Before Play
JANET ROTHMAN & HOWIE SIEGEL

Alone again after long years of Marriage, Benny Silver gets back in touch with Jo Ann Kaufman, the old college flame he has never forgotten. Through email and cellular communication, Benny and Jo Ann recall the past and cautiously reveal their present situations. Benny, in Canada, is still emotionally tied to his ex, while Jo Ann is living in Arizona with a man she doesn't particularly like. Separated by distance and years, theirs is an unexpected story of nostalgia, sex and romance. Winner of the 2007 Canadian National Playwriting Competition, this two-act, two-character drama is an off-beat commentary on culture, maturity, relationships, loss and love offered with humour, intelligence and spice.

Janet Rothman grew up in Arizona & graduated from the Acting Specialization Program at U.C.L.A. In her early twenties, she studied acting at Actors Lab London, movement with Etienne Decroux in Paris. She performed in Amsterdam with the La Mamma Company, the Royal Court in London, directed by Vanessa Redgrave. Janet recently completed performances of Angels in America in Victoria, B.C.

Howie Siegel was born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA and moved to British Columbia in 1972 where he co-founded Pagliacci's Restaurant in Victoria in 1979. He has 4 children, Solomon, Rose, Malka and Harry. And a dog, Maidel. And a girlfriend, fiancée, partner, co-star; the redoubtable Janet Rothman. This is his first play.