The Play — EXCESS

An Outrageous Cross-Border Revenge Comedy. A new satirical comedy by E. Kent Stetson, coming November 12–15, 2026 to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House — the only theatre in the world built on the Canada–U.S. border.

The Story

It's 2003. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has just told the U.S. "No" to joining the war in Iraq — "First Iraq, then who is next!?"

Who indeed?

Canadian screenwriter Grace MacKinnon is finished dancing to America's tune. Enter Arthur Briknale, a Hollywood heavyweight with a familiar habit: taking other people's stories and making them his own.

Wrong country. Wrong woman. Wrong time.

With her Cuban ally, Dr. Làzzara Ortega La Santos, Grace launches a campaign fueled by fury. When family politics, mismatched medications, and a desire for revenge crash the party, their carefully crafted takedown goes gloriously off the rails.

Fast, funny, and ferocious, EXCESS is a cross-border, three-country collision of Hollywood ego, Canadian pride, and Cuban resilience — a sexy comedy about the one thing every nation fights to protect: its story.

Who Won the War of 1812/14?

Canadian screenwriter and actor Grace MacDonald knows. Visiting three-time Daytime Emmy winner and American producer Arthur Briknale has no clue — and that doesn't stop him from trying to bully Grace into rewriting a revered piece of Canadian history for his FOX series Ready, Aye Ready! Repatriating America's Lost Heroes: Episode One, Laura Secord Redux.

Good luck with that.

EXCESS is set in Grace's upscale Montreal flat on March 14, 2003 — the day Canada says no to the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq. Grace and her friend, Cuban oncologist Dr. Làzzara Ortega La Santos, fundraising across Canada for her children's sanitarium in Cuba, have had it with America rewriting Canadian and Cuban history. Grace and Làzzara headline this fast-paced, fact-based satiric revenge comedy that carves a Canadian foothold in the social and political realignment of 21st-century North America. Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll — and, most importantly, shopping — propel EXCESS toward a climax that must be seen and heard to be believed.

Inside the Play

• The Canadian — Grace MacKinnon: Actor. Screenwriter. Historian. Icon.
• The Cuban — Dr. Làzzara Ortega La Santos: World-renowned pediatric oncologist.
• The American — Arthur Briknale: TV drama producer, Daytime Emmy Award winner.
• Grant Bradshaw-MacKinnon: Grace's son and U.S. pharma executive.
• Nell MacKinnon-Bradshaw: His wife and U.S. attorney.

Where EXCESS Began

From playwright Kent Stetson:

"I started writing EXCESS the day the Twin Towers fell. In Montreal, I overheard two visiting Americans insisting it was all Canada's fault — that 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

EXCESS didn't come together in isolation. It was shaped over years of candid conversation with some remarkable people.

Show Times

• Thursday, Nov 12 — Preview — 7:30 PM — $30
• Friday, Nov 13 — Opening Night — 7:30 PM — $40
• Saturday, Nov 14 — Matinee — 2:00 PM — $40
• Saturday, Nov 14 — GALA (includes after-party) — 7:30 PM — $75
• Sunday, Nov 15 — Matinee — 2:00 PM — $40

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Why stage a play about Canada and America on a stage that literally straddles the border? Read about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House →

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