Every Day She Rose
by Andrea Scott and Nick Green
After the Black Lives Matter protest at the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade, two friends find their racial and queer politics aren’t as aligned as they thought, and the playwrights behind them must figure out how to write about the fallout.
Cathy Ann, a straight Black woman, and her roommate Mark, a gay white man, came home from the parade with such differing views of what happened and how it affected their own communities. Simultaneously, playwrights Andrea and Nick—who share the same identities as their characters—pause throughout the show to figure out how to work together to tell the story of a significant turning point in a friendship.
Through both sets of dialogue, Every Day She Rose is a powerful exploration of white supremacy, privilege, and patriarchy in supposed safe spaces.
First produced by Nightwood Theatre, Toronto, 2019
For this performance, we are hosting a Black Out Night on August 9th at 8pm. This is an exclusive Pay-What-You-Can performance for a Black-identifying audience.
Tickets to this performance can be found at the Black Out Night link below or you can call our box office at 519-272-4368
Cast and Creative
Written by: Andrea Scott and Nick Green
Directed by: Monique Lund with Associate Director Tiffany Deriveau
Cast: Jenni Burke and Robbie Towns
Lighting and Sound Design: Stephen Degenstein
Costume and Set Design: Monique Lund
Monique Lund
Monique Lund is thrilled to be once again collaborating with Here For Now Theatre for the third season of its hugely successful Festival. Past directing credits with HFN include Infinite Possibilities, WHACK! ( associate director) and The Tracks. She has been a professional actor, singer and dancer for over thirty years and has worked from coast to coast in Canada and the U.S. Some career highlights include the Broadway Tour of Mamma Mia in which she played the role of Donna, the original Toronto companies of The Lord of the Rings, Joseph, The Who’s Tommy, and Crazy For You. She has also spent 11 seasons at the Stratford Festival in a variety of plays and musicals, workshops and recordings including The House of Martin Guerre, Kiss Me Kate, The Music Man, Julius Caesar, Crazy For You, Elektra, The Sound of Music, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Camelot, Evita, The Bacchae, and Cabaret. In 2017 she won the Brian Macdonald award for emerging directors at the Stratford Festival Guthrie Awards. She calls Stratford her home – both artistically and physically and is excited to be involved in the shared experience of live theatre once again.
Tiffany Deriveau
Real talk, I'm geeked to be a part of this production. What an opportunity it is to explore these relevant themes with such a talented group. I am grateful to contribute my authentic voice and lived experiences to the process. After 22 years of Equity shows as a performer, I need to shout out Monique and give a big thanks to Here For Now for affording me this first opportunity to associate direct. Selected Credits: Chicago (Stratford Festival) Mamma Mia! (Mirvish); Cookin’ At The Cookery (Canadian Stage); Hairspray (Charlottetown) Little Shop. (Grand Theatre) Buddy; Jesus Christ Superstar; Hairspray; Hair; Soul Sistas.(Mayfield) Hairspray; Priscilla (Drayton) Film/TV: CTV, Disney, MTV Recordings: Background vocals - Rita McNeil, Saving Grace Album Dedication: For my parents, Monica and Bernis.
Andrea Scott
Andrea’s play, Eating Pomegranates Naked, won the RBC Arts Professional Award, and named Outstanding Production at the 2013 SummerWorks Festival. Better Angels: A Parable won the SummerWorks Award for Production and was published in 2018. Don’t Talk to Me Like I’m Your Wife, won the Cayle Chernin Award for theatre ran at SummerWorks in 2016. 2019 saw her co-written play with Nick Green, Every Day She Rose wow audiences at Buddies in Bad Times. Her play about Viola Desmond, Controlled Damage, had its sold-out world premiere at Neptune Theatre in 2020 and will open at The Grand Theatre in 2023. She won the Magee Diversity Screenwriter’s Award for her first TV script, Dust to Dust. Her dark comedy ‘Bad Habits’ landed her a job as the Story Editor on ‘The Porter’ (BET/CBC), which she followed up with snagging a spot pitching to Netflix with her supernatural drama ‘Cassidy Must Die’. 2021 saw her winning $10,000 from Amazon and the Indigenous Screen Office, pitching her coming-of-age dramedy ‘DONE!’ She’s currently working in the writers room on the 16th season of Murdoch Mysteries.
