WINNER of the BEST DESIGN AWARD at Winnipeg’s 2018 EVIE awards!

Deserter

by Daniel Thau-Eleff

Directed by Arne MacPherson

premiered in Winnipeg

May 17 – 27, 2018

Deserter is a new play by award-winning playwright Daniel Thau-Eleff, inspired by the soldiers who deserted the Iraq war and came to Canada.

Deserter follows Curtis Colby, a fictional war-deserter who is detained for using a fake passport. Colby finds himself in a tug-of-war between a holding cell in the present-day, his time in Iraq, and a small town in Manitoba, where he and his wife Jessica are desperately trying to lead a normal life.

Deserter explores moral behaviour in a complex world, raising questions about the relationship between civilians and soldiers in countries with (supposedly) volunteer armies. When should a soldier say no? What morality can we hope for in war? And what is the role of ordinary citizens?