And Up They Flew
Theatre Columbus Presents
And Up They Flew (2009)
Gosford Park meets the Marx Brothers
Written by Martha Ross
- Nora DuckworthLisa Norton
- Jane AshburyKerry Ann Doherty
- Ted PittJohn Jarvis
- Claire PittJulie Stewart
- Roger AshburyJohn Cleland
- Marlow StokesPaul Braunstein
- Daphne CrunchwellMichelle Fisk
- Director Leah Cherniak
- Playwrights Martha Ross
- Set & Costume DesignerVictoria Wallace
- Lighting DesignerAndrea Lundy
- Sound DesignerLyon Smith
- Video Designer Cameron Davis
- Stage ManagerTanya Greve
- Apprentice Stage ManagerLaura Baxter
- Assistant Director Jennifer Brewin
- Production Manager Andrea Lundy
- Head of Properties Shelley McCafferty
- Head of Wardrobe Janine Lacoster
- Dialect ConsultantRae Ellen Bodie
- Media RelationsJohn Karastamatis
- Shop Technical Director Nathaniel Kennedy
- Head CarpenterCraig Smith
- Scenic PainterMattea Kennedy
- Promotional VideoCourtenay Stevens
The time is 1936, the place is Northern England, a weekend in the country house of the Ashburys. Jane Ashbury dreams of being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, from east to west. Her childhood friend, Nora Duckworth, has flight fantasies that are decidedly more eccentric… The weekend erupts into chaos, as seven characters become more and more entangled with each other; there is a failed sexual betrayal; an outrageous attempt to fly without wings; a mental breakdown prompted by memories of World War I; an ongoing plot to sabotage Jane’s plans to fly across the Atlantic; and finally, there is a seance in which many truths are revealed. Lyrical, luminous, wonderfully theatrical–And Up They Flew is a “serious comedy” about the tensions of the 20th century.
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And Up They Flew (2005)
Theatre Columbus Presents a Workshop Production
Venue: The Tarragon Extra Space
Run: Dec 1 – 11
A Farce About the 20th Century by Martha Ross
The time is 1936, the place is Northern England, a weekend in the country house of the Ashburys. Jane Ashbury dreams of being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, from east to west. Her childhood friend, Nora Duckworth, has flight fantasies that are decidedly more eccentric.
2005 Cast
- EnsembleTom Barnett
- EnsemblePaul Braunstein
- EnsembleMaggie Huculak
- EnsembleKate Hennig
- EnsembleDavid Jansen
- EnsembleTara Rosling
- EnsembleJenny Young
2005 Creative Team
- Director Leah Cherniak
- Playwrights Martha Ross
- Set & Costume DesignerVictoria Wallace
- Lighting DesignerAndrea Lundy
- Sound DesignerLyon Smith
Awards and Reviews
2009 Dora Awards – Independent Theatre Division
- Nomination Outstanding Costume Design – Victoria Wallace
“There’s something winning about a company that walks the line between comedy and tragedy. Theatre Columbus knows how to balance on that thin edge…director Leah Cherniak and her cast know how to win the audience over with the work’s physical and verbal comedy blended with thoughts on the terrible things people can do to each other.”
– Jon Kaplan, NOW Toronto, NNN (2009)
“Trust Theatre Columbus to takes trips into the unknown. The skill of a Theatre Columbus show is that it can mix the joyful with the sad and reveal to viewers something profound about themselves. And this new piece, even in it’s early life, has the potential for that richness.”
– Glen Sumi and Jon Kaplan, NOW Toronto (2005)
Development History – Flight (2003, 2005)
Run: November, 2003
The Flight workshop production, presented at the Dovercourt Ballroom in November 2003, was a working title. It became And Up They Flew for the Tarragon presentation in 2005.
Run: 26 and 27 February 2005
The time is 1935. The place, Northern England. Two old friends grapple with their desire to be free, while a host of equally eccentric characters struggle with marriage, betrayal, and the very nature of the twentieth century itself. A poignant farce about modern times – join us for a staged reading of this work in progress.
Free! A workshop performance at the Engineered Air Theatre in Calgary, as part of the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays.