A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Pamela Mala Sinha “It’s challenging as a playwright, but I love acting so much. I think the hard part is done and now I have to step into the harder part which is the role and surrender to the story..." Joe Szekeres It has been a busy few weeks speaking with a number of artists who have show openings in the next several weeks. I’m rigorously trying to get caught up and post their articles but will always remain grateful and thankful for every opportunity to speak with them. Recently, I received a press release detailing background information about Pamela Mala Sinha and her play ‘NEW’ which is now playing at Canadian Stage's Berkeley Street Theatre. She is an award-winning Canadian actress and writer working internationally in theatre, television, and film. She was Necessary Angel’s inaugural Playwright in Residence. Pamela was the recipient of Dora Awards for Outstanding New Play (playwright) and Outstanding Lead Actress for her solo debut play, CRASH. Her second play, Happy Place, premiered in Toronto in 2015 at Soulpepper. CRASH’s US debut was at New York’s Signature Theatre in 2017. The film version of CRASH is currently in development with Necessary Angel and Riddle Films. She completed her training at Montréal’s National Theatre School in the 1990s. Does she miss the city: “I love Montréal. If I could have made a living as an English-speaking actor in the city I would have stayed. I have close friends who live in the city, so when I can I’m on a train.” Pamela slightly paused and then sighed when I asked her how she was feeling even though we are still in Covid’s throes. She felt it was ‘touch and go’ there as ‘NEW’ was supposed to premiere at Winnipeg’s Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in 2020. There was hope the production would open in 2021, but alas we know what occurred. 2022 was two years waiting for the premiere and it was a huge relief and privilege when the production was finally mounted at RMTC. Winnipeg is Pamela’s original hometown and 'NEW' is set here, so this is another inspiration of sentimental reason to premiere the play here. Now that Toronto is her home, the opening of ‘NEW’ is equally as significant as the Western premiere. For Sinha, this week’s Toronto opening still feels like the premiere of the play yet again. Sinha is ecstatic to be back in the theatre again telling stories that all theatre artists have been longing to do. It is their centre, purpose, and desire in their actor’s training to do so. On its website, Necessary Angel describes the plot: “The year is 1970 and the arrival of a Bengali bride to a small university town shakes up a tight-knit group of Indian immigrants, including the husband she's never met. Tradition and counterculture collide for three women and their husbands as their perceptions of identity, sexuality, and the meaning of freedom are challenged by the spirit - and actions - of this fearless young woman.” With this plot focus, Sinha tries to capture the things that were important in the story and that needed to be told in a deep and complex way. Pamela was one of the few artists selected nationally to receive a prestigious Project Imagination commission from Soulpepper Theatre Company to write a play of any choice. Thus, the genesis and germination of ‘NEW’ began. What she wanted to do was tell the story of her parent’s generation as young people. There is a whole world of her parents and their chosen extended family as young people, and a huge gap in the popular culture in terms of South Asian immigrants and their stories: “I remember looking at photographs in preparation for a funeral of a very close member of my family and seeing all these people young, vibrant, and sexy as hell, without children and figuring it all out and looking like a million bucks while they’re doing it.” Sinha wanted to know the truth of the situation, so she returned to Winnipeg to research and speak to extended members of her family. She asked a lot of questions. In all her research, she wanted to get to the truth about these individuals who were part of her years growing up. She established such trust and respect with these extended family members and the stories just came forward. As an actor, Sinha sometimes gets frustrated about the roles she is often offered. These roles are sometimes of those who are intimidated, vulnerable and afraid, and not the bold, brave, and adventurous people whom she saw in the photographs at the funeral. This drives Pamela bananas and why she often doesn’t work. Why not write what Pamela knows to be true as opposed to waiting for someone else to write it and being frustrated by it? She wanted to just tell the story not necessarily about the joys and triumphs. What were some of the struggles these extended family members felt? Did they feel lost? alone? Did they fight as a married couple? How were these conflicts resolved? These ‘new’ individuals to Canada/Winnipeg were young here. They came of age here. Pamela and her extended chosen family of aunts, uncles and cousins were all beneficiaries of the gifts of love and knowledge from those who came to Canada to build a life. This understanding makes the messages of ‘NEW’ so universal. Pamela also adds the play is based on fictional characters. No one from her extended family would recognize themselves on stage. How does she feel about being an actor this time and being directed by Necessary Angel’s Artistic Director Alan Dilworth? This is her fourth collaboration with Alan, and she agrees he is a gifted director. She’s learned that it’s important to write the play first and then hopefully not have to do any re-writes during rehearsal. With ‘New’, Sinha wrote the play and then made adjustments but, hopefully, they’re not cataclysmic so she can focus on her actor performance and journey in the play instead of the third eye point of view of the playwright: “It’s challenging as a playwright, but I love acting so much. I think the hard part is done and now I have to step into the harder part which is the role and surrender to the story as opposed to hearing the story while I’m in a scene and trying not to judge the writing.” As we concluded, I asked Pamela where she sees the future of Canadian theatre headed as an artist. She’s really worried about the theatre because people’s attention spans have shrunk with streaming. We both agreed that we are guilty of fast-forwarding a lot. She adds further: “Art will always be relevant and I think theatre is essential to our humanity. The convenience of everything being at our fingertips is going to threaten the sacredness of what we do. There’s great potential in these new plays new playwrights and new approaches, but we’re up against a lot. We have to get people to come to the theatre and experience that group and audience energy of receiving story in community. You don’t get that on your couch watching a streaming network.” Sinha’s final words: “Theatre keeps all of us connected in an important way that we were so robbed of during Covid.” Necessary Angel in association with Canadian Stage and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre presents the Toronto premiere of ‘New’ running to May 14, 2023 at Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street. For tickets, visit www.canadianstage.com or call the Box Office at (416) 368-3110. To learn more about Necessary Angel Theatre Company, visit www.necessaryangel.com . Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back 'Uncovered - U2 and The Rolling Stones' Now performing at Koerner Hall and produced by Musical Stage Company Credit: Dahlia Katz Photography. Pictured: Kelly Holiff Dave Rabjohn "Go, see this show - see it!" Nostalgia and fierce talent are on full display at the opening of Musical Stage Company’s cleverly named ‘Uncovered – U2 and The Rolling Stones.’ Part of the ‘Uncovered’ series, this stunning night of music features sixteen highlights from the careers of the two rock giants. Performed in Toronto’s exquisite Koerner Hall, it also features eight of the city’s most accomplished singers with an equally talented band of diverse musicians lead by Kevin Wong. A narrative, of sorts, wove through the evening with singers quoting from the main personalities – Jagger, Richards, Bono, the Edge. What gave the work credence was that no one was trying to play a character or do impersonations. This allowed the music to take over and take over it did. Inventive arrangements by Wong elevated the experience even further. Highlights: As the opening number, an infectious ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ by most of the ensemble, pinned the audience to their seats. ‘I Still Haven’t Found what I’m Looking For’ was regal by Lydia Persaud whose voice is pure. Andrew Penner brought eerie force with hard core versions of ‘Paint it Black’ and ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.’ Nostalgia reigned with wild guitar solos and head banging vocals. Some very inventive acoustic guitar work displayed his great versatility. ‘Moonlight Mile’ afforded some beautiful harmony from Hailey Gillis, Kelly Holiff, and Enya Watson. A very soulful ‘Wild Horses’ became a beautiful duet from Hailey Gillis and Lydia Persaud. A breathy and sincere ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ came from a riveting solo by Kelly Holiff. She also won the audience with an engaging ‘Beautiful Day.’ Two More: Kevin Wong left his role as bandleader, strode to the microphone and delivered a powerful ‘Ruby Tuesday.’ Memorable. The ever-popular Toronto fixture, Jackie Richardson, ended the first act with her signature bluesy vocals in ‘Satisfaction.’ Near the end of Act 2, she delivered a rousing ‘Where the Streets Have No Name.’ The audience stormed to its feet. What do these two rock icons have in common? The narrative suggested their anthem-like songs that we have all sung, seen or heard. The personal relationships among band members are infamous, but somehow enduring. Their movement from rebellion to accomplished artists is clear. The pairing of these two oeuvres seems random, but somehow the songs burnish one another. This is a tribute to the clever research of the Musical Stage Company. As mentioned, the clever arrangements by Kevin Wong brightened the performance. At some junctures, lyrics that were formerly shadowy, seemed to lift from the page and became clear and newly resonant. Special note: After the performance, I managed to ask the artistic director, Ray Hogg, about an instrumental piece that opened the second act. Some parts of it were recognizable and others less clear. He credited the drummer, Jamie Drake, for mashing together a number of U2/Stones songs that were not used in the main event. Pure magic. Go see this show - see it! Then go home, dust off some old vinyl and enjoy even more. ‘Uncovered – U2 and the Rolling Sones’ Musical Stage Company Music supervision – Kevin Wong Performers: Colin Asuncion, Hailey Gillis, Kelly Holiff, Andrew Penner, Lydia Persaud, Jackie Richardson, Shaemus Swets, Enya Watson. Staging – Kaylee Harwood Lighting designer - Logan Raju Cracknell Performances through – October 25, 2024. Tickets – musicalstagecompany.com Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes' by Hannah Moscovitch Now onstage at Gananoque's Firehall Theatre, Gananoque Credit: Randy deKleine-Stimpson. L-R: Romi Shraiter and Jonas Chernick Joe Szekeres A boldly calculated risk in tackling this edge-of-the-seat drama. It’s a sexy production at the Firehall. Yet, there’s nothing sexy about the implications of the characters' actions. Gananoque’s Thousand Islands Playhouse presents Hannah Moscovitch’s daring two-hander ‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes.’ Written in 2020 and winner of the 2021 Governor General’s Award for English language drama, the bold script is told from the third-person narrative viewpoint of Jon (Jonas Chernick), a lauded and well-respected college professor. He’s slowly completing a novel about turn-of-the-century lumberjacks while teaching and grading assignments. Jon is twice divorced and separated from his third wife. He’s filled with self-hatred. He continually refers to himself in the third person while sharing his emotional myriad of rambling thoughts running turbulently through his head. Throughout all this personal upheaval, Jon continues to teach and try to go about his business. The arrival of first-year student Annie (Romi Shraiter) in Jon’s class alters his life. She wears a blood-red coat. He develops an obsessive interest in this young woman who lives down the street from his house and passes by it daily on her way to and from the college. One day, Annie is locked out of her apartment. She hurts herself trying to crawl through the window and is severely cut. She shows up at Jon’s house, and he assists in helping her clean the wound. This encounter dangerously notches up the sexual tension. The two begin a tempestuous and consensual affair in a matter of days. Even though Jon knows how highly unprofessional his behaviour has become, he embarks willingly, which could have dire consequences for his personal life and career. I saw the premiere of this production in Toronto and had written that Moscovitch viscerally overturned the #metoo movement on its head with a sizable goose egg bump. This ‘Sexual Misconduct’ still does that. It remains an uncomfortable story of power dynamics dealing with the abuse of trust between a teacher/instructor and a student. I finally see more behind Moscovitch’s script regarding narrative points of view. The uniqueness of Jon referring to himself in the third person appears rather timely and odd (especially in our woke world of preferred pronoun usage). To refer to oneself in the third person means to distance oneself. To refer to oneself in the first person implies there is a proximity. If something is distant, there is no need to recognize its closeness. Implications of actions can be avoided in the third-person narrative. These implications are not nearly as immediate as if the first-person narrative is used. Because Jon refers to himself in the third person, he does not have to accept full responsibility for his actions. Director Krista Jackson reflects this recognition in her vision of the play, but she’s inspired by going one step further. She skillfully maneuvers Annie’s quiet presence everywhere on the stage. If she’s not seen physically, Annie’s voice is amplified from the standing microphones on the stage. She's gracefully swanlike when she must exit the stage, and my eyes watch as she leaves. Annie will always be that grimly felt reminder of Jon’s inexcusably unprofessional actions that cannot be ignored this time around. Jackson’s creative team of artists behind the scenes helped achieve this intense vision. Michelle Bohn’s set design effectively resembles a strategy game board. Jon’s college office is on risers and appears to be the apex. Stage right of Jon’s desk (which also doubles as a hotel bed in another scene), there are books galore piled high, nearly right to the ceiling. The floor design is intriguing. There appears to be an ‘X’ with patches of artificial grass in the spaces between. However, where the two lines meet in the letter ‘x’ centre stage becomes a crossroads for Annie and Jon. That crossroads becomes an empty pit of torrid and dynamic sexual passion with a sense these events will not end well. And what do you know? They don’t. The periodic use of shadowy lighting design by Louise Guinand continues to notch up the heated intensity. There are two costume items Bohn incorporates which catch the eye. Annie’s blood-red coat indeed represents a fiery passion within the woman. Additionally, her skirt and blouse are shades of red at one point. A nice touch. The other item is Jon’s belt. At first, it caught my eye as it wasn’t placed in Chernick’s waist pant loop and kept flopping. And then it dawned on me why this works for Jon’s character – the man has probably lost so much weight and is not eating because he is stressed. Now, it makes sense. Anita Nittoly’s work as Intimacy Director must be courageously acknowledged. Those moments of implied sexual chemistry and acts between Jon and Annie strikingly capture what’s going on; however, as I had written earlier, there is nothing sexy about this ‘Sexual Misconduct.’ It’s misconduct on both characters, as Moscovitch’s title clarifies. Jonas Chernick and Romi Shraiter are the reasons to experience this Thousand Islands production. They deliver brave and daring performances and remain fully committed to the believable reality of the moment under Jackson’s subtle direction. There are many moments where Chernick’s Jon remains clearly in control. He senses and knows when Annie is coming on to him. Chernick’s Jon is the first to act on his animalistic response, while Shraiter’s Annie follows in kind. There are even moments of Jon gaslighting Annie. There is one extraordinary moment when Shraiter’s Annie grandly pulls the power of the moment from Chernick, and she remains in control. At one point, she silently and determinedly exits from Jon, not saying a word, with her head held high and a look on her face which beamed, ‘This is not over.’ Chilling to hear the silence at this point, but it is a highlight because Annie could destroy everything about Jon. Final Comments: ‘Sexual Misconduct’ is another piece that should be discussed. I know the Playhouse has held post-discussions with actors following performances. I hope there is one for this production. A reminder that the play is not for impressionable youth. This production is, at times, unsettling. It does ask questions. But that’s a sign of the impact of a good play when questions are raised. It’s worth a visit to the Firehall Theatre. Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. The production runs until October 1 at the Firehall Theatre, 185 South Street, Gananoque. Call the Box Office at (613) 382-7020 or visit www.1000islandsplayhouse.com for tickets. THE THOUSAND ISLANDS PLAYHOUSE presents ‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes’ by Hannah Moscovitch. Director - Krista Jackson Set & Costume Designer - Michelle Bohn Lighting Designer - Louise Guinand Sound Designer & Composer - Sara Jarvie-Clark Stage Manager - Loralie Pollard Intimacy & Fight Director - Anita Nittoly Performers: Jonas Chernick and Romi Shraiter Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Behind the Moon' by Anosh Irani Now onstage at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre Credit: Cylla von Tiedemann. L-R: Husein Makhavji, Ali Kazmi, Vik Sahay Dave Rabjohn Searing tension is the hallmark of Anosh Irani’s ‘Behind the Moon’ opening as a world premiere at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre (extra space.) The theme of immigration (loss, hunger, fear) is almost a genre unto itself. But Irani’s play moves it to another level with three characters each of whom has tragedy burning just under the surface. The force of this production comes from the three compelling performances of Ali Kazmi, Husein Madhavji, and Vik Sahay. In a stark, but neat, Mughlai restaurant in Toronto we meet Ayub (Kazmi) furiously polishing the counter and glass of the serving area. An agitated stranger named Jalal (Madhavji) enters, just after closing time, begging for some food. Ayub refuses, clearly worried about the integrity of the restaurant’s hours. Jalal wears him down and leaves with butter chicken. Their rapport is intriguing with Mr. Kazmi’s sparkling sarcasm and Mr. Madhavji’s dark intensity. Throughout the play, Jalal continues to visit Ayub at awkward moments trying to forge a friendship that is rejected (for the most part.) Jalal offers wisdom and encouragement, but it rarely pierces the mysterious gloom surrounding Ayub. Qadir (played by Vik Sahay) is the caustic owner of the establishment. His positive outward appearance is belied by a scheming undercurrent – he is the well-known “smiling damned villain” and Sahay’s smooth performance is punctuated with traces of ugliness and betrayal. He seems to treat his employee well, but the audience is disturbed by brief and subtle moments of subjugation – one example is a gift that quickly sours. The three characters meet and Ayub is in the difficult position of trying to act humane, while Qadir views it as disrespectful and impudence. Events swarm towards a crescendo as bully and victim physically brawl – the moment of crisis is a Kafka-like metamorphosis that ends violently. As mentioned, each character carries horrifying tragedy. Kazmi’s performance is brilliant in its rage and despair as he misses his family back in India and as we slowly learn that he is a victim of borderline human trafficking. Madhavji’s sweating performance is equally profound as we learn of his recent harrowing loss and subsequent guilt. Sahay’s smooth arrogance is abhorrent – a Freudian slip causes him to suggest he is both the owner of the restaurant and the owner of Ayub. The veteran Richard Rose returns to Tarragon to direct Irani’s sublime script. His direction was subtle, but his work was surely demanding conducting these three charging performances. Jason Hand’s lighting direction added extraordinary intensity. As the play works through a series of scenes, the blackouts were sharp and distinct and the brownouts supported the suspense. Harsh fluorescent lighting exposes all without compromise. Irani’s writing includes three striking soliloquies from each character. Migration is negatively portrayed as its cost is prohibitive. The jaded Qadir suggests that “to get something you have to lose something.” In ‘Behind the Moon’ the cost is too high. ‘Behind the Moon’ by Anosh Irani Performers: Ali Kazmi, Husein Madhavji, Vik Sahay Director: Richard Rose Set and Costume design: Michelle Tracey Lighting design: Jason Hand Performances run through: March 19, 2023. Tickets: tarragontheatre.com Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Rachel Cairns “Hypothetical Baby’ is a story about love—love between partners, between parents and children, between a person and their own future, and also our collective responsibility to each other as a society.” Courtesy of the artist Joe Szekeres Royal Academic of Dramatic Art (RADA) graduate Rachel Cairns and her solo show ‘Hypothetical Baby’ returns for another Toronto engagement to Factory Theatre from February 23 – March 8, 2025. Cairns considers her RADA training as an incredible foundation for her work as a performer. That being said, she also believes that training as an artist never stops because it is a lifelong thing. Over the years, she has found that some of the most valuable lessons have come from working in the performing arts industry and navigating life itself. I’m sure her one-woman show ‘Hypothetical Baby’ has provided ample opportunity to learn more about the industry and how it might respond to a controversial and sensitive topic today, given the repeal in the United States of Roe v. Wade. In a recent interview with Cairns, I sent her questions to answer via email and inquired about the significance of the solo show’s title and what it represents. Yes, as a practicing Catholic, I have my thoughts on this sensitive issue, but I also firmly believe it is vital to hear from women regarding this topic. This profile is not an opportunity to use this platform to hypothesize my views. It is meant for me and for others to listen first. Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster will direct the show once again at Factory. Rachel says the production this time is essentially the same. Nightwood Theatre, one of the producers, was very specific about not changing anything for the upcoming production. Cairns says ‘Hypothetical Baby’ is a play about the decision to become a parent—or not—so the title directly speaks to that theme. She actually lifted it from a line in the show because the phrase felt like it encapsulated a lot. There's also a bit of a wink in it. She knows a show about abortion might come with certain connotations, but she hopes the title hints that it's not all going to be painfully earnest. Further specifics about ‘Baby’: “An unintended pregnancy, followed by an unhelpful doctor’s appointment, leads to a Christmas Eve abortion and one woman’s reckoning with the practical and existential considerations in deciding to become a parent…or not. The show also mixes date and drama to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately – with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty and frank irreverence. (taken from Rachel Cairns’ website) When the production originally played in Toronto, I sent a female reviewer to review Hypothetical Baby, and she wrote that the show is “as intimate and emotional as it is politically relevant.” I’m sending a male to review the show this time since I’m unavailable for media night as I will attend another opening. I asked Rachel her thoughts about sending a male to cover the show. While she understands the sensitivity around gender, especially with abortion, particularly as we’re seeing in the US where it’s mainly men making decisions about women’s and pregnant bodies, Cairns believes more men are also needed to join the conversation and, quite frankly, to care about this issue and how it impacts them and the people they love. For Cairns: “abortion is not just a women’s issue since not all women can get pregnant and not all pregnant people are women.” She elaborates pretty frankly: “My abortion was also my partner’s abortion—he wasn’t ready to become a parent either. In the show, you'll see that his hesitancy and inability to talk openly about abortion—shaped by societal conditioning that discourages men from expressing their feelings—made the experience harder for us as a couple. This silence, especially from men who may feel it’s not their place to discuss abortion, only puts more pressure and work on people who can get pregnant and perpetuates the stigma.” Cairns emphasizes that normalizing and destigmatizing abortion means recognizing it as a human experience that affects us all. Decisions around pregnancy are fundamentally about human rights, self-determination, and bodily autonomy. When we approach it that way, as her play does, we see reproductive choice as one of the most fundamental freedoms—like choosing what we believe, the work we do, and who we love. Any thoughts for Catholics and Christians about seeing the show? Rachel hopes they can see it as an invitation to think about compassion, empathy, and the profound responsibility of creating a world where people can parent if they choose to—and not because it's expected or imposed on them—as well as what it means to live in a society where everyone has what they need to survive and thrive. Parenting isn't just a matter of individual will; it's shaped by economic realities, gender expectations, social policies, and access to healthcare and childcare—not to mention the need for a planet we can trust will remain a safe and sustainable place for those children throughout their lives. At its core, Hypothetical Baby’ is a story about love between partners, between parents and children, between a person and their own future, and also our collective responsibility to each other as a society. Rachel thinks the message of love, dignity, and care resonates deeply with people regardless of their religious or cultural background. As we began to close our email conversation, I asked: “If an audience member can come away from ‘Hypothetical Baby’ with one message, what would that be?” Cairns hopes audiences leave the play reflecting on what it means to live in a society where everyone has what they need to survive because that’s the only way people can make genuine choices, especially when it comes to the profound decision to bring new life into the world. She adds: “More and more people are choosing not to have children—and yes, that’s partly because not everyone wants to be a parent. Right now, we’re facing crises in nearly every social sector of our lives: housing, healthcare, education, wages, climate, you name it. While I believe that pregnancy must always be a personal decision, the work of creating and sustaining life goes beyond individual choices. It’s a collective endeavour that connects and holds us together. The only way parenting becomes more possible is if we choose to invest in the work of caring for life, to make it worth living. I hope audiences leave ‘Hypothetical Baby’ reflecting on the essential and invaluable work of raising children and nurturing life—and how it's worth supporting not just for parents but for everyone. What’s next for Rachel Cairns once ‘Hypothetical Baby’ is finished? She’s currently working on adapting the play and podcast into a narrative non-fiction memoir with ECW Press. She’s also returning to another favourite topic of hers that might be even more taboo than abortion: money. After being "the abortion girl" for a few years, I've found that people are often way more willing to share their opinions and experiences about abortion with me than they are talking openly and transparently about money. We’re to stay tuned. ‘Hypothetical Baby’ produced by Nightwood Theatre in association with The Howland Company, runs at Toronto’s Factory Theatre from February 23 to March 8, 2025. For tickets, visit https://www.factorytheatre.ca/shows/hypothetical-baby/#about To learn more about Rachel Cairns, the artist: https://www.rachelcairns.ca/#contact Previous Next

Where we hope to help young people develop an intrest and a passion for a futrure in theatre. Back Pop! Pop! By Linda A. Carson, with Monica Dufault and Kim Selody Now onstage at Toronto's Young People's Theatre Lauren Garbutt Photography Joe Szekeres “A magical and mysterious under-the-sea world for the wee ones. Delightful” In this delightful 45-minute journey undersea, we meet two very different sea creatures, ‘Hide’ and ‘Seek.’ Adorable. They playfully explore this enchanting new sea world, with many surprises turning up along the way. There is no dialogue in the play - only sounds that make the young audience eager to pay attention, to see and hear what’s happening. Kelly Wolf’s circular set design incorporates many bright and vibrant colours to capture a young child’s interest. I especially liked the aqua-blue waterfall-like entrance upstage. There are so many colours to see and marvel at on this set. Alexa Fraser’s puppets each have their own unique and distinctive look. The plucky starfish is so darn cute. The manipulation of the shark by the actors as it swims by becomes momentarily mesmerizing to watch. The two actors slowly manipulate it as it goes by the front of the stage. Brad Trenaman’s lighting design uniquely captures the shadowy effects of light upon the water. I especially liked Joe Lapinski’s incorporation of synthesizer music and brief sounds that will most certainly appeal to children. Director Monica Dufault understands the attention span of young children. She swimmingly keeps the show’s pace moving along thanks to the charming performances of Kaylyn Valdez-Scott as ‘Hide’ and Katherine Cappellaci as ‘Seek.’ They are agile and flexible, moving around the stage with grace and dexterity. They listen to each other, watch, and respond naturally while never upstaging the other. Valdez-Scott hides in one of the objects onstage when we first see her, and I was impressed at how she could contort her physical stance to remain in the object. I reviewed this show with the young students from a local pre/nursery school in the audience today. Watching and hearing the children’s responses to the activities on stage was tremendously fun. Valdez-Scott and Cappellaci are very comfortable with young audience members. The two performers are entirely in tune with the kids and their attention spans. They knew to bring the puppets and the action down and centre right to get their attention quickly. Valdez-Scott and Cappellaci always appear energized and never flustered if the kids become loud in their response. I spoke to them quickly after the show, and they both said how much they wished the kids would have been a bit louder. Valdez-Scott and Cappellaci feed from that connection with the wee ones. What I respect about the performances at Young People’s Theatre is the commitment to reflecting the 7 Ancestral Teachings in each performance. The two lessons reflected were Humility and Honesty. I credit Dufault for incorporating these lessons subtly in Valdez-Scott and Cappellaci’s performances. They love it when the kids are in the audience. The show closes this weekend, and I strongly encourage parents to introduce their children to the wonders of the theatre in this 45-minute show format. A wonderful way to get kids interested in the theatre. Running time: approximately 45 minutes. The production runs until October 22 upstairs in the Ada Slaight Hall. For information, visit youngpeoplestheatre.org. POP! POP! A Carousel Players Production By Linda A. Carson, with Monica Dufault and Kim Selody Directed by Monica Dufault Set Designer: Kelly Wolf Lighting Designer: Brad Teneman Stage Manager: Sara Allison Performers: Katherine Cappellaci and Kaylyn Valdez-Scott Previous Next

An artistic appreciation for those who have no background in opera. Back Angel Opera Atelier Bruce Zinger David Rabjohn A unique, filmed opera/ballet opened this week online after six years in development. ‘Angel’ is a riveting collaboration from Opera Atelier, Tafelmusik, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, composer Edwin Huizinga and filmmaker Marcel Canzona. It is clear from this list of well-established Canadian institutions that this project will easily excite the arts community. Along with a superb cast led by soprano Measha Brueggergosman, the collaboration’s narrative follows John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and the mystic poetry of Rainer Marie Rilke. Atelier focuses on period productions while Tafelmusik likes to revive baroque music with original instruments. Having said that, the uniqueness here is how they create a contemporary product with baroque flavour (among other elements.) The music composition is superb and the choreography of Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg takes full advantage of the talented Artists of Atelier Ballet. The narrative generally follows Milton’s colossal story of the fall of Satan and the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden. Art Director Gerard Gauci creatively guides us through the various scenes with a unique use of colour. Most of the film is black and white representing earth and humanity. Hell is bathed in red while a glimpse into Eden is full of rich colour. A star motif flashes through the film – even Gauci’s design for the dance floor is an actual rendering of the night sky as seen in Toronto. We ponder if the dancers are above heaven or below. Many typical Miltonian themes drive the story – loss of innocence, good versus evil, and redemption among others. The powerful cast is what ultimately illuminates these themes. As mentioned, Ms. Brueggergosman’s rich soprano elevates her role of Angel. Douglas Williams’ robust baritone underscores the evil Lucifer. Meghan Lindsay and John Tibbetts support and complement each other as Adam and Eve. As earlier mentioned, it is the collaboration of many moving parts that is the challenge of this production. All musicals have many moving parts, but this is unique in that the parts are from the many separate established organizations listed above. Layered on to that, the production must also be filmed, edited and transformed digitally. Rather than weighing down on top of itself, these various layers enrich the musical and visual landscape and boldly highlight, for a contemporary audience, the various themes and narratives earlier mentioned. A highlight of this collaboration was among filmmaker Marcel Canoza, the choreographers, and the Artists of the Atelier Ballet. At one point, the dancers are marching, like dolls, back and forth against one another while the film blurs them into a whirling mass. A similar moment comes from a forest of arms waving themselves, again into a blended cacophony. Many crossfades delineate scenes and characters. The result is mystical and magical. A digital house program numbered seventy pages! This, in itself, is a testimony to the many components involved and the skill of the team to turn them into unified art. The result is an exalted work of music and dance worthy of Milton, Rilke, and a superb cast. ‘Angel’ produced by Opera Atelier Cast: Colin Ainsworth, Mireille Asselin, Jesse Blumberg, Measha Brueggergosman, Meghan Lindsay, John Tibbetts, Douglas Williams, Artists of Atelier Ballet, Tafelmusik, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale. Conductor: David Fallis Choreographer: Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg Composer: Edwin Huizinga Filmmaker: Marcel Canzona Runs through November 12, 2021. Tickets at www.operaatelier.com Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back Inside American Pie Now on stage at the CAA Theatre, Credit: Dahlia Katz. Pictured: Mike Ross on piano during performance. Joe Szekeres “A chillin’ docu-concert. Part educational and part entertaining, ‘Inside American Pie’ rocks the CAA Theatre. The roof-raising audience appreciation in applause nearly brings the house down. One can’t help but hum along to the songs.” The line ‘the day the music died’ from the iconic 1971 ‘American Pie’ by Don McLean refers to the 1959 plane crash that killed rock and roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. McLean’s nostalgic and iconic song continues to be debated for its sometimes-vague line (mis?) interpretations. Artist Mike Ross and co-creator Sarah Wilson (Ross acknowledges his wife/producer, Nicole Bellamy, too) take the song’s nostalgia to the next level. They want to decode its possible meanings. In his Programme Note, Ross writes that the docu-concert is really what it implies—a collision of context interpretation and song delivered directly to the audience. Ross writes he developed this format mostly at Soulpepper, where he was given space to make mistakes and figure things out. On this opening night at the CAA Theatre, Inside American Pie’s 90-minute docu-concert aims to unravel the mystery behind the iconic 1971 song. Ross and Wilson select specific songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s that may have influenced McLean while writing ‘American Pie.’ Does this docu-concert format work? Yes. Wonderfully. Lorenzo Savoini’s concert design works well in placing Ross stage right on piano. Performers Alicia Toner, Brielle Ansems, and Greg Gale are centre stage, with Kirk White on drums upstage. Lighting designer Simon Rossiter perfectly accentuates those solo moments, most notably in Brielle Ansem’s rendition of Creedence Clearwater’s Revival’s ‘Bad Moon Rising.’ At the top of the show, Ross shares that his interpretations of ‘American Pie’ reflect are derived from his research. He encourages audience members to speak with him if they know something he might have overlooked. Led by Ross on piano, the four PEI musician ensemble accompaniment sounds terrific. They’re chillin’. Several of Ross’s arrangements are memorable: the opening ‘Come On, Let’s Go’ by Ritchie Valens, John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin.’ Acknowledgements to Sound Designer Sergey Varlamov to ensure the song lyrics can be heard. Ross is also an incredible pianist. There’s a moment when he stands and plays with remarkable gusto and spirit. Ross’s joy in sharing his music becomes contagious. That same joy infects the audience, who nearly bring the CAA house down with their roof-raising applause. That moment is forever etched in my mind. Final Note: Again, in his Programme note, Ross describes the process of a docu-concert as alchemy that involves back-and-forth collaborations with great people who lent their gifts to a meeting ground for music, design, story, and documentary. The key word is gift. Harmony House, in partnership with Mirvish Productions, presents a most welcome gift as spring approaches. The gift of song and storytelling. When these two elements are superbly combined in this five-person ensemble, the result is a memorable theatre experience. Give yourself a gift and go see ‘Inside American Pie.’ Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no interval/intermission. ‘Inside American Pie’ runs until March 30 at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, Toronto. For tickets: mirvish.com or call 1-800-461-3333. DAVID AND HANNAH MIRVISH present the HARMONY HOUSE production ‘INSIDE AMERICAN PIE’ created by Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson Producers: Harmony House, Nicole Bellamy and Mike Ross Music Director/Arranger: Mike Ross Set Designer: Lorenzo Savoini Lighting Designer: Simon Rossiter Sound Designer: Sergey Varlamov Stage Manager: Rob Harding Performers: Mike Ross, Alicia Toner, Brielle Ansems, Greg Gale, Kirk White Previous Next

Where theatre appeals to the 21st century youths. Young People 'Jungle Book', A New Adaptation Click Here 'A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeleine L'Engle with adaptation for the stage by Thomas Morgan Jones Click Here 'Celestial Bodies' by Jacob Margaret Archer Click Here 'Russell's World' written and directed by Herbie Barnes, Artistic Director Click Here 'The Adventures of Pinocchio' Click Here 'The Fixing Girl' by Kevin Dyer Click Here "It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" adapted by Joe Landry Click Here 'A Year with Frog and Toad' by Robert Reale and Willie Reale Click Here 'Frog Song - A New Children's Opera' Book by Taylor Marie Graham; Music by William Rowson A WORLD PREMIERE Click Here 'Snow White' adapted by Greg Banks Click Here 'The Darkest Dark' adapted for the stage by Jim Millan and Ian MacIntyre and based on the book by Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion Click Here 'The Wolves' by Sarah DeLappe Click Here

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Eda Holmes Self Isolated Artist Olivier Clertant Joe Szekeres Over the years while working as a full-time teacher, I’ve travelled to Montreal to visit relatives and friends in the summer, (et parler francais aussi). I’ve only attended The Centaur Theatre sadly just once as the theatre was usually closed for July and August. Since I’ve been reviewing for On Stage Blog, I made it a point to get in touch with The Centaur again as I was receiving word there was ‘good stuff’ going on, and I wanted to check it out since my retirement from teaching. I must credit a lot of the ‘good stuff’ going on for the last two seasons to Artistic Director, Eda Holmes, and her vision for the theatre. From 2010-2017, Ms. Holmes was Artistic Director of Ontario’s Shaw Festival. Her curriculum vitae reveals extensive professional experience she has had across Canada. Her training at rather prestigious ballet schools in New York City, San Francisco and Houston, Texas plus her training at Montreal’s National Theatre School in Directing are quite impressive. When I attended opening night productions to review the last two seasons, Ms. Holmes eloquently opened each performance with a warm welcome to guests and patrons. I thought to myself here was a lady who genuinely cared about The Centaur and wants it to be a leading spot for theatrical creativity. During this pandemic lockdown, Ms. Holmes still wanted to ensure audiences and patrons do not lose sight of the artistic and creative force of The Centaur. There are Saturday Salons where guests can listen to individual discussions. On Saturday May 23, the Salon features Playwright’s Workshop Montreal with Emma Tibaldo and Jesse Stong about our Queer Reading Series. On May 30, Eda’s guest will be Centaur’s former Artistic and Executive Director, Roy Surette. Roy is now Touchstone Theatre’s Artistic Director in Vancouver. We’re all looking forward for Eda and Roy to talk about their love for Centaur. The last Saturday Salon will be held June 6 with Imago Theatre’s Artistic and Executive Director Micheline Chevrier. Montreal’s Imago Theatre is a catalyst for conversation, an advocate for equal representation and a hub for stories about unstoppable women. Ms. Holmes and I conducted our interview via email: 1. How have you been doing during this period of isolation and quarantine? Is your family doing well? I feel really fortunate that I am home and well with my husband Tim Southam. Even though Montreal is a real hotspot of the pandemic we are lucky to live near the mountain where we can be out in nature a bit without having to go very far. For the first two weeks of the whole thing Tim had just returned from LA so he had to self-isolate and I was in Niagara-on-the-lake where we were supposed to start rehearsals for The Devil’s Disciple - which we ended up doing entirely via Zoom. I was able to come back to Montreal after 2 weeks and that felt really good. Now if it would just get a bit warmer outside, I would feel really hopeful! 2. I know that ‘Fences’ was shut down at The Centaur when the pandemic was declared, and everything began to be locked tightly. How long was the production in rehearsal? How far was it from premiere? Will ‘Fences’ become part of any future slate at Centaur? Fences was supposed to start rehearsals 3 days after we closed the theatre on March 13th. At that point, the set was built and waiting in the theatre to be set up on the stage, the costume and set designer Rachel Forbes was in town and the costumes were just getting started. We had a video shoot planned for the first day of rehearsal as well to create a trailer for the show and the posters had just started going up inside and outside of the building. Since we didn’t really know the scope or scale of the situation yet, we decided together with our co-producers at Black Theatre Workshop to delay the start of rehearsals for one month in the hopes that things would calm down enough to make it possible to do the show a month later - how naive we were! By the end of March it was clear that nothing that involved people gathering was going to be possible for quite a while so we paid the creative team and the actors their cancellation fees and postponed the show indefinitely. Quincy Armorer the AD at Black Theatre Workshop (who was also going to play Troy Maxson in the production) and I committed to finding a way to make the production happen with this cast and creative team in the future even if it meant waiting 2 years. It was initially sort of stunning but eventually the numbness gave way to real sadness. 3. What has been the most challenging part of the isolation and quarantine for you personally and professionally? I think that the two most challenging things have been 1) trying to figure out how best to support the artists and core staff at Centaur as we navigate the upheaval of cancelling shows and finding ways to be authentically “online” in the short term, and 2) the fact that I did not get to have any creative time with all the artists that I was looking forward to being in a room with working on my show at Shaw. That said, the thing that has gotten me through has been the people both at Centaur and at Shaw - everyone has been so inspiring and supportive of one another it confirms that the theatre is the best family in the world. 4. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy during this time of lockdown? Every day feels like a week and every week feels like a year. For me the thing that is kind of surreal is the fact that even though everything has supposedly stopped, nothing seems to have stopped for me. I was rehearsing with the Shaw actors until May 10th by Zoom and at Centaur I have been planning and replanning how to keep the theatre creatively alive while we wait to see what is possible - something that changes almost hourly. I am hoping that it will all calm down soon and I will be able to at least read a bit, listen to music and spend some quiet time thinking, cooking and watching the Spring come alive. I might even dance a bit! 5. What advice would you give to other performing artists who are concerned about the impact of COVID-19? What words of advice would you give to the new graduates emerging from the National Theatre School? Even though no one knows how long this extraordinary situation (where we are not able to gather in public) will last - I know that it won’t last forever and when it is over the need to share our stories and make each other laugh and sing and think will be immense. The thing that has been most impressive has been the way all the artists I know have simply taken what is in front of them in this crisis and looked to make something of it. It might be bread for everyone they know, it might be a new song or a series of photographs or paintings or it might even be a commitment to get back to the basics of their own lives without the crazy race that a life in the arts usually entails, but every one of them seems to be saying “What is in front of me right this minute and what can I do with it.” So I guess my advice is the same as I would give an actor in a play - be in the moment and listen - that is the only way that I know to bring the full force of your own ability to the table with real authenticity. 6. Do you see anything positive coming out of this pandemic? I can only speak for myself on this one but I know that this crazy time has reminded me that you have to work with what you have and not lament what you don’t if you want to find a creative way forward. We can’t try to remake the world in its old image once this over - that would be a tragic waste of the immense toll the pandemic has taken. Never before, in my lifetime at least, has there been a single event that has impacted people around the world the way this virus has. We can’t help but be affected by that. It may not all be positive - we are human after all - but it will change all of us and hopefully it will give us the courage to make choices politically and collectively that will provide a better future than the one we were heading toward before we were all sent home. 7. Do you believe or can you see if the Quebec and Canadian performing arts scene will somehow be changed or impacted as a result of COVID – 19? It can’t help but be changed in both good ways and sad ways. I know that some companies will find it hard to survive or certain projects which were absolutely perfect before this crisis may fall away because the world will be so different afterward they are no longer as relevant. But the performing arts in Canada in general and Quebec in particular is full of intensely driven creative people who will be pushing at the gate to come forward and take on the new world and wrestle with what it all means. And the fact that Canada as a nation provides real effective public support for the arts at every level of government means that we have the best chance of coming out of this crisis ready to work. 8. Many artists are turning to streaming/online performances to showcase/highlight/share their work. What are your thoughts and comments about this? Are there any advantages or disadvantages? Will streaming/online/ You Tube performances be part of a ‘new normal’ for the live theatre/performing arts scene? The thing that we all crave in the performing arts is the experience of being personally in the room with something extraordinary - a brilliant performance or a perfectly cast audience that hangs on every word or note or step with the performers. It happens in real time with each person on either side of the footlights making a million choices in 3-dimensional real time together. The online world cannot reproduce that real time impact we have on each other in the room. Also we are all very sophisticated consumers of recorded media which at its best is the result of a very selective creative process that results in an intensely edited 2 dimensional final product. So I think that the theatre needs time to find authentic ways to create for an online platform - simply filming performances and broadcasting them will only work some of the time and only when the performance lends itself in some way to that selective edited final product. Painters have been playing with the surface of the canvas and all artists toy with the desire for or avoidance of verisimilitude all the time. It has always led the arts to innovate. I am sure that will happen during this period while we are not able to be in a room together - but it will never replace being in the room together. 9. As the Centaur’s Artistic Director, where do you see the future of Centaur headed as a result of this life changing event for all of us? I want to see Centaur continue down the path we were building toward becoming the theatre for all Montrealers. This city has changed so much in the past 10 years. The old notion of two solitudes is being dissolved by a young generation of artists who speak at least 2 languages, come from a variety of backgrounds and who have a wide range of influences. It makes the work that comes from here completely unique and I want to put Centaur at the centre of that creative energy and offer our audience the highest quality and most relevant theatre in the world - as soon as we can make theatre again! As a nod to ‘Inside the Actors’ Studio’ and the late James Lipton, here are the 10 questions he asked his guests at the conclusion of his interviews: 1. What is your favourite word? Wicked 2. What is your least favourite word? Nice 3. What turns you on? Fierce Joy 4. What turns you off? Laziness 5. What sound or noise do you love? A purring cat 6. What sound or noise bothers you? Music at the wrong volume. 7. What is your favourite curse word? It is unrepeatable. 8. What profession, other than your own, would you have liked to attempt? Chef 9. What profession would you not like to do? Accountant 10. If Heaven exists, what do you hope God will say to you as you approach the Pearly Gates? “You’re late.” To read and learn more about Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, visit www.centaurtheatre.com . Previous Next

