Into
Black comedy. 2f/2m. 85 minutes.
Download the script in Word
Four very different commuters find themselves stuck in a surreal traffic jam. As the hours stretch into days, and then to weeks, they must redefine their previous notions of community.
Inspired by Julio Cortazar's short story, The Southern Thruway, Into is the story of a magical traffic jam and the tiny, nearly perfect society that springs up amidst the heat and exhaust.
It's the end of a long, hot summer's weekend. Just outside the metropolis the traffic slows and then stops. As the minutes stretch to hours, the inhabitants of the jam move about their cars and begin to meet their neighbours. An Urban Nun has just returned from a backwoods conference that ended in a very Cardinal sin. A sultry beauty from Montreal is fleeing a bad affair. A disaffected white youth is merely lost, and a businessman is trying to keep all his balls in the air. As the hours become days, and the days become months, the quartet forms a confederacy, one of many along the freeway. And then something begins to change on their horizon…
Into is dedicated to the memory of Gina Wilkinson (1950-2000). She was a colleague, collaborator and friend, whose wit and wisdom will forever be missed. Gina originated the role of Lucy. An award has been set up in her name - The Gina Wilkinson Award for Emerging Female Theatre Directors. For more information, go to arts.on.ca
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Production History
Into was first produced at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 1993. The cast and crew was:
Urban Nun - Marium Carvell
Disaffected White Youth - Michael Waller
Businessman - David Storch
Lucy Cormier - Gina Wilkinson
Director - Colin Taylor
Music Design by Jack Nicholsen and Paul Tedeschini
Assistant Director - Nadine Sivak
Stage Manager - Janet Gregor
Assistant Stage Manager - Kate Cayley
Into was extended and the full-length version was produced at Theatre Passe Muraille in 1994, with the following cast and crew:
Urban Nun - Marium Carvell
Disaffected White Youth - Michael Waller
Businessman - Geoff Bowes
Lucy Cormier - Gina Wilkinson
Director - William Lane
Set and Costume Design - Glenn Davidson
Soundscape - Jack Nicholsen and Paul Tedeschini
Stage Manager - Janet Gregor
Technician - Nathaniel Kennedy
Assistant Director - Jocelyn Hublau
Assistant Stage Manger - Bella Srubiski
Selected Reviews
"Dave Carley's comedy Into is "inspired by Julio Cortazar's story The Southern Thruway". It is, in any case, inspired. The show is full of bizarrely funny scenes and lines. A must see." (The Globe and Mail)
"This wickedly funny and astutely observant play is as much about how we place ourselves into groups as it is about how to bring down the barriers between us." (Eye)
"An amusing, slightly absurdist comedy that uses the traffic jam as both microcosm and metaphor." (Toronto Star)
For a review in Canadian Literature, by Len Falkenstein, click here...
Publishing History:The shorter, Fringe version of Into was published in 1993 in a collection with Taking Liberties by Playwrights Canada Press. ISBN 0-88754-512-2. Price: $10.95. The longer, 85 minute version of Into is also available from the Playwrights Union, in copyscript format. ISBN 1-55173-063-4. $9.00