Two critically-acclaimed shows, featuring a pair of master storytellers, will come

together in repertoire under the banner of Rogue & Vagabond at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle

Theatre, June 3-14.

Myra’s Story, winner of Outstanding Production honours at the 2013 London Fringe Festival

and Critic’s Choice at the 2013 Hamilton Fringe, portrays a day in the life of a destitute Irish drinker

as she begs for money from passers-by. Jumping from character to colourful character, Myra

Hennessey explains how she came to arrive at her present state with street-smart style, wry wit

and brutal honesty.

Audiences will both laugh and cry with Myra — often at the same time — as she recounts

her adventures, becoming the characters who have shaped her life, from her irascible father and

idealistic husband, to her neighbours: Tina the Tap, Big Bridie and Jimmy theTadpole.

Performed by award-winning actor Jennifer Cornish and directed by Darlene Spencer of

Toronto’s Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Myra’s Story “is an acting tour de force,”

says Robert Reid of The Waterloo Region Record.

Strolling Player, named in NOW Magazine’s round-up as one of the “Best Productions” and

“Best Performances” of the 2013 Toronto Fringe, is a kaleidoscope of vivid personalmemories from

a long, vibrant career and hectic personal life, with speeches from Shakespeare, Webster, Shaw,

Wilde and more commenting on the action.

From entranced boy at his father’s theatre to actor bringing Shakespeare to the White

House, through death and divorce, Oscar Wilde and Harvey Fierstein, falling off the stage and

falling in love, Toronto stage favourite Richard Sheridan Willis recounts the passions and

absurdities of one actor’s life. The “cast” includes film stars, knights of the United Kingdom, an

American president and a number of ex-wives.

Directed by Robert Richmond, recently acclaimed for his innovative productions at the

Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC, Strolling Player, says Glenn Sumi of NOW, is a

“charming, moving, spellbinding memoir of a life in the theatre.”

Rogue & Vagabond brings Myra and her stories from the street, along with the Strolling

Player’s stories from the road, under one roof, treating audiences to “a gourmet theatrical meal

filled withmany different tastes, all complementing one another,” explains Willis.

“Why Rogue & Vagabond? Because Myra and the Strolling Player are concomitant through

being on the far fringes of society,” says Willis. “Both are fighting, in their own way, to survive

being outsiders.”

Rogue & Vagabond runs June 3-14 at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen Street East.

Tickets are $20 per single show, or $30 for both (second seating must be reserved at time of

purchase). For tickets or more information: 416-845-9411 or redsandcastletheatre@gmail.com.

NOTE: Myra’s Story contains coarse language and mature subject matter.