About the Play:

Winner of the 2002 Jessies, Sydney Risk Award for outstanding new play by an emerging playwright.

Cariboo Magi, by award-winning playwright and actress Lucia Frangione, is an unabashed celebration of the power of theatre to renew our lives and banish our cares.

A drunken Anglican minister who has failed to convert anyone in ten years, an avaricious saloon keeper with a murder in her past, a pregnant child star who has become too old for her roles and a man who claims to be the last of the Mohicans all need a new lease on life. They intercept a contract meant for a San Diego theatre company, form a bedraggled troupe of players and head north, through the wilds of the Cariboo gold rush to perform a Christmas Pageant for the Theatre Royal in Barkerville, BC. On their way, they rehearse a hilarious pastiche of Hamlet, The Last of the Mohicans, A Christmas Carol and The Gospel of Luke, gradually finding a way to legitimize their only true talents as "professional liars."

Cast: 5 women, 5 men

What people say:

"A beautifully written tribute to the strength of the human spirit." — Vancouver Sun

"Devilish wit, deep religion, sheer audacity… I cried. I laughed. And I thought. Who could ask for more?" — Colin Thomas, Critic: The Georgia Straight

"Cariboo Magi is such an original, refreshing take on the Christmas story that even the Scroogiest theatregoer would have trouble resisting its charms." — Kathleen Oliver, Critic: The Georgia Straight

About the Playwright:

Lucia Frangione has emerged from Canada's independent theatre scene to take her place as an important, young post-feminist voice on the lives of women in the post-modern world, boldly questioning the institutions of family, religion, and sexual iconography. Her accessible and entertaining plays persist in furthering an intelligent female voice in the theatre, utilizing satire as a tool for critical thought, and tackling complex themes with wit and courage. Frangione herself has also acted in her own plays to much acclaim, notably earning Jessie Richardson Award nominations for her leading performances in Holy Mo (1997) and Espresso (2003) as well as winning the CAEA Stage West National Acting Award in 2003.

She is the recipient of the 2006 and 1998 Gordon Armstrong Playwright Awards for Holy Mo and Leave Of Absence respectively, and won the Sydney Risk playwright award for Cariboo Magi in 2001. Espresso, was nominated for seven Jessie awards and toured Western Canada in 2004. Her sixteen plays have been produced by theatres such as The Belfry Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Ruby Slippers, Solo Collective, Chemainus Theatre and Prairie Theatre Exchange. Lucia resides in Vancouver with actor husband, Michael Kopsa, and her daughter, Eleanora.