About the Play:

Late Company is a full-length drama by Jordan Tannahill. Two grieving parents invite their late son's bully and his parents over for dinner in hopes of finding peace and reconciliation following their son's suicide last year. But far from finding the closure they seek, the dinner strips bare their good intentions to reveal layers of parental, sexual, and political hypocrisy. Sparking passionate debate, Late Company explores restorative justice, cyber bullying, and the ever-changing complexities of parenthood in the 21st century.

Late Company confronts the modern-day malady of cyberbullying via an old-fashioned set-up – creating the dinner party from hell when grieving parents invite their son's bully and his parents round for tea. One year after the suicide of their teenage son Joel, Debora and Michael Shaun-Hastings sit down to dinner with their son's bully and his parents. Closure is on the menu, but accusations are the main course as everyone takes a turn in the hot seat for their real or imagined part in the tragedy. Blame shifts over the course of the evening from one person to the next, provoking introspection where there may be none, and raising questions no one is prepared to answer. Written with sensitivity and humour, Late Company is both a timely and timeless meditation on a parent's struggle to comprehend the monstrous and unknown in their child.

Late Company premiered in in 2013 at the The Lower Ossington Studio Theatre during SummerWorks Performance Festival in Toronto. Since then the play had regional premieres at professional theatres across Canada – as well as in Los Angeles, Chicago, and London's West End – and has been mounted by community theatres.

Cast: 2 female, 3 male

What people say:

"Tannahill's writing fizzes with authenticity ... Tannahill's play, written when he was only 23, may be unapologetically conventional but in the way it picks apart our misguided hunger for easy resolutions, it's utterly transfixing." — The Telegraph (London)

"This is theatre in its purest form: a cathartic cleansing ... a palpable mix of hostility and pity on all sides ... a solid story ... Late Company weighs heavily on your mind in the days following the performance." — The Independent (UK)

"Tannahill's subtle writing examines divergent approaches to parenthood without condemning anyone, as well as the challenges of childrearing in the 21st century." — NOW Magazine

"Tannahill's script makes his characters abandon their pretenses, pick them up again, and then set them on fire." — Mooney on Theatre

"Late Company ... is excruciatingly good theatre: it feels like open heart surgery." — Vancouver Courier

About the Playwright:

Jordan Tannahill is a Canadian playwright and filmmaker. His work has been presented in theatres, festivals, and galleries across Canada and internationally, translated into multiple languages, and honoured with various prizes, including two Governor General's Literary Awards (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize).