Piccadilly Circus presents My Matisse by Howard Ginsberg as an upcoming Dundas Valley School of Art fundraiser

Mr Ginsberg's play sketches a portrait of the French artist Henri Matisse as seen through the eyes and memory of the women who knew him best; his mother Anna Jong, wife Amelie and his daughter Marguerite.

The audience will also hear from two of his models -- Olga, model for the Red Nude, and Lydia, who for two decades provided support and solace in Matisse's old age.

The performance takes place in the loft of the Dundas Valley School of Art, 21 Ogilvie St., Dundas. It is directed by Willard Boudreau with lighting by Lynne Jamieson. The cast includes Murline Mallette, Kitty Varley, Sabrina Feser, Nea Reid, Martha Christianson, Barbara Fisher and Barbara Snaith

Show times are May 31, June 1, 7 and 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets $20 at the door or in advance at the DVSA office, 905-628-6357, or Bryan Prince Bookseller, Westdale, 905-528-4508.

Piccadilly Circus has been active in the Hamilton theatre community for 35 years. It began its life as a producer of children's theatre. During the early '70s and over several seasons, it produced a collection of popular plays working out of the Cockpit Theatre at Dundurn Castle. The group was co-founded by Willard Boudreau and Gary Smith, who between them have directed more than a couple of hundred plays for local groups. They were also teachers with the Hamilton board.

When they began the company, they did so with the idea that children deserved the very best that the community had to offer in the way of production values and performers. Mr. Boudreau, now retired from teaching, is the sole artistic director of the company, and it is no longer a production company for children's theatre. The new Piccadilly Circus is very much grown up now producing plays for young adults and adults.

Its mandate is to seek out theatre experiences which are new, exciting and unlikely to be produced by other groups in the area.

Its first venue was the work-shopping of a totally new work created by Willard Boudreau based on the music and lyrics of local composer Dorothy-Lees Blakey, Love In A Minor Key was presented at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts with the assistance of Vitek Wincza in the year 2000.