March 24 - April 19, 2009

Montreal Premiere

Centaur Theatre Company presents
The Age of Arousal
By LINDA GRIFFITHS
wildly inspired by
The Odd Women by George Gissing
Directed by SARAH GARTON STANLEY

STARRING
JULIAN CASEY
CLARE COULTER
ALISON DARCY
DIANA FAJRAJSL
GEMMA JAMES SMITH
LENI PARKER

Set and Costume Design by Michael Eagan
Lighting Design by Leigh Ann Vardy
Stage Manager: Merissa Tordjman
Assistant Stage Manager: Sarah-Marie Langlois

Enter the boldly uncensored world of loosened corsets as five Victorian women pursue a new age where erotic and economic freedom reign supreme. It’s 1885, and the typewriter is invented, a population imbalance leaves London flooded with half a million more women than men and an escalating suffrage movement has ushered in a rip-roaring New Age. Mary Barfoot, an ex-militant suffragette, runs a school for secretaries with her beloved Rhoda. The school’s invasion by three spinster sisters and a charismatic cad named Everard, creates a catalyst for political, sexual and emotional explosion. Ideas and libidos clash for dominance, as each character confronts the meaning of revolutionary courage. Sexy, fresh, and vibrantly funny, Age of Arousal is a modern look at forbidden Victorian desires on the brink of explosion.

"Absolutely brilliant . . ."
- Toronto Star

"Like Tom Stoppard, playwright Linda Griffiths tells her story through the highly verbal interaction of individuals whose lives intersect the great issues of their time."
- Broad Street Review

"If you want to have laughs and come away with something to think about, Age of Arousal is just your cup of tea!"
- Stage Magazine Online