Based on the novel by Bruce Allen Powe, The Aberhart Summer is a dark &quotcoming of age&quot story where desperation, secrets, and tragedy affect the lives of the people in an Edmonton neighbourhood during the Depression. A mystery, a comedy, and a gripping look at Alberta history.

Conni Massing is an award-winning writer working in theatre, film, radio, and television. Recent stage credits include the hit comedy The Myth of Summer, which premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2005; Homesick, which premiered at Edmontonâ??s Workshop West Theatre; and an adaptation of Bruce Allen Poweâ??s The Aberhart Summer (Alberta Theatre Projects/Citadel Theatre). Massing has worked as a television series story editor on The Beat, North of 60, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, and as a story consultant on Anaid Productionsâ??s documentary series Taking it Off and Family Restaurant. Conniâ??s comedic short film Invisible was produced in the fall of 2007. She is currently adapting W.O. Mitchellâ??s Jake and the Kid for Theatre Calgary and writing a book about road trips.

Conni has been playwright-in-residence at Theatre Network, Playwrightsâ?? Workshop Montréal, and the National Theatre School of Canada. She now teaches both playwriting and screenwriting in the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta. A proud member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, sheâ??s also a regional representative for the Writers Guild of Canada. Massingâ??s writing has been recognized by the Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association (AMPIA), the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Betty Mitchell Theatre Awards, and the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Theatre Awards. A recipient of a Queenâ??s Jubilee Medal (for contributions to the arts), Massing was recently honoured as one of one hundred people who have made a contribution to Alberta theatre in the last one hundred years.

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