Live theatre returns with an artistic flair to Virden’s Aud Theatre with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre regional tour, presenting “Assassinating Thomson.”
In Assassinating Thomson, critically acclaimed Legally Blind Performer/Creator Bruce Horak paints a portrait of the entire audience while interweaving his own story and the tale of celebrated Canadian painter Tom Thomson’s unsolved murder.
Art, politics, grief, comedy, triumph, ambition, love and murder are intertwined in this one-man tour-de-force as Horak tells his own fantastically inspiring tale and reveals the unique way he sees the world.
The performance review from The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), “Horak crackles with energy…he’s unbelievably fast on his feet.” –
Having lost over 90% of his eyesight to childhood cancer, Horak has navigated the world of the fully sighted his entire life. Bilateral Retinoblastoma is cancer that appears on the retina of the eyes, the treatment of which left Horak completely blind in one eye, with extreme tunnel vision, light sensitivity, floaters, and a cataract in the remaining eye.
For the past 25 years, Horak has pursued a career in the performing arts and has won numerous awards for his performance, writing, direction and creation. He has performed across Canada, the US, and Europe and became Star Trek’s first blind actor when he played Hemmer on Star Trek: Strange New World, season one in 2022.
Tom Thomson, an outdoorsman and famous Canadian artist, was a contemporary of the Group of Seven. A memorial cairn in his honour is located on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park.
Someone in the audience can become the owner of a unique painting. Following the performance, the painting created during the show will be auctioned. Proceeds from the live auction will be donated to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.
This regional tour of the Royal MTC comes to Virden through Arts Mosaic with support from the Manitoba Arts Council. The tour is made possible with the sponsorship of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and several businesses.
The tour schedule of 24 communities across Manitoba and NW Ontario brings this unique show, Assassinating Thomson to the Aud Theatre on Saturday, February 11. Tickets may be purchased at the door or, to assure your seat, at Arts Mosaic office.
