TV Credits: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Workin’ Moms, Luckiest Girl Alive, Mayday, Christmas Movie Magic, Reign, Good Witch, America’s Got Talent, The Tony Awards.

Other: www.kayleeharwood.com
David Keeley
David Keeley
Man 4
For The Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (selected): Mamma Mia (Broadway); Urinetown - Dora Award (CanStage); Rock of Ages, Billy Elliot (Mirvish); True Love Lies (Factory Theatre) Renovations for Six (Theatre Aquarius); Wrong Son (NAC); Light in The Piazza (Theatre Calgary); Children of God (Canadian Tour); Liberty Valance RoyalMTC); Hamlet, Richard III, Coriolanus, Oklahoma, Fuente Ovejuna, Trojan Women, The Three Musketeers (Stratford Festival).

Film/TV(selected): Manchurian Candidate, Akilla’s Escape, The Barrens, Ten Truths About Love, Albatross, Heartland, Copper (Series Regular), Designated Survivor, Suits, Good Witch, Murdoch Mysteries.

Other: davidkeeley.ca
Dominique LeBlanc
Dominique LeBlanc
Fiddler
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): April Fools (Segal Centre); Almost A Full Moon: In Concert (Citadel Theatre); Master & Margarita (Crow’s Theatre); Ride the Cyclone, Almost A Full Moon, Cabaret (Theatre Sheridan); Argyle Street Kitchen Party, Shrek, The Wizard of Oz, Christmas Carol (Neptune Theatre); Annie (Drayton Entertainment).

Film/TV: Weirdos (Lithium Studios); It’s The Hard Knock Life (Sinking Ship Entertainment).

Training: Elaine Overholt, Donna Garner, Royal Conservatory of Music, Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance at Sheridan College.

Other: Much love and gratitude goes out to my family in Nova Scotia, and Sarah & Jess at 10!
Beck Lloyd
Beck Lloyd
Viola Desmond
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): The Miser, Richard iii, r+j (Stratford Festival); The gruesome terror & most brave triumph of Bluebeard's Bride, The Madwoman of Chaillot (The Lunar Stratagem); Portraits, Patterns, Possibilities (Culcha Works); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Lower Ossington Theatre).

Other: Graduate of the MFA Program at York University, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre, Factory Mechanicals. @beckklloyd
Monique Lund
Monique Lund
Woman 5
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (selected): Mamma Mia! (US National Tour); Crazy For You, Tommy, The Lord of the Rings (Mirvish); Meet My Sister (Port Stanley Festival Theatre); twelve seasons at the Stratford Festival. Director for Here For Now Theatre in Stratford.

Upcoming: Where You Are (Port Stanley Festival Theatre).

Other: Winner of the Brian Macdonald award for emerging directors at the Guthrie Awards in Stratford.
Gracie Mack
Gracie Mack
Woman 3
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Chicago (Stratford Festival); Fame (Randolph Theatre).

Film and TV Credits: The Way of Life (2022)

Other: Graduate from Randolph College with the Triple Threat and Governor General Award. dacostatalent.com/gracie-mack
Stewart Adam McKensy
Stewart Adam McKensy
Jack
For the Grand Theatre: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Theatre Credits (Selected): “Lola” in Kinky Boots (Arts Club); Caroline or Change (Musical Stage/Obsidian); Brigadoon, The Horse and His Boy, Me and My Girl, Ragtime (Shaw Festival); The Wizard of Oz, Kinky Boots (US National Tour/Mirvish Productions); Hairspray, The Producers (Mirvish Productions); “Beast” in Beauty and the Beast, James and the Giant Peach (Young People’s Theatre); “Sebastian” in The Little Mermaid, The Buddy Holly Story (The Globe); To Kill a Mockingbird, My One and Only (Stratford Festival).
Danté Prince
Danté Prince
Man 2
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Other: Danté Prince is an Artist born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. He self describes as having an obsession with the craft of storytelling. Committing himself to refine his discipline. To be the best Actor, Playwright, or whatever else he can be. He feels very grateful to have been able to do this as a career. Living out long time dreams that even he didn’t know were there. And he hopes to eventually be able to share his art with everyone reading this.