Where theatre is not only presented on the stage. Back ANOTHER CHRISTMAS CAROL The Panto Sequel Now on stage at the Whitby Centennial Building, 416 Centre Street South. Credit: Dreamco Theatre. L-R: Josh Doig and Christopher Wilson Joe Szekeres “Corny jokes, silly puns, and a few modern political references for adults. This clever twist on a beloved Christmas classic provides entertainment, perfect for an afternoon or evening at the theatre during the Christmas holiday season.” It’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ I’ve never imagined. Thanks to writer and director Phil Nero’s clever twist on the iconic Dickens tale, complete with the panto stamp of proverbial boos and hisses, local geographical spots and over-the-top sendups, I will never see Tiny Tim in the same light during Christmases yet to come. Dreamco Theatre’s skewering of the classic Christmas story is just plain ol’ fun, especially on those days between Christmas and New Year’s when families might wonder what to do with the kids. Don’t expect any messages to ponder on the way home because there ain’t any. This time around, in Nero’s rendition, it’s not Ebenezeer Scrooge (Josh Doig) who needs to learn about the spirit of Christmas. Instead, it’s the dastardly adult Tim (Christopher Wilson) who is no longer tiny. He’s towering and burly but has grown into a childish, petulant and blustery adult who likes to throw his weight around. He has returned to London from America, where he plans to take over the family business of Scrooge and Marley. Add the sassy Cratchit housekeeper Fiona (Madison Sekulin) into this mix and stir in a quaint array of young, impressionable and smiling youth from around the local Whitby area who play the Humbugs and the Gingerbreads. Fun! Wow! (with thanks to the borrowed Fantasy Island theme park moniker from long ago. Shows you how old I am). Dreamco faced a challenge in presenting the show. A couple of the pantomimes I attended in Toronto and Port Hope were performed before Christmas Day. Additionally, Christopher Wilson, disguised at the beginning of the show, explained to the audience what to do when specific characters appeared on stage. I initially got the impression that the kids around me were eager to participate; however, as the plot progressed, they seemed to lose interest as they focused on following the storyline. That’s a good thing. So, I led some of the booing and hissing, which seemed to perk the kids up a bit more. Nero, Dreamco’s Artistic Director, had a smile on his face in the lobby after the show, and it said it all. He wanted the audience and the cast and crew to enjoy themselves. I did. It looked like the actors did, and so did audience members who sat around me and my guest. That’s all that matters and the very reason behind staging a panto. Nero’s creative team paid attention to theatrical details, which added to the overall enjoyment. Alex and Carmen Amini are to be congratulated for their terrific work in costuming the three principal players. Christopher Wilson’s top hat and tails catch the eye at the top of the show. Josh Doig’s Mrs. Cratchit outfit reminded me of Dan Chameroy’s Plumbum getup worn in The Wizard of Oz panto now at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre. Madison Sekulins’ dress as the housekeeper Fiona aptly reminded me of the Victorian era of the story. I was also told the young members of the company also worked on selecting their own specific costumes. Some nice touches there as the clothing gelled nicely together. Joe Falzon’s ‘Villain’ artwork is terrific. Alex Konc’s work in Audio and Brandon Rideout’s in Lighting is on par. I could hear the lyrics to each of the songs. Rideout’s lighting effectively casts eerie shadows when necessary. Phil Nero directs with a flair for fun. He made a smart choice in casting local young people from the area to be part of the show. Kalie Hunter's choreography aptly fits the song renditions. There’s no musical director listed in the program, but a couple of the song selections made me laugh out loud. To list them here would spoil the fun of the moment. There’s a nice balance between the pre-recorded music and the singers. The three-member principal cast does a bang-up job of telling the story. Christopher Wilson is a blowhard hoot as the towering Tiny Tim (the intentional oxymoron still makes me smile). Josh Doig’s Scrooge made me laugh out loud again at the end of the play in the costume he wears, which is a far cry from the traditional Scrooge we know in the iconic story. Madison Sekulin’s sassy and saucy Fiona, with a soaring singing voice, certainly made me pay attention. In his Director’s Programme Note, Phil Nero wrote he is proud of this production and the team that worked tirelessly to make it happen. Thank you, Phil and team, for the Christmas gift during these twelve days. Go and see ‘Another Christmas Carol: The Panto Sequel’ before it closes on December 31. Running Time: Approximately one hour and 45 minutes, including one intermission. ‘Another Christmas Carol’ runs until December 31 at the Whitby Centennial Building, 416 Centre Street South, Whitby. Tickets are available at dreamcotheatre.com or at the door. Matinee performances are at 2 p.m. and evening performances are at 7 p.m. Previous Next

The who, what, where, when ,why and how live theatre occurs. Back PORT HOPE CAPITOL THEATRE’S INCREDIBLE 2025 LINEUP Theatre lovers and music/concert lovers, do not miss this line-up for 2025. Credit: Sam Moffatt. Pictured: Rob Kempson Joe Szekeres Port Hope's Capitol Theatre Artistic Director Rob Kempson recently shared the 2025 season line-up and has announced casting for the upcoming shows. Get yourselves to Port Hope this summer as there are some wonderful artists coming into town. Before we delve into that, Rob shared one of his visions as Artistic Director. In these uncertain times, the Capitol believes that finding stories to connect us is a responsibility of both artists and arts organizations. By supporting diverse identities, encouraging and amplifying the voices of traditionally marginalized communities, and creating substantial new strategies toward accessibility, we can ensure that the Capitol’s legacy is that of a true invitation for everyone. I like that. Rob then reported on the 2025 statistics for the Capitol and believes they are exciting. There are six Canadian plays, three LGBTQ+ writers, two world premieres, two BIPOC directors, two BIPOC writers, two Canadian musicals, and the first production of a play developed in the Capitol’s Creators’ Unit. Kempson says: “It’s a very exciting and ambitious season, and one that we’re proud of.” Under the 2025 theme A PLACE TO CALL HOME, Rob introduced the following 2025 slate: MAINSTAGE Bad Hats Theatre Production of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Adapted by Fiona Sauder with music by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko and directed by Sue Miner. The cast includes: Colleen Furlan in the title role, with Dave Ball, Rosie Callaghan, Eden Chiam, Christopher Fulton, Ben Kopp, Matt Pilipiak, Chelsea Preston, Fiona Sauder, Emry Tupper, and Anika Venkatesh. Performance dates for 'Alice in Wonderland' are May 16 – June 1, 2025 (I have already seen this production elsewhere and am looking forward to it seeing it at the Capitol) ‘Waitress’ based on the motion picture by Adrienne Shelly and directed by Rob Kempson. The cast includes: featuring real-life couple Kaylee Harwood and Sayer Roberts in the leading roles of Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. The ensemble features Malinda Carroll, Michael Cox, Oliver Dennis, Beau Dixon, Taylor Lovelace, Lia Luz, Clea McCaffrey, Caulin Moore, and Margaret Thompson. The live band includes Music Director Jonathan Corkal-Astorga, with Matt Ray, David Schotzko and Tami Sorovaiski. Performance dates for 'Waitress' are June 13-29, 2025 ‘Steel Magnolias’ by Robert Harling Directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster. The cast includes: Raquel Duffy making her Capitol Theatre debut as Truvy, with Belinda Corpuz as Anelle, Carolyn Fe as Clairee, and Brenda Robins as Ouiser, with real-life mother-daughter pair Deborah Drakeford as M’Lynn and Charlotte Dennis as Shelby. Performance dates for 'Steel Magnolias' are July 18-August 3, 2025 ‘Rez Gaz’ by Cale Crowe and Genevieve Adam. Music Supervision by Jeff Newberry and directed by Herbie Barnes. A homegrown musical created by extraordinary musical talent Cale Crowe of Alderville First Nation and Genevieve Adam of Cobourg, the world premiere of Rez Gas will be directed by Young People’s Theatre Artistic Director Herbie Barnes, featuring John Wamsley, Vinnie Alberto and Dillan Meighan Chiblow as a trio of old friends at the centre of the action. The ensemble also features Cheri Maracle, Michelle Bardach, Jonathan Fisher and Emma Rudy. The band will be led by Music Supervisor Jeff Newberry, and features Haneul Yi and Emry Tupper. Performance dates for 'Rez Gaz' are August 22 - September 7, 2025. THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY PANTO (what we’ve all come to enjoy during the Christmas season) ‘Hansel & Gretel: The Sticky and Sweet Panto’ by Rob Kempson Musical Arrangements by Jeff Newberry and directed by Rob Kempson November 21-December 28, 2025 SECOND STAGE SERIES ‘Handsome But Charmless’ Created and Performed by Kyle Golemba with music direction by Adam White June 3-8, 2025. (I’ve seen Kyle’s work recently in BED & BREAKFAST and am looking forward to his show billed as a ‘bad review becoming a brilliant one-man show.) ‘The Newfoundland Project’ created and performed by Shipyard Kitchen Party July 3-13, 2025. Green Light Arts ‘Let Me Explain’ created and performed by Izad Etemadi Directed by Matt White August 12-17, 2025 CONCERTS Billboard in Concert ‘The Power of Women & 1986’ Conceived by Jeff Newberry and Rob Kempson March 8-9 & September 27-28, 2025 ‘How We Got to Jersey: A Tale of Two Frankies’ Created and performed by Jeff Madden and Adrian Marchuk Musical Direction and Arrangements by Mark Camilleri October 24-26, 2025 (Finally, I get the chance to attend this concert. I had the opportunity to interview Jeff and Adrian earlier this year but could not attend the show. I'm not going to miss this one at all.) The season announcement culminated with many people renewing their subscriptions in the lobby immediately following. I also overheard many wanted to make a financial donation to the theatre. What struck me the most about this evening? Residents from Port Hope to Durham Region and quite a way east support the Capitol for its professional, quality productions. If you would like to learn more about Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, please visit www.capitoltheatre.com . You can find out more about donating to the theatre, purchasing a 2025 subscription and PLAYING A PART in the years to come. To follow the theatre on its social media: Twitter: @capitolporthope Instagram: @capitoltheatreporthope Facebook: Capitol Theatre Port Hope #Capitol2025 Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Red Velvet' by Lolita Crow's Theatre John Lauener Geoffrey Coulter, Guest Reviewer (actor, director, arts educator) Get to Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre for an incredible and enlightening performance about a ground-breaking actor no one has heard of! I’ve been an actor, director, educator, and avid student of theatre history most of my life. I thought I knew about or had heard of most of the heavyweights of 19th-century British and American theatre - Edwin Booth (brother of the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln) Herbert Tree, Edmund Kean, Ellen Terry, Lionel Barrymore, and others. But before last night’s performance of Red Velvet, I had never heard of Ira Aldridge, his life and controversy. The man, who broke barriers in the 19th century and paved the way for fellow African American performers, is brilliantly revived in playwright Lolita Chakrabarti’s timely and thought-provoking 2012 play, ‘Red Velvet’, now playing at the Crow’s Theatre until December 18. New York-born Aldridge was the first black actor to play many of Shakespeare’s leading roles, most notably Othello (typically played by white actors in blackface well into the 20th century) in 1833 at London’s Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Racist campaigns ensued, due in part to the hostile feelings of the imminent abolition of slavery in the colonies. Although most audiences reacted favourably to Aldridge, most critics were vitriolic in their reviews, wanting to “annihilate” and “drive him from the stage” and decrying his performance as “sacrilege”. Despite these racist diatribes, by the 1840s Aldridge had performed for royalty across Europe, made audiences laugh and weep and was widely regarded as one of the great actors of his age. His career was exceptional, and not just for being a black actor at that time. He travelled farther, was seen by audiences in more countries and won more medals, decorations, and awards than any other actor of his century! How is it that this 19th-century great was all but erased from history? This stellar production sheds some (gas)light. In her notes, Director Cherissa Richards reveals the play explores “great love, deep bonds of friendship, and a hunger to achieve greatness”. She has certainly achieved the latter. Performed by a cast of 8 luminaries (many playing multiple roles) from the likes of the Shaw and Stratford festivals, with spot-on period costumes and props, the play opens in a theatre dressing room in the town of Łódź, Poland in the year 1867. A young female journalist, Halina, has tricked a stagehand into letting her into the room so she can meet the famous actor Aldridge, who has come to perform Lear, in hopes of securing an interview. While Ira at first tries to eject her from his dressing room, he agrees to grant her an interview. Halina mentions Ira’s performance as Othello at Covent Garden, over thirty years earlier. She refuses to drop the subject, and Ira throws her out. From there we are transported to the stage of Theatre Royal, 1833 and Aldridge’s arrival to join the company of ‘Othello’, amidst loud anti-slavery protests outside the theatre and dissension inside amongst the company. Richards adeptly handles abolitionist unrest of pre-Victorian England. Her staging is impeccable (not a bad sightline that I could see) and makes full use of the entire stage with natural blocking and wonderful attention to detail. Lead actors aren’t always the centre of my attention. I like to look at what the supporting characters are up to. Richards created captivating moments from supporting actors who were not the focus of the scene but nonetheless were still in the moment, speaking volumes with their silent facial and physical reactions. Kudos also to the brilliant scene changes, performed exclusively by the company as they whisked furniture and props on and off while interacting with each other and continuing the narrative as they set up for the next scene. Pure genius! On an equal level of genius were the set and props, provided by Julie Fox. The scenes play out mostly on a Victorian-era proscenium stage complete with wood slat floors and brick walls, fly ropes, barrels, boxes, and other backstage paraphernalia adorning the upstage wall. A luxurious red velvet curtain adorning the outermost proscenium harkened images of the Ford’s Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865. Lanterns, chairs, desks, and even the tea service disclosed dedication to authenticity. Costumes by Ming Wong were resplendent and appropriately lavish. Scarlett O-Hara-style dresses on the ladies and vests and tailcoats on the gentlemen were spot-on period-specific. Fervent attention was obvious to the fabric and weight of each costume, especially Aldridge’s Othello and Lear robes. Gorgeous! The muted but stunning lighting design by Arun Srinivasan transported us back and forth through time and space. Until the 1880s theatres were illuminated by oil and gas-lit lanterns and candles. Lighting a play that takes place before the dawn of electric lights using modern instruments is no mean feat. Srinivasan’s recreation of soft, amber tones in the backstage scenes and flickering, shadowy candlelight from the footlights during the Othello scene authentically mimicked the era adding an additional layer of realism and emotion to the scene. Thomas Ryder Payne’s superb and supportive sound design, from the subtle rain effects before the curtain to the musical interludes during scene changes met the challenge of keeping pace with the narrative while elevating the play’s unsettling conclusion. The cast is equally up to the challenge. As Aldridge, Allan Louis certainly has the booming voice, grace, and stage presence worthy of the esteemed actor whom he is portraying. His restrained resentment and vulnerability of an artist long-tortured by prejudice were wonderfully conveyed. His energy and pace were at a continually high level, often with fever-pitch line delivery. Perhaps an added pause here and there could bring more levels to the depth and complexity of his performance. The supporting cast is all likewise up to the task. As Pierre Laporte, manager of the Theatre Royal, Kyle Blair, although often soft-spoken and difficult to hear, beautifully imbues tension in a conflicted ally ship with Aldridge. Ellen Denny, playing Ellen Tree, the ingenue and Desdemona to Aldridge’s Othello, is wonderfully spunky and humorous with just the right amount of unctuous curiosity. Amelia Sargisson, in triumvirate portrayals as Halina/Betty/Margaret, was at once giddy, pensive, and curious, while toggling between multiple languages and accents. Wonderful work, especially as the giddy, self-absorbed Betty. Although more volume and distinctive changes in costume/wigs in her transformation to Margaret would have made her singular portrayals more obvious. Jeff Lillico is perfectly bombastic and repugnant as Charles, the entitled son of Edmund Kean with his puffed-up self-expression, racist diatribes, and all-out temper tantrum. So likably unlikeable! Patrick McManus in dual roles of Aldridge’s valet and dresser Terrence and conservative thespian Bernard, embodies equal parts devotion, stoicism, humour, and volatility. Nathan Howe, also in dual roles as German stagehand Casimir and conservative English actor Henry Forrester, is hilarious. His physical and comedic timing, especially as the foppish Henry, is a standout. His moments shunning Ellen’s romantic advances are priceless. As the ever-present, silent maid Connie, Starr Domingue, brings an understated, indignant portrayal (with a curiously Jamaican patois in her Trinidadian accent!) all the while making the most of her brief scene with Aldridge. Additional shout-outs to the stage management team of Jennifer Parr and Farnoosh Talebpour, who worked so hard having props ready to move on and offstage and making magic with some uber-fast costume changes. Don’t miss this play! ‘Red Velvet’ needs to be seen! The legacy of this ground-breaking and important American needs to be told! It’s never been timelier in today’s world of equity, diversity, and inclusivity! Aldridge’s tale is a love letter to theatre, a captivating tale of racism, stereotyping, tension, tenacity, and achievement. A cautionary tale of how much and how little has changed in almost two hundred years. Running time: approximately two hours and twenty minutes with one intermission. ‘Red Velvet’ runs until December 18 at Crow’s Theatre, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto. For tickets, visit crowstheatre.com or call 647-341-7390 ex. 1010 RED VELVET by Lolita Chakrabarti Cherissa Richards - Director Julie Fox - Set and Props Designer Ming Wong - Costume Designer Arun Srinivasan - Lighting Designer Thomas Ryder Payne - Sound Designer Rais Clarke-Mendes - Assistant Director Siobhan Richardson - Fight Director Lisa Nighswander - Head of Props Chris Faris - Head of Wardrobe Jennifer Parr - Stage Manager Farnoosh Talebpour - Assistant Stage Manager The Cast: Kyle Blair - Pierre Laporte Ellen Denny - Ellen Tree Starr Domingue - Connie Nathan Howe - Casimir / Henry Forrester Patrick McManus - Terrence / Bernard Warde Jeff Lillico - Charles Kean Allan Louis - Ira Aldridge Amelia Sargisson - Halina Wozniak / Betty Lovell / Margaret Aldridge Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back Thousand Islands Playhouse presents 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC' Now onstage at The Springer Theatre Randy deKleine-Stimpson Joe Szekeres A Rote and Paint-by-Numbers staging of the classic. This 'Sound of Music's' rushed pacing and dialogue challenge the production The setting is Salzburg pre-World War 2, the historical backdrop of the Nazi rise to power in Austria. We are almost all familiar with The Sound of Music’s story. Maria Rainer (Ellen Denny), a postulant nun stands out from the other sisters at Nonnberg Abbey due to her daydreaming, tree-climbing, and torn dress. She even waltzes on her way to mass and whistles on the stairs. Mother Abbess (June Crowley) sends Maria to work as a governess for widower Georg von Trapp (Eric Craig) and his seven children. Maria wants to reunite Captain von Trapp with his children who yearn for their father's attention but struggle to connect with him emotionally. She captures the children’s hearts while connecting with them through the power of music. Captain von Trapp is pursuing a relationship with Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Alison J Palmer) whose close friend, the children’s uncle, entertainment impresario Max Detweiler, (Rob Torr) is captivated by the children's singing talent under Maria’s tutelage and is intent on featuring the Von Trapp Family Singers in a prestigious music festival. Meanwhile, Captain von Trapp may be developing feelings for Maria. The visual presentation of the tale is lovely. Brandon Kleiman’s striking set design features eight columns with two accompanying staircases on stages left and right, leading to a central playing area with three descending steps. The proscenium center stage is especially noteworthy, serving as both a window in the von Trapp house and a stained-glass window at Nonnberg Abbey in various scenes throughout the show. A program note states the inspiration for the set design came from the Springer Theatre, which served as the Canoe Club during 1938 and both world wars. This is a clever and thoughtful touch. Andre du Toit’s lighting nicely complements Kleiman's set, particularly during the scenes at the Abbey in the beginning and towards