What’s On – Black Radish

An intergenerational road trip with moxie!

Mesa

A Road Trip Comedy To The Heart

Whether you’re a romantic or a cynic, MESA is sure to make you laugh, cry, and experience every other emotion worthy of an intergenerational road trip!

Paul has promised to drive his wife’s 93-year-old Grandpa “Bud” all the way from Calgary to his retirement trailer in Mesa, Arizona. Paul’s desire is to find strange, roadside diners and sleep out under the stars. Bud wants Denny’s and Motel 6. With five days together, the odd couple navigate the predictable turnoffs on the Interstate while discovering their need for each other, sharing their lives and experiences, their hopes and dreams. This will be Bud’s final year in Mesa, and Paul is his chauffeur.

Performance Dates: Friday March 20th to Sunday April 5th Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm.

Ticket Information: Click the button above, go to thegrandyyc.ca or call 403.205.2922 ext.1

Artistic Team

Bud: Duval Lang – Duval has been very active in the dynamic growth of the Calgary theatre community for over 40 years. He was a co-founder and Artistic Director of Quest Theatre, a prominent Canadian theatre for young audience company for 25 of those years and is now a busy freelance actor and director working across the country. Duval has been recognized with Betty Mitchell (Calgary) and Sterling (Edmonton) nominations and awards for his acting work and is a recipient of the Harry and Martha Cohen Award for significant and long-term contribution to theatre in Calgary.

Paul: Tyrell Crews – Tyrell is a Calgary based theatre actor, film actor, and voice talent. Tyrell received his Performing Arts Diploma through Mount Royal College in 2003. His work has taken him across the country, from Bard On The Beach in Vancouver, to the Stratford Festival, to The National Arts Centre in Ottawa where he starred as Mr. Darcy in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. In Calgary, he has performed at Theatre Calgary, Vertigo Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Sage Theatre, Ground Zero/ Hit and Myth Productions, and Downstage Theatre. Tyrell was the recipient of the Betty Mitchell Award for his work in OUR TOWN at Theatre Calgary. He has also been awarded a Critic’s Choice Award for his work in Downstage’s BENEFIT.

Musician: Christopher Hunt – Christopher has received eight of Calgary’s Betty Mitchell awards for his acting, most recently for Theatre Calgary’s TWELFTH NIGHT. For over 30 years, he’s performed for theatre companies large and small, in Calgary and across the country. Chris has toured to the U.K. with Ghost River Theatre and One Yellow Rabbit, and he saw many corners of Canada with the solo Shakespeare-inspired show WHEN THAT I WAS. He occasionally works as a director, adjudicator and writer, and enjoys playing a bit of guitar, mandolin and clawhammer banjo. Christopher was recently humbled to receive the 2018 Harry & Martha Cohen Award for his significant and sustained contribution to the Calgary theatre community.

Musician: Chantal Vitalis – Chantal Vitalis is thrilled to be part of the Mesa. She’s a guitarist, songwriter and pedal steel mangler who you may’ve seen playing with music groups The Lovebullies, Bryson Waind & the CB, Kris Demeanor’s Crack Band and in the Modern Times Redux, Making Treaty 7, Buzz Job, Spinstergirl and My Roommate the Anti-Christ. She often likes to say that she’s the most famous person no one’s ever heard of. Fun fact: prior to being called Mesa, the city was known as Zenos.

Director: Andy Curtis – Andy is a member of the One Yellow Rabbit Theatre ensemble, which creates original works in the Big Secret Theatre, performing and touring internationally for over 30 years. In 2007, the OYR ensemble was awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award. Andy has worked with many Calgary theatres companies, including Theatre Calgary, ATP, Ground Zero, Loose Moose, Quest, Stage West, Ghost River, Vertigo Theatre and Lunchbox. Andy had the great fortune to perform alongside his daughter at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in MAKING TREATY 7, an ongoing project which explores the historical significance and aftermath of the events which took place at Blackfoot Crossing in 1877.

Playwrite: Doug Curtis – Award winning Canadian Playwright/Producer/Actor and Director Doug Curtis, is the founder of Calgary’s Ghost River Theatre. A graduate of Circle in the Square in New York, he holds an MFA in Collaborative Creation from the University of Calgary. Doug is a recipient of The Harry and Martha Cohen Award for significant and sustained contribution to theatre in Calgary. His work as a writer centre’s around the playful telling of true Canadian stories. His goal – to capture the Canadian perspective and give voice to our sensibilities and way of life. Noted works – Black Ice and Red Adidas, Lester’s Hat, The Cruise, Paranormal, The Carrot Warrior Seminar, Something True and Wonderful, Mesa, The Landscape Artist, Camp Ex-Ray, Eye for an Eye, Confessions of a Paperboy, and The Allan Parkinson’s Project. Many of which were directed by Andy Cutis, no relation, but soul brothers none the less.

Stage Manager: Claire Bolton – Claire is delighted to join the Black Radish Theatre team as stage manager for Mesa. Selected stage management credits include: Our Man in Havana (apprentice); Dracula: The Bloody Truth (apprentice); Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse (ASM) (Vertigo Theatre), Richard III; All’s Well That Ends Well; Julius Caesar; King Lear, Hamlet: A Ghost Story (The Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Productions), Kaahsinnoniks; Okotoks; 509 (all as ASM) (Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society and Niitsitapi Dance Theatre), 1984 (Scorpio Theatre). Along with being a stage manager, Claire is an actor and dancer, as well a member of Quest Theatre’s Artist in Residency Program and Calgary Opera’s Let’s Create an Opera Program, where she helps bring the joy of theatre to children all over the province.