A new adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s classic Canadian novel The Diviners comes to the Tom Patterson Theatre for its world première. Directed by Krista Jackson with Geneviève Pelletier and with text by Vern Thiessen and Yvette Nolan, this production offers a bold adaptation, epic in scope, spanning centuries of this land’s past.

Irene Poole takes on the central role of novelist Morag Gunn, with Jessie Gervais as Jules, Jonathan Goad as Christie, Josue Laboucane as Lazarus and Julie Lumsden as Pique.

Overwhelmed by regret, isolated from her only daughter and living in a remote cabin, Morag finds her mind drifting from past to future, weaving through dream and memory, all the while excavating the histories of the peoples of Manitoba: Indigenous, Métis and European. In her navigations of these varied states of mind, Morag struggles to find her true voice and vocation, as a woman and an artist.

“Time is not linear in one’s memory and it is not linear in the play. The company of actors carry Morag on the river of her past and present,” says Jackson. “They are the currents that move her where she needs to go as she divines the story of her life.”

The production also features Christopher Allen as Lachlan, Gabriel Antonacci as Gord, Michelle Bardach, Carla Bennett, Dan Chameroy as Brooke, Jarret Cody, Caleigh Crow as Piquette, Darla Daniels as The Métis Fiddler, Allison Edwards-Crewe as Crispin, Henry Firmston, Bonnie Jordan, Bethany Kovarik, Jeff Lillico, Gracie Mack, Jordan Mah, Chris Mejaki, Evan Mercer, Jennifer Rider-Shaw, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Anthony Santiago as Royland, Tyrone Savage as Gus, Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, and Sara Topham as Eva, Duchess.

The creative team includes Choreographer Cameron Carver, Set and Lighting Designer Bretta Gerecke, Costume Designer Jeff Chief, Composer Andrina Turenne, Music director and arranger, additional composition and sound designer MJ Dandeneau, and Fight and Intimacy Director Anita Nittoly.

The Diviners officially opens on August 24 and runs until October 2 at the Tom Patterson Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

The 2024 season also features Twelfth Night, Something Rotten!, Romeo and Juliet, London Assurance, La Cage aux Folles, Wendy and Peter Pan, Salesman in China, Hedda Gabler, Cymbeline, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? and Get That Hope. For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.

Photo: Julie Lumsden as Pique. © 2024 Danny Shumov.