{"data":{"id":"950e926f-1a58-4a6b-a769-aeb08bb0e753","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"Review: Casey and Diana moving, hilarious human story","summary":"Finding joy while facing death is a lot to ask of anyone.\n\nBut in Casey and Diana, playwright Nick Green crafts a moving tribute to the power of love, where characters with little reason to hope find comfort in acts both great and small. It will be on stage at The Citadel until April 26.\n\nIt’s October 1991, and the residents of Toronto’s Casey House — a real-life HIV/AIDS hospice founded by journalist June Callwood and named after her late son — have just learned that Princess Diana is making a visit and meeting the residents in just seven days.\n\nThe visit, which occurred at the height of the AIDS crisis, sparked headlines around the world as Diana touched patients and listened to their stories at a time when fear and prejudice had turned people struck by the then-fatal disease into pariahs.\n\nInspired by that true story, Green crafts two key characters in this production (a joint effort with Calgary’s Alberta Theatre Projects). Thomas (Nathan Cuckow) is a sassy older veteran of the Toronto gay scene and a former waiter at the iconic Frankie’s Diner. Andre (Josh Travnik) is young, withdrawn, and dying before he’s had a chance to really live. Both are patients at the hospice after being largely abandoned by their families.\n\nIn the opening moments of the play, we see that Thomas’s face is marred by large purple lesions called Kaposi sarcoma, a cancer once common in late-stage AIDS infections. But the thought of meeting Diana transforms his expression to one of bubbly joy.\n\n“I’m so excited,” he tells the Princess (Emily Howard) when she appears in his room in the play’s opening moments. Thomas proceeds to blather like a child at Christmas about his recollection of the televised marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. The Royal carriage she rode to the church, the trumpets, and her extravagant dress, “looking like this giant ball of Kleenex.”\n\n“When I go, I want my ghost to have a train,” Thomas burbles.\n\nDiana hardly has a chance to speak; her lines are limited throughout the show to maximize her role as a foil. Still, the People’s Princess remains a powerful presence, and Howard nails her signature expression: chin dipped down, lashes tipped up, mouth in a tender half-smile.\n\nIn the play, as was apparently the case at the time of the actual visit, residents, staff and volunteers are buoyed by anticipation; no one dies in the week leading up to the event.\n\nThe very thought of Diana gets Thomas out of bed and distracts him from his illness by the pressing challenge of what to wear. He insists that hope has a sound — “a faint, warm ringing in your ears.” Kudos to designer Allison Lynch, who helps ground the script with haunting sound touches.\n\nMeanwhile, Andre is less enthusiastic. His one suitable sweater is now far too big for him. He wants to tell his mother about Diana, but they are estranged.\n\nDirected by Lana Michelle Hughes, Casey and Diana is built around the Royal visit. But Green (a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA program now living in Toronto) has satisfyingly rounded out the plot with three other revelatory characters.\n\nMarjorie (played by the delightful April Banigan) is a hospice volunteer with boundary issues, while Vera (Norma Lewis) is a hard-headed yet compassionate nurse who must mediate a variety of disputes. Pauline (Helen Knight) is Thomas’s sister, showing up at the hospice desperate to connect with her brother, who has refused contact.\n\nAll the performances in Casey and Diana are strong, but this trio forms a well-balanced tribute to the role of women as caregivers for the HIV/AIDS patients who suffered so much more than the effects of a cruel illness as they moved inexorably toward death.\n\nWhile Casey and Diana is a big and difficult story, there are more laughs than you might imagine thanks to Green’s clever script and Cuckow’s taut, terrific execution of the character of Thomas. Costumes by the Emmy-nominated Rebecca Toon evoke the early ‘90s in a way that is both real and cringey (Pauline’s spiral perm was particularly triggering for me.)\n\nGreen’s two-act script (two hours and 25 minutes including intermission) is delicately constructed, with themes that dovetail gracefully, and a simply stellar ending.\n\nCasey and Diana premiered in 2023 at the Stratford Festival, which commissioned the work, and has since enjoyed a unique position in Canadian theatre. In just three years, it has been remounted roughly a dozen times with no end in sight.\n\nYou’ll want to be among the thousands to take it in for the humanity and hilarity of this proudly Canadian production.\n\nCasey and Diana A co-production of The Citadel Theatre and Alberta Theatre Projects\n\nPlaywright: Nick Green\n\nDirector: Lana Michelle Hughes\n\nFeaturing: April Banigan, Nathan Cuckow, Emily Howard, Helen Knight, Norma Lewis, Josh Travnik\n\nWhere: The Maclab Theatre in The Citadel, 9828 101 A Ave.\n\nWhen: Until April 26\n\nTickets: $40 and up, available through the Citadel website or by calling the box office at 780-425-1820\n\nRelated Fun stuff to do: Dreamspeakers, Aysanabee and AHI, Orchid Fair\n\nAziz Ansari, Ronny Chieng, Pete Davidson at Great Outdoors Comedy Fest — how to get tickets\n\nBookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.\n\nYou can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/review-casey-diana-citadel-theatre","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/citadel-casey-and-diana-3954_302516989.jpg","publishedAt":"2026-04-10T19:19:20.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Entertainment","Local Arts","Theatre"],"authorName":"Liane Faulder","contentHtml":"\"Nathan

Finding joy while facing death is a lot to ask of anyone.

