Photo by Dahlia Katz
Prodigal
by Paolo Santalucia
PRODIGAL, a world premiere, follows the return home of Edmund Clark, the gay, alcoholic, eldest son of a prominent Toronto family, after he is cut off from the family trust. On the way home, Edmund meets Levi, a man with whom he impulsively engages in a passionate encounter before realizing Levi is also en route to Edmund’s family home. The reason: Levi is the brother of the Clark family’s estate manager.
Why are the Clarks able to suppport a stranger in their home while turning their back on their eldest son? PRODIGAL, from the critically acclaimed The Howland Company (Casimir and Caroline, The Wolves, Punk Rock), examines themes of queerness, privilege, marginalization, and forgiveness, as these two young men attempt to return to the famiies they have lost–one to confront his past and the other to start his future.
Cast & Creative
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Dan Mousseau
Edmund
Dan Mousseau is a Dora Nominated Actor from Waterloo. He is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University and the Soulpepper Academy. Selected theatre: The Seagull, Innocence Lost (Soulpepper); Prodigal, Three Sisters (Howland/Crow’s); Christmas Carol (Three Ships Collective), Perfect Wedding (Thousand Island Playhouse). Selected Film/TV: The Boys (Amazon); Menace, Monkey-Love (Shorts); Strays, Frankie Drake, Workin’ Moms (CBC); Tempted by Danger (Lifetime); Sincerely, Yours Truly (Hallmark).
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Veronica Hortiguela
Sadie
Veronica Hortiguela (She/Her) is a Scarborough-born and raised actor and writer. Favourite performance credits since graduating from TMU's theatre acting program include: Bremen Town (Gregory Prest, NextStage 2023), Prodigal (Crows Theatre, Howland Co.), Casimir and Caroline (Dora Award - Best Ensemble, Howland Co.), Little Women, Every Little Nookie (The Stratford Festival) and Dry Land (Cue6, Globe and Mail 10 Best Productions 2018). She's had the pleasure of working with Shakespeare in the Ruff, Tarragon, and YPT on the development of new plays and was a recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant for her devised theatre work with The Raccoons. Veronica is a frequent audiobook narrator with Penguin Random House and has had the pleasure of voicing a wide range of characters across several animated productions.
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Michael Ayres
Levi
Michael Ayres is an actor and writer based in Toronto. Selected Theatre: Levi in Prodigal (The Howland Company/Crow’s Theatre); Sanders in Casimir and Caroline (The Howland Company/Crow's Theatre); Kyle in What I Call Her (In Association/Crow's Theatre); Jackie Savage in Bang Bang (GCTC); We Are Proud To Present... (Theatre Centre); Chariots of Fire (Grand Theatre). Selected Film/TV: Star Trek: Discovery (CBS); The Boys (Sony/Amazon); Sugar Highs (Emotion Pictures/OutTV); Jupiter's Legacy (Netflix); Private Eyes (Global/EOne); Handmaid's Tale (MGM/Hulu); Two Sentence Horror Stories (CW); Shoot the Messenger (CBC).
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Jeff Yung
Quinten
Jeff Yung (he/him) is a Tkarón:to based actor, martial artist, sometimes poet and ¼ of the Shakespeare in the Ruff artistic leadership collective. As an actor Jeff has appeared onstage in Prodigal (Howland/Crow’s), Trojan Girls and the Outhouse of Atreus (OtM/Factory), Portia’s Julius Caesar (RUFF), Measure for Measure, Gorboduc, Twelfth Night, King John, and Romeo and Juliet (BASH’d), Monday Nights (PuSh & LUMINATO & Theatre Centre), Antigone (YPT), Vietgone (Royal MTC/fu-Gen), and Banana Boys (Factory). Film/TV credits include: Hudson & Rex (Amazon), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Escalation (Vertical), Kung- Fu (CW), Coroner (CW), Private Eyes (FOX), Orphan Black (BBC America) and Nikita (WB) as well as voicing the villanous Masato Kazami on Bakugan: Battle Planet (Cartoon Network). Jeff is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University.
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Hallie Seline
Violet
Hallie Seline is a Québec-born, Toronto-based Actor, Theatre Producer, and one of the Founding Artistic Leaders of The Howland Company - hailed by NOW Magazine as one of Toronto’s most exciting independent theatre companies. Hallie has acted in many critically acclaimed shows in Toronto and throughout Ontario. Selected Theatre Acting Credits: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (The Howland Company/Crow’s Theatre); The Donnellys: A Trilogy (Blyth Festival); Prodigal, Three Sisters, Casimir and Caroline, The Wolves, Punk Rock, 52 Pick-Up (The Howland Company); Prairie Nurse (Lighthouse Festival/Showboat Theatre); Stag and Doe, Jonas and Barry in the Home (Bluewater Summer Playhouse); As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare BASH’d); Oliver! (Capitol Theatre Port Hope). Selected Film/TV Acting Credits: Everything's Going to Be Great (Amaze/eOne), Fellow Travelers (Showtime), Mayday (Discovery). She has won a Dora Mavor Moore Award and a Toronto Theatre Critics Association Award for acting.
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Meghan Swaby
Pauline
Meghan is a first generation Jamaican - Canadian actor and writer based in Toronto. She has performed throughout Canada, US, Mexico and the UK. Some of her favorite projects include: Prodigal (Howland Company/ Crow's Theatre), Controlled Damage (Neptune Theatre/ b current), Calpurnia (Nightwood Theatre/Sulong Theatre), Venus’ Daughter (Obsidian Theatre), In This World (Roseneath Theatre), Family Story (Birdtown and Swanville/ Summerworks) and All Our Happy Days Are Stupid (Harbourfront Theatre/ The Kitchen - NYC). Film/TV: Condor (AT&T), Ghostwriter (Sinking Ship/Apple TV+) and Odd Squad Mobile Unit (Sinking Ship/PBS). She has voiced roles for animated series such as; Kiya and the Kimoja Heroes (eOne, Disney Jr), Max & Ruby (Treehouse) and Pinkalicious & The Peterrific (PBS Kids). Last year, Meghan’s play Venus’ Daughter was published by Scirocco drama. Meghan also co-hosts and produces, Beneath The Ceiba Tree, a podcast about Caribbean folklore from a contemporary diasporic lens.
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Rick Roberts
Rowan
Rick Roberts has been an actor, playwright and director and has worked for many years in theatre and on television and film. What a gift to have been a part of this production.
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Nancy Palk
Marilyn
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Cameron Laurie
Henry
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Shauna Thompson
Simone