Creative Team

Ray Hogg
Ray Hogg
Director & Movement Director
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Theatre Calgary); Dixon Road, Starwalker (The Musical Stage Company); Da Kink In My Hair (Arts Club Theatre Co); Cats, The Producers, Sister Act, Shrek, Little Shop of Horrors (Rainbow Stage); Five Guys Named Moe, Dreamgirls, Billy Elliot (Neptune Theatre); Indecent (Segal Centre); Love and Information, An Enemy of the People, Damn Yankees, Chicago (Sheridan College).

Other: Currently Artistic DIrector for The Musical Stage Company, Affiliate Artist at Neptune Theatre, and Founder of Prime Mover Theatre Company. From 2012-2017 Ray was Artistic Director of Rainbow Stage.
Kaylee Harwood
Kaylee Harwood
Assistant Director
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): The Invisible (Catalyst); Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (1st & 2nd National Tours); Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway, Stratford, La Jolla Playhouse); Camelot (Stratford); Cabaret, Trifles, The Light in the Piazza (Shaw); Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Sweeney Todd (Citadel); The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (Western Canada Theatre); Les Misérables (Arts Club); The Jazz Singer (HGJTC); Musical Stage Company, Niagara Symphony.

Film and TV Credits: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Workin’ Moms, Luckiest Girl Alive, Mayday, Christmas Movie Magic, Reign, Good Witch, America’s Got Talent, The Tony Awards.

Other: www.kayleeharwood.com
Lennette Randall
Lennette Randall
Assistant Director
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Directing: Steel Magnolias (Theatre Calgary); Duty (A Little Tw!sted); The Sound of Music (Kaleidoscope Theatre)
Acting: Hamlet (Sainsbury Theatre LAMDA); Da Kink in My Hair (National Arts Centre /Theatre Calgary); Julius Caesar (The Shakespeare Company).

Other: Lennette is the Artistic Director Intern for the Grand Theatre 22/23 Season; A Member of Obsidian Theatre’s Young, Gifted and Black Cohort 22/23 Season.

Lennette is a graduate of Rosebud School of the Arts, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and is currently doing her Master of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge.
Alexandra Kane
Alexandra Kane
Music Director/Composer
For the Grand Theatre: Elf - the Musical, Finding Black Joy, Grand Re:Opening Festival, Comfort and Joy, Home for the Holidays.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Ride the Cyclone, The Wizard of Oz (Sudbury Theatre Centre); Dixon Road (Musical Stage Company); The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney Hero’s and Villains ( AK Arts Academy); The Little Mermaid (Musical Theatre Productions).

Film and TV Credits (Selected): Black is Beautiful, Fracture, Nova:Prime, Shelter

Other: Graduate of the B.MusA program at Western University, Graduate Certificates in Corporate a communications and public relations from Fanshawe and Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.
Brian Dudkiewicz
Brian Dudkiewicz
Set Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Titanic the Musical

Theatre Credits (Selected): Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (Theatre Calgary); Jukebox Hero (Mirvish); Jersey Boys (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Dixon Road (Musical Stage Company); Sound of Music, Kinky Boots, Rocky, Newsies, Billy Bishop (Drayton Entertainment); April Fools, Indecent, Bad Jews, Million Dollar Quartet (Segal Center); The Last Five Years (Neptune Theatre); Never Not Once (Theatre Aquarius); The Great Divide (Harold Green); The Jungle Book (Alberta Theatre Projects); and dozens of shows Off-Broadway and across The United States.