the end when the von Trapps are in hiding following their concert. Joshua Quinlan, the Costume Designer, is responsible for replicating the clothing style of pre-World War 2 as accurately as possible. He has done an excellent job, especially in creating the children's play clothes (famously crafted from Maria's bedroom drapes) and concert attire. Maria's wedding dress is also appropriately simple and elegant. Mike Doherty’s sound design provided good clarity in the first act. I could hear the dialogue and lyrics perfectly, which has been challenging with some musicals I’ve reviewed over the years. Unfortunately, there were some technical issues with actors’ mics near the end of Act 2 but, overall, the sound in the Springer for this production seems significantly improved. Performance-wise onstage, I was less enthusiastic. At this opening-weekend matinee, I was taken aback by how the show galloped headlong at a frantically rushed pace which compromised the emotional core of the piece. For instance, when the children sing for Elsa Schraeder, I watched Captain von Trapp's reaction to hearing music in his home for the first time since his wife's passing. Eric Craig didn't fully let that moment sink in or resonate. The actors in the scene spoke their text with quick precision, but as an audience member, I expected some emotional depth that wasn’t there. I wanted to feel the widower’s grief and regret. Unfortunately, no emotion came through for me. This was essentially true for a good part of the show; dialogue and song lyrics whizzed by, perfectly memorized but delivering little heart. It's true that ‘The Sound of Music’ is a long show (this performance lasts two and a half hours with one interval), so keeping track of time is a reasonable concern. Nevertheless, Director, Naomi Costain, is responsible for ensuring that the storytelling resonates with the audience regardless of timing. With largely presentational staging, mostly blocked downstage-centre, and all very hurried, Costain steers this production emotionally far from the sweet sentimentality of the beloved story we know from the film. The challenge for the actors telling this story should be to convey credible, sometimes poignant emotions that resonate with the audience. Unfortunately, it looked like Costain hadn’t given clear, connected human motive for movement or songs, from one point to another, other than serving to move people around on a stage. As a result, there’s a “we go here now because we’re told” feel to the proceedings that makes it somewhat like watching a paint-by-number being completed… sure, it’s kind of pretty, but is that all? As an audience member, like most familiar with the classic story, I hoped to witness the characters we know come to life. They’re not there yet. Only when Rob Torr’s terrific Uncle Max brings his flourish of bravado and depth of pathos to the stage is this production somewhat elevated. Six of the seven children have been double-cast. However, no program notation informs us who we see for any given performance. Neither are young actors given bios, which is odd since the kids are (let’s be honest) one of the reasons we want to see the show. The children acquit themselves well is all I can offer without knowing more about whom I saw onstage. I would like to suggest that a program insert or an announcement listing the names of the children performing at any given show would be well deserved. Running time: approximately two and a half hours with one intermission. ‘The Sound of Music’ runs until August 67 at The Springer Theatre, 185 South Street, Gananoque. For tickets call 613-382-7020 or visit www.1000islandsplayhouse.com . THOUSAND ISLANDS PLAYHOUSE presents THE SOUND OF MUSIC Book by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse; Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein Director and Choreographer: Naomi Costain Music Director: Anthony Bastianon Set Designer: Brandon Kleiman Costume Designer: Joshua Quinlan Lighting Designer: Andre du Toit Sound Designer: Mike Doherty Performers: Ellen Denny, Eric Craig, June Crowley, Rob Torr, Alison J. Palmer, Mary Kelly, Sarah Strange, Annie Ramos, David Talbot, Marcia Tratt, Hadley Mustakas, Robbie Fenton, Curtis Sullivan, Douglas Hughes, Gareth Davies, Brittany Miranda, Jamie Murray, The Children: Micah Garvin/Matthew Fournier; Amara Nanji/Charlotte Stroud; Scarlett Belanger/Isla Oatway; Reid Nicholson/Malcolm Jager; Emilie Lord/Bria Dubey; Yvette Lord/ Brea Oatway Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Jonathan Wilson Moving Forward Joe Szekeres It was great fun to reconnect with Jonathan Wilson once again after I had profiled him over two years ago. If you wish to read the first time he and I spoke, please go here: www.ourtheatrevoice.com/items/jonathan-wilson We both agreed on how important it was to try to remain positive in the changes once again regarding Covid. Jonathan's doing all right these last two years and adds: “Life is good. You’re always reinventing yourself even when you think you’ve finished the work. It’s always a new challenge. The other day I was speaking with someone about starting at zero periodically. That’s not meant to sound negative in any way, but it’s a reminder we’re always learning and always moving forward.” For the first time in forty years, Jonathan doesn’t have an agent. The agency changed and moved on, and he thought this was a good time to self-represent, really go solo and really create his own work in a way that has been “fantastic and very empowering”. During these last two-plus years, Wilson says the positive side was concentrating on solo writing as a self-creator. Back in his Second City days, he learned that as a writer he could hire himself. Additionally, Studio 180 has also assisted him in developing a new solo piece entitled ‘A Public Display of Affection’ that was filmed and, just this past spring, there was a public screening of it at Toronto’s Paradise Cinema on Bloor. Wilson says the lockdown has provided new learning opportunities for himself and his craft regarding digital capture of a theatre performance without an audience. He recently re-visited The Rivoli on Queen Street, one of his old haunts, where he did sketch comedy and improv. He got to perform a section of his upcoming show in front of a live audience, and he was thrilled he had the chance to do that. With the upcoming production of ‘Gay for Pay with Blake and Clay’, Wilson is looking forward to having a live audience in front once again. A press release stated the following about the upcoming production: “Every actor knows there is nothing more prestigious than bravely playing gay. But is your pesky heterosexuality getting in the way of booking a one-way ticket to award season? Join Blake and Clay, two seasoned gay actors, as they teach you to play gay and make LGBTQ about YOU. Go from straight to straight-up booked! Let their lived experience get your acting career off life support! Because representation matters, but their representation hasn't called in ages.” The Toronto Fringe sellout of ‘Gay for Pay’ won the 2022 Second City Award for Outstanding Comedy and Patron’s Pick. It opens on November 16 and runs to November 27 at Crow’s Theatre. Wilson worked with co-creator/performer and actor Daniel Krolik seven years ago on a Studio 180 piece for the PanAm Games. They became friends and Daniel encouraged Wilson to continue writing and self-producing. This past spring, Daniel was writing a Fringe show with co-creator Curtis Campbell and approached Jonathan to ask him if he would ever consider doing a Fringe show. They produced some online material. Jonathan saw the online material and it made him laugh. Curtis does a character named Alanis Percocet (and I had a good laugh over that). Jonathan started his career in Fringe shows. He only had to think for what he calls two seconds to agree to do the show. According to Wilson, Krolik and Campbell went away and wrote the show, a fake fun acting class. The premise? Two theatre performers have found an assigned gig and are teaching straight actors how to play gay. When he read the script, Wilson said he laughed so much and considers the rehearsal process and performance a real gift as an actor. He has a chance to continue honing his comedic skills as an actor. There’s improv in the show as well. There’s a community group effort with a lot of give and take with the audience in responses only. Wilson says: “It’s been a lot of fun and a reminder that in the theatre world comedy is overlooked. If anything, we need laughter right now.” Jonathan reassures that audience members will not be pulled up or ‘picked on’ to participate in the action of the production. As an audience member, he doesn’t like when that happens, and he doesn’t think it’s right for him to do that to an audience. At the Fringe, ‘Gay for Pay’ was sold out every night and Jonathan had a fantastic time doing it then. He credits and thanks Crow’s Artistic Director Chris Abraham for opening the door once again to perform it in the east end. Was there a reason the title does not use the names of the actors? Jonathan was looking for significance when he got the script wondering why the two characters are called Blake and Clay. Co-creators Curtis and Daniel said they both thought it sounded funny. Jonathan plays Clay so he wondered if he is supposed to be able to be moulded like clay in helping the students in this class take new forms. Director of the production, Curtis Campbell, told Jonathan: ‘Whatever! If that works for you, Jon, go ahead.” Jonathan then jokingly poked fun at himself by saying to give actors some seed and off they go to grow in whatever form they want. He’s having a great time with the production. Performances of ‘Gay for Pay with Blake and Clay’ run to November 27 at Streetcar Crow’s Theatre, 345 Carlaw Avenue (Toronto) in the Studio Theatre. Running time is approximately one hour with no intermission. For tickets, visit crowstheatre.com, click the WHAT’S ON tab and purchase tickets online. You can also call the Box Office at (647) 341-7390. I’ll be reviewing the production this week. Look for my review to follow shortly thereafter. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Lucy Peacock Looking Ahead S. Mercedes Joe Szekeres The last time I saw Lucy Peacock on stage at The Stratford Festival was in Noel Coward’s quintessentially delicious comedy of manners ‘Private Lives’ in 2019 alongside other notable company members Geraint Wyn Davies, Mike Shara, Sophia Walker, and Sarah Dodd. Sigh! And it was just several months later before our world completely changed on account of Covid. Could we ever use that humorous witty banter and repartee from this ‘Private Lives’ cast right now to help us slowly emerge and move forward into a new way of life. You’ll see some of Lucy’s wit in her responses below that did make me smile. Her candour as well regarding governmental support both provincial and federal for the industry is spot on. I also appreciated how hopeful she remains about the industry and the future of the performing arts. Lucy is a graduate of Montreal’s National Theatre School. She has appeared in so many wonderful productions at Stratford in so many diverse roles, and I know when I see her name in the playbill that my time will be well spent for the next two to three hours. She and I conducted our conversation both by email and by telephone. Thank you, Lucy, for adding your voice and your thoughts as we all look ahead in a post-pandemic world: It’s a harsh reality that the worldwide pandemic of Covid 19 has changed all of us. Describe how your understanding of the world you know and how your perception and experience have changed on a personal level. I wonder if the planet has actually thrived to a certain extent with the decrease of human movement and consumption. Or perhaps we have had the time to focus our points of reflection. Whether it is on the smallest gift of a spring bud to the grander presence of the sky and the elements. And, of course, the Horizon. I live on a farm which is located on Treaty 29 territory in Perth County, Ontario. This land has been cared for by the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabewaki, and the Attiwonderonk (or Neutral) nations. My husband and I settled here 30 years ago. As a farmer, my husband's day to day life didn't change much except he was tripping over people while he was working…! As I have always worked in the summer and often between my seasons at the Stratford Festival, I realized I hadn’t spent much time here really. I have relished being here to fully witness and rediscover how the 4 seasons are manifested here. I managed to find the poison ivy, the snakes, (“we have snakes…?!?”), the hundreds of species of birds and bugs (“we have bugs...?!?”), the trees, hundreds of which we planted and are now Huge, (running joke, “I can't see anything for the darn trees…!!!”), the gorgeous skies, the snow, the thunder, sometimes at the same time,(“?!?”), and, of course, the Horizon. These last 18 months have allowed my husband and I to really See what we have accomplished in our over 40 years together. And to reflect on the later season of our lives and how we might want to nurture it. This has been an unexpected and precious gift of time for us and for our family. All of that said, I also often found myself lost these last 18 months. The waves of depression, ennui, numbness, listlessness, were coupled with deep anxiety and profound grief. We have lost friends and family; we have witnessed the brutality of our fellow humans to each other, again and again, and yet again. It is so devastating to reflect into ourselves and see who and what we are and the horrors we are capable of and are responsible for. Our collective foundation, humanity, is forever changed, or actually, Revealed. And then we despair, as we should, the planet despairs of us, as it should, the sky is bleak, as it should be, and the Horizon is murky and lost to us, as it should be. I am hoping I am changed, and that the latter season of my life is one of renewal and clarity….and that the Horizon will become clear again. With live indoor theatre shut for one year plus, with it appearing it may not re-open any time soon, how has your understanding and perception as a professional artist of the live theatre industry been altered and changed? Frankly, I am appalled by the lack of support from our governments for our industry. It minimizes our value to the community and our contribution to society as a whole. However, I am also elated and inspired by the resilience I have witnessed throughout this struggle by so many. The innovation and imagination of all the artists and technicians and curators and their navigation of this crucially difficult time has been absolutely extraordinary. Brilliant. We have confirmed our value to each other at the very least. As a professional artist, what are you missing the most about the live theatre industry? I miss the integrity of the work. I miss the discipline. I miss the collaborative quest for excellence and the collective forward movement of a group of people foraging and forging. (Or milling and strewing if that’s where we are in the quest(ion)…!) As a professional artist, what is the one thing you will never take for granted again in the live theatre industry when you return to it? Other people’s worth. I hope to be mindful of not making any assumptions about anyone. That I will not take Anyone for granted. That if I don’t know someone, I will take more care and be sensitive to Their journey of which I might play a small part in. I will not take for granted the value of Respect, Care, Humility, Love. Describe one element you hope has changed concerning the live theatre industry. I hope we can all be more gentle with each other. That when the pressure is on….and it is inevitably ON...that we can always Stop and Take Care. That there is no show or story or work of art that is worth hijacking someone’s mental or spiritual or physical well being at any time. Explain what specifically you believe you must still accomplish within the industry. I do hope I can be of help. I hope to continue to do some teaching. I hope to give Hope back to the younger (or not so younger) artists who may have lost their way during this storm. I hope to support those whose artistic journey has been prevented from gaining traction by the systemic oppression, exclusivity, and colonialism of our industry. I hope to help those who have been stopped in their artistic tracks by this pandemic. Many hopes. Some artists are saying that audiences must be prepared for a tsunami of Covid themed stories in the return to live theatre. Would you elaborate on this statement both as an artist in the theatre, and as an audience member observing the theatre. I honestly don't see how we can avoid our stories being informed by Covid in the return. Both in the telling and the receiving. As you mentioned in the first question...we are forever changed. If we are craving lighter stories it might be a reaction to our state of being and our desire to be nurtured back to health. If we want to dig deeper into the pain and grief of the last few months It is because we aren’t ready to move forward. I think it will all be about healing. We will Need to simply Be together….Both in the telling and the receiving….and take it from there. As an artist, what specifically is it about your work that you want future audiences to remember about you? Gosh. That is hard to say. Just to be remembered would be nice. Previous Next

Where we hope to help young people develop an intrest and a passion for a futrure in theatre. Back 'The Wolves' by Sarah DeLappe Presented by Imago Theatre and Geordie Theatre at Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, Montréal Credit: Emelia Hellman and taken from Geordie Theatre's Facebook page. Pictured: some of the cast members Joe Szekeres "Captivating! A true ensemble effort in the theatre. ‘The Wolves’ grabs attention immediately because the characters speak and sound like genuine young people in the twenty-first century. Go see it, particularly for the nine talented young performers who will surely shine on stage in the future.” Nine high school adolescent girls practice in an indoor soccer facility. Throughout the story, the girls are never referred to by name in their conversations; instead, the audience knows them only by the numbers on their jerseys. However, this changes at the end in the final scene when we finally hear the names of some of the girls. As the girls warm up before the game, the audience overhears their candid discussions about themselves, their relationships, their experiences, and their feelings toward certain adult figures. While their conversations can be harsh at times, this reflects how young people communicate with one another. They also talk about the possibility of earning sports scholarships after high school graduation. At first, Sarah DeLappe’s raw one-act play slaps in the face for its unapologetic way in which the characters speak to each other. It makes sense, nevertheless. These girls are comfortably ensconced on their own turf in their soccer world, where they have defined themselves among themselves. The phrase "being thrown to the wolves" suggests that individuals must learn to be strong in a harsh and competitive world that can potentially destroy them. DeLappe’s play addresses destructive themes head-on, including bullying, racism, and eating disorders. The nine girls in this story must confront these issues to survive on the soccer team. And that's the reason why I find 'The Wolves' an appropriate production for young people to see because it deals with these issues. Because the girls are only known by their numbers and not their names, 'The Wolves' becomes universal in nature. It becomes a story that can happen anywhere and to any young person. These are real girls who live anywhere or everywhere. As the plot develops, additional themes emerge; however, I would prefer not to discuss them further to avoid spoiling the experience for future audiences. As a retired high school educator, I know these themes have not changed in over forty years. There are parental and educator resources Geordie and Imago Theatres provide that I would recommend for further enlightenment and discussion. The artists behind the scenes have created a visually engaging production. Set designer Julia Carrier utilizes an ‘alley’ or ‘traverse’ staging configuration, where the audience is seated on both sides of the performance area. This arrangement effectively mimics a real-life soccer field, with bleachers positioned on either side. No matter where patrons sit in the theatre, they have excellent sightlines. On stage left, which corresponds to stage right for the audience on the opposite side, there is an astroturf; on stage right, or stage left for the other audience members, there is a large soccer goal made of mesh. Designers Jesse Ash, Tim Rodrigues and Rachel Quintero Faia have paid careful attention to minute details respectively in the areas of sound, lighting and costuming. They become more visual and sound highlights of the production. The sound of the off-stage crowd watching the game gives an idea of how large this indoor facility might be. Rodrigues beautifully captures that intense lighting that one might find in an indoor sports facility. Quintero Faia selects terrific-looking soccer sportswear right down to cleats. Krista Jackson and Jimmy Blais co-direct the production with keen observation and insight. While it's uncommon to see co-directors for plays, the production team's decision proves wise and practical. One director focuses on character development and blocking, while the other oversees the technical elements, ensuring they align to create the desired dramatic effect. With nine emerging and talented actors involved, I hope to see them perform on stages across Ontario in the future. This production of ‘The Wolves’ is another fine example of a genuine ensemble effort in the theatre. Each of these women is fully committed to and in the moment. They listen and pause when necessary. There are moments when the ladies allow the words of the other to speak and resonate before responding. Emotional peaks and valleys are equally balanced, never reverting to hysterics for dramatic effect. However, I wanted to hear more about how the play was constructed regarding the believability of playing soccer on the stage, so I attended the talkback after the performance on the second night. Did these ladies all play soccer? Was that a pre-requisite for the audition? That talkback taught me more about the believability of these nine ladies playing soccer because none had been trained in the sport. Soccer consultant Gillian Clark and director Jackson discussed owning the soccer ball and the text and how important it would be to build teamwork together to create that magical believability. They compared it to someone listening to an orchestral symphony of music—there are silences and builds to cacophonous yet angelic music. But it all takes effort to do that. That same effort and teamwork in soccer were also needed to ensure that ‘The Wolves’ appeared believable as the ladies warmed up and practiced soccer drills. The nine made that moment in the theatre magical for me and the packed house that night. Running time: approximately 85 minutes with no interval/intermission. ‘The Wolves’ runs until November 17 in Le Studio at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, 5170 chemin de la Côte Saint-Catherine, Montréal. For tickets, visit segalcentre.org or call the Box Office at (514) 739-7944. GEORDIE THEATRE AND IMAGO THEATRE present ‘The Wolves’ by Sarah DeLappe Directors: Krista Jackson and Jimmy Blais Sound Designer and Composer: Jesse Ash Set Designer: Julia Carrier Lighting Designer: Tim Rodrigues Soccer Consultant: Gillian Clark Costume Designer: Rachel Quintero Faia Technical Director: Tibeau Mathews Stage Manager: Kate Hagemeyer Performers: Alyssa Angelucci-Wall, Meenu Atwal, Masha Bashmakova, Nora Barker, Quinn Dooley, Maria Jimenez, Darragh Mondoux, Amy Ring, Espoir Segbeaya Previous Next

Community Theatres are uniquely diffrent from professional and Equity based companies, but are important to society Back Les Liaisons Dangereuses Now on stage at Scarborough Village Theatre, 3600 Kingston Road Program Joe Szekeres SZEKERES SAYS… Christopher Hampton's 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ explores themes of intense sexual passion and emotional manipulation in 1780s France. However, in this Scarborough Players' production directed by Sheila Gatensby, the approach feels somewhat safe. While it is an okay production, the underlying lust and longing could be heightened to create a more gripping experience. There are moments in Gatensby’s staging where the art of seduction shines, particularly in Act 1 between the suave and charming con artist Valmont (Jeff Grujjicich) and the impressionable Cecile (Casey McMahon), who is promised to Danceny (Erik Bracciodieta). However, the pacing up to that point in Act 1 feels listless. There should be an underlying sense that sex is utilized to gain power and control within this story. It’s not consistent. Initially, Grujjicich captures this reality through glances and stares with the Marquise de Merteuil (Christine Dick), but I felt a lack of reciprocation from her. This dynamic shifts quickly in Act 2 when a shocking revelation about the Marquise unfolds. Despite this, the vital sexual tension dissipates rapidly. Visually, the production is given the royal look of 1780s Paris thanks to the concerted efforts of Sheila Gatensby’s terrific-looking set design and Mary Nowlan’s majestic costume coordination with her volunteer team. Jennifer Bakker’s lighting design nicely captures the flickering lights within these grand palaces. As the show is now in production, hopefully, the actors can find those moments to ignite the passion needed to keep the pace moving. Running time: 3 hours The Scarborough Players’ production runs until January 25 at the Scarborough Village Theatre, 3600 Kingston Road. Tickets are available at the door or call the Box Office at (416) 267-9292. Previous Next

