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Over the River & Through the Woods on stage until Nov 8, 2014. Don’t miss this hilarious family comedy – right here on Vancouver Island! Tickets from $25, click here to purchase online.

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Mark DuMez

I grew up in a small great lakes town with a population just about to crack 2000 souls when I left. I knew all my aunts and uncles – even the ones who moved “all the way” to the other side of town. Every second Sunday of the month, without fail, my father’s six siblings would gather in one of their houses for a meal and a visit – until the later years when the “cousin count” was so high that only the aunts and uncles were allowed. To this day, the living relatives still gather – to solve the problems of the world over a pot luck lunch, some coffee and Snickers bar salad. I am grateful for many blessings of my family and especially that even with their differences, they all love and respect one another when they gather together.

In this play, Joe DiPietro gives us the perfect, imperfect family. Through his hilarity, we can consider our own sense of place, our loyalties to location, commitment to culture and hopes for our legacy and lineage. In the mobility of North American culture, Tengo famiglia invites us to examine our roots, whether we love em’ or lump em’. The patriarchs and matriarchs of Nick’s world allow us to laugh at ourselves in another skin and call us to savour the tastes and conversations that shape who we are. Enjoy the feast!

The Play

Nick is a single, Italian-American guy from New Jersey whose parents have retired and moved to Florida. That doesn’t mean his family isn’t still in Jersey. In fact, he sees both sets of grandparents for dinner every Sunday. But then he gets offered his dream job. The job he’s been waiting for – marketing executive – would take him away from his beloved, but overwhelming grandparents. When he tells them they begin a series of schemes to keep Nick around. How could he betray his family’s love to move to Seattle, for a job, wonder his grandparents? Well, Frank, Aida, Nunzio & Emma have a plan but we won’t give the ending away here.

The Playwright

Joe DiPietro
Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. His other plays and musicals include I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (the longest running musical revue in off-Broadway history); The Toxic Avenger and The Thing About Men (both winners of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway musical,); the much-produced comedy Over the River and Through the Woods; The Art of Murder (Edgar Award winner for Best Mystery Play) and the Broadway musical All Shook Up. His drama Creating Claire debuted at George Street Playhouse in 2010. His work has received thousands of productions across the United States and around the world.

The Director

Pamela Halstead

Pamela recently completed her tenure as the Artistic Director of Lunchbox Theatre (Calgary, AB) and is the former Artistic Producer of Ship’s Company Theatre (Parrsboro, NS). In her 10 years between these two companies she directed and/or produced over 60 productions, the majority of them premieres of new works. Pamela is Artistic Adviser to Valley Summer Theatre (Wolfville, NS), Artistic Producer of DMV Theatre (Halifax, NS) and the PERFORM! Coordinator for Theatre Nova Scotia. Recent credits include: directing Mass Appeal for Valley Summer Theatre and The Net for Theatre New Brunswick, directing and dramaturging the world premieres of Never A Syllable for Onelight Theatre and Bingo Ladies for Lunchbox Theatre, and producing White Rabbit, Red Rabbit for DMV Theatre. She also returned recently to Lunchbox to curate and coordinate the 27th Suncor Energy Stage One Festival. In 2013, Pamela was awarded the inaugural Evans Award at the Calgary Critics’ Awards for her contribution to the vibrancy of the Calgary theatre community. She recently returned to Nova Scotia and is thrilled to be back living by the sea.