Other: @briandud1
Ming Wong
Ming Wong
Costume Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Peter’s Final Flight (Ross Petty Productions); Is God Is (Canadian Stage/Obsidian/Necessary Angel); Pipeline (Soulpepper); Red Velvet, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Orphans for the Czar (Crow’s Theatre); Hamlet 911 (Stratford Festival); Just to Get Married, Trouble in Mind (Shaw Festival); Hansel und Gretel (Canadian Opera Company); Julius Caesar (Crow’s Theatre/Groundling Theatre); The Color Purple (Citadel Theatre/RMTC).

Upcoming: Rent (Stratford Festival); Things I Know to be True (Company Theatre/Mirvish).

Other: 2021 recipient of the Virginia & Myrtle Cooper Award, 2022 Dora Award Winner for Is God Is. www.mingwongdesign.com
Patricia Reilly
Patricia Reilly
Costume Designer
Patricia Reilly is a Costume Designer for the Grand Theatre's production of Controlled Damage.
Jareth Li
Jareth Li
Lighting Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Every Little Nookie (Stratford Festival); Peter’s Final Flight (Ross Petty Productions); The Hours That Remain (Theatre Aquarius); Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon Theatre); Trojan Girls and the Outhouse of Atreus (Outside the March); The Home Project, The Wolves, Casimir and Caroline, Punk Rock (The Howland Company); Ring of Fire (Citadel Theatre).

Upcoming: Jersey Boys (Citadel Theatre); Prince Caspian (Shaw Festival)

Other: Stagecraft instructor at York University, member of the Associated Designers of Canada IATSE 659. Online @jareth.li.
Richard Feren
Richard Feren
Sound Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Grand Ghosts, Every Brilliant Thing, The Wars, Silence.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Hamlet (Stratford Festival); The Cold War (VideoCabaret); Public Enemy, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure For Measure (Canadian Stage); Every Brilliant Thing, Perfect Wedding, Miss Caledonia (Thousand Islands Playhouse); The Flick (Outside the March/Crow’s Theatre).

Film/TV (Selected): Going, Going (short film by Fiona Highet); Carmen (feature film score).

Upcoming: Frankenstein (Kidoons/Wyrd Productions)

Other: Richard has been creating music and soundscapes for theatre, dance & film since 1992. He has won seven Dora Awards, the 1999 Pauline McGibbon Award, and was the first sound designer ever shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize, in 2012.
George Allister
George Allister
VideoCompany, Projection Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Black and Blue Matters - Track 1: No One Gives A F**k About A Cop (Black Theatre Workshop/NAC); Scientific Americans, The Graduate, Once, Same Time Next Year, Tribes, Equus, Indecent, The Dybbuk April Fools (Segal Centre); Sherlock Holmes (Starvox/Segal Centre); Grease (Juste Pour Rire); Innocence Lost (Centaur, NAC); The Tashme Project (Tashme Productions).

Web (Selected): Imposter Cities (Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, CCftA); The Siminovitch Prize Ceremony and Documentaries (2020, 2021, 2022); Porte Parole (trailers and branding videos, 2021-2022); Canadian Stage (trailers and branding videos, 2020-2022); Investors Group Private Wealth Management (Marketing videos, 2022); Bugatchi (2022 Fall/Winter Campaign).

Upcoming: Depth of Field (Experimental documentary / interactive web installation, funded by CCftA, 2023)

Other: VideoCompany is a multimedia production studio based in Montreal, co-founded by George Allister and Patrick Boivin. With over a decade of experience working with arts organizations and companies across the country, their work lies at the intersection between the performing arts, documentary, cinema, projection design and beyond. www.videocompany.ca IG: @videocompany
Patrick Boivin
Patrick Boivin
VideoCompany, Projection Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Black and Blue Matters - Track 1: No One Gives A F**k About A Cop (Black Theatre Workshop/NAC); Scientific Americans, The Graduate, Once, Same Time Next Year, Tribes, Equus, Indecent, The Dybbuk April Fools (Segal Centre); Sherlock Holmes (Starvox/Segal Centre); Grease (Juste Pour Rire); Innocence Lost (Centaur, NAC); The Tashme Project (Tashme Productions).

