Holiday in Zürich premiering at the Centaur Theatre November 2026
Philosophising with Playwright Colleen Murphy on living, dying, and loving on the Centaur stage
By Darragh Kilkenny-Mondoux
October 29, 2026
The second show in Centaur Theatre’s 2026-27 season is poised to take audiences from Summertime comedies into Winter’s deep desire for the dramatic.
But don’t expect playwright Colleen Murphy to fit her works neatly into the constraints of any sort of genre. “I don't really believe in genre, because I think everything is a mix.” In Holiday in Zürich, Frank (Brian Dooley) and Tiny (Danielle Desormeaux) are a happily married couple preparing an escape to a romantic, magical, promised vacation – even while a dark and frightening reality prepares to travel with them. The couple come head to head with each other’s expectations before they come face to face with the meaning of this painful truth. The audience joins the journey of their many years together while never leaving Frank and Tiny’s bedroom. As the couple shield their eyes to the sunset of their love story, plenty of laughs and levity light the journey onward.
Playwright Colleen Murphy, author of Holiday in Zürich
Colleen Murphy has imbued Holiday in Zürich with the consolation of philosophy, wrapping the pathos of her play with intellectual as well as humorous and heartwarming turns. “The character of Frank is a retired history teacher, but he reads some philosophy, and in particular, he reads Seneca,” Murphy divulges, “and he quotes one of Seneca's very famous quotes that was just four words. You are your choices.”
“For most of my life, I have believed that progress is about choice. It's about the freedom of choice on just about every level in a free and democratic society,” Murphy explains, conceding that stoic philosophy does not stoic citizens make, nor for tediously self-possessed characters on stage. “Human behaviour is messy, and I think theatre can be messy. The audience is free to feel whatever they want. Why do people do Macbeth? Why do people stage tragedies? It’s the investigation of human nature, it’s not the conclusion. There is only the experience.” Audience members keen on classical philosophy will enjoy how Holiday in Zürich embraces the values and quotes of stoics like Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, as well as ancient dramatists like Euripides. Though for Murphy, the intellectual elements come second to character-driven emotional stakes. Of her creative process, she prefers to think of herself as offering her audience a living, messy, compelling story through a living, messy medium. “If there’s an intellectual idea in a play, then that’s great! That’s nice, if it’s organically part of the piece.”
This world premiere is directed by Micheline Chevrier, recent recipient of the Life Membership Award from the Canadian Actors Equity Association. This is the third production of Murphy’s work directed by Chevrier. “What I adore about her direction is her precision around her understanding of human behaviour and how she works every moment,” Murphy says, “so that every moment has intention and insight.”
For acclaimed Montreal actor Brian Dooley, Holiday in Zürich will be the fourth world premiere of Murphy’s work in which he has performed. Of her friend and collaborator, Murphy explains that Dooley possesses a perfect blend of gravitas and goofiness that makes him ideal for works that walk the line. In The December Man, which touched on the Polytechnique massacre, Murphy says Dooley played the character as tragic in the midst of something closer to a drama, and in Pig Girl, and Jupiter he also played tragic figures. So Holiday in Zürich promises something of a holiday for Dooley’s dramatic scope in Murphy’s work – that is, a departure from his toil in three prior productions. “I would say this [is] the most light-hearted, well… light-hearted, might be the wrong word. But the least tragic figure,” Murphy muses. “He has this side of him that's almost clown. He has a great sense of humour. He’s a very gentle guy and he’s a very vulnerable guy. And this piece suits all of those characteristics in Brian, and so the character came out of that – the situation the character’s in.”
Brian Dooley in other Murphy World Premieres
From Centaur Theatre’s website:
“I am not known for writing comedy, but two and a half years ago, Brian Dooley, a Montreal actor and a dear colleague who has acted in three world premieres of my plays, starts bugging me. ‘Hey Col – write me a play!’ As much as I love working with him, I said, ‘I can’t write a play with a specific actor in mind. It limits my imagination.’ A few months pass then he bugs me again. ‘Hey Col – c’mon, write me a play.’ I said, ‘It’s never gonna happen.’ A few weeks later, ‘Hey Col – write me a play.’ ‘No, Brian, so stop bugging me about it!’ A couple of days later, I wake up and, as I was crawling into the kitchen to make coffee, I realized a whole play was unfolding in my head in real time, so I grabbed a pen and started scribbling. The writing was illegible but those two characters – Frank and Tiny Pelletier – found a permanent home in my imagination.”
— Colleen Murphy
Of leading lady Danielle Desormeaux, Murphy has had the opportunity to watch her in the Centaur rehearsal room, and sings her praises. “She touches all the corners: Tiny's joy, her incredible optimism, her love, her sexiness! And her anger, and her frustration.” Before beginning work on Holiday in Zürich, it’s clear that a trusted collaboration between Dooley and Desormeaux was already established. “As two very seasoned actors, playing these characters who’ve been married for 37 years,” Murphy says, "it's a joy to watch what they bring out in each other.”
Brian Dooley (L) as Frank and Danielle Desormeaux (R) as Tiny
Centaur audiences will be warmed by an intimate portrait of life, death and love, as written by one our nation's most acclaimed playwrights and performed by luminary Montreal performers. With set, costumes and props designed by Julie Vallée-Léger assisted by Gabrielle Chabot, lights by Luc Prairie, and Chevrier’s direction assisted by Masha Bashmakova, Holiday in Zürich brings together an intergenerational team from both English and French theatre communities. A perfect play to attend with family and loved ones as winter creeps across the cobblestones in Old Montreal, sure to hold us all over before Centaur’s “Great Stories in the Spotlight” season resumes with their 2026 WinterWorks Programming, and Carole Fréchette’s Ismene, translated by Linda Gaboriau in March.
Holiday in Zürich opens on Wednesday, November 4 at the Centaur Theatre, and closes on Sunday November 22.
Holiday in Zürich
Produced by the Centaur Theatre
Running November 4-22, 2026
At the Centaur Theatre