Theatre BC will celebrate its 85th Anniversary and Canada 150 by holding festivals featuring all-Canadian plays. Nanaimo Theatre Group has chosen to perform Toronto, Mississippi by Joan MacLeod who is currently a faculty member at the University of Victoria. It was written and is set in 1987, and revolves around Jhanna, played by award winning Dana Mowbray.  Jhanna is a funny, passionate, and often exasperating 18 year old, who also happens to be mentally challenged.  She lives with her mom, Maddie, played by well-known local actor, Sherri McLean and their boarder, Bill, played by Dave Bigelow, a poet with a morose sense of humour.  Tensions rise and jealousies flare when Jhanna’s dad, King, played by Wes Lazaroff, an Elvis impersonator who abandoned the family ten years earlier, makes an unexpected reappearance. While often very funny, this is ultimately a deeply moving play about the power of family and love.

Nanaimo Theatre Group
nanaimotheatregroup.ca