Rhymes With Ducks, Handmade Ivy

“Rhymes With Ducks” is the sequel to the hit show Ducks, which won Outstanding Original Script at the 2023 Victoria One-Act Play Festival, won “Best Director” for Jason Vikse, who’s also returning as director this year, sold out several shows at the 2024 Edmonton Fringe Festival and which was a big hit last year at the Victoria Fringe Festival. It features the same four characters who meet in the same office eight years later, less than an hour before their Conservative government must hand over power to the victorious NDP. While all documents are being desperately shredded before the midnight deadline, the unscrupulous Mitch Lafleur, a former communications guru shows up claiming ownership of a mystery briefcase whose contents he refuses to disclose. He’s opposed by, Kaylee Grant, who’s overseeing the shredding and refuses to give it to him unless she can see what’s inside. “A veritable tornado of backstabbing, secret agendas and rumour-mongering, tightly wound by the playwright. The habit of denial runs deep in government communication circles, amazingly.” Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca, Edmonton Fringe 2024 Credits Written by – David Heyman Directed by – Jason Vikse About the Artist Nolan Fidyk (Mitch) Nolan is a Victoria-based actor who grew up immersed in the local theatre scene from an early age. He is a graduate of the Studio 58 Acting Program at Langara College in Vancouver. His recent credits include John in The Last Yiddish Speaker by Deborah Zoe Laufer (BEMA Productions), Michael in Armstrong’s War by Colleen Murphy (Theatre Inconnu), and Jake in H2O by Jane Martin (Theatre Inconnu). Nolan is excited to be taking part in his second ever Fringe Festival and is grateful to be working with such a talented group of artists. Danielle Greschner (Kaylee) Ducks was Danielle’s first Fringe show last year and she couldn’t be more thrilled to be playing the same role again this year. She was most recently one of the leads in Langham Court’s smash hit I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change earlier this year . Other past roles include Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show (VOS), Beauty in Saint Luke’s Players’ Beauty & the Beast panto, and Mrs. Salt in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Four Seasons Musical Theater). When not on stage, Danielle works as a high school science teacher and is the published author of satirical sci-fi novel, Out of Tune. Gloria Snider (Grace) Gloria has been involved in community theatre in Victoria since 1990 and worked with many theatre companies. Some favourite roles over the years include Frau Schneider in Cabaret for V.O.S, Jenny Diver in Three Penny Opera for Four Seasons Musical Theatre, Vita Louise Simmons in Harvey and Ana in The Clean House at Langham Court, Da in Trad and Alice Madden in Age of Arousal for Theatre Inconnu. She also played Mrs.Nurmi/Queen Maeve in Queen Maeve at Theatre Inconnu. She played Grace last year in Ducks. Lorene Cammiade (Pam) Lorene is pleased to be returning to the flock once again to reprise her role as Pam. Despite having played a civil servant in “real life,” she happily has little in common with her character, except perhaps for their shared taste in fashionable footwear! Lorene has performed in many roles in various local companies, most recently Susan in “Bed Among the Lentils” (Attitude Theatre), Helen in “Leipzig” (Bema Theatre), and Siobhan in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (Theatre Inconnu). Jason Vikse (Director) Jason has been lucky enough to direct on stages across the globe, including Switzerland and Australia. In Victoria, his recent directing credits include The Moors (Inconnu, co-director) and Switzerland (Attitude). Other local theatres he’s worked with include Bema, Langham, Puente, Black Box, and VOS. He has also worked with Handmade Ivy thrice before – as consulting director for Nanaimo Pick of the Fringe winner Digby & Glass, and as director for the original and touring production of Bathsheba and the Books and the award-winning 2023 production of Ducks. He’s thrilled to have been invited back into The Ivy League again. Andrea Gregg (Stage manager) Andrea stage managed “Ducks” last year and is excited to be doing the sequel at this year’s Fringe Festival. Previous credits include An Inspector Calls (Stage Manager) and Ravenscroft (Assistant Stage Manager). When not stage managing, they can often be found painting the stage with light at community theatres around Victoria. Appreciation goes to the team—both behind the scenes and onstage—for their trust, patience, and collaboration in bringing this play to life. David Heyman (Writer and Producer) David has written several short plays and a musical in recent years and has ideas for several more. He was a reporter at the Calgary Herald and worked for many years in government, where he gets most of his ideas, including this one. During the week, he’s a financial advisor for iA Private Wealth. Facebook http://www.handmadeivy.com Accessibility Content warnings: Coarse language. Sensory warnings: None. Know before you go, learn about this venue with our Venue Guide. For more accessibility information see the Accessibility at the Fringe page on our website.