About the Play:

Finalist for the 2005 Governor General's Award for Drama

Cul-De-Sac is a full-length drama by Daniel MacIvor. The quiet of a dead-end street is torn apart by the murder of one of its residents. The victim is Leonard, our narrator. In this one-man tour-de-force, Leonard leads us through the story of his last moments on earth, transforming himself into the characters who inhabit his street as he struggles to understand just how and why he met his demise.

Cul-De-Sac is the story of Leonard, who narrates the events leading up to his murder – while trying to understand them himself. Through the course of the play, audiences are afforded the unique opportunity of peering behind the curtains and into the hearts of the eclectic neighbours who bear witness to Leonard's life and death, portrayed by a single performer. Yet each of their stories, while internally consistent, tells a subtly different version of what happened, progressively colouring and transforming our understanding of the characters as we think we had come to know them. In a headlong rush we understand that everyone's story inevitably dead-ends at precisely the bottom of the preconceptions they brought to its telling.

Cul-De-Sac premiered in 2002 as part of Théâtre du Monde at Usine C in Montréal, with Daniel MacIvor himself in the role of Leonard. Since then it has played at regional theatres and fringe festivals throughout North America.

Cast: 1 man (this challenging tour-de-force piece has also been performed by 1 woman)

What people say:

"Beautifully arcing and clever script…." — Philadelphia Weekly

About the Playwright:

Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian playwright and performer. Recipient of the coveted Governor General's Award for Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize), two Chalmers New Play Awards, an Obie Award, a GLADD Award, the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize, and countless theatre awards across the country, he is one of Canada's greatest living playwrights.