Carol Bolt's Famous is her first major stage play in years.

Inspired by, but not based on, a recent local, highly sensationalized rape/murder case, the play asks whether we control the media, or whether it controls us. Given the recent death of Princess Diana, that question resonates particularly strongly.

Famous, opening Nov. 25 at Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space, is being billed as a psychological thriller that forces us to address our own morbid fascination with violent crime and the media's role in perpetuating it.

This is a Carpe Diem production, a company that sporadically produces what they refer to as "epic, anti-heroic and darkly funny" plays. Yanna McIntosh, who can be seen on the new CBC series Riverdale and Linda Prystawaska, recently of the popular Angels In America at Canadian Stage Company, star in this two-hander about a fame junkie and the producer of a daytime talk show.

In the mid-1970s, author Carol Bolt was one of Canada's most prolific and respected playwrights -- her 1974 script, Red Emma, (about anarchist Emma Goldman) propelled her solidly into the limelight. In 1977 she penned a hugely successful thriller called One Night Stand, which was a kind of stage version of the film Looking For Mr. Goodbar. But gradually Bolt wrote less for the stage and began to develop a successful career in radio.

Famous is a new beginning for the playwright and the new generation waiting to discover her. It will run at the Tarragon Extra Space: (416) 531-1827.

-- By Mira Friedlander
Canadian Correspondent