The Highland Arts Theatre is back! After breaking Box Office records this summer, fall is in the air and the first new production at the HAT is about to debut: Sucker. Sucker is a screwball comedy about a band of misfits who all claim to be things they aren’t: a vampire who can’t stomach blood, an atheist rabbi, a murderer who’s never killed anyone, and a gothic “grifter”. When a devastating (but whimsical) tragedy literally crushes a small town, these lovable weirdo’s cope with grief the only way they know how: even if it kills them. This hilarious play is written by recent Dora-Award winning writer Kat Sandler. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because she also penned another Toronto smash-hit, Punch Up, which the HAT brought to the stage to great success in 2015 and later brought to Halifax for the Atlantic Fringe Festival, where it won the award for Best of Festival. Helming the all-star production is director Ron Jenkins, who wrote and directed another recent HAT smash, Extinction Song. One of Canada’s most in-demand directors, Jenkins grew up in East Bay and got his start at the Boardmore Theatre before moving away to have a hugely successful career “away”. Based mainly in Edmonton, Jenkins has worked virtually everywhere in the country, but it is wonderful to have him back home in Cape Breton for this stellar project. The cast is equally talented, led by HAT favourite Hilary Scott (Dream, Herstory, All in the Timing) and Tayves Fiddis, who audiences will remember from this summer’s Kitchen Party and Halo. Nancy Orkish makes her return to the stage after making a splash this summer in the HAT’s Resident Company, and two more local superstars make their HAT debut: Mark Delaney and Andy Gouthro, most recently familiar from several shows at the Fortress of Louisburg. Audiences are warned of some “Biting Language”. Artistic Director, Wesley J. Colford, says, “This is a very funny play and it feels very contemporary. It deals with mature characters with mature emotions in mature situations, and the language reflects that. Dealing with grief is never easy, but laughing with these hysterically human characters somehow makes us understand it and them a little better.” The production runs October 19th to 23rd at 8:00 PM at the Highland Arts Theatre (40 Bentinck St.). Tickets are $25 ($15 for students and youth under 23) and can be purchased at the HAT Box Office (open 11:00 – 4:00, Monday-Friday), over the phone at (902) 565-3637, or by visiting the Highland Arts Theatre website: www.highlandartstheatre.com.