2014/2015 Season
by Nassim Soleimanpour
In association with Aurora Nova
January 7 – 18, 2015
Venue: Rachel Browne Theatre – 211 Bannatyne Ave. (at Main Street)
I was born on Azar 19th, 1360 in Tehran. That’s Tehran, December 10th, 1981 in Christian years…”
Imagine being 29 and forbidden to leave your country. Nassim Soleimanpour dissects the experience of an entire generation in a wild utterly original play from Iran. Forbidden to travel, he turns his isolation to his own advantage with a play that requires no director, no set and a different actor for every performance.
White Rabbit, Red rabbit is an audacious theatrical experiment and a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theatre.
“Wildly unpredictable and completely unforgettable, White Rabbit Red Rabbit is a punch in the air for self expression; a testament to the power of words to transcend cultures and borders. You have to be there.”
-New Zealand Herald-
Performance Schedule
Wednesday January 7 8pm Gordon Tanner
Thursday January 8 8pm Sarah Constible
Friday January 9 8pm Tom Keenan
Saturday January 10 8pm Sharon Bajer
Sunday January 11 2pm Alan Williams
Sunday January 11 7pm Bathélemy Bolivar en français
Tuesday January 13 1:30pm Loc Lu
Tuesday January 13 7pm Tobias Hughes
Wednesday January 14 1:30pm Ian Ross
Wednesday January 14 8pm Carson Nattrass
Thursday January 15 1:30pm Leith Clark
Thursday January 15 8pm Fraz Weist
Friday January 16 8pm Shawna Dempsey
Saturday January 17 2pm Janice Skene
Saturday January 17 8pm Stephen Sim
Sunday January 18 2pm Genevieve Pelletier en français
Sunday January 18 7pm Arne MacPherson
NO LATECOMERS ADMITTED
With a different performer taking the stage each night, some patrons may want to see the show more than once! TPM has a deal for all who want to see more than one rabbit hop across the stage. Click here for full details!!
Nassim Soleimanpour- Playwright
Nassim is an independent multidisciplinary theatre maker from Tehran, Iran. His plays have been translated into more than 20 languages. Best known for his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written to travel the world when he couldn’t, his work has been awarded the Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance, Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award and The Arches Brick Award (Edinburgh Fringe) as well as picking up nominations for a Total Theatre and Brighton Fringe Pick of Edinburgh Award.
Nassim has facilitated workshops and panels in different countries including World Theatre Festival (Brisbane), Tolhuistuin (Amsterdam), SESC Vila Mariana (Sao Paulo), Schauspielhaus (Wien), DPAC (Kuala Lampur) and University of Bremen and etc.
Currently developing his new play Blind Hamlet for the London based Actors Touring Company, Nassim lives in Tehran.
Gord Tanner- Actor
Performs Wednesday January 7 8pm
Gordon is an actor and writer who has lived in Winnipeg his whole life long. He has performed on every stage in the city – some that no longer exist – and on others across the country. Some of his credits include Jane Eyre, A Christmas Story, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, The Vibrator Play, and White Christmas at RMTC, Henry V and Merry Wives of Windsor at SIR, the Magical Mystery Munsch tour and Moonlight and Magnolias at PTE, La Trappe et Des Fraises en Janvier pour Le Cercle Moliére, Assassins and She Loves Me with Dry Cold. Some of his favourite theatrical experiences have been with Theatre Projects Manitoba – playing Kelly in Three Sisters, Dr. Thomas Glendenning Hamilton inThe Elmwood Visitation and writing and performing Last Man in Krakendorf for In The Chamber 2010. A true Winnipegger, he has always enjoyed a nice cold read.
Sarah Constible- Actor 
Performs Thursday January 8 8pm
Sarah is an actor and writer. Previous shows with Theatre Projects include The Monster Trilogy, Murder Ballads, and Dionysus in Stony Mountain.
TomKeenan-Actor Performs Friday January 9 8pm
Tom is very excited to be a part of this project. As an actor and singer-songwriter he performs across Canada. Most recently Winnipeg has seen him in SIR’s Comedy of Errors and MTC’s The Seagull. TPM audiences may remember him from The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz. Currently he is working with zone41 Theatre and the band Royal Canoe on an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II.
Sharon Bajer- Actor
Performs Saturday January 10 8pm
Sharon is an actress, playwright and director. Recent credits include acting in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, The Seagull and A Christmas Story at RMTC, directing Munsch Upon a Time at PTE and The Stuck Pot for The Young Company at MTYP. Sharon was a participant in Stratford’s Michael Langham Workshop in Classical Direction for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and was Director-in-Residence at Rainbow Stage 2014. Sharon is a member of the Playwright’s Unit at PTE. She has written several plays including Hersteria, Burnin’ Love and Molly’s Veil. Sharon is a graduate of Studio 58. sharonbajer.com
Bathélemy Bolivar- Actor Peforms Sunday January 11 7pm
Manitobain d’origine haïtienne, Bathélemy Bolivar est à la fois poète, essayiste, enseignant et activiste profondément engagé. Auteur de 4 recueils de poésie publiée –Manguiers têtus (2005), Re-bondir (2007), Mots de Terre (2010) et Tempo (2013) au Manitoba et au Québec. Il est récipiendaire du prix Rue Deschambault 2007. Tout en comptant également à son actif, plusieurs nominations à d’autres prix de poésie aussi prestigieux, tel que le prix LansDowne de poésie en 2014.
Loc Lu- Actor
Toby Hughes- ActorCarson Nattrass- Actor 
Performs Wednesday January 14 8pm
Carson is a theatre artist who has directed for Rainbow Stage, White Rabbit Productions and the Winnipegger Ensemble and has performed for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Rainbow Stage, Dry Cold Productions, White Rabbit, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People and Danny Schur Productions. Much love to Sharon and Theodore!
Leith Clark- Actor Performs Thursday January 15 1:30pm
Leith made his acting debut as Peter Rabbit in the first grade. Since that time he has been acting,
writing, directing and teaching theatre. In 1991 he made his Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival debut in possibly the worst play ever. However, he has continued fringing ever since performing and directing several plays and started his own company, LEITHelle Productions writing, producing and directing The Spice of Life parts 1 – 4, A Midsummer Night’s FEVER , Christmess and Staffroom, and co-written and performed Father, I Fem For Myself with his dad and A House Fell on Our Sister and We Didn’t Get No RubySlippers with Columpa C. Bobb. In his spare time Leith works with his little darlings at Sisler High School and directs their school musicals.
Fraz Wiest-Actor
Performs Thursday January 15 8pm
Fraz Wiest is an actor, comedian, sometimes writer and all the time wrestling fan from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a founding member of Toronto’s Ghost Jail Theatre, and a cast member of Winnipeg’s DnD Improv. His first ever one-man show, FRAZ: Lonely At Last premiered at the 2012 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and his second solo effort, FRAZ vs The Future, was performed all last summer at the 2014 Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver Fringes. Fraz is beyond thrilled to be a part of this very special production, and humbled to be welcomed into the Theatre Projects Manitoba fold.
Shawna Dempsey- Actor
Performs Friday January 16 8pm
Shawna Dempsey creates performance, film, video, books and installation with her collaborator, Lorri Millan. Best known for pieces such as We’re Talking Vulva, A Day in The Life of A Bull-Dyke, and Lesbian National Parks and Services, Dempsey and Millan articulate political concerns through their art. Throughout their practice they have been committed to placing their work in non-art spaces so they can speak to diverse audiences. This duo has shown extensively in venues ranging from the Istanbul Biennial to United Church conferences, from the Museum of Modern Art to women’s centres in Sri Lanka. Dempsey also writes and curates, and has organized exhibitions at YYZ Gallery, Gallery 1C03, Hallwalls Contemporary Art and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, among others.
Jan Skene-Actor
Performs Saturday January 17 2pm
Jan Skene is best known as an accomplished actor/singer and director, having appeared on almost all of Winnipeg’s main stages over the past 28 years and has numerous film and tv credits. Jan appeared in Theatre Projects’ very first show – ALBERTINE IN FIVE TIMES and holds a special place in her heart for this company. She is honoured and scared sh@#less, but hopefully not witless, to be appearing in this production.
Stephen Sim- Actor Performs Saturday January 17 8pm
Geneviève Pelletier- Actor 
Performs Sunday January 18 2pm
Arne MacPherson- Actor Performs Sunday January 18 7pm
Arne performed the title role in Shakespeare’s Dog at the Manitoba Theatre Centre andthe NAC in Ottawa. He played Hamlet, Richard III, and many other roles for Shakespeare In the Ruins, and has worked at most of Winnipeg’s theatres. Arne has directed over thirty productions in Winnipeg. Favourite shows include Sargent & Victor & Me (Theatre Projects Manitoba), The Threepenny Opera (The Manitoba Theatre Centre and Shakespeare In the Ruins), Head, The Tempest (Shakespeare In the Ruins). He performed with his partner Debbie Patterson and their two kids Gislina and Solmund in Patterson’s play Molotov Circus, which was presented at the Winnipeg Fringe and theSummerworks festival in Toronto. He is a member of nuna(now), an IcelandCanada art convergence. In association with nuna(now), Arne cocreated with a group of Icelandic and Canadian artists a performance work called The Island, which was shown in Reykjavik and Winnipeg.
