Playwright

• Joan Sullivan Adaptation
• Mike Heffernan Source Material

Director

• Nicole Rousseau
• Joan Sullivan

Cast

• Aiden Flynn Gary Wall/Max Ruelokke/Jerry Higdon/Mike Cole/Don Fry
• Deidre Gillard-Rowlings Elaine Walters/Marie Wadden
• Darryl Hopkins Mike Heffernan/Dave Russell/Carl Staubitzer/Gary Browne/Con Foley
• Stephen Lush Rob Greenwood/Oscar Heaney/Cle Newhook
• Wendi Smallwood Cynthia Walker/Rick Flynn/Susan Sherk/Patricia Ryan
• Marquita Walsh Wanda Frampton/Robert St. Aubin/Lloyd Major/Tracey Smith

Crew

• Crystal Laffoley Production Manager & Stage Manager
• Kelly Lewis Stage Manager
• Reg Hoskins Lighting & Production Designer/Techincal Director
• George Robertson Sound Designer
• Alison Helmer Costume Designer
• Perfect Day Graphic Designer

Description

Focused on one of the most senseless resource-based disasters in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history, RIG is the story of the Ocean Ranger—an oil rig that capsized and sank during a fearsome storm on the North Atlantic on Valentine’s Day 1982. This tragedy still has a profound resonance fifty years later. Commemorations take place annually to honour the 84 men who were lost.

Based on the book RIG: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster by Mike Heffernan, the play uses the verbatim style to distill a retelling of events around that fateful night. Voices of families, friends, and colleagues contribute as authors of this piece.

Many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians remember that dreadful storm. But weather was not the only thing that sank the Ranger. In an intimate journey through grief and sadness, RIG searches for reconciliation among the victims’ families and those who risked their own lives to help those on the Ocean Ranger.

Production type

• RCA Production