Fat Pig tells the story of Tom, a stereotypical professional in a large city, who falls for a very plus-size librarian named Helen. They meet in a crowded restaurant at lunchtime and get to talking. Tom is taken with her brash acceptance of the way people see her and her honesty. He asks her for her number and they start to date. A couple of weeks later, Carter, Tom’s best friend, starts to notice the signs of Tom having a new girlfriend. He obnoxiously pesters him for information about the new girl and in order to get it mentions it in front of a woman from accounting, Jeannie, who has been seeing Tom on-and-off for a while. She gets very upset which gets Tom to admit that he is “sort of” seeing her. Carter asks Tom what he is doing that night, and Tom says he is busy. Carter knows then that he is meeting Helen at a restaurant Tom frequents, Tom denies it and says it is a business dinner with people from the Chicago branch of their firm. Carter, not believing him, stops by the restaurant and sees them together. He approaches them and introduces himself to Helen, and she excuses herself to go to the restroom. While she is gone Carter thoroughly insults her weight and calling her a lot of horrible things, not knowing that this is Tom’s new girlfriend. He assumes then that Tom was telling the truth about the people coming in from Chicago, since he thought that Tom would never date anyone that “fat”.

Later that week Jeannie pays a visit to Tom in his office. She has found out that no people from Chicago came to visit. She demands to know what is going on with him and her and he says that he is not interested and will never be again. Earlier, she and Carter had been gossiping about the “fat cow from Chicago,” which is how Jeannie found out about the whole thing. So once Tom says that it wasn’t a business dinner, she flips out and smacks him, hurt that he would pick someone like Helen over her. Carter looks on and sort of apologizes for being rude about Helen, saying that he didn’t know she was his girlfriend. He asks to see a picture and after a lot of pestering gets one from Tom. He then proceeds to run down the hall and show everyone. Throughout the rest of the play, Carter tries to convince Tom that he should “stick to his own kind.”

Meanwhile, Tom and Helen are falling more and more in love. Helen is offered a better job in another town but she doesn’t want to leave Tom. She asks if she can meet his friends, when he is hesitant, she knows that he is ashamed of her. But not wanting to give her that impression he tells her that she will meet his friends when they have a work barbecue on the beach. The day arrives for the outing, but once they get there they are secluded from everyone. Helen brings up her concerns and gives him an ultimatum, either accept all of her and that includes defending her to his friends, or this cannot work. He replies that he cannot handle it and that she should take the job in the other town and both are left broken hearted.

Fat Pig Artists:

Stephanie Orr is very excited to be involved in this production of Fat Pig! She would also like to thank the wonderful cast and crew for their warmth and hard work, as well as her partner Matt for his support. Selected recent credits include Goodbye Moment (Cameron Macgowan/Mark Mills), Police Cops (CUFF), The Contentment Café (Carbon Based Theatre), Rel8shun (ACT Theatre), The Post (North Country Cinema) and DCPi's short film, Close Enough. Stephanie played the role of Jeannie.

Brenda Spénard (née Goyetche) is a graduate from John Abbott College's Professional Theatre Program. She has been very active in the Toronto and Calgary theatre scene over the past 18 years. Most recently Brenda designed and built the costumes for Morpheus Theatre's Gilbert and Sullivan Theatre School production of The Gondoliers. Other shows Brenda costumed include: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; Under Milk Wood; and her CAT award winning design for Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This is Brenda's fourth production with ACT and she is thrilled to be part of this wonderful team of talented artists. Brenda held the position of Costume Designer.

Peter Dorrius has enjoyed himself immensely through this terrific process and he truly hopes you take as much away from the show as he does. Working with such an incredibly talented cast and crew has not only been an incredible pleasure but has help him develop himself significantly as an actor. As always Peter thanks his wonderful, patient, loving wife because wow, she chooses to put up with him. Peter played the role of Tom.

Amanda Liz Cutting is thrilled to be a part of Fat Pig. Selected credits include Comedy of Errors (Luciana), Macbeth (1st Witch), Rumors (Chris), Frankenstein (Elizabeth), Under Milk Wood (9 Characters), Until the Glass Stops Working (Gillian) and a Poker Girls webisode. Next up for Liz is Directing ACT's upcoming musical, Spring Awakening. She is a Mount Royal University Graduate in Theatre Arts. Amanda played the role of Helen.

Kat Fullerton has always had a theatrical streak, just ask her Mother. After graduating from the Theatre Arts program at MRU, Kat sang and danced her way across Canada for a couple of years before settling back in Calgary. She's now thrilled beyond belief to be working behind the scenes as a Producer with Artists' Collective Theatre with her MRU alum, Amanda Liz Cutting! Kat wishes her life was a musical and hooopes yoooou enjoooy the SHOOOOOOW! (jazz hands) Kat held the position of Producer.

Lisa Floyd is a recent 2013 graduate from the University of Lethbridge, with a BFA in Fine Arts, Tech and Design. She is a Calgary based artist who is always looking for a challenge. She has recently worked closely as a Stage manager and Lighting designer for Red Phone Theatre on the Fringe Festival's WILF and Straight on Till Morning at The Motel. She is looking forward to being apart of Artists' Collective upcoming shows. Lisa held the position of Assistant Stage Manager.

Kelly Reay is a Calgary based theatre artist, and is currently the Artistic Director of Sage Theatre. directing highlights at Sage Theatre include Jack Goes Boating, Summer of My Amazing Luck, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Trainspotting (Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Direction), Scorched, and Blowfish amongst others. Additional recent directing credits include Super 8 (Lunchbox Theatre), The Woman in Black (Vertigo Theatre), Palace of the End (co-director) and The Dishwashers (Downstage). Kelly lives in Calgary with his wife Nicola and beagle Walter. Kelly held the position of Director.

Tanner d'Esterre is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts and has appeared on stage and screen from Victoria to Toronto. Select credits include Festen, WITforce, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Tanner is thrilled to have worked on Fat Pig and hopes you enjoy the show! Tanner played the role of Carter.

Troy Couillard is a Calgary-born stage manager, director, designer and playwright. Selected stage management credits include: The Diary of Anne Frank (Morpheus Theatre), Nine Months is Just an Arbitrary Number (Sage Theatre's Ignite! Festival) and Five Women Wearing The Same Dress (Theatre BSMT). He would like to the cast and crew for an amazing opportunity and the privilege of working for ACT. Up next for Troy is work with both Theatre BSMT and his own company, Search Tower Theatre. Troy held the position of Stage Manager.

Keri Lyn Halfacre is a graduate of Red Deer College’s Theatre and Entertainment production program. She’s excited to be part of her first ACT production as props master, especially to work on a musical (most likely rocking Moritz Steifel-esque hair). Recent theatre credits include Steven Evanik’s A Spark Extinguished (designer) and Joe Semenoff’s The Health Inspector (props master), both at Pumphouse Theatre’s One Act Festival. Recent film credits include set dressing for Forsaken and the upcoming TV series Fargo. Keri held the position of Props Manager.