What makes a comedy work - plot, characters, setting and theme. Back 'Prairie Nurse' by Marie Beath Badian Capitol Theatre, 20 Queen Street, Port Hope Capitol Theatre, 20 Queen Street, Port Hope Joe Szekeres A summertime crowd-pleaser of a play. ‘Prairie Nurse’ addresses an important social issue through humour while never denigrating it. Based on the true story of Badian’s mother's immigration to Canada in the late 1960s, ‘Prairie Nurse’ centres on two Filipino nurses: Indepencia “Penny” (Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta) and Purificacion “Puring” (Yunike Soedarmasato) who have arrived from Manila to work at a small-town Saskatchewan hospital. Penny and Puring never knew each other until they arrived at the airport. They intend to send money home to their families in the Philippines, hoping to bring family members to Canada. The setting is a small Saskatchewan hospital in a rural area in the late 1960s. The characters at this hospital are quite eccentric. Head Nurse Marie Anne (Deborah Drakeford) is tough, no-nonsense, demanding, and resorts to chain smoking when workplace tension is thick. Candy striper Patsy (Ellie Ellwand) is curious, nosy, and involved in everyone's business. Wilf (Aaron MacPherson), the lab technician, plays goalie on the local hockey team and is friends with Patsy's unseen boyfriend, Hank. A heavily Scottish-accented Dr. Miles (Iain Stewart) enjoys hunting and fishing and would rather be doing that instead of his rounds. Charlie (David Ferry) is a helpful and friendly handyman who is a father figure to the new hospital staff. Jackie Chau’s spacious set design fills the entire Capitol Stage and appears right out of the late 1960s with mismatched furniture. The hospital staff needs a good cleaning and fixing up. Pictures are slightly askew on the walls. There is a door stage right which leads to the outside hallway of the hospital. A swinging door just off-stage left centre serves as another entrance and exit. Stage left is a tightly compact kitchen with a stove and mismatched kitchen set. The walls are painted in the typical institutional white. Chau’s costume designs are a terrific throwback to the past, starting with the nurses’ completely white attire. Wilf’s goalie mask made me laugh out loud at his initial entrance. He looked like something right out of a horror flick. Patsy’s candy striper uniform is a wondrous throwback to when these volunteers could be found in hospitals. (Are there candy stripers in hospitals anymore?) Marie Beath Badian’s script contains elements of broad slapstick comedy with the odd touch of farce and seasoned with possible burgeoning romances. For this reason, ‘Prairie Nurse’ is a good choice for the Capitol’s summer season. When done well, broad comedy and slapstick become an audience pleaser. And we need laughter as an audience pleaser right now because our woke world is fraught with overwhelming societal issues. More about a social issue of the plot shortly. Director Megan Watson duly makes sure the pace of this opening night production never veers out of control. Entrances and exits are nicely timed – in other words, when one exits, another must enter immediately. Notes end up in the wrong hands, fisticuffs, shouting and crawling around on the floor. This hard-working ensemble cast commits themselves to the humour. Deborah Drakeford’s crawling on the floor simply made me laugh, as a Head Nurse would never do such a thing. Iain Stewart’s thickly accented Scottish Dr. Miles is a hoot, especially with the various hunting attire in which he accoutres himself. Aaron MacPherson’s Wilf is a boyishly shy technician who comically gets himself tongue-tied when (spoiler alert) he becomes smitten with one of the girls. David Ferry’s Charlie becomes that wise poppa bear for Penny and Puring. Ferry’s beautiful comic timing in the second-act melee is one of the show’s highlights. Ellie Ellwand is a giddy and ditzy Patsy. Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta and Yunike Soedarmasto are charming as the new arrival nurses. Both actors instinctively make Penny and Puring their unique person. Ancheta’s assured Penny is confident (perhaps a bit full of herself) in why she had signed this contract to work at this hospital. Hopefully, she wants to bring her fiancé to Canada. Soedarmasto’s shyly reticent Puring is sweet. Her reaction to people swearing made me smile because I can recall that same reaction from family members many years ago in the 60s. Now to the critical social issue of ‘Prairie Nurse.’ Playwright Badian topically uses contextual humour from the 1960s to poke fun at the arrival of new individuals to a country. It’s the elephant in the room from a 21st-century understanding and might make some uncomfortable. We would never dare say or remark: a) that members of the BIPOC community look different from white people OR b) that members of the BIPOC community look the same. These two statements contain unkind racist tones today. But much of the humour stems from some hospital workers mistaking who Penny and Purring are just by looking at them. Wilf confuses them, leading to madcap zaniness in the second act. Iain Stewart’s comical staring at Penny and Puring silently before he must do something to tell the difference between them brought laughter from me and those sitting around me in the audience. In her Director's Programme Note, Megan Watson discusses how Badian's playful approach effectively captures the experience of newcomers to Canada. She emphasizes the importance of trusting the audience's ability to recognize the human vulnerabilities revealed through this technique. I do too. Final Comments: This Capitol Theatre summer production marks the tenth anniversary of 'Prairie Nurse.’ It is the first instalment of a fifty-year multi-generational trilogy in rural Saskatchewan. Badian's second work, 'The Waltz,’ was performed at Toronto's Factory Theatre this year, and the third, 'The Cottage Guest,’ is currently in development. The Blyth Festival has commissioned all three plays. I never saw the 2013 premiere and just recently saw ‘The Waltz’ this past winter. Ergo, I’ve seen the plays out of order and perhaps may look at the story differently if seen in the order intended. But a recent profile conversation with the playwright led me to some insight about her life that served as a basis for me. Here’s the link to my conversation with Marie Beath: https://www.ourtheatrevoice.com/items/marie-beath-badian%2C-filipino-canadian-playwright See ‘Prairie Nurse.’ It offers terrific summer entertainment. Running time: approximately two hours and 15 minutes with one intermission. The production runs until July 30 at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, Mainstage, 20 Queen Street. For tickets, capitoltheatre.com or call 905-885-1071. PRAIRIE NURSE by Marie Beath Badian Directed by Megan Watson Set and Costume Designer: Jackie Chau Lighting Designer: Jareth Li Composer and Sound Designer: Jeff Newberry Stage Manager: Charlene Saroyan Performers: Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta, Deborah Drakeford, Ellie Ellwand, David Ferry, Aaron MacPherson, Yunike Soedarmasto, Iain Stewart. Previous Next

What makes a comedy work - plot, characters, setting and theme. Back Madame Minister Produced by Barrie's Talk is Free Theatre and now on stage at 142 Colllingwood Street. Produced by Barrie's Talk is Free Theatre and now on stage at 142 Colllingwood Street. Joe Szekeres “Comical. Funny. Laura Condlln shines.” During the pre-show discussion on Saturday evening for Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman's clever adaptation of ‘Madame Minister’ (based on Branislav Nusic's 1929 THE CABINET MINISTER'S WIFE), the question arose whether the production was a farce or a comedy of errors. I harken back to my undergraduate years and the terminology I learned therein. It’s true ‘Madame Minister’ could be considered one or the other. For me, ‘Madame Minister’ becomes an intelligent drawing-room comedy that employs sustained humour to drive the story forward while resonating with modern influences and references. Throughout Corbeil-Coleman’s adaptation, the sustained humour in the contrast of thoughts and ideas swings back and forth like a pendulum. Set in a beautiful historical home in Barrie, ‘Madame Minister’ is a family's story (according to the TIFT website) in uncertain times. It’s a play about power and prestige. It’s a play about a mother, Zivka Popovic (Laura Condlln), the wife of a Belgrade politician. Ironically, while the setting for the audience takes place in a sumptuous entrance hallway, Zivka has come to her Aunt Savka (Gabi Epstein) to borrow money to pay bills and make ends meet. Word arrives that the government has fallen. The side of Zivka’s husband is now in power. Word has come that Zivka’s husband has been made Minister, so she now believes she will be called ‘The Minister’s Wife.’ Zivka thinks all her troubles will be gone with this new title and begins acting like a ‘minister’s wife’ should – highbrow and upper class. Zivka has never liked her daughter Dara’s husband, Ceda. Now that the family has improved its social status, she wants to find her daughter a new husband. Ceda, played by Nolan Moberly, is a musician, and their relationship adds a humorous subplot that will eventually resolve itself. Meanwhile, Zivka has grand ambitions for herself, particularly involving the charming Doctor Ninkovic, portrayed by Cyrus Lane. In a brilliant comedic moment, Ninkovic attempts to seduce Zivka, which becomes hilarious due to his switching between English and French. He speaks English with a thick French accent, while his French sentences are delivered with a strong English accent, creating a delightful contrast. The plot humorously intensifies, sometimes complex, leading to a satisfying conclusion. Layne Coleman directs Corbeil-Coleman’s modern-sounding dialogue with spirit. It’s a good choice to stage this production in a historical home. Audience members enter this historic Barrie home through a side entrance that leads into a spacious open-concept kitchen. We are guided to a sitting area for a pre-show discussion. Afterward, the audience moves to the front hallway, where the performance space is in the center, with seats on both sides. It’s a little tight. There were moments from my seat when my sightline was blocked at the top of the show from seeing Epstein’s Aunt Savka for a bit. Elegant wooden panel doors are typically closed and opened by the quick-witted housekeeper, Anka (wonderfully portrayed by Mariya Khomutova with a definitive sultry and sexy sharpness). Great care has been taken to ensure attention to detail, both in the visuals and the reality of the world that Corbeil-Coleman captures in her script. For example, Varvarfa Evchuk makes lovely choices for the ladies' stunning dresses and has impressive selections for men's attire. The topcoat Cyrus Lane wears is quite striking from where I sat in the house. As Mrs. Nata, Gabi Epstein dons a gorgeous form-fitting emerald knockout of an outfit. Evchuk has also chosen props appropriate for the era, including a floor-length circular mirror and a chaise lounge. Laura Condlln delivers a remarkable performance as Zivka. She embodies the genuine spark of a determined individual who, as director Coleman notes in the program, “lived in a time when women were not granted much power except the force of their own possibilities.” Earlier, during the pre-show conversation, there was a discussion on whether Zivka could be considered the ‘King Lear’ of comedy. That’s an interesting thought as there are moments when Condlln waves her arms, throws her head back, and speaks loudly. There are some spirited on-stage appearances and characterizations from notable Canadian theatre artists. Cyrus Lane becomes a riot as a Frenchman with difficulty speaking the language. Mariya Khomutova is the all-knowing, sassy, sexy maid/housekeeper, Anka. Gabi Epstein beautifully skewers the high society of the day as Mrs. Nata. Final Thoughts: It was incredibly cold the night I attended ‘Madame Minister.’ I didn’t want to miss the performance. A few emails exchanged with Arkady Spivak earlier in the day encouraged me and assured me the weather would be fine. So, off I ventured with a friend. Barrie’s Talk is Free productions always inspire me to discuss what I’ve just seen. That’s one reason you should attend. ‘Madame Minister’ runs until December 7 at 142 Collingwood Street, Barrie. For tickets: visit www.tift.ca or call (705) 792-1949. KIM KIELLER & FRED STRANGWAY and PETER KOETSIER & WENDY WINGFELDER present ‘MADAME MINISTER’ adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman. From Branislav Nusic’s ‘The Cabinet Minister’s Wife’ translated from Serbian by Cintija Asperger Directed by Layne Coleman Assistant Director: Shaquille Pottinger Production Manager: Maya Royer Stage Manager: Meghan Speakman Assistant Stage Manager: Alysse Szatkowski Set & Costume Design: Varvara Evchuk Performers: Noah Beemer, Laura Condlln, Aidan DeSalaiz Gabi Epstein, Brittany Kay, Cyrus Lane, Mariya Khomutova, Nolan Moberly. Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back ‘The Office! A Musical Parody’ --- Unknown Joe Szekeres NOTE: I have never watched any episodes of ‘The Office’, neither the British nor the American versions. I had no inkling whatsoever to watch ‘The Office’ probably for the fact that I felt a school setting was different from a typical office setting. After watching this ‘off Mirvish’ production, I realized there really wasn’t that much of a difference as the oddball characters in an office setting could also be found in a school setting. If the goofy characters from ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘The Simpsons’ grew on me each week, my curiosity was now piqued to watch a few episodes of ‘The Office’ and meet these wacko co-workers. According to press notes, this touring production now playing at the CAA Theatre is also currently playing in the New York Off Broadway community. ‘The Office! A Musical Parody’ is the unauthorized parody of the hit TV show. I recall with fondness Canadian Rick Miller’s wonderful sendup of ‘MacHomer: The Simpsons do MacBeth’ when it played in Toronto several years. From what I understand according to Rick Miller, Matt Groening gave his permission for Miller to continue without threat of lawsuit or royalties. Has the same occurred here even though ‘The Office’ is no longer filmed? My other question – would this unauthorized parody by writers Bob and Tobly McSmith be cheesy, corny, silly to the point where I would roll my eyes? I was hoping and praying not. Anyway, my guest and I ventured to Dunder Mifflin, Scranton Pennsylvania’s third largest paper company. It’s a typical morning here in this office of paper, song and dance when for some unknown reason, a documentary crew begins filming the lives of the employees of Dunder Mifflin. It’s a typical monochromatic office setting thanks to the handiwork of Ryan Howell. Stage right is Pam’s reception desk. Stage left is the workspace area for Dwight and Jim. Boss Michael’s office runs along the back. The set is on wheels which allows for easy movement from one scene to the next. Thank goodness there is no squeaky wheel sounds as that would have driven me bonkers. Let’s be honest – I had fun at ‘The Office A Musical Parody’. Yes, I smiled and laughed at some of the double entendres and innuendos that do take place in an office and/or school setting so thanks to the McSmiths for the laughs. There is no earth-shattering message or deep underlying subtext of the human condition. The workplace is simply what it is, an environment composed sometimes of wonderful people (whom Michael calls his family) and sometimes of numbskulls who should have had their rear ends fired the hell outta there. Kudos to director and choreographer Donald Garverick for keeping this vision in mind. Choreography was simple but that’s ok because the singing was quite good. This opening night production moved at rapid speed and the audience (I’m assuming many were avid ‘Office’ aficionados) was on every single word spoken or sung. An audience member who was sitting next to my guest and I remarked how well this production incorporates what it could out of 9 seasons of the show so I will have to take this person at his word. This Maxwell House coffee charged (definitely not decaffeinated) ensemble cast had great voices and are terrific belters of song. As the office boss Michael, Sarah Mackenzie Baron incorporated nice subtle touches of male smarmy bravado. Christian Fary as office geek Dwight is so whiny ingratiating to the point where you just want to smack him one. The white socks with Mr. Fary’s suit emphasize even more just how much of a geek Dwight must be. The office receptionist is the initial 30 second impression visitors receive and make of any firm. Madeline Glenn Thomas’s Pam is that professional, welcoming face we all want to see. Ms. Thomas has a lovely singing voice and there are some nice moments between she and her office love interest, Jim (played by a boyishly charming and flirtatious Patrick Constant). Gabrielle Filloux’s office priss Angela is played to the hilt without going overboard so thanks to Ms. Filloux for recognizing this important fact. What happens to her cat is priceless. Tim Powers’ lanky sad sack Toby is endearing especially for the fact no one gives him the time of day (poor guy). Devina Sabnis is a sexy, gorgeous Kelly who knows when her job is done before she moves on. Kelsey Ann Sutton is impressive as opposite characters Phyllis and Meredith both in stature and voice. There are some tuneful ditties in the production thanks to Assaf Gleizner’s Music and Orchestrations. I especially liked ‘That’s What She Said’, ‘Everyone Deserves a Trophy’ and ‘Acting Manager’. And yes, you will have to listen carefully to hear the double entendres and innuendo. Nevertheless, the one element that I hope will be fixed as performances continue is the sound balance between the music and singers. At times, the music is extremely loud and drowns some of the singers and the jokes within the song. Final Comments: A fun night at the theatre to the end of August. In these dog days of summer that have been extremely warm, why not venture downtown for some laughs? ‘The Office! A Musical Parody’ continues to August 25 at Toronto’s CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, Toronto. For tickets, please visit www.mirvish.com or call 1-416-872-1212. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Vikram Dasgupta Canadian Chat Sandro Miller Joe Szekeres Normally I like to send interview questions to a guest a few days before, so the artist has a few days to think about how to formulate an answer. Independent film maker and Indo-Canadian Vikram Dasgupta told me he prefers an ‘off the cuff’ conversation because he said he is “all about documenting and documentary with genuine interaction” so he felt it was good he wasn’t prepared for the questions. Born in New Delhi, India, Vikram was born into a family of artists, musicians, dancers, and scientists. A gold medalist in Fine Arts from Kolkata University, Vikram came to Canada to pursue cinema. Some of the titles of his short films and documentaries sound interesting. For example, his short film, the multi award winning ‘Calcutta Taxi’ funded by Bravofact! and NFB Canada, was in the races for the Academy Awards in 2014 after winning the Oscar Qualifier at the Aspen ShortFest 2013 and was screened at over 50+ festivals worldwide. Vikram’s commercial on Paralympanians for the PanAm TO2015 entitled ‘Are you ready’ was nominated for the Cannes Lions in the Film Category. His debut feature documentary ‘Beyond Moving’ premiered at the HotDocs theatre in February 2020 with theatrical and VOD distribution through Blue Ice Docs. His upcoming feature documentary ‘Dog-Ma’ – a deeply personal journey about his mother feeding 500+ stray dogs on the streets of Delhi was set to release in summer 2021. We conducted our conversation via Zoom. Thank you so much for the conversation, Vikram: I see from your bio that was sent to me states that you come from a family of artists of all kinds and scientists, and yet the biggest influence on you as an artist was your grandmother’s storytelling. Tell me a little about your grandmother and the art of her storytelling. In my family we have such a beautiful, weird mix of people. My immediate family is 75 people. I’m raised from a really big village. My grandmother was the storyteller of that village, and she would just make even the most little of things seem spectacular. I remember when she first came to visit my uncle in the US, they visited Niagara Falls. When she returned, she told me about that story when she exited the car in the parking lot and she could hear this roaring sound of a monster. The more she was wondering what the sound was, the more my eyes widened as I was a kid hearing this story for the first time. She revealed how the monster was this healing body of water. I was blown away by it. When I finally visited Niagara Falls, my visit fell short of what her story was to me when I was a kid. For me, that is the power of storytelling, and that’s what I was raised on. I wanted to get into a profession and do for a living what my grandmother did. I wanted to tell stories as well. In my immediate family of 75 people, I grew up hearing stories and discussions for example about God versus the atom. I’m very lucky that way in that I grew up in that cross section of society, that I had access to all these stories and conversations. I had to be a filmmaker. I had to find the medium ground to tell without any kind of prejudices stories on either side. I feel it is all just one story and we have dissected them, kept them, and made boxes, but it is all just one story. Every story is a human story. That’s why my field of work is from Paralympians to dancers to musicians to orchestra. It doesn’t have that boundary. We don’t have that boundary, we created them. Stories see past these boundaries and unite us all. Stories make us feel that way. Your biography states that you are a gold medalist in Fine Arts from Kolkata University, and then you came to Canada to pursue cinema. Did you continue some of your studies in cinema when you came to Canada, or did you move right into cinematic work immediately? I actually studied Fine Arts because I wanted to be a storyteller. I had this conversation with my late father who passed away a few months ago. I told him I wanted to study film making and he said perhaps I should focus on one frame at a time instead of 24 frames per second, and perhaps to study fine arts and painting and understand the content of telling stories through one frame before you go and take cinema. That’s why I studied fine arts on the advice from my late father. I like water colours, drawing and painting to eventually be a filmmaker. It’s funny that this makes me connected to the artists with whom I work in all different fields. After my father’s passing, I returned to doing some painting. But I’ve not had the chance to do it for a long time as being a filmmaker is time consuming. When I came to Canada, I was here to study film. My post graduate work is here. I see that premiering on October 13 is the three-part performance film directed by you for Fall for Dance North. What specifically is it that film can capture regarding choreography, dance, and movement? This is a very loaded and yet a very good question. I will tell you what I try to hopefully bring. So, what is it that cinema can bring to dance that there is something for us to strive for? Personally, I feel that when I film dance I actually like to be in the dance and not from the way the audience watches it from the stage. When we watch a dance on a stage, we watch it in a perfectly set theatre and framed the way it is projected. I actually am with a camera and running around with the dancers and trying to give the audience and myself how does the dancer feel. For me, it’s always about that connection be it with someone feeding dogs in India, be it a Paralympian trying to strive for a gold medal, or be it with a dancer, I want to try and connect in the closest, subliminal way possible from an angle that the stage might not be able to give a vantage point to the audience and what they can see. And that’s what film making is all about as it offers the audience another vantage point to see, and what is normally portrayed to the audience. If I’m filming dance, then I’m going to film it from a vantage point that the audience cannot see. It’s a challenge because if the camera is going to be with the dancer, then we have to choreograph ourselves on the choreography of the dancers, and we have to make sure that at the end of it, the filmmaker has to ensure there is not any visible footprint from him/her/them. Eventually, you cannot see the hand of the director and