By Elena Belyea
Directed by Andrea Donaldson
from April 28 to May 2, 2015
Tuesday April 28: 7:30 pm
Wednesday April 29: 6:30 pm
Thursday April 30: 9 pm
Friday May 1: 6:30 pm
Saturday May 2: 6 pm
Studio Hydro-Québec
1182, St. Laurent Blvd., Montreal
St. Laurent or Place d'Armes Metro
Ticket price: $5
Tickets are available at the Monument-National’s box office (1182, St. Laurent Blvd.) one month prior to the opening.
Telephone reservations:
514-871-2224 | 1-866-844-2172
A $3,50 handling fee will be applied to tickets reserved by phone.
For 17-year-old intersexed Aaron, the new school year means a new chance at life. For Pina, another shot at head cheerleader. For Mark, open season. Meanwhile, Carol's career is blossoming. Paul's is floundering. An examination of identity, gender, and family, Cleave is the moment before a surgeon's first incision-- the scalpel is poised and ready to slice.
Edmonton-born Elena Belyea found the inspiration for Cleave in a dubious “news” story out of China: a husband sued his wife for giving him what he considered ugly children and for not divulging that she had undergone plastic surgery before they had met. “While writing the play, I kept coming back to this idea of being embarrassed by your children, or disappointed by your parents,” says Elena.
Elena Belyea is a playwright and performer in her last year of the Playwriting program at the National Theatre School of Canada. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a BA (First Class Honors) in Drama and a Minor in Creative Writing in 2011. She was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where she has been producing work for the past 8 years. She was Artistic Director of Edmonton's Common Ground Arts Society from 2012 to 2013, during which time she co-created the Edmonton Found Festival, a site-specific multidisciplinary arts festival. Past acting and writing credits include White Night (Found Festival, 2013), Home Video (Co-created with Ben Stevens, Found Festival, 2012), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Promise Productions, 2011), Howl (an adaptation of the poem by Allen Ginsberg, ABBEDAM Productions, 2012), Brake (Co-created with Ben Stevens, Edmonton International Fringe Festival, 2011), I SEE YOU STRANGLING (New Works Festival, 2012), Rapture! (Co-wriitten with Collin Matty, Edmonton International Fringe Festival, 2010) and Paula and Strom (co-written with Will Arbery, Nextfest, 2010). She has also had poetry published in Edmonton's Other Voices and the University of North Carolina's Metabolism.
Dustin Luck
Diana Luong
Emma Laishram
Thomas Mitchell Barnet
Cynthia Hicks
Erik Mrakovcic
Brad Murphy
Set Design
Carlan Lonsdale
Costume Design
Alexandra Lord
Set Design Assistant
Andrew Scriver
Lighting Design
Johnny Cann
Video Design
Chris Wardell
Sound Design
Victoria Wang
Production Manager
Bruce Lambie
Stage Manager
Laura Warren
Technical Director