Notice Board

NOVEMBER 7 - NOVEMBER 11 | 7:30 pm | UNIVERSITY THEATRE

How would your life be changed if a bomb exploded on the bus you were taking to school, or work? If you were not allowed out of your house between sundown and sunrise? If you were brought in for questioning because you wrote a song or because you posted about what was happening in your city? This world premiere and winning play of the University of Lethbridge Fiction at Fifty Playwriting Competition reveals the lives of citizens trying to live their day to day lives in the middle of a violent political conflict, in an unnamed North American city.

Winning the U of L’s Fiction at Fifty Playwriting Competition was the beginning of a rewarding process for Ottawa-based playwright and artistic director, Sean Devine. Throughout the next year, director and Department of Drama faculty, Gail Hanrahan initiated and facilitated the reading and workshopping of When There’s Nothing Left to Burn in the class, New Play Workshop.

Devine visited the U of L twice and joined the cast via Skype. “I welcome other ideas that are not my own,” says Devine. “The cast takes away a sense of ownership of the script and better chemistry.” The final production is both a polished premiere, and a unique opportunity for both students, director, and playwright to collaborate from page to stage.

The script stood out to the jury, above more than seventy-five entries for its dynamic story, insightful perspectives, and ambitious scope. Inspired by a faraway revolution in Kiev in 2014, Devine explored the idea that a similar crisis could happen in Canada. “The revolution seemed to be just one more in an unending stream of citizen-led revolutions and uprisings across the globe. Perhaps I’m a pessimist, but I just can’t see this trend abating anytime soon. I wanted to create something that encapsulated all the divergent voices and faces of a city in the midst of a siege,” Devine says.

Devine plans to attend theWhen There’s Nothing Left to Burn, along with Fiction at Fifty supporter, alumnus, Terry Whitehead (BFA, ’94). This world premiere pushes the boundaries of theatre, from its inception to its final production, and the U of L Drama Department proudly invites all audiences to attend.