Ron Bloom is the Education Minister and ostensibly in favour of the public school system. However, two clouds arrive on the horizon, which shake up his ideals: his son develops disciplinary problems that the public system cannot seem to address, and there is an election looming. If Bloom can find a way to loosen the purse strings to support the private system, his party stands to win a handful of extra swing seats... Acting as moral foil to Bloom is his Executive Assistant, Barbara Rankin. She is passionate about the public system and attributes much of her own rise from poverty to the good—and free—schooling she received. She is prepared to do battle with her own boss, if necessary, to ensure that our (currently very threatened) status quo holds.

Dave Carley is a Toronto-based playwright whose plays have had close to 500 productions across Canada, the United States and in many countries around the world. They include Midnight Madness, Writing with Our Feet (nominated for the Governor General's Award), After You, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel The Edible Woman, Taking Liberties, and Orchidelirium. Dave is the former editor at the Playwrights Union of Canada (now Playwrights Guild) and, for many years, was both script editor at CBC Radio Drama and play editor for Scirocco Drama. Dave's most recent full-length works have been Twelve Hours; an adaptation of Al Purdy's novel A Splinter in the Heart, and Canadian Rajah. He is currently completing a new work for stage: Hope is a Bird.

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