Presentation House Theatre presents
the frank theatre company
Walt Whitman’s Secret
By Sean O’Leary
Directed by Jack Paterson
WHEN: October 13-23, 2016
October 13 @ 8pm: Preview
October 14 @ 8pm: Opening
October 15, 19, 20, 21 (ASL-interpreted), 22 @ 8pm
Oct 16 & 23 @ 2pm
WHERE: Presentation House
333 Chesterfield Ave, North Vancouver
TICKETS: $15-$28, on sale now at www.phtheatre.org
Coast Salish Territories/Vancouver, BC – the frank theatre company’s 20th anniversary season mainstage production, the world premiere of Walt Whitman’s Secret, opens October 14th 2016 at Presentation House in North Vancouver. Adapted by playwright Sean O’Leary from the acclaimed novel by Vancouver-based Canadian literary luminary George Fetherling, Walt Whitman’s Secret mines the life of the most influential poet in the American canon for insights about creativity, sexuality, relations between the sexes and the often-irreconcilable tensions between idealized love and how love actually manifests. Was Whitman – one of history’s most eloquent versifiers on romantic love – ever able to attain the kind of love he wrote so forcefully about?
“Walt Whitman’s Secret is a beautiful play about love in all its many aspects, and the power and pull of poetry,” says frank Artistic Producer Chris Gatchalian. “It’s a play written in the classic realistic tradition and a costume drama to boot, quite unlike anything the frank has ever done before. But at the same time it’s cast the way all of the frank’s shows are cast – reflecting the diversity of 2016 Vancouver, one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.”
Starring Tom Pickett in the role of Walt Whitman, with Adele Noronha as Anne, Kamyar Pazandeh as Pete and Conrad Belau as Horace.
About the frank theatre company: Formerly Screaming Weenie Productions, the frank theatre company’s mission is to explore what it means to be queer, and the place of queer individuals in society, by creating, developing, producing and presenting theatrical work that places queer issues on a global canvas. These are works wherein issues of queer marginalization intersect with racism, classism, and sexism. the frank is primarily a text-based theatre company, trusting in the ability of the playwright to wrestle with these questions. For more information: thefranktheatre.com
