Coming November 2026

The Haskell Opera House
Stanstead, Québec • Derby Line, Vermont

Get Tickets Here

What weapon has more power than theatre when someone else is trying to rewrite your history?EXCESS fights back with the most dangerous weapon of all: laughter.

An Outrageous Cross-Border Revenge Comedy

It’s 2003. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has just told the U.S. “No” to joining the war in Iraq - and Canadian screenwriter Grace MacKinnon is done apologizing.

Enter Arthur Briknale, a Hollywood heavyweight with a familiar habit: taking other people’s stories and making them his own. His latest mission? Rewrite the story of Laura Secord for American television.

Wrong country. Wrong woman.

With her fearless Cuban ally, Dr. Làzzara Ortega LA Santos, Grace launches a ecstatic revenge prank fuelled by history, fury, and just the right amount of excess. But when family, politics, and danger crash the party, their carefully crafted takedown goes gloriously off the rails.

Fast, funny, and fierce, EXCESS is a cross-border collision of Hollywood ego, historical revisionism, and two women who refuse to be bullied.

A sexy comedy about revenge, rebellion, and the one thing every nation fights to protect: its story.

Where EXCESS Began

Kent: I started writing EXCESS the day the Twin Towers fell. In Montreal, I overheard two visiting Americans insisting it was all Canada’s fault. We were “commies,” terrorist sympathizers who had trained the hijackers. There was no reasoning with them. American anger, fuelled by fake news and false facts, was already turning northward. I knew we were in trouble.

My answer to belligerent ignorance? Comedy. I imagined EXCESS as a Noël Coward–inspired French boulevard comedy. But history kept getting in the way. The script grew too angry, too preachy, too pugnacious. It finally found its footing through candid, grounding conversations with four remarkable Canadian women—and one very fine Prime Minister.

Conversations That Shaped the Play

  • ShirleyDouglas

    contributed to the play’s early development. Canadian icon Tommy Douglas became a central presence in the text through long conversations with Shirley and her son, Kiefer Sutherland.

  • The Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien

    one of the funniest and most compelling people I’ve ever met—helped shape the play through conversations about his extraordinary 2003 “No to Iraq” speech. “First Iraq,” he asked, “then who is next?” Who indeed?

  • The Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean

    inspired The Half-Life of Love speech that opens Act Two during a conversation at Rideau Hall. Later conversations with Madame Jean also informed the play’s Caribbean perspective.

  • The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson

    answered my question about Canada’s greatest challenge: maintaining the sovereignty of the Canadian North.

1 4

Why EXCESS Matters Now

One theatre. Two countries. One conversation.

EXCESS began as a response to the aftermath of September 11 and Canada’s decision to stay out of the Iraq War. It explored a moment when fear, misinformation and nationalism strained one of the world’s closest relationships.

Twenty-three years later, the questions have only become more urgent.

But Canada has always answered difficult moments with one of its greatest exports: comedy.

Yet EXCESS is not an attack on America. It is an invitation—to laugh together, argue together, and rediscover how to be good neighbours.

There is perhaps no better place to stage that conversation than the Haskell Opera House, where the stage spans an international border and audiences from two countries gather under one roof.

This November, more than two centuries after the War of 1812 tested the relationship between British North America and the United States, EXCESS returns to the border - not to reopen old divisions, but to celebrate the enduring friendship, humour and dialogue that have always connected us.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House

Built in 1904, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House is one of North America’s most extraordinary cultural landmarks. Straddling the international border between Stanstead, Québec, and Derby Line, Vermont, it was created as a shared home for neighbouring communities on both sides. The stage rests in Canada while much of the audience sits in the United States, making every performance a uniquely cross-border experience.

More than a century later, the Haskell remains a rare place where borders exist, yet culture brings people together. It is a living reminder that theatre can transcend geography—and that one stage can become common ground for two nations.

Could there be no more fitting place for EXCESS to begin its journey?

Inside the Play

  • The Canadian

    Grace MacKinnon - Actor. Screenwriter. Historian. Icon.

  • The Cuban

    Dr. Làzzara Ortega LA
    Santos -     World Renown Pediatric Oncologist.

  • The American

    Arthur Briknale - TV Drama Producer. Daytime EMMY Award Winner

  • Grant Bradshaw-Mackinnon

    Grace's son and U.S. Pharm Exec

  • Nell MacKinnon-Bradshaw

    His wife and U.S. Attorney

1 5

Watch the Sizzler - Excerpts from a public reading

Meet the Creative Team

  • Kent Stetson

    Playwrite/Exec. Producer

  • Wade Lynch

    Director

  • Paul Hopkins

    Producer / Artthur Briknale

  • Charlotte Moore

    Actor / Grace MacKinnon

1 4

Support the Production

Help Bring Excess to the Haskell

GoFundMe - Excess at the HaskellGet Tickets