World Premiere of a Drew Hayden Taylor Play

The world premiere of a new comedy by Ojibway playwright and author Drew Hayden Taylor will lead off Ryerson Theatre School’s Winter 2014 season. Hayen Taylor worked on the play, entitled Cerulean Blue, while Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at Ryerson in Winter 2013. The play is being produced by the Ryerson Theatre School and will run from February 5th to the 12th at the Abrams Studio Theatre.

According to the press release for the play, Cerulean Blue "tells the story of a struggling Blues Band in weeks of never-ending misfortunes.

"After two of its founding members defect to enjoy wedded harmony and normal life, a Toronto Blues Band, Cerulean Blue, is left with only half its members. Auditions are held and for a while, it looks like Cerulean Blue will survive the crisis and possibly even prosper, until Billy Burroughs, the newest member of the band books them a gig at a Native protest concert. When they arrive, they discover the concert has been cancelled, a barricade has gone up on which they are on the wrong side, and an old girlfriend is making things very difficult for Billy. Cerulean Blue doesn’t just play the blues; they live the blues."

While Writer-in-Residence, Drew Hayden Taylor engaged students and the Ryerson community in guest lectures and public readings about various forms of native writing in film, television, short stories, creative non-fiction and theatre, as well as consulting students about their own creative writing. The Writer-in-Residence was sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean of Arts, and the Department of English.