Kate is retreating into fantasy. Phillip is fantasizing retreat. And together they must trouble-shoot both a marriage and a five-month international tour of Phillip’s one-actor version of Hamlet. Ellen Arrand’s Bear Me Stiffly Up looks at the after effects of the thrilling closeness and dazzling disappointment of “almost famous” and the struggles of soldiering on in spite of it all. One-Man Hamlet, adapted and performed for twenty years by Clayton Jevne, is the play that almost took him there and which critics deemed “ingenious,” “amazing,” “moving,” and “hilarious.” Premiering at Theatre Inconnu’s new theatre in Victoria’s Fernwood area, Bear Me Stiffly Up is an extraordinary theatric collaboration.

Ellen Arrand is a published novelist and short story writer. Her stories have appeared in Grain, Room of One's Own, and Waves. Her novel, Public Works, Private Souls (Beach Holme), was praised by Books in Canada as: "a book full of painfully won personal truth thet makes the reader blink with admiration." This novel was also adapted for the stage, and was produced by Theatre Inconnu in 2004. The Trutch Street Women was a finalist in the 2005 Canadian National Playwriting Competition. Ms Arrand holds a Bachelor Degree in Creative Writing and English from the University of Victoria. She is currently enrolled in the Creative Writing Masters Program, at the University of Guelph-Humber.

Ellen Arrand's profile page

Clayton Jevne has been at the helm of Theatre Inconnu since 1978. Aside from serving as actor, director, or designer for more than 80 Inconnu shows, he has logged close to 1000 performances of solo shows in North America and Europe. He is currently on faculty in the Theatre Department at the University of Victoria. Clayton holds a PhD in actor-training research, an MFA in directing, and a BFA in acting.

Clayton Jevne's profile page