'Lion in the Streets' by Judith Thompson, at the June Havoc Theatre

The Alternate Theatre present Lion in the Streets, by Judith Thompson, at the June Havoc Theatre at the Abingdon Theatre Complex from the 8 - 25 Sep 2005.

In this shattering, desperately funny, uplifting and provocative play by one of Canada 's preeminent playwrights, the ghost of a murdered seven year-old girl returns to the community where she lived to discover the identity of her killer. Peering into the lives of her friends and neighbours, she discovers the secrets lurking beneath the happy fa�ade of middle-class life and learns the powerful nature of love and forgiveness.

Lion in the Streets' cast, directed by Kareem Fahmy, features Nathan Blew, Amanda Boekelheide, James Ryan Caldwell, Jeffrey Clarke, Tania Molina, Rachel Schwartz and Tracy Weller.

The play is produced by Derek Butler, and has set design by Brian Ireland, costumes by Anne K. Wood, lighting by Andrew Lu and sound design by Andrew Papadeas.

Written by Judith Thompson, Lion in the Streets received the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1991; she also previously received the award in 1987 for I Am Yours. Considered one of the finest and most hard-hitting talents in contemporary theater, Ms. Thompson twice won the Governor�s General of Canada Award for Drama for The Other Side of the Dark in 1989 and White Biting Dog in 1985.

Founder and current Artistic Director Kareem Fahmy established The Alternate Theatre in 2001 in Montreal to introduce new American playwrights to Canadian audiences. With a string of critically acclaimed productions �many Canadian premieres� The Alternate Theatre soon became one of the city�s most-talked-about and successful independent theatre companies. Buoyed by this success, Mr. Fahmy chose to relocate the company to New York City in 2004, only now with the intention of introducing emerging Canadian playwrights and theatrical talent to American audiences.

Since its arrival in New York, The AlternateTheatre has concentrated on cultivating new theatrical talent through workshop productions of plays such as Sam Shepard�s Curse of the Starving Class and Michael Ondaaatje�s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, among others.