Nick Green
Nick Green is a Dora Mavor Moore, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes, and Tom Hendry Award winning playwright in Toronto. Featured writing credits include Dr. Silver (book; South Coast Repertory, Pacific Playwrights); Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Living the Dream (book; Canadian Music Theatre Projects); In Real Life (book and co-lyrics; Canadian Music Theatre Projects, recipient of the Tom Hendry Award); Body Politic (lemonTree Creations/Buddies in Bad Times, Dora Mavor Moore Award); Fangirl (book; Musical Stage Company); Poof! The Musical (book and lyrics; Capitol Theatre, Sterling Nomination); and Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom, and the Fabulous Buddha Boi (Guys in Disguise, Sterling Award). Nick has been a part of the Stratford Festival’s Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program; Factory Theatre’s Natural Resources unit; Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip; and Sheridan College’s Canadian Music Theatre Project. Nick is also the creator of The Social Distancing Festival (socialdistancingfestival.com)
Jenni Burke
Jenni Burke is a Canadian actor and singer She has had a diverse career spanning in film, television and stage. She has performed to rave revues and in venues across Canada including most recently Da Kink In my Hair, Bang Bang, Chicago, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Intimate Apparel, The Vagina Monologues, The New Canadian Curling Club, Mamma Mia, All Shook Up and The Drowsy Chaperone. Recent Television and film credits include Kim's Convenience, Murdoch Mysteries, Love Subscription, Private Eyes, Kids in the Hall, Say Yes to Christmas, Colors of Love, Odd Squad, Overlord and the Underwoods, Reacher. Other film credits include Music Man, Undercover Brother Half Baked and Rookie Blue. Jenni is also known for hosting a successful Cabaret Collective and performing her own act in Cabaret Festivals, Jenni has received Betty Mitchell, Dora and Evie award nominations. Upcoming White Christmas at the Shaw Festival this year and a Follow on Instagam @jennicburke
Robbie Towns
Born and raised on a farm near Vermillion in rural Alberta, Robbie retains a sense of prairie pride while currently residing in Stratford, Ontario. Recent credits include: CONTACT (Elgin & Winter Garden, Toronto); MAMMA MIA! (Citadel Theater); ROCK OF AGES (The Arts Club); SHEAR MADNESS, PRISCILLA - QUEEN OF THE DESERT, NEWSIES (Drayton Entertainment); VANYA & SONIA & MASHA & SPIKE, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD (Persephone Theater); LEGALLY BLONDE (Savoy, West End); THE TEMPEST (Theater Royal, Bath); SCROOGE (Palladium, West End); LIFT (Soho Theater, Off-West End); MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan); EVITA (UK Tour); DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS (Citizens Theater, Glasgow); OUR MAN IN HAVANA (Vertigo Theater); [title of show] (Edinburgh Festival). Cabaret credits: WELCOME TO THE PARTY (Fringe Festival, Edmonton); CALL ME! (The Arches, Glasgow); WEST END SUNDAY (The Lucky Pig, London). More info at robbietowns.com. Robbie performs in the loving memory of Melanie Piatocha Zimmerman.
Stephen Degenstein
Stephen is thrilled to be on board with Here For Now Theatre as lighting and sound designer. Stephen has more than 600 production credits across Canada over the past 35 years; his theatre design credits include Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment, National Arts Centre, Native Earth Performing Arts and Neptune Theatre. Credits in Stratford include resident lighting designer for INNERchamber, set and lighting designer for Alternative Theatre Works where credits include lighting for The Wind in the Willows, set and lighting for The Bear, Yalta Game, Afterplay, Jewel, and A Tender Thing. In addition to creating multiple set designs for Off The Wall at Factory 163, Stephen has been the technical director for SpringWorks over the past 10 years and was the designer/technical director for The International Children’s Festival held in Stratford in 2016. Stephen has taught in various technical theatre programmes including The Performing Arts Prep Program at Sheridan College, Humber College and Fanshawe College. Stephen resides in Stratford with his wife, singer/songwriter Pamela Jane Gerrand.