MEDIA RELEASE // FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2023
TRUE STORY OF SURVIVING LIGHTNING STRIKE
Ghost River Theatre Presents World Premiere of STRUCK
Calgary, AB - Blissfully ignorant, a young man at the tipping point between adolescence and adulthood is struck by lightning, shocking him into a free fall of survival, atonement, and search for self knowledge. Using cutting edge video projections and special effects, STRUCK is a visually stunning piece based on playwright Eric Rose’s true story, and is Ghost River Theatre’s next World Premiere from January 31 - February 11, 2023 at West Village Theatre.
“I originally wrote and performed the first act of STRUCK back in 2005 as part of the Solocentric Festival. My desire to revisit and re-contextualize this story was spurred by the sudden death of my father, and recently entering into middle-age. As an artist, I find myself eager to explore and investigate themes surrounding growing up, mortality, home towns, and life’s sudden and irrevocable moments of change,” said Eric Rose, Playwright and Director of STRUCK and Artistic Director of Ghost River Theatre.
The show explores the lightning strike as both physical and psychic mapping: fractured friendships, leaving home, losing loved ones - looking backward and forward in time from a point of view that can only be perceived in the electrified filament of one's mortality.
STRUCK reflects Rose’s critically-acclaimed, highly-theatrical aesthetic, as a compelling, thoughtful, and viscerally surprising experience created with a team of committed and insightful collaborators.
“Alongside my own personal healing journey, one of my goals for this production is to offer people the time, space and experience to engage and reflect on their own journey and understanding of what it means to be alive in this moment.”
Cast and Creative Team
Featuring: Nathan Schmidt as Eric (Age 40); Daniel J. Perryman as Eric (Age 21);
Christopher Duthie: Aminateur/Understudy
Eric Rose: Playwright/Director
Matthew Heiti: Dramaturg
Marina Buston: Assistant Director
Christopher Clare: Movement Director
Wladimiro A. Woyno R: Video/Projection Design and Technologist
Kerem Çetinel: Lighting Designer
Robin Leveroos: Set & Properties Designer
Anton deGroot: Composer/Sound Designer
Abby Brokenshire: Costume Designer
Aaman Merali: Technical Director
Tauran Wood: Assistant Technical Director
Kennedy Greene: Stage Manager
Kate Pallesen: Assistant Stage Manager
Matthew McKinney: Cinematographer/Camera Operator
Ross Wilson: Board Operator
Cody Stadel: Technical Consultant
Riley Miljan, Tech Art Custom Creations: Set Construction
Aldona Barutowicz (Aldona B Creative): Publicist
Hayley Dechaine (Aldona B Creative): PR Coordinator
World Premiere of STRUCK
January 31 - February 11, 2023 ~ West Village Theatre
January 31/February 1 are preview performances; February 2 is Opening Night.
For TICKETS and more information, please visit https://www.ghostrivertheatre.com/struck
For Further Information, please contact:
Aldona Barutowicz, Publicist
Telephone: (403) 471-5308
Email: aldonabpr@gmail.com
Ghost River Theatre is an award-winning, devised theatre company expanding the boundaries and identity of dramaturgy, art and live performance. Based at the West Village Theatre in Calgary (Mohkinstsis), Ghost River Theatre prioritizes its collaborators and art above all else though ‘humans-first’ policies, with an emphasis on culture, creation, and community. Every individual involved has an equal voice on how productions are facilitated with Ghost River Theatre, where passion and process are what ignites the hearts of the theatre.
It’s not about selling seats, it’s about the craft and inspiring others. Ghost River Theatre creates a unique experience for its patrons; from the first sentence of a script to the final curtain - expect the unexpected. Guided by Artistic Director Eric Rose and Executive Director Kate Stadel, this philosophy has been implemented in over 42 original Ghost River Theatre productions since it’s inception in 1992, garnering over 85 Betty Mitchell awards and nominations from performances across the country and internationally.