Web (Selected): Imposter Cities (Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, CCftA); The Siminovitch Prize Ceremony and Documentaries (2020, 2021, 2022); Porte Parole (trailers and branding videos, 2021-2022); Canadian Stage (trailers and branding videos, 2020-2022); Investors Group Private Wealth Management (Marketing videos, 2022); Bugatchi (2022 Fall/Winter Campaign).

Upcoming: Depth of Field (Experimental documentary / interactive web installation, funded by CCftA, 2023)

Other: VideoCompany is a multimedia production studio based in Montreal, co-founded by George Allister and Patrick Boivin. With over a decade of experience working with arts organizations and companies across the country, their work lies at the intersection between the performing arts, documentary, cinema, projection design and beyond. www.videocompany.ca IG: @videocompany
Siobhan Richardson
Siobhan Richardson
Fight & Intimacy Director
For The Grand Theatre: Actor: The Penelopiad, Fight and/or Intimacy Director: Room, A Christmas Story, The Hobbit, Les Misérables (High School Project, Spring 2007), Romeo & Juliet (High School Project, Fall 2007).
Theatre Credits (Selected): Sex, Getting Married, The Russian Play (Shaw); Othello (Stratford Festival); Betrayal (Soulpepper); Trout Stanley (Tarragon Theatre).
Film and TV Credits (Selected): Intimacy: See Season 3 (Apple+); Nelja Pientä AikuistaI (Tuffi Films, Finland); Fights: Battlers (Blue Flame Collective).
Awards and Nominations: Best Fights in a Martial Arts Short nomination (Action on Film, LA); Arts Response Initiative (Ontario Arts Council); Chalmers Arts Fellowship (Ontario Arts Council).
Other: www.SiobhanRichardson.com, Instagram: @fighteractress
Shakeil Rollock
Shakeil Rollock
Movement Intern
Shakeil Rollock is a Movement Intern for the Grand Theatre's production of Controlled Damage.
Suzanne McArthur
Suzanne McArthur
Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: 13th season.

Theatre Credits (Selected): Hamlet-911, Hosanna, The Tempest (Stratford Festival); The Birds and the Bees, Aladdin: The Panto, Snow White: The Panto, Weekend Comedy, Perfect Wedding (Drayton Entertainment); The Fixer-Upper, It’s Your Funeral, Lunenburg, Buying the Farm, Birds of a Feather, Storm Warning, Wrong for Each Other, Knickers! A Brief Comedy (Port Stanley Festival Theatre); The Normal Heart (Studio 180/Buddies in Bad TimesTheatre); Forests (Tarragon Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Silver Mist Productions).

Upcoming: Controlled Damage, Homes: A Refugee Story (Grand Theatre)

Other: Love to Phil, Michael and Charlie.
Melissa Cameron
Melissa Cameron
Assistant Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: Grow, ReOpening Festival - Seeds of Self & One Year, Grow, Chariots of Fire, Once.

Theatre Credits (selected): Anne of Green Gables, Munschables (Charlottetown Festival); Sweeney Todd, The Gamblers, The Prince of Homburg, I Claudia, The Last of Romeo & Juliet, Offline (Talk is Free Theatre); Miracle on 34th Street (Chemainus Theatre Centre); The Last 5 Years, She Loves me, The 39 Steps (Rose Theatre, Brampton); Legally Blonde (Theatre Sheridan); Gin Game, Cottagers & Indians, Crimes of the Heart, Boeing Boeing, Dial M for Murder, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Barefoot in the Park (Watermark Theatre)
Kelsey Cain
Kelsey Cain
Apprentice Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.

Theatre Credits (Selected): The 39 Steps (Chemainus Theatre Festival); Bon Appetit and the Italian Lesson (Pacific Opera Victoria); The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito (Kaleidoscope Theatre for Young People); Flight (Pacific Opera Victoria)

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