A Baker’s Dozen is a two-act psychological drama about survival, family trauma, inherited violence, and the possibility of breaking the cycle.

Jason remains seated in a single chair throughout the entire two-act play as the voices of his past surround him.

World premiere: Western Edge Theatre, Nanaimo, BC — November 2025

Written by Ward Norcutt

Directed by Jonathan Greenway

A Baker’s Dozen – Production

Production

A Baker’s Dozen focuses on a man  overwhelmed with trauma, and he must make a choice to either deal with this trauma or not.

Too often we see people who do not for all the different reasons, and we don’t know what those reasons are because we can’t see inside the mind of that person. But in this play, we get to see inside the mind and heart of a man and understand what he’s going through and why he makes the decisions that he makes. So perhaps a play like this will help someone make a different decision or maybe even help someone who understands that a loved one has made a different decision that they, themselves, wouldn’t have made, why they made that decision, and help them come to some sort of understanding and sense of acceptance about that.

In its premiere production, Jason (the main character) remained seated

Audience Responses

“For a play where the central character barely moves for its length, it moves a lot emotionally, always progressing, always deepening, always finding new ways to engage you. It’s all an impressive achievement.”

— Frank Moher, playwright, theatre director and journalist

“There was an instantaneous and prolonged standing ovation and it was well deserved.”

— Audience response

GALLERY

About the Play:

A Baker’s Dozen is a five‑actor, two‑act psychological drama set entirely inside the mind of a man who has just left the apartment of his recently deceased sister, the last surviving member of his birth family, all of whom have died by suicide on a Friday the 13th.

Anchored in a single chair for the duration of the play, he is surrounded by the embodied “voices” of his past, living embodiments of memory, trauma, and inherited violence. They argue, collide, confess, accuse, and comfort him as he relives past memories and the physical and sexual abuse that shaped his childhood, the mental illness, addiction, and the trauma that consumed his family.

In its premiere production, the role of Jason was performed without a single exit. He remained onstage for the entire two acts and the intermission, creating a rare, electrifying challenge for actor, director, and audience. The result was a performance opportunity that demanded emotional stamina, precision, and vulnerability, – an actor’s dream and a director’s playground.

The play unfolds as a tense, intimate battle for his future. With flexible staging, from bare‑bones minimalism to a fully realized psychological landscape, it offers theatres a powerful, actor‑driven story about survival, legacy, and the moment a person chooses whether to continue or break a cycle. Ultimately, it suggests that the choice to re-shape one’s self and one’s legacy is but a decision. And that hope and courage exists in us all.

Excerpt