About the Play:

Self-Help is a full-length comedy by Norm Foster. A married pair of struggling actors decide to reinvent themselves as self-help gurus and, much to their surprise, soon they have it all – fans that worship the ground they walk on, money coming in faster than they can spend it. Will they finally find happiness with their new over-privileged life?

Self-Help follows Hal and Cindy Savage, a married couple of second-rate actors … acting in third-rate theatres whose big break has never come. They scheme to remake themselves as life-coach gurus to finally achieve fame and fortune. Fast forward seven years and the Savages are now hugely successful motivational speakers who improve people's lives by sharing "The Savage Way." The seemingly happy couple are dispensing relationship advice in sold out theatres, but behind the scenes, Hal and Cindy's personal lives are falling apart, and their falsely-won fame may just be exposed in the process. Cindy is about to have an affair with the gardener when he dies suddenly. Journalists and detectives lurk outside their door and Mr. and Mrs. Savage are caught right in the middle of it. What follows is a series of hilarious antics where Cindy and Hal try to hide the body and cover up Cindy's indiscretion. The result is an attempt to carry the body to the garden while not being discovered by their agent, a police detective, and a "slimeball journalist" nosing around for a big scoop. Self-Help is an uproarious comedy by Canada's most-produced playwright.

Self-Help premiered in 2002 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario. Since then the play has been produced widely at community theatres across North America.

Cast: 3 women, 3 men

What people say:

"A sensational black-hearted farce." — Hamilton Spectator

"The farce Self Help, by playwright Norm Foster, is full to the brim with wry humour, Freudian slips, quick-and-dirty decisions and get-rich-quick schemes." — Cranbrook Daily Townsman

About the Playwright:

Norm Foster enjoyed a 25-year career as the morning man at independent radio stations in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, and Kingston, before finally ending up in Fredericton, where he began writing plays. He is considered to be Canada's most produced playwright, with more than fifty-five critically acclaimed plays that are known for their humour, accessibility, and insight into the everyday tribulations of life. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for his play, The Melville Boys which would go on to be produced across Canada and in the United States, including a well-received run off Broadway in New York. It would become his signature play, and the one which would bring his name to the forefront of Canadian theatre.