A surreal, darkly comic journey into the desert — and into the fragile rituals of aging, masculinity, friendship, and the human desire to control one’s end — An Orchid and Other Such Lilies and Lies tells the story of two lifelong friends, their death pact, and the beautiful tragedy of having lived. Two nameless old friends (Walter Borden and Scott Wentworth) drive out into the desertscape with a list of drugs, their old year books, and the memories of each other’s lives to witness the intimate and planned moments of each other’s deaths. Moments of laughter, pain, betrayal, love, and haemorrhoids paint an in-depth picture of what it means to be a man, to be a friend, and to be alive.
Directed by Max Ackerman (Doctor Faustus, A Winter’s Tale) and brought to life by acting legends Walter Borden (Neptune Theatre, Canadian Stage, Stratford Festival) and Scott Wentworth (Citadel Theatre, Stratford, various television spots), this play comes straight from the heart of rising Canadian playwright D. Halpern (the immaculate perfection of f**king and bleeding in the gender neutral bathroom of an upper-middle class high school) and divulges the inward struggles of their teenage years, and their meditations on growing old.
Dandelion Theatre premiers
D. Halpern’s An Orchid and other such Lilies and Lies
Directed by Max Ackerman
Starring
Walter Borden and Scott Wentworth
Produced by The Other Flowers Collective (M. Ackerman, K. Edelist. E. Doucette, D. Halpern, K. Cress, L. Foote, A. Skye, S. Dharmaraj, K. Chaterji, S. Easton, S. Wentworth, W. Borden)
Set design by Sahana Dharmaraj and Kevan Cress
Projection design by Kevan Cress
Lighting design by Lidia Foote and Kevan Cress
Sound Design by Ashley Naomi Skye
Photography and cinematography by Seamus Easton
Stage Managed by Lidia Foote
Assistant directed by Keren Edelist
