Audio Theater Production 🎭

Friends In Art is pleased to announce a unique digital audio theater production of

The Ferryman’s Toll

presented by Arizona Theater Matters.

 

Note: email president@friendsinart.org for Zoom joining links and call in numbers

Thursday, August 21 Time 7:00 PM eastern via Zoom

 

Viewer discretion is advised: for mature audiences and adults over age 18. Trigger warnings include references to childhood sexual trauma, abuse, and some instances of descriptions of violence.

Written by

Samantha King, Jeanmarie Simpson, Dylan Brody, and Gary Wright, and developed with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the production reveals a long-time creative partnership in crisis as past wounds resurface and the future becomes increasingly uncertain.

 

Canadian Icons Lynne Griffin and Elizabeth Saunders Lead an International Cast in a Haunting Digital Theatre Experience

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. – July 20, 2025 — Esteemed Canadian actors Lynne Griffin (Black Christmas, Curtains) and Elizabeth Saunders (FROM, Orphan Black) headline the global premiere of The Ferryman’s Toll—a searing audio drama that explores trauma, memory, and the delicate web of friendship, told entirely within a Zoom therapy session. They are joined by acclaimed stage actor and director Gary Wright, in a performance lauded for its emotional authenticity and grace.

 

“This is mythic and modern all at once,” said co-author Jeanmarie Simpson “And experiencing actors of this caliber inhabiting such personal material is a rare privilege.”

 

About the Cast & Creative Team

 

• Lynne Griffin is a renowned Canadian actor whose career spans more than five decades in film, television, and theatre. On screen, she is known for roles in Black Christmas, Curtains, Strange Brew, and Wind at My Back. On stage, she has played major roles at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, including Saint Joan, A Doll’s House, Three Sisters, The Apple Cart, and Major Barbara. Griffin is widely admired for her versatility, emotional range, and signature stage presence.

 

• Elizabeth Saunders currently stars as Donna in MGM+’s hit sci-fi series FROM. Her film and TV credits include Orphan Black, It, Mary Kills People, Alias Grace, and The Boondock Saints, along with voice work such as Mrs. Turtle on Franklin. A Canadian Screen Award nominee, Saunders has also performed at the Shaw Festival, where she appeared in This Happy Breed, Counsellor-At-Law, and Too True To Be Good. She is celebrated for her ability to balance intensity and vulnerability on stage and screen.

 

• Gary Wright is a prolific U.S. regional theatre actor, director, and playwright. He has performed or directed in over 60 productions at companies including Foothill Theatre Company, Capital Stage, California Stage, Palo Alto Children’s Theatre, and Sacramento Theatre Company. Wright has appeared at Shakespeare festivals in Santa Cruz, Colorado, Lake Tahoe, and Vladivostok, with a deep command of both classical and contemporary texts. As a commissioned playwright, his works include Evermore, Dracula, and Diary of a Forty-Niner.

 

Directed by: Michael Rawley

Dramaturgy: Dylan Brody

Sound Design: Kevin Tye

Sign Language Performance: ATM’s Deaf team, Hands in Harmony

The Ferryman’s Toll on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRrhMKtqEl8

 

Media Contact: Kadin Barnes

PR/Marketing Director, Arizona Theatre Matters

Email: pr@arizonatheatrematters.org

 

About Arizona Theatre Matters

 

Arizona Theatre Matters (ATM) shapes theatre from the substance of accessibility itself, ensuring storytelling reaches everyone—regardless of ability, income, or location. By making accessibility an artistic foundation, we create theatre that is deeply inclusive, boldly experimental, and undeniably for all.

 

Friends In Art, Inc – where blind and low vision artists and audiences thrive. Established in 1984, Friends In Art (FIA) is an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind.  Our programs are meant to  assist  established professionals as well  as high school and college students to further their educational and performance related goals.

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