Time Waits for No One: A Prison Play

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Friday, November 7th, 2014
6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Time Waits For No One: A Prison Play

by William Head On Stage Prison Theatre Company

Victoria’s inmate-run theatre company transforms the prison gymnasium into a carnival for this fall’s show

Opening October 10, 2014

In Victoria, BC

This fall, the men of William Head Prison have created a heartfelt new show inspired by their own lives and by the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie. This year the play is set in a carnival, and the men are hard at work transforming the prison gymnasium into an interactive amusement park with carnival games designed and built by the inmates.  Audiences can sit and enjoy free popcorn as they watch the play unfold.

All summer long, inmates have been working with Victoria theatre makers and musicians to create this new play, a heartfelt contemporary fable about one man’s life and the people he has affected along the way. If you could travel back in time, what advice might you give your younger self?

Time Waits for No One centers around the character of Eddie, an everyman's man, as he is coming to terms with what he has given and taken from people in his life, and the ripple effects created by his actions. At the end of his life Eddie returns to the amusement park he explored as a kid, where he is drawn into a magical carousal ride that takes him back in time to revisit different stages of his life. From awkward teenage romance to alienation within his foster family and his time spent in prison, Eddie is catapulted through his life guided by the spirits of five animals: the Raven, Horse, Raccoon, Buck, and Hummingbird. Eddie’s experiences are inspired by true stories from the incarcerated men's lives.

At the show, public audiences are processed through prison security and invited into the prison gymnasium. An inmate usher rips your ticket as you grab a bag of free popcorn and a coffee and sit down to enjoy the play, featuring an original live soundtrack written and performed by Katrina Kadoski and the inmate band. 

This year's director Kate Rubin also directed at the prison in 2012 for their sold-out stage adaptation of The Hobbit.  This spring the inmates told Rubin about Mitch Albom’s novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and how they had been impacted by this story of a man at the end of his life looking back on the people he affected and seeking redemption. The men asked Rubin if she thought they could create a play inspired by the book. "So for the last 4 months that is what we have been doing,” says Rubin. “We, not only includes about 2 dozen inmates working hard on the production but 8 women, theatre artists all, who have been collectively creating together and supporting this project by bringing their own unique gifts to the table. Every time I work with WHOS, I learn more, am inspired and rewarded by the opportunity to apply my craft to support what these men are trying to do which simply put is to grow and learn new skills in a positive creative environment. Working with WHOS over the last seven plus years has helped open my heart and teach me more about tolerance and understanding and seeing things from many perspectives. I am deeply moved by the small moments in our time together and my conviction deepens that theatre work is a powerful medium for change.”

This show is created, designed and built by inmates from William Head on Stage and The Prison Arts Collective (Kate Rubin, Anne Cirillo, Kathleen Greenfield, Ingrid Hansen, Katrina Kadoski, Carole Klemm, Poe Limkul, and Jeni Luther.)

THE COMPANY - William Head on Stage (W.H.o.S.)

William Head on Stage (or WHoS) is the only inmate-run prison theatre company in all of Canada that invites the public into the prison to experience their shows. WHoS has been creating shows for the public for the last 33 years at William Head Prison, tucked away on the windy coast in the forests of Metchosin, a 35-minute drive from Victoria, BC.

“It’s a testament to the power of theatre to change lives.” - Globe and Mail review of The WHoS 2011 production of Gormenghast

“Clever, sweet, adorable, sad, and unexpected all at once. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. For me, music is a big part of a performance, and Katrina Kadoski’s compositions for this show complemented everything that was happening onstage perfectly.   It took terrific heart and courage for these men to get up onstage, do something new, and share a piece of themselves with the audience…I daresay that this production best embodies everything I feel that theatre can do for people: give them courage, let them reveal a bit about themselves, and help them discover new talents and abilities. I would go again in a heartbeat.” - by Morgan McPherson, from The Charlebois Post Review of the WHoS 2013 Prison Puppet Project

“Performed with gusto and with visually impressive stage direction, the inmates of William Head made me a believer. Go for the adventure; stay for the show.” – Grant Mackenzie, 2011 Monday Magazine Review of the WHoS play Gormenghast

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 30, 31
November 1, 6, 7, 8, 2014

6:15pm - Gate Opens
7:15pm - Gate Closes (absolutely no latecomers)
7:30pm - Show Begins

VENUE - William Head Institution, 6000 William Head Rd

A Minimum Security Prison, a 35 minute drive from downtown Victoria

TICKETS - $20

Available at MyChosen Café (4492 Happy Valley Rd, Metchosin)

OR at TICKETROCKET (inside Intrepid Theatre Office at #2 – 1609 Blanshard St. at Fisgard, Victoria) 250-590-6291   www.ticketrocket.org

ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE,

None are for sale at the prison gates.

Audience Reminders:

WHoS is located inside a Federal Institution. Must be 19+ to enter.
You may be electronically scanned
Personal belongings (purses, wallets, cell phones, money, etc.) are forbidden and must be left in your car.
No smoking materials are permitted

For more information visit www.whonstage.weebly.com