nobody should know that it is filmed. The second we are too self aware of the presence of the filmmaker we take away from the actual creation of the dance and the dancer. So it’s a very thin line for the filmmaker in deciding how to be there and not be there. I never want to see myself in it. Every documentary I film, I don’t want to see myself in it. I hate it when I can see myself because it looks crafted, it looks like a reality show and I don’t want to see myself in anything. If I do it right, then I disappear and that’s my goal. The goal is to allow the art to be in its truest form. If I can do that right, then I’m on the right path. When I was filming Siphe for my documentary ‘Beyond Moving’, he was developing the choreography and we were filming as he was developing it. We developed our movements in the way Siphe was developing the choreography. We grew with Siphe as he developed the choreography. We were discovering our movements with the camera as Siphe was discovering his movements, and that is the synergy that helps us to disappear. On a side note, my aunt is an extremely celebrated Indian classical dancer. She won the President’s award; she’s a big deal, but I’ve never filmed Indian dance before. It’s been interesting for me coming back home to film classical Indian dance form. My aunt has always me to be a dancer as a kid, and I told her I don’t want to be a dancer. She would make fun of me now because I am filming dance. What drew you to want to film this kind of material? People. I fall in love with people, and I just want to understand and learn about them. I work with people that I love and, for me, that love really shines on the screen in whatever the field whether it be dance, athletics. I’m doing a film about widows as there are about 30,000 widows who live in India. Tell me about your connections with Fall for Dance North in Toronto and how you came about to relate and connected to them. I fell into filming dance for about 7-8 years. I never used to film it, but I fell into it during the Pan Am Games. I filmed Peggy Baker and then at Canada’s National Ballet School I ended up filming Siphe November for 7 years which made the documentary. Ilter Ibraimhoff, Artistic Director for Fall for Dance North, saw the documentary from the National Ballet School of Canada and asked if I wanted to do a piece with Siphe and his brother because the documentary ends with Siphe’s desire to work with his brother on the world stage. So, I said to Ilter I would love to do it, but I couldn’t do it in the months he wanted as I was in India. Ilter then said that since I was in India if I was going to be near Bangalore. I said yes that’s where my late father was going to pick me up from. There’s a dance village in Bangalore called Nrityagram, and maybe I could film there. So that’s how the second project came about. The third one was with Aszure Barton in Cuba. That’s how I got into Fall for Dance North. While I was doing a promotional piece for the National Ballet School one day with Siphe, I fell in love with this kid. The way he looked at the camera, he looks through the lens and it looked like Siphe was seeing our soul. Both my cinematographer and I thought, “Wow, this kid, Siphe, is so profound to be able to do that.” We went to South Africa as well to film Siphe. We stayed with his mother, met his brother who’s amazing and another brilliant dancer (and whom you will see in the program). Their story became a part of my story and I started recording the journey. This is how I made ‘Beyond Moving’. Ilter saw the film and ‘Beyond Moving’ concludes with a quote from Siphe saying that he looks forward to that day he can share the stage with his brother and Fall for Dance North wanted to provide that for the first time. This process has been organic and unplanned and that’s how I like to work. I’m intrigued by the title +(DIX) – how is it pronounced and the exploration of the Odysseus myth about journeying far but always desiring to return home. Tell me about the rehearsal process so far into the performance on September 23. I’ve been involved in the rehearsal process for the last few weeks. We’ve been working with the dancers and trying to understand the best way because it also comes philosophically from a point of Guillaume Côté watching the piece emerge. There are instances in the filming that I would like to show Guillaume when he has left the stage and gone off, and I would like to show from his perspective watching the dancers from afar. Because I’m filming the whole theatre, I want the theatre to also be a character in the piece. Let’s see how far we can achieve it. I haven’t had a great deal of training in the art of dance and movement. I’ve noticed many of the professional dance companies want to encourage people like myself and others who haven’t had any experience at all in the art of dance and movement to come watch and to experience a production. What would you say to individuals like me, others who have very little background who have little understanding of movement and dance, why is it important for us to watch, through cinema, the art of dance. Do you think that will allow us to accomplish something? This is a lifetime of a question. I think it boils down to not just the immediate question of how people can appreciate dance through cinema. It’s a much deeper and philosophical question regarding what exactly is the purpose of art. I think that is the bigger question. Why art and why is it important? I think I was very lucky that way being raised in art. I didn’t realize that art is a thing because that’s what happens when you’re raised in art. I never realized that dance is for dancers; painting is for painters; singing is for singers; science is for scientists. I never knew that. And I think we lack that because we in society put things in certain boxes and that you have to be a certain kind of person to appreciate art. I don’t think so. I think understanding and appreciating art is comparable to understanding and appreciating life. Everyone needs to do that, and everyone should be born in it. That should be a part of our inherent diet of ideas. If we are to think of it that way, then that makes sense why no matter where you are or who you are, where you’re from, what race, what religion, what part of hierarchy or class, we all need to understand about life. We all need to figure out why we’re here. It’s not an immediate or direct question. It’s such a bigger universal question. I’ve been dealing with a lot of existential questions and things about my late father’s passing away, and there are times when everything seems absolutely pointless and immediate. And there are other times when things have a purpose and things go far beyond my existence. Art kind of rounds off the edges. It’s that nice, warm embrace that we all need and want after a hard day of life’s reality check. It makes you feel at home in whatever you are and wherever you need to be. That’s why art, dance, cinema or poetry is important as it allows us to be honest as to who we are. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Jacob James Theatre Conversation in a Covid World Selfie Joe Szekeres Jacob James is one extremely passionate fellow in sharing how this pandemic has ultimately transformed his life. I wasn’t able to include every single bit of information he shared with me during our hour-long conversation as one topic sometimes dove into another completely different question or topic that I hadn’t even considered. But that’s okay. At one point, Jacob poked fun at himself by telling me that I would glean from our conversation that he loves to speak with others who are just as passionate as he is about the arts and about the state of live theatre as we all move forward post pandemic. He is an actor, director, drama professor currently at Queen’s University in Kingston, and creator of the YouTube channel Theatre Curation Project. He has spent seven seasons with The Stratford Festival, five seasons with Drayton Entertainment, five seasons with Videocabaret (Dora awards), five seasons with The Thousand Islands Playhouse, and has worked with Theatre Kingston, Soulpepper, Neptune, Globe Theatre Regina, Charlottetown Festival, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse...and more. As a teaching artist, Jacob has taught at arts institutions across North America for over 20 years including Michigan State University, St. Lawrence College, and Queen's University. Please visit Theatre Curation Project on YouTube and subscribe, follow him on Instagram at @jacoboneilljames. Jacob is a graduate of The National Theatre School, Birmingham Conservatory (Stratford Festival), Second City Conservatory, and York University's Teaching Artist program. Jacob adores his six year old son, Henry, and still finds time to consider new and exciting ways to keep interest in the arts going. I plan to check out many of his passion projects with the links included at the conclusion of his profile. We conducted our conversation via Zoom. Thanks again for the lively discussion, Jacob: The doors to Toronto live theatre have been shut for over a year now with no possible date of re-opening soon. How have you and your immediately family been faring during this time? I must say that many people are talking about the waves that it goes in. Sometimes I feel positive, inspired and motivated, then the next day I’ll sit the entire day in my pajamas at the computer checking social media. I was set to do my third of ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’ this time with Drayton Entertainment. We were supposed to start rehearsals March 26. I was in New York at the time. I’ve been splitting my time between Kingston teaching at Queen’s and in New York where my son’s mother was based. It was a harrowing lifestyle for the going on two years I’ve been doing it. The numbers in Stratford are low right now, but we’ll see what happens in the summer. Henry, my son, is 6 and he’s doing alright. All to say, yes, there was such a downfall from theatre becoming disenfranchised and yet, at the same time, it meant that I got my son safely back to Canada. My son’s mother and I, we co-parent relatively well and decided to locate to Stratford. I spent my 20s as an actor and she owns a house here. On the one level, I have felt totally disenfranchised but on the life level really grateful not having to split my week between Kingston and New York City and all that travelling. Having my son back in Canada and in one place is good. I’ve had ups and downs, but it has forced me to get innovative and thinking about ways about what can I do to help. Theatre is being diminished through this pandemic and there is a real danger of it being impacted permanently. How have you been spending your time since the theatre industry has been locked up tight as a drum? That sense of stewardship started to rise within me as a result of this worldwide epidemic. I’m not the kid anymore and it’s my generation to make the initiative to preserve and to curate what past mentors had shared with me. I wish they were here because I would really like to talk to them now as I reflect back and wish I could ask them things now, but obviously I can’t. That gave birth to something I created on the You Tube channel called ‘The Theatre Curation Project.’ It started twofold. I got thinking about all the mentors whom I’ve had in this business who have now passed away. My original mentor, Valerie Robertson, was in Theatre Five. She is one of the mothers of Canadian Theatre. Here at Stratford, Richard Monette was my major mentor and influence. Well, there are a lot of people who are still alive and have these stories and lessons. Why not reach out to those who were influenced by those who may not be here? Why not reach out to those who are still here and are leaving their mark on the theatre scene? Kenneth Welsh is a veteran of our time, but who was his mentor for example. To my surprise, this avalanched into 40 + episodes of ‘The Mentor Series’ I’ve curated. I’ve about 20 in the bank ready to go. The idea here is to preserve these stories for future generations and from being lost forever when I’m gone. I got to thinking about the conversations we would be having in the rehearsal hall, and I’m a big ghost nerd. I get into these conversations of did anyone ever work in a haunted theatre and what was their experience. I discovered a lot of people share that same curiosity and interest, so I created a second series for the You Tube Channel ‘Haunted Theatre Stories’. The basic format is similar to the Mentor Series channel. The next phase of the Theatre Curation Project is the beginning of an online theatre school. Right now, we’re beginning with an online component. Eventually, I’d like to buy a building when we can be physically back together with that theatre school graduating into a theatre company, an apprenticeship school where there is an opportunity of doing. So, preserving the tradition and maintaining community are important. The late Hal Prince described the theatre as an escape for him. Would you say that Covid has been an escape for you, or would you describe this near year long absence from the theatre as something else? Yes, it has been an escape for me in good ways and in bad ways. Being in Covid has been an escape from hopping on a plane and going to New York to see my son or only seeing my son for half the time. It’s also been deprivation. I’ve been fortunate to have done a bit of tv and film over the interim since that has kept rolling. It doesn’t fill the void. I love editing and I wonder I might have become an editor for film and tv if I had gone a different path. I’ve interviewed a few artists several months ago who said that the theatre industry will probably be shut down and not go full head on until at least 2022. There may be pockets of outdoor theatre where safety protocols are in place. What are your comments about this? Do you think you and your colleagues/fellow artists will not return full throttle and full tilt until 2022? I’d say that’s a very safe bet. Again, there are a lot of variables that could take us further ahead that could accelerate the process but there are a lot of factors that could set us back. Of late, what I’ve been coming to terms with is the struggle. Certainly, in Canada and Ontario specifically, the colour coded roles and the numbers, these two things are not working together in tandem. My mom is still in Kingston and I talk to her regularly. When Kingston was opened up, even though Toronto was in lockdown, people in Toronto are going to Kingston to the restaurants. I shudder to say it: If we created a uniform set of rules for the province, we’d be in better shape. If we stayed in lockdown since Christmas, we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now. There’s always that tendency of “Well, if I visit this person, it’s just me not everybody.” When Trudeau said at the beginning last year, “It’s time to come home”, we still need to be in that tone, or nothing is going to be done. I get the fatigue of it all but… In the end, what is it worth if we can’t see our family next Christmas? My forecast for all this? There will be smatterings of outdoor theatre going on this summer. My thinking if rules are set that 100 or more can be in a theatre to watch a show, masked and social distanced, we could start seeing those small, distanced audience numbers in the fall, okay that’s a start. But back to where we were before with full houses and sitting next to people shoulder to shoulder? That won’t happen until at least 2022. I had a discussion recently with an Equity actor who said that yes theatre should not only entertain but, more importantly, it should transform both the actor and the audience. How has Covid transformed you in your understanding of the theatre and where it is headed in a post Covid world? It's transformed me because empathy has been at the forefront of my mind because this is what is needed right now to help control this worldwide pandemic. If we’re not empathetic and care for each other and put ourselves in each other’s shoes, wear the masks, do the social distancing then it’s going to continue to be bad news. I’ve been transformed because I used to be quite romantically optimistic about everything and had a lot of faith in humanity. I have to admit that the empathy is still there, but the faith in humanity has been dampened a little bit for me because it’s pretty simple. We’ve got a simple set of rules to follow to protect ourselves and each other, and yet there are people who are actively out to go against the grain. Here in Stratford, I’m seeing signs of NO MORE LOCKDOWNS. I can’t wrap my head around it. Where have I been transformed concerning live theatre? I’m all about theatre that engages as opposed to pacifies. Theatre needs to come from the inside out, not the outside in if it wants to be authentic and achieve any kind of vacuum quality acting level. The audience should feel like voyeurs, according to the late William Hutt. The late Zoe Caldwell spoke about how actors should feel danger in the work. It’s a solid and swell thing to have if the actor/artist and the audience both feel it. Would you agree with Ms. Caldwell? Have you ever felt danger during this time of Covid and do you believe it will somehow influence your work when you return to the theatre? I agree with Ms. Caldwell. We need to see a character begin somewhere and end up somewhere else. In order to do that, there must be conflict. The conflict is where the danger comes from. It makes me think about an experience I had. I originated the role of Clown 1 in the Canadian premiere of ‘The 39 Steps’. I had a strange kismet with that play where I later played Hannay at Neptune in Halifax. When I got to New York, there was an off-Broadway production running and I was asked to understudy all three male roles. But then the show closed. I assistant directed a Canadian production oddly enough with the guy who assistant directed the off-Broadway production and who I had been auditioning for in New York for the understudy job. Dayna Tekatch directed the Canadian premiere. She reminded us, excluding the role of Hannay, the characters can be as big and buffoonish as you want them to be, but they have to be rooted in playing a real objective to come from the inside out. They have to be real people and start as real people and not inauthentic lunatics. If these people are not real, there can’t be any danger. If there’s no danger, then there can’t be any stakes. If there are no stakes, then it becomes a bunch of silly gags and actors playing different characters. It needs to be that thriller. If there is no danger in this particular play, it’s over before it starts. I did a short film in Toronto over the last summer. It was the weird period of being in limbo between the first phase of the pandemic and not quite into the second phase. I remember thinking we are in this little window where we can do this. Productions have learned a lot since then; companies have learned a lot about how to do the protocols. We all had our tests on this film, but I was the stickler during the film ensuring that we would all be safe. There are these stories about Douglas Rain, one of the original company members at Stratford. He got a bit reclusive in his last days. Apparently, he set up a little tent corner area when he wasn’t working. He didn’t want to talk to anybody. I was close to pulling a Douglas Rain on the short film I shot last summer. I didn’t want anyone to come near me because I did feel the danger in my being a stickler about safety on set. I was grateful to do a job but felt petrified the entire time. I went to length of during that whole shoot and the two weeks after, I isolated from my son. The late scenic designer Ming Cho Lee spoke about great art opening doors and making us feel more sensitive. How has this time of Covid made you sensitive to our world and has it made some impact on your life in such a way that you will bring this back with you to the theatre? The thing I’m most keenly sensitive about from all this is we’ve all been experiencing some degree of trauma on the spectrum of trauma. I recognize that and have seen it manifested in myself and in others. It manifests in unexpected ways and it has heightened our reactions to so many things. Being a parent of a six-year-old, there are so many undiscovered epiphanies. I’ve been keenly aware of the other two kids who are in Henry’s learning pod through school. For those kids who can’t articulate the trauma they’re experiencing or recognizing it, I’ve learned how to be more sensitive especially towards Henry. He’s happy here in Canada, his socialization is fine with a good balance of work and play. There was a moment where something wasn’t right and just a moment out of the blue. Henry is a good kid. He’s funny, got a good sense of humour and is sensitive, there was a moment where he came up and sat on my lap, and cuddled up on me and hugged me and squeezed me. I asked him if he was alright, and he just started crying. He said he just felt sad. For ten minutes he went through that. It was hard, heart wrenching but it was good because he was having an emotional release. That led to a conversation of saying it’s a good thing if you’re feeling sad to cry because you’re letting it out of your system. He doesn’t understand fully what is happening to him. And it suddenly dawned on me that what I was telling Henry, I should have been telling myself as well. Sometimes you forget that if you need to take a day to be in pajamas and watch mindless movies or play video games, it’s okay to not feel the shame and to take the time to not do anything. How will this translate into my work? With my students I was working on a couple of different Shakespeare monologues. I gave them something dense and challenging from Richard III. In working with them, we looked at the two different Richards. We saw the adult and the child Richard. How did Richard get to this point? It started me thinking what this would have been for him? That level of trauma would probably have created some arrested development and to lead to insane behaviour and the shutting off of emotions. Again, the late Hal Prince spoke of the fact that theatre should trigger curiosity in the actor/artist and the audience. Has Covid sparked any curiosity in you about something during this time? Has this time away from the theatre sparked further curiosity for you when you return to this art form? The Theatre Curation Project and Channel have made me even more curious. I’m a big theatre nerd. Long before I studied at the Stratford Festival, I had the books about William Hutt and renowned at Stratford and I was a big theatre history buff. But looking at the journey and legacy of how we got from where it started to where we are now is at the forefront. What I’ve been recognizing as we’re 40 episodes in with more to follow, the similarities, the patterns and the story forming from hearing the accounts of these mentors, I’m realizing and now starting to map together the foundations of Canadian theatre and the commonalities. It’s prompted me to perhaps have these stories come out as special presentations. Ultimately, I want to transpose a lot of these stories into books and volumes so they can be in libraries of theatre schools long after I’ve left this world. I got thinking about this idea of the architects of Canadian theatre. At this point, I can count on two hands specific people who started it all. Almost in a Bible format, I’d like to write the ‘Genesis’ history of the architecture of Canadian theatre, the creation of Canadian theatre. One volume for example might be called THE BOOK OF HUTT (with great respect to William Hutt) and the impact they had then and now. My drama students at Queen’s don’t know who are Val and Gord Robertson. This has to change. They have to know these names of the greats of Canadian theatre some who came from Kingston. Just in terms of life as well has made me curious. There is re-inventing going on because of the pandemic. Rather than being defeated by all this, what can we do in spite of all this. Not only to keep it going and preserve the stories, but I’ve said in some of the faculty meetings with the drama department at Queen’s to look at online learning as an opportunity and silver lining that perhaps what we are doing online now will augment the learning of the students when they return in person. To learn more about Jacob’s passion projects, please visit: YouTube Theatre Curation Project: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLhEdMQ-NVs_WC61tHYw7yQ?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook Group: Theatre Curation Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/645544769451393/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/theatrecurationproject Follow Jacob James on his Insta: @jacobonielljames Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill 'Ultimately, success requires taking action and making choices." Joe Szekeres Three years ago, I was appreciative Lucie took the time to chat with me. You can read her first profile here: https://www.onstageblog.com/profiles/lucie-arnaz-luckinbill. It was a rather humorous experience attempting to connect via Zoom with each other this time. Our email correspondence was filled with comical attempts to schedule due to our different time zones on the West and East coasts. After much online effort, we finally managed to connect and had a good chuckle about the whole situation, agreeing that it was quite the “clusterf&%k.” I felt highly comfortable picking up where we last left off three years ago. Lucie’s wry sense of humour and love of life remain keen and sharp as ever. Everyone is well in her immediate family: “Knock wood, babe. Everybody’s doing great. My brother and I are getting on. I’ll be 72 in July, and Desi’s 18 months younger. He and I are healthy. I have three beautiful grandchildren. My three children are working and happy, and my two stepsons are working and happy. Larry is of a certain age, and he has all of his wits about him. I’m a very, very grateful gal, very lucky.” Lucie calls these last three Covid years a great exercise in the study of impermanence, the good and the ugly. Covid’s always going to be here, so we just had to get used to that going forward. Change is inevitable, and you have to live in the moment and live for tomorrow but be ready for the plans to change. A lot of stuff has happened to all of us in these last few years, and we’ve learned this the hard way. She also had a knee replacement and had just returned from her physiotherapy before our conversation. Calling herself a late bloomer, a come-from-behind horse, as it has taken almost a year to recover, Lucie was up and around a few days after the surgery, but the knee still swells. She coyly stated she’s not tap dancing yet, but her knee is almost back to normal. It’s totally fine at the moment. She’s not in any hurry regarding the other knee, given what she experienced in this first recovery phase. Lucie also travelled to Kenya in February of this year as part of Craft Tours group with Jim West and said it was ‘life-changing.’ It was a culture none of them on the tour could even imagine. In her words, the tour was a hell of a lot more than a safari. She can’t wait to return: “The combination of the magnificence of the wild animals that you see, the tenaciousness and the kindness of the Kenyan people. I was astounded. Every person I met was polite and gentle, and smiling. And they live in such abhorrent poverty most of the time. The children have to walk four miles to school by themselves. Some of them are 5 years old. They’re in the dust and dirt to sell whatever they can make on the streets”. It was an entirely different world outside the walls of beautiful trees surrounding the hotel. The Kibera slum in Kenya was one of the worst seen anywhere. She also spoke of touring a school where it was exorbitantly costly (around $240 US for one year) to send a child. That’s not a lot of money, so Arnaz and a few of her friends took each of the six kids individually and paid for them to attend the school for the next three years. Arnaz rationalized this school fee payment in comparison to shopping weekly at the grocery store. When the tour group returned, the hoops she and her friends had to jump through to send the money for the next three years in support of these six students seemed insurmountable. Finally, a bank account was established where the money would be deposited and then distributed to the students at the school. Arnaz and the group were assured that no money laundering or distributing would go elsewhere except to the students. But tracking down and ensuring the money was going through the proper channels was hard. Arnaz is now back to touring her concert shows across the U.S., postponed during the pandemic. ‘I Got the Job: Songs from My Musical Past’ opens in New York’s 54 Below on July 19 and runs to July 22 inclusive. I’m attending the opening night to review and looking forward to returning to the city and finally seeing Lucie at her nightclub performance. How does she feel about venturing back to the Big Apple? “There’s nothing quite like it. There isn’t another city anywhere that’s like the hub of fashion, industry, finance, theatre, and music. It’s a town that embraced me and welcomed me, and that’s a wonderful feeling. Larry and I have many friends on the east coast, so it’s an opportunity to get caught up, see them, and have them come to see the show…when I’m working there, it’s just like I’m Cinderella at the Ball. There’s no place like it.” Yes, Lucie is cognizant of the constant traffic, construction, and noise compared to the peaceful environs of Palm Springs, where she and Larry live. She balances that by comparing New York to a big campus where all the performers are in a concentrated area. At a particular hour of the night, everyone is walking to work from the nightclubs to the theatres and restaurants, and everyone is waving to each other. How cool is that? As a proud Canadian, I asked when she was planning to cross the border and come to Toronto. She smiled and wished she was in charge of wherever she went. She would love to call up a venue or theatre and say: “I’m ready, willing and able,” but concert bookings don’t work that way. Any interested persons are to go to Lucie’s website and follow the instructions. Toronto producers and concert venue promoters – are you listening? Yet a lot has changed in how Lucie approaches her concert work. Depending on scheduling and if an artist gets sick, it can change on a dime. Lucie isn’t naïve to think Covid is gone because it’s not. It’s still out there. She’s constantly on the alert: “I wear a mask everywhere, not because of getting sick or feeling unwell; I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to leave. I leave in ten days for New York for my show that has been postponed four times, and I don’t want to get sick. I have to be very cautious.” The aftermath of Covid has also affected Lucie’s concert work. She used to love to come out to the audience to chat, pose for pictures and autographs and sell CDs. She can’t do that anymore. Instead, she wears a mask when she does go out to greet people. She feels guilty if people want to take pictures, but she has to face the reality that she can’t get sick. Larry Luckinbill (Lucie’s husband) is of a certain age, so she also has to be cognizant and aware of him and his health. Lucie doesn’t have any theatre work lined up at the present time except for the concerts. She loves live audiences and feels at home in her concerts. Regarding any upcoming plays in the future, she calls herself a woman of a certain age. She would have to be super passionate about the material to leave Larry or uproot him if she is cast in an 8 show per week schedule. She couldn’t say no to the revival of ‘Pippin’ several years ago. Although she only had one scene where she played Berthe and got to sing that terrific song, ‘No Time at All,’ Lucie also was trained to do a trapeze routine high above the stage. That was an experience she was glad to fulfil. Family is vital to Arnaz. She and Larry are in what she calls ‘the third act,’ and her husband remains rightly so her priority. They want to spend as much time together as they possibly can, so at this time, producing, directing and concert work suits Lucie just fine. But that doesn’t exclude any producers from contacting her if there is an upcoming project. She reads everything, and if it entices her, she, and Larry talk about the project. It all depends on what the project is, where it is and for how long. Although artists cannot earn a decent living at the theatre, Lucie says it’s the place where her heart has always been. If she didn’t love it, she wouldn’t do it anymore. There’s much rejection in this business, and she still would tell up-and-coming artists not to be bothered by that. It’s an opportunity to be tenacious, to learn and practice. Rejection is never personal in the theatre. Arnaz was fortunate to have had her start on her mother's television show, which opened doors for her. She seized the opportunity and never looked back, knowing that having an advantage only gets you so far. Ultimately, success requires taking action and making choices, especially when bills need to be paid. Lucie faced a similar dilemma, as she had a passion for both family and live performing/theatre. Balancing these two aspects of her life was not always easy, and every choice required careful consideration. Speaking of television shows, Lucie also appeared in the early 90s in the terrific comedy/drama ‘Sons and Daughters’ and loved working on it. Is there any talk of her appearing in another show anytime soon: “There are about five and a half people who can plan their television future and 55,000 in the Screen Actors Guild. (and we both had a good laugh). No, I don’t have any plans. Sometimes things come my way, and I turn them down because I’m not passionate about them…I pick and choose my work carefully.” As we wrapped our Zoom conversation, I threw some quickie questions to get an immediate response. 1. If your life was turned into a live performance play/musical, whom would you like to see play you? Larry? Your brother? Your parents? I have the same answer for all these individuals – “The best damn actors of the time with a damn good script.” Who knows when that will happen? It would depend on what ages of Larry, my brother and me. I think enough has been done about my parents, so I can’t see that happening anytime soon. But I’m not in charge. 2. What book(s) are you reading right now? Generally, I’m not a book reader since I don’t have the time. I do the shopping and the cooking and other things, so that’s my priority. When I have an opportunity, I read a lot of books by listening to them, and that has helped me to get through a number of them. I love biographies more than fiction. I’ve been reading everything from Mel Brooks’ autobiography to Michelle and Barack Obamas, Carl Reiner, and Randy Rainbow’s. 3. Is there a particular place you have not been to yet, but feel drawn to visit? Ireland. We’re going next June with the Craft Tours, and I’ll do my show. Larry will come with me this time. He really wants to go. I’ve never been there so I really want to see it. 4. You and Larry have been married for 43 years. What’s one piece of advice you would give to newlyweds? To new grandparents? To newlyweds and married people – ‘Never give up.’ Stuff happens; you get mad at some dumb stuff and can have some really bad fights. Go back into the room and say you’re sorry, even if it’s not your fault. Don’t give up. People don’t know how to talk about stuff today. To new grandparents – “Enjoy every blessed minute because it goes by so fast. Don’t be judgmental. Let your children raise their children and be there for them.” 5. You’ve been elected President of the United States for one week. What would you focus on and try to change in that week? Global warming, helping the planet survive and convincing the world this is a priority. It’s the one thing that scares me more than Donald Trump, more than gun control, more than women’s rights being taken away, more than Russia, more than China. It’s the planet, for God’s sake. If we don’t have the planet, none of this other stuff matters. To learn more about Lucie and her concert work, visit her website, www.luciearnaz.com . You can also follow Lucie on Facebook: @LucieArnazOfficial. ‘I Got The Job: Songs from My Musical Past’ plays at 54 Below, 254 West 54th Street, Cellar, New York City, July 19 – 22, 2023, inclusive. For tickets and more information, visit 54below.org. I’ll post my review after opening night. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Susan Ferley Looking Ahead Peg McCarthy. Joe Szekeres I met Susan Ferley several years ago where she and I (along with others, including Derrick Chua) were asked by Jeremy Smith to judge Driftwood Theatre’s Trafalgar 24 (held at Whitby, Ontario’s Trafalgar Castle School). Susan is a highly articulate and intelligent individual when it comes to the live theatre industry, and I was sincerely hoping that I would have the opportunity to speak with her again and share in her love of the live theatre industry. That opportunity did render itself when I later learned she is the Artistic Director of the Cameco Capitol Arts Centre in Port Hope, Ontario. Since this profile, Susan has stepped down from her role as Artistic Director. I was grateful Susan was honest in saying it’s been a bumpy ride at the Capitol especially when Covid arrived over a year ago. She has a great deal of respect for the extraordinary Board of Directors and what they’ve done for the survival and flourishing of the Capitol Theatre. Even before we delved into the scripted questions, Susan and I discussed how theatre will change as a result of Covid. She believes virtual theatre will be part of the future, and it’s a challenge not only for her but for all of us who have grown accustomed to loving and to seeing live theatrical shows in an enclosed space on the stage with an audience. Susan studied in England and received her Master of Arts in Actor Training and Coaching. We conducted our interview via Zoom. Thanks for taking the time, Susan, to add your voice to the conversation: It’s a harsh reality that the worldwide pandemic of Covid 19 has changed all of us. Describe how your understanding of the world you know and how your perception and experience have changed on a personal level. I’ve realized how connected I am to work and collaboration. I live on my own; I think of myself as a private person. I know I can survive on my own, but I feel diminished in some ways. It’s striving to find outlets. I’ve been cooking and baking more and realizing how, because I’m so focused on the work, friendships and family relationships were set aside. I’ve realized my personal need to connect with other artists and also with friends and family, and nature. Do I think of myself as someone in love with nature? No, I’ve often been in dark theatre rooms. Almost every day I go out for a walk. I’m looking out my window right now and seeing the trees glow green; the leaves aren’t fully out but you see that journey walking around and seeing the flowers starting, the forsythia, tulips popping up and daffodils in full bloom, and listening to the birds. The river here, The Ganaraska, is extraordinary. The sound of it too. If all else fails, I would walk along the river in the downtown area. Right now, because of the current stay at home, barriers have been put up. They don’t want you walking along the river because that’s what draws people to our community often. So, I can’t get close there right now. This community is so beautiful and has so much to offer. That’s been lovely, but I’ve had to re-assess who I am, where I am, what’s important and what I’ve missed in my life journey. With live indoor theatre shut for one year plus, with it appearing it may not re-open any time soon, how has your understanding and perception as a professional artistic director of the live theatre industry been altered and changed? Phew…I’ve always felt the theatre plays a vital role in a community and I think, for me, it’s heightened that awareness. I’ve been reading. There was an article I read talking about a theatre in San Francisco where it spoke about theatre being an ‘empathy gymnasium’ where we learn about compassion; whether as an individual or as a community, for me, theatre provides an emotional gymnasium, a place where we can release. I know people are often looking for entertainment and want to laugh, and how important that is to gather in a room and to share a story and find an emotional release. It’s not always laughter, sometimes there are tears, sometimes memory. But just what an important role, for me, but also the arts play in the lives of individuals in a community and also more broadly in a community. It’s shared journeys, shared stories. As a professional artist, what are you missing the most about the live theatre industry? (Susan laughed as it appears she just answered the question earlier) Gathering in a room, artists, actors, creative teams, technical teams; it’s the collaboration that is so important to me, that interaction where creativity is sparked. That certainly is missed. Heightened communication that is intellectual, emotional, psychological; sharing stories and also taking the creation (the production/the story being told) and sharing it. Through the sharing of the story there is also being informed and stimulated creatively as you learn from that interaction more about the creative process that goes into it. As a professional artist, what is the one thing you will never take for granted again in the live theatre industry when the doors re-open? (Susan laughs) Just that, the human interaction and communication, the heightened communication, enriched communication through stories. The ability to gather and share an experience. Describe one element you hope has changed concerning the live theatre industry. It’s offered time for reflection on how we do what we do. Certainly, and this was very early, with the murder of George Floyd the awareness that has been brought to my/our collective attention. Our failings as artists working with other artists, playing with other artists. The failings of our institutions. Theatres are creative places and gathering places and welcoming and compassionate, and there have been failures, major failures. And so, hopefully, through reflection and the time being offered, there will be changes in how we work. Just thinking of theatres as institutions I find offensive, you know. It’s about creativity, challenge and shared stories, and a place going back to whether it’s that idea of gymnasium where things are shared, and out of the exercise of coming together and sharing a story we leave with greater understanding and compassion. I think there is potential for change, but lots to do. Watching the IBPOC/BIPOC round table from the Stratford Festival last summer was so heartbreaking at times. And then we don’t want to just wallow in that, and then you go, ‘How, what, has to happen to move forward from all this?’ Whether professional or non-professional the need to open, welcome, and be willing to hear, to listen, and to see other stories outside of our own story, and outside of our lens. We now have, one hopes, a heightened awareness of artists of colour. As a friend pointed out to me, there’s also diversity on other fronts. That awareness is starting to parallel with BIPOC/IBPOC artists so that we hear the artists. Explain what specifically you believe you must still accomplish within the live theatre industry. Well, with a greater awareness, to support and encourage. With my involvement with the High School Project (from my time at London Ontario’s Grand Theatre) and going off to England, and training and taking a program that was actor training and coaching, to enrich the skills that I have to support artists in development, artists that are emerging. I know that’s an area I’m interested in working with young and emerging artists, if I can be of assistance in helping them to reach and claim that potential and soaring. I’ve had opportunities to work in training programs and I always am exhilarated by that. The schools certainly have an increasingly responsibility in terms of assembling the IBPOC/BIPOC teachers so that the students of colour see themselves reflected in the faculty and trainers. Some artists are saying that audiences must be prepared for a tsunami of Covid themed stories in the return to live theatre. Would you elaborate on this statement both as an artistic director, and as an audience member observing the theatre. I think there will be some Covid themed plays. I’m looking at to see if I can try to bring it to the Capitol Theatre is ‘February: A Love Story’ by Sudden Spark Collective. The artists involved with that project, Ellen Denny, is someone who came out of the High School Project in London, Ontario and has pursued a career as a performer, but more recently as a writer. She and her writing partner, Emilio Vieira, have created a love story in times of Covid. They describe it as a romantic comedy, and it very much is. But it’s also about life in the midst of Covid. So, while in my head, I might go, “Oh, I don’t know if this would go work on the subject of Covid,’ I think there will be some. This particular piece, ‘February: A Love Story’ is playful and filled with love and hope. Those are key things to get us through this time. Because of Covid, the play was also filmed. It may be on a Stratford platform so keep your eyes open. I think because of the isolation, and certainly I feel it as an individual, but I don’t think I’m alone in that shared experience of isolation from community and shared experience, that theatre can offer that potential for catharsis. Whether that’s coming together to laugh out loud, or whether to come together and through the experience find an emotional release whether laughter or tears. That is something that we need and want desperately to come together especially during this time. There’s a need to get back to that emotional gym for an emotional and psychological workout. It’s been hard on individuals, human interaction and communities. Theatre will play an important role and if it takes a Covid themed play to do it, so be it. Shakespeare was pretty good at it too when ‘King Lear’ was written during a time of plague and pandemic. As an artist, what specifically is it about your work that you want future audiences to remember about you? Oh, dear, I’m never good about this sort of question, I’m afraid. I hope I’m viewed as having had a generosity of spirit. A joy and a passionate love for what I do and that’s whether in creating work with a group of people that is shared with another group of people. A sense of play and a love for all that theatre can offer, all that sharing stories can offer, all that creating and playing together can offer. To learn more about Port Hope’s Cameco Capitol Centre, visit Cameco Capitol Arts Centre – Experience Entertainment (capitoltheatre.com). Facebook: Capitol Theatre Port Hope; Twitter: @CapitolPortHope Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Richard II' by William Shakespeare. Adapted by Brad Fraser and Conceived by Jillian Keiley Now playing at the Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, Ontario Credit: David Hou. Standing: Jordin Hall. Kneeling: Stephen Jackman-Torkoff Joe Szekeres A ballsy adaptation that smacks hard. It sometimes stings as it rightly should, but it will be remembered. Henry Bolingbroke (Jordin Hall) and Thomas Mowbray (Tyrone Savage) argue and agree then to a duel which is in the form of a wrestling match (eerily similar to the wrestling scene from D. H. Lawrence's 'Women in Love') with their shirts off. King Richard (Stephen Jackman- Torkoff) eventually intervenes when the men just get a tad too rough and sends both into exile, Bolingbroke for ten years and Mowbray for life. Bolingbroke’s father, John of Gaunt (David Collins), Richard’s uncle, convinces the king to reduce his son’s exile to six years. After the banishment, John of Gaunt takes ill. When Richard pays his final respects, he takes offence to his uncle’s criticism of his Majesty’s heavy-handed rule and won’t allow Gaunt to leave his title and fortune to Bolingbroke. Upon Gaunt’s death, Richard seizes Gaunt’s fortunes to fund the war in Ireland. When the king leaves to fight in Ireland, he places the kingdom in his uncle, The Duke of York’s (Michael Spencer-Davis) hands. While the king is gone, Bolingbroke returns to claim his inheritance, convincing York of no other intentions for the throne. When Richard returns to England, the country is on the brink of civil war. As the story progresses, the audience witnesses the ineptness of Richard’s rule as king. I did my best not to listen or read anything about this ‘Richard II.’ Still, the word’s out that some audiences leave in disgust, shock, or a combination of both, as there are homosexual moments that may make some uncomfortable. So what? To be honest, more has been made of it than needs to be. This ‘Richard’ is ballsy. It sometimes stings as theatre should and must do. Recently I read an article in Intermission by Mira Miller about artist Maev Beaty who stated that live theatre: “is not up there to present good, clean work – we’re up there to try and catch some truth for the listener [and watcher] that is shared in real time. You can’t do that if you’re just presenting your good homework; you have to live.” This is precisely what Director/Conceiver Jillian Keiley and Adapter Brad Fraser have accomplished as their ‘Richard II’ is convincingly packaged. Designer Michael Gianfrancesco ably sets the production in the late 70s/early 80s disco scene of New York’s Studio 54. The production is a veritable candy store for the eyes, thanks to Leigh Ann Vardy’s terrific neon disco lighting. I loved the giant disco ball that periodically descends. Choreographer Cameron Carver’s dynamite 70s disco moves using the Angel Army remain stunning to watch them move in sexy and synchronized unison. Bretta Gerecke’s scintillating costume designs from the Studio 54 era are eye-popping, especially Richard’s opening white feathery outfit. Don Ellis’s terrific music selection and design for the ears fondly take me back to that 70s and 80s disco craze that was part of my undergraduate years. Keiley's direction is consistently electrifying. She and Fraser have made excellent choices to capture the vivid reality of a flamboyantly harsh and risky homoerotic lifestyle that never remains stagnant. For one, the dramatic choice to include The Angel Army remains most appropriately wise. Richard's unwavering belief in the Divine Right of Kings provides him with an unshakable sense of salvation, despite his visible decline before the audience. Stephen Jackman-Torkoff delivers a captivating performance as Richard, exuding unbridled passion and energy in his movements and marked by his unwavering resolve, rebelliousness, and conceitedness. Interestingly, Sean Carney raises a thought-provoking question in the Program Note - should we feel pity for the King or judge him? Personally, I lean towards the former. The image of Richard's grand entrance with his Army of Angels strewn across the floor at the end of Act One is just one example of why. The horrific look of surprising disbelief on Jackman-Torkoff’s face, combined with the utmost quiet from the audience watching, has etched an indelible image in my memory of that moment. Several performances also remain memorable. Emilio Vieira’s Lord Aumerle remains steadfastly grounded in his unbridled passion for his ruler, as evidenced in his passionate encounter with his King in a bathhouse. Yet, Aumerle is a troubled individual with political and familial conflicts. Religious implications are also skewered with Steve Ross’s Bishop of Carlisle as Richard’s rightful spiritual advisor. Instead, it becomes a complete shock to see the Bishop illicitly, willfully and actively participating in a gay bathhouse. Charlie Gallant’s Lord Willoughby whose persistent cough gets worse and worse grimly reminds once again of the 70s and 80s Studio 54 scene. Shakespeare purists have also commented that text sections have been removed or those from other plays have been added in this adaptation. Some articles I’ve read questioned why Fraser included lines from other Shakespearean plays. Again, who cares why he did this, but I would like to add something further as a retired secondary school teacher. From an educational perspective, I still have discussions with individuals about the value of Shakespeare’s plays in 21st-century schools. Nowhere in the Ontario English curriculum document does it state that a Shakespearean play must be studied every year, so what’s the benefit of doing so? As a retired teacher, I wouldn’t dare take secondary students on a school trip during the day to see this ‘Richard,’ and I’m positive Keiley and Fraser would agree not to do so. Ontario teachers have enough on their plates without having to add this. It would be beneficial for teachers to encourage young people to think and understand that it's okay to take some creative liberties with the text when it's appropriate. Jillian Keiley and Brad Fraser did so, and their ‘Richard II’ is completely justified in this respect. Let's move away from the idea that Shakespeare's plays must remain strictly purist in nature. Running time: approximately two hours and forty minutes with one interval. Richard II runs until September 28 at the Tom Patterson Theatre, 111 Lakeside Drive, Stratford. For tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1-800-567-1600. RICHARD II by William Shakespeare Adapted by Brad Fraser and Conceived by Jillian Keiley Director: Jillian Keiley Choreographer: Cameron Carver Set Designer: Michael Gianfrancesco Costume Designer: Bretta Gerecke Lighting Designer: Leigh Ann Vardy Sound Designer: Don Ellis Composer: Rhadsodius The Company: Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Jordin Hall, Emilio Vieira, Michael Spencer-Davis, Debbie Patterson, David Collins, Hannah Wigglesworth, Tyrone Savage, Sarah Orenstein, Matthew Kabwe, Thomas Duplessie, John Wamsley, Andrew Robinson, Steve Ross, Marcus Nance, Sarah Dodd, Justin Eddy, Celia Aloma, Malina Carroll, Mateo G. Torres, Matthew joseph, Wahsonti:io Kirby, Heather Kosik, Chris Mejaki, Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, jane Spidell, Danielle Verayo, Alex Wierzbicki, Travae Williams. Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Doubt: A Parable' by John Patrick Shanley B&E Theatre in association with The Church of the Holy Trinity (behind Toronto's Eaton Centre) Dahlia Katz Joe Szekeres B&E’s production of Shanley’s viscerally explosive ‘Doubt: A Parable’ becomes a meaningful conversation-starter Playwright John Patrick Shanley’s 2005 Pulitzer prize-winner is one way to begin an important dialogue amid the changes in our world. I attended the performance with my sister, a practicing Catholic like I am. We had several minutes of meaningful discussion about how the 1964 world culture and its people saw things completely different from the 2022 world we know today. The time is 1964. We are at St. Nicholas Church and School in the Bronx, New York. A charismatic, youthful Father Flynn (Brian Bisson) delivers a homily at Sunday mass about doubt. We then enter the school’s office of Principal Sr. Aloysius (Deborah Drakeford) busily working at her desk. Grade 8 teacher Sr. James (Emma Nelles) enters to check on how a student is doing after an incident with a bloody nose. After a bit of chit-chatty discussion about the events of the school day, the topic then turns to Fr. Flynn and his most recent homily concerning doubt. As the story continues, palpable, rising tension simmers between Aloysius and Flynn, especially concerning the young (and only Black) student in James’s class and school, Donald Muller, and the possibility of improper relations between the priest and the boy. What made this production ring convincingly true were several good choices made that kept me riveted as the plot builds to its crescendo of the final confrontation between the headstrong principal of staunch values juxtaposed with the ‘modern world’ Vatican II understanding of the priest. First, the decision to immerse the play in a Church worked well. Did it bother me that the 175-year-old beautiful Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity was used as the Catholic setting for the story? Not at all. I completely bought it without any hesitation whatsoever. Many of the overhanging light fixtures reminded me of the Catholic Church I attended in south Oshawa in the late 60s. What cinched it for me was the recorded pre-show organ music. Many are hymns sung at Sunday masses today. I even found myself hearing the words to the hymns in my head so a nod to Stewart Arnott, Jack Considine and J. D. Smith. I liked how portions of the church were effectively used to draw attention. Aloysius’s office and the church garden are on riser steps on stage left and right. Flynn enters from the back at the top of the show. His second homily concerning the topic of gossip is gloriously delivered from the beautifully ornate pulpit stage right. The hallway to Aloysius’s office is the long aisle in the nave in front of the altar. Above the altar was the verse: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty’ and underneath unfolds a story that mightily contradicts this verse. If I did have a slight quibble, and minor at that, it is the echo within the church. It was difficult to hear Bisson, Nelles, and Drakeford for a few minutes at the opening for some sound issues. It did improve considerably about 7-8 minutes in and remained fine for the rest of the performance. Stewart Arnott’s carefully nuanced direction of the sub-text layers of possible underlying meaning remains consistently solid and valid throughout. He counterbalances those dramatic moments with humour in the script and allowed me to laugh while realizing the very real and possible horrific implications of abuse. The Catholic faith teaches us to search for truth since certainty can also imply a slight hesitation. For me, the search for the truth in wondering if Flynn is guilty of these improper relations had me scratching my head at times. Director Arnott and this terrific ensemble of actors made me think and made me sit in the deep discomfort of uncertainty as Kim Nelson (who plays Mrs. Muller) pointed out in an earlier interview I had with the cast this past week. Brian Bisson is an engaging Father Flynn who instinctively and securely knows how to speak to young, impressionable boys as shown in the basketball drill. Bisson’s emphatic final confrontation with Deborah Drakeford’s Aloysius becomes enthralling to watch and hear. As Sr. Aloysius, Deborah Drakeford initially appears headstrong and unfeeling, especially in the second scene where she deflates Sr. James’s confidence as a teacher. Drakeford confidently excavates further to show us an Aloysius who has experienced veritable struggles prior to 1964 and survived but perhaps was scarred and altered in the process. She was previously married and lost her husband in what she states, “the war against Adolf Hitler”. Aloysius knows and adheres to her place in the Church hierarchy but that doesn’t stop her from exposing what she believes to be her certainty about Flynn and what he might have done. Aloysius only comments about her certainty and not the truth that the Catholic faith teaches, and this makes Drakeford’s final scene with Sr. James in the garden even more poignant. Playwright Shanley dedicates his play to the many orders of the Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to serving others. From my research, Shanley had a teacher whom he adored like ‘Sister James’ when he attended Catholic parochial school. Emma Nelles offers a lovely, touching performance as Sister James. Nelles exudes a quiet strength as the young teacher which Aloysius respects since the two become confidantes. A strong bond of emotional connection and conviction between Bisson and Nelles piqued my curiosity when she states she doesn’t believe the rumours about the priest. Although she only appears in one scene, Kim Nelson’s Mrs. Muller is suspicious and hesitant initially as any parent would be when called to the principal’s office (combined with the truth her son is the only black child in the school). Nelson intently listens and responds with clear assuredness all the while standing by her son and recognizing his strength and goodness amid his present hard home life. When Muller drops her bombshell that still makes me gasp every time I hear it, Nelson’s performance strength of quiet stoicism of “It’s just til June” strongly underscores the search for trying to understand the truth of this situation involving Donald and Flynn. Final Comments: For its inaugural production, B&E Productions made a wise choice to stage Shanley’s unquestionably relevant play which is even more so today. It might have been interesting to listen to what others in the audience thought. I look forward to seeing what B&E has planned for future productions. Running Time: approximately one hour and 40 minutes with no intermission. ‘Doubt: A Parable’ runs to November 13 at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 19 Trinity Square (right behind the Toronto Eaton Centre). Performances run Tuesday through Saturday at 8 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm. For tickets, please visit www.bneproductions.ca . Future audience members are asked kindly to order tickets online. B&E Productions in association with The Church of the Holy Trinity presents ‘Doubt: A Parable’ by John Patrick Shanley Produced by Brian Bisson & Emma Campbell Directed by Stewart Arnott Costume Designer: Lara Berry Lighting Designer: Gareth Crew Props: David Hoekstra and John Rubino Sound Design: Stewart Arnott, Jack Considine and J. D. Smith Stage Manager: Meghan Specht Performers: Brian Bisson, Deborah Drakeford, Emma James, Kim Nelson Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Michael Man 'My life is pretty exciting right now, and I hope it will continue." Pierre Gautreau Joe Szekeres The theatre company's name - ‘Shakespeare BASH’d’ - made me do the proverbial double take. Does ‘Bash’ mean what I think it means? After last year’s engrossing and pared-down ‘King Lear’ with Scott Wentworth in the title role, why was I thinking what I did? The Bash’d production of ‘Lear’ made for good theatre on a freezing night. This month, it’s ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen,’ a collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher. According to a release I received, ‘Kinsmen’ explores many of the same themes expected from Shakespeare’s plays, including love, friendship, honour, and duty. Those familiar thematic topics are shown to audiences from new and unfamiliar perspectives, challenging expected ideas of gender, sexuality, romance, and ceremony. Although written over four hundred years ago, much of ‘Kinsmen’ feels incredibly modern, exploring many relationships, including same-sex love and attraction, in some of the most overt ways of a play from this period. Recently, I spoke with Michael Man, who plays Arcite, one of the title characters and asked him to tell me a bit about the plot without spoiling any intricate surprises since I’ve never seen the play before. Man was keen that I knew nothing about the show. His wish is for audiences to do the same to come and enjoy. There are two love triangles in ‘Kinsmen.’ In the first, two kinsmen are deep, deep friends who go to war and get jailed. While in jail, they see a woman for whom they fall madly in love. As part of this first triangle, these friends learn how to cope with each other falling in love with and fighting for the same woman. The second triangle involves what occurs in jail. We meet the jailer and his daughter, who falls madly in love with one of the kinsmen. Meanwhile, the jailer’s daughter is also being pursued and chased by another lover. For Michael, the theme and idea of friendship aren’t discussed much, and these are two reasons audiences should see ‘Kinsmen.’ Since our world is still changing due to the pandemic, Michael thinks a lot about friendship attrition and how difficult it is to maintain friends because they’re worth so much. How do we keep friends through difficulties? How does one describe friendship and love, and what happens when they blur, if they blur, or do they blur? ‘Kinsmen’ explores friendship, what it can and cannot be, and how we maintain it. Rehearsals have been going fine so far. Man loves working with these folks. He loves this company because SHAKESPEARE BASH’d is text-centric and actor-focused. Audiences attend to hear the text spoken hopefully well by people who are passionate about what they do. His biography on TAPA lists impressive credits. This summer will mark his fourth season with Shaw Festival. A Queen’s University and George Brown Theatre School graduate, he is an actor, musician, and theatre maker. Man has performed across the country. Having previously served on the Dora Indie Jury 2018/2019 and the Ontario Arts Council Skills and Careers Development Jury in 2015, Michael has experience critically and objectively discussing the merit of the works of his peers. He has fond memories of his undergraduate years at Queen’s along with a great support network from his undergraduate years and his training at George Brown. He met some incredible friends: “My life is pretty exciting right now, and I hope it will continue." Man has also voiced the same frustrations and perhaps concerns about where the performing arts are headed due to so much change in the industry over the last nearly four years. Change will always remain a constant. There’s now an urgency to do what he wants to do. He chooses to stay with what he’s doing now and do it with all his might and heart. As an artist, there’s a certain level of faith and optimism in choosing to do something others might see as an unstable or unreliable career. How important is it to continue honing his skills as an artist: “I feel very lucky that I get to do what I really like, so why wouldn’t I take every opportunity to learn how to do it better?” Outside of getting to see theatre, Man loves the arts and getting out to see what others are doing. It’s exciting to find out how people are communicating, what is interesting, and what is being received well or not received well. If he has the resources and the time, of course, he’ll take the time. But there’s learning to be done in other different ways from the people with whom he’s working, along with any personal reading he may undertake. How important is it for Michael as an artist to hear what audiences, reviewers, critics, and bloggers say about his work? There was a slightly uncomfortable laugh from him as he challenged me to continue asking other artists that same question. Again, we both shared a good laugh over it. Man is in the art of communications. He is trying to communicate to the audience. The best communication is never one way. It’s always a dialogue both ways, so it’s essential to hear and understand what’s being received and what isn’t. But Michael is an artist. He's sensitive, as he believes most artists are, so that side is protected. He knows he must defend that sensitivity even though he may not know how others will process the created work. Artists put themselves out there and wear their hearts on their sleeves. Just as a rave review cannot bring him to the heights and skies, negative or poor feedback must not bring him down to despair. He’s working on how he receives all kinds of feedback. Our discussion then turned to the changes in the industry. Michael is grateful that honest and meaningful conversations are taking place and getting more to the forefront. That said, coming out of these four years, he feels that as much as change is happening, a lot remains the same. The landscape is now very different. Yes, stories are still being told; people attend to hear stories told and want to be seen, heard, validated, and listened to. He appreciates there is an essence of what remains true among all of us. But there is still work to be done, and there is an added sense of urgency to do it. Many places around the world do not allow freedom of expression. This means Michael must continue to work in the arts formed by reason and with a convicted heart. He feels grateful for being able to do his work and knows many artists who have either stepped away from the business or are pausing to take stock of where they are. Change will remain a constant and will always happen. For example, there’s a lot of discussion in film, television, and voice work about the influence of AI (artificial intelligence). This item has been hotly debated and must remain a significant concern for the artist/actor. Technology is a reality, but the actor/artist must learn to react and safeguard themselves. Money and funds are always an issue in the theatre, even now more pronounced. As theatres continue to consider budget, Man hopes financial oversight will not discourage artistic risk across the board. He hopes both can go hand in hand and that artists aren’t fearful this will happen. After ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen’ completes its run, what’s next for Michael? He returns to Shaw this summer and ecstatic that it and Stratford will perform East Asian-centric plays this year. He’s writing for Shaw which has commissioned an adaptation to produce ‘The Orphan of Chao’ based on a 13th-century Chinese drama, ‘The Great Revenge of the Zhao Orphan,’ by Ji Junxiang. Man is grateful for the opportunity to have his words presented in this adaptation. He will also appear in a new adaptation of ‘Sherlock (Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart)’ and will act in another adaptation of a 13th-century Chinese drama – ‘Snow in Midsummer.’ As we concluded our conversation, Man spoke of something he holds dear to his heart: “Regardless of who’s performing in a show, what stories are being centred, or where the stories are coming from, I hope audiences come out to see that we are all the same underneath. That’s what’s important.” And what’s next once Shaw concludes its summer/fall season: “Who knows, Joe, who knows? …I try to trust my gut in what I do, so I will continue to seek out exciting and interesting work done by exciting and interesting people.” ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen’ directed by James Wallis, opens on January 25 and runs to February 4, 2024. All performances will occur at The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen Street West. For tickets: www.shakespearebashd.com . Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Icemen' by Vern Thiessen World Premiere presented by Theatre by the Bay now onstage at Five Points Theatre, 1 Dunlop Street West, Barrie Credit: Hollinshead Media. L-R: Tom Keat, Nathan Howe, Isaish Kolundzic Joe Szekeres "Suspenseful! Thrilling! Entertaining! ‘Icemen’ is a Canadian story, and it’s ours!" Vern Thiessen’s newest world premiere takes place on the icy banks of Barrie at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Times are tough for everyone, not only for the characters of ‘Icemen’ but those who live in Barrie. When times are tough, sometimes the unthinkable can very well happen. The setting is a wooden icehouse. We meet two desperate brothers: Joe (Isaiah Kolundzic) and his not-too-swift brother, Rennie (Tom Keat). The two commit an act of vengeance and defiance against their upscale employer, F. F. (Nathan Howe) and hold him hostage. F. F. threatens to destroy the brothers’ livelihood – ice harvesting on Kempenfelt Bay. I won’t spoil here what F. F. stands for, as you will find out. This opening night edge-of-the-seat thriller has a great deal going for it. For one, Barrie’s Theatre by the Bay's mandate is to continue showcasing and producing rich local stories. The company commissioned Thiessen to write a play about Barrie. He had never been to the city before and didn’t know anything about it but discovered a treasure trove of stories – one of them being the ice harvesters who worked on Kempenfelt Bay. In the playwright’s programme note, Thiessen writes how the ice harvesters saw their livelihood taken away by greed and refrigeration, an ‘innovation’ that, over time, has contributed to the climate change that now threatens Canadian lakes and oceans. I did not know the local history of Barrie, and this bit of information piqued my curiosity about how it would tie into the story. So, “Icemen” is a story of high stakes. The world of the Depression was one of gradual change and innovation. There was great social inequity and economic disparity, as playwright Thiessen tells in his Programme Note. People in the Depression had a tough time making ends meet. There were also individuals at this time who had too much power. Sounds somewhat familiar, doesn’t it? We’re experiencing this right now in our twenty-first century woke world. The big question – did this opening night production work on the Five Points Theatre stage? Yes, it does. Skillfully, I will add. This world-premiere production is one of which I hope other Canadian theatre companies will take notice. Not only is it suspenseful, thrilling, and entertaining, but ‘Icemen’ is one of our stories as Canadians and for Canadians. Joe Pagnan’s gorgeous set design of the rugged wooden icehouse prominently figures centre stage. I closely examined what I could do from my seat about three-quarters of the way up in the house. Brenda Thompson has paid meticulous attention to the selection of 1930s-period piece props. I loved the icepick that would have been used to help drag the ice blocks to the wooden house. Like all good suspenseful stories, nevertheless, some of these items become nefariously used for shocking purposes. Logan Raju Cracknell’s shadowy lighting designs duly enhance the suspenseful atmosphere of both the ruggedness and the sense of loneliness that might also surround the lives of these ice harvesters. Madeline Ius’s costumes are believable period recreations of the clothing the brothers would have worn as they worked outside. F.F.’s clothing strongly gives the impression there is a social and financial strata division. Mathew Magneson creates an extraordinary soundscape of howling winds that strongly emphasizes how cold it must have been for these harvesters. Not only that, but the sound also underscores how lonely and abandoned it must have felt for these individuals who worked out on the Bay. Magneson also places the sound of the howling wind throughout to help in the growing and suspenseful plot momentum. It’s effective in the aural sense, that’s for sure. Vern Thiessen’s gripping script makes the audience listen carefully to the spoken dialogue, which becomes crucial to the suspenseful intensity of any edge-of-the-seat story. Thiessen surely knows how to grab an audience’s attention right away. At the top of the show, F. F. is tied to a chair, and Joe casually smokes a cigarette while talking to F.F. and the audience. A strong word of advice - make sure you do listen carefully because the play is wordy but oh, so very important in building to the story’s climax. Iain Moggach directs with an assured confidence that never wavers. Not only does he envision believable characters, but he also creates one hell of an excellent Canadian story that makes our culture a unique one. As he writes in his programme note, “Icemen” is more than just ice. ‘Icemen’ is a story of history repeating itself in new ways. Yes, that’s a scary thought, but it also makes for good entertainment. The three-member cast remains solid throughout, always listening and responding with a credible believability. As brothers Joe and Rennie, Isaiah Kolundzic and Tom Keat deliver bold and fearless performances. Rennie is not a dimwit, but he doesn’t have the ‘smarts’ like his brother, Joe. Kolundzic and Keat are in synchronicity with each other. They behave and speak as brothers often do, especially when the two might not agree on handling the situation with F. F. I applaud Nathan Howe’s work as F. F, Joe and Rennie’s supervisor. For a good portion of the play, Howe is tied to a chair, so there is little room for him to move about the stage like Kolundzic and Keat. Instead, Howe’s performance strength emanates from his listening carefully to the other two and using his voice to indicate the varied emotