ABOUT THE SHOW

Letters, Leftovers and the Lottery: The Writing of Shirley Jackson is a thoughtfully curated portrait of one of America’s finest writers. In this two act show, (approx. 80 mins.), composer Allen Cole and actor Melody Johnson, combine reading, performance, and live piano to Jackson’s light domestic humour and lesser known psychologically charged stories, with a haunting retelling of her most well known short story The Lottery.

 As we’ve retreated into our homes during this pandemic time many of us have turned to podcasts and streaming services to listen and watch stories. Letters, Leftovers and the Lottery is a gentle invitation for audiences to dip their toes back into performance venues to listen and conjure communally to a kind of  ‘podcast brought to life onstage’ orchestrated by two of Canada’s award winning artistic collaborators. Audiences do not have to be Shirley Jackson fans to enjoy the show. Everyone will recognize and delight in the everydayness of humorous letters and stories centred around family and community.  They may also recognize and shudder at the horror of the everydayness of family and community!   

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Allen Cole, (Composer/Creator) | Originally from Nova Scotia, Allen Cole has worked variously as composer, musical director, and writer for The Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, the National Arts Centre and many other theatres across the country. He’s won numerous awards, including four Dora Mavor Moore awards, six Robert Merritt awards, and a Best Film Score Award from The Atlantic Film Festival. His musical Rockbound won five Merritt Awards, including Best New Play, Best Music and Best Production, and was nominated for the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Award.  His gamelan opera, How It Storms, was commissioned and performed by The Evergreen Club. His funk musical comedy The Bricklin premiered at the Fredericton Playhouse in 2010, and played in Katowice, Poland in 2013 and 2015. His musical based on Alice in Wonderland (created with Peter Hinton) premiered in May 2016 at the Shaw Festival.  

Melody A. Johnson, (Actor/Creator) | An accomplished creator, Melody has enjoyed a career of moving between the worlds of comedy and drama.   Since 2010 Melody has toured and produced the self penned Miss Caledonia throughout Canada, (premiering at the prestigious Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, and National Arts Centre in Ottawa), and internationally to the United Kingdom. The play garnered two Toronto Dora nominations (Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Performance 2013), and Calgary’s Betty Mitchell honour was awarded to actor Jamie Konchak for her portrayal of the titular character. Melody was recognized by Ontario Contact with the 2014 Touring Artist of the Year award, and has since ‘passed the baton’ to many performers and theatres. The play was recently produced in fall of 2021 at Gananoque’s Thousand Islands Playhouse, and in spring of 2022 at the Globe Theatre in Regina. 

Person of Interest, a light, topical take on neighbourly warfare, has delighted critics and audiences from coast to coast and continues limited runs. Melody is currently enjoying working with composer and partner Allen Cole on Letters, Leftovers and the Lottery – the Writing of Shirley Jackson, a show of readings, performance and song that celebrates the American writer.  An alumna of The Toronto Second City,  Stratford Festival, Melody has appeared on stages throughout the country and she continues to voice Agent Nola in Season 3 of Treehouse TV’s Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel.  Always pleased to offer workshops on tour Melody is an educator at the Humber School of Comedy, and founder of Comedy Coop, an online school of comedy studies for women. To learn more about Melody, visit www.melodyjohnson.ca.

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SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE!

Adults: $45 | Seniors: $38 | Students: $16