Stranger Theatre presents
The Hanging of Françoise Laurent
Created by Kate Cayley, Sarah Cormier, Zach Fraser*, and Kiersten Tough*
Written and Directed by Kate Cayley
Performed by Sarah Cormier, Zach Fraser* and Kiersten Tough*
Musical Arrangements by Sarah Cormier and Kiersten Tough
Set and costume design by Sarah Cormier and Kiersten Tough with the company
Lighting design by Lea Ambros with the company
Stage-managed by Lea Ambros
*appear courtesy of the CAEA
About the Show:
Kate Cayley, Sarah Cormier and Kiersten Tough began initial work on this project in November 2008, enabled by Tarragon Theatre’s generous offer of free rehearsal space. An early version, Marrying the Hangman, was workshopped by Stranger Theatre in spring 2009, with Frank Cox-O’Connell collaborating as a performer.
The present piece, The Hanging of Françoise Laurent, was developed collectively by the current company in 2010. This process included a two-week residency at the Blyth Festival in February-March 2010, and a week-long residency at Playwright’s Workshop Montreal. We subsequently produced a full length version of the piece for the SummerWorks Festival in Toronto. The play has been substantially reworked since then. Many thanks to these companies for all their help and support.
This project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.
Historical Note:
Jean Corolère, a drummer in the colonial troops at Québec, was imprisoned for dueling in 1751. In the cell next to his was Françoise Laurent, who had been sentenced to hang for stealing. Except for letters of pardon, the only way at the time for someone under sentence of death to escape hanging was, for a man, to become a hangman, or, for a woman, to marry one. Françoise persuaded Corolère to apply for the vacant (and undesirable) post of executioner, and also to marry her.
—Condensed from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume III, 1741-1770