But in Casey and Diana, playwright Nick Green crafts a moving tribute to the power of love, where characters with little reason to hope find comfort in acts both great and small. It will be on stage at The Citadel until April 26.

It’s October 1991, and the residents of Toronto’s Casey House — a real-life HIV/AIDS hospice founded by journalist June Callwood and named after her late son — have just learned that Princess Diana is making a visit and meeting the residents in just seven days.

The visit, which occurred at the height of the AIDS crisis, sparked headlines around the world as Diana touched patients and listened to their stories at a time when fear and prejudice had turned people struck by the then-fatal disease into pariahs.

Inspired by that true story, Green crafts two key characters in this production (a joint effort with Calgary’s Alberta Theatre Projects). Thomas (Nathan Cuckow) is a sassy older veteran of the Toronto gay scene and a former waiter at the iconic Frankie’s Diner. Andre (Josh Travnik) is young, withdrawn, and dying before he’s had a chance to really live. Both are patients at the hospice after being largely abandoned by their families.

In the opening moments of the play, we see that Thomas’s face is marred by large purple lesions called Kaposi sarcoma, a cancer once common in late-stage AIDS infections. But the thought of meeting Diana transforms his expression to one of bubbly joy.

“I’m so excited,” he tells the Princess (Emily Howard) when she appears in his room in the play’s opening moments. Thomas proceeds to blather like a child at Christmas about his recollection of the televised marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. The Royal carriage she rode to the church, the trumpets, and her extravagant dress, “looking like this giant ball of Kleenex.”

“When I go, I want my ghost to have a train,” Thomas burbles.

\"

Diana hardly has a chance to speak; her lines are limited throughout the show to maximize her role as a foil. Still, the People’s Princess remains a powerful presence, and Howard nails her signature expression: chin dipped down, lashes tipped up, mouth in a tender half-smile.

In the play, as was apparently the case at the time of the actual visit, residents, staff and volunteers are buoyed by anticipation; no one dies in the week leading up to the event.

The very thought of Diana gets Thomas out of bed and distracts him from his illness by the pressing challenge of what to wear. He insists that hope has a sound — “a faint, warm ringing in your ears.” Kudos to designer Allison Lynch, who helps ground the script with haunting sound touches.

Meanwhile, Andre is less enthusiastic. His one suitable sweater is now far too big for him. He wants to tell his mother about Diana, but they are estranged.

Directed by Lana Michelle Hughes, Casey and Diana is built around the Royal visit. But Green (a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA program now living in Toronto) has satisfyingly rounded out the plot with three other revelatory characters.

Marjorie (played by the delightful April Banigan) is a hospice volunteer with boundary issues, while Vera (Norma Lewis) is a hard-headed yet compassionate nurse who must mediate a variety of disputes. Pauline (Helen Knight) is Thomas’s sister, showing up at the hospice desperate to connect with her brother, who has refused contact.

All the performances in Casey and Diana are strong, but this trio forms a well-balanced tribute to the role of women as caregivers for the HIV/AIDS patients who suffered so much more than the effects of a cruel illness as they moved inexorably toward death.

While Casey and Diana is a big and difficult story, there are more laughs than you might imagine thanks to Green’s clever script and Cuckow’s taut, terrific execution of the character of Thomas. Costumes by the Emmy-nominated Rebecca Toon evoke the early ‘90s in a way that is both real and cringey (Pauline’s spiral perm was particularly triggering for me.)

Green’s two-act script (two hours and 25 minutes including intermission) is delicately constructed, with themes that dovetail gracefully, and a simply stellar ending.

Casey and Diana premiered in 2023 at the Stratford Festival, which commissioned the work, and has since enjoyed a unique position in Canadian theatre. In just three years, it has been remounted roughly a dozen times with no end in sight.

You’ll want to be among the thousands to take it in for the humanity and hilarity of this proudly Canadian production.

Casey and Diana

A co-production of The Citadel Theatre and Alberta Theatre Projects

Playwright: Nick Green

Director: Lana Michelle Hughes

Featuring: April Banigan, Nathan Cuckow, Emily Howard, Helen Knight, Norma Lewis, Josh Travnik

Where: The Maclab Theatre in The Citadel, 9828 101 A Ave.

When: Until April 26

Tickets: $40 and up, available through the Citadel website or by calling the box office at 780-425-1820

Related

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun

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