RIPCORD
by David Lindsay-Abaire
(January 10-February 1, 2025)
Director: Katherine Bignell
Producer: Bill Hammond
About the play:
A sunny room on an upper floor is prime real estate in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility, so when the cantankerous Abby is forced to share her quarters with new-arrival Marilyn, she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary. A seemingly harmless bet between the old women quickly escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship that reveals not just the tenacity of these worthy opponents, but also deeper truths that each would rather remain hidden.
“David Lindsay-Abaire’s tastily sweet-and-sour Ripcord is great fun!…Solidly crafted, the play is larded with moments of surprise, both wacky and more substantial. When the play gets serious, it’s genuinely moving. Beyond the high jinks, Ripcord offers a compelling look at the pleasure of a challenge and the challenge of finding pleasure.”
~ Time Out New York.
About David Lindsay-Abaire, the playwright:
David Lindsay-Abaire is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, screenwriter, lyricist and librettist. His play Good People, staged by Village Players in 2020, premiered on Broadway, was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, The Horton Foote Prize, The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, and two Tony nominations. His previous play Rabbit Hole received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, five Tony nominations, and the Spirit of America Award. David also wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical (Jeanine Tesori, composer), which was nominated for eight Tonys, four Oliviers, a Grammy, and earned David the Kleban Prize as America’s most promising musical theatre lyricist. David’s other plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David’s screen credits include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole (starring Nicole Kidman, Oscar nomination), Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians, and The Family Fang, among others. He is also co-director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School.
“With Lindsay-Abaire—a shape-shifting writer of always humanist works—nothing ever happens merely for its own sake. There are deeper issues lurking below the comedic surface.”
~ deadline.com
About Katherine Bignell, the director:
Lighting designer, props coordinator, set designer, stage manager, makeup artist, actor are just a few of Katherine’s theatre skills, many of which she contributes to our theatre. In recent years she has also become one of Village Players’ most creative and accomplished directors, with Fox on the Fairway and Les Belles Soeurs in 2016, The Liar in 2018, Unnecessary Farce in 2019, and A Sting in the Tale, in 2023.
She also directed God of Carnage in the Toronto Fringe and Nana’s Naughty Knickers for Theatre Etobicoke. Other selected plays she has directed are Terror By Gaslight (Kanaidjun Entertainment), Killcreek (Bojit Productions), A Bedful of Foreigners, Too Many Cooks, Who’s Under Where?, and Clothes Encounter (Theatre Etobicoke), and Final Curtain (LaSalle Players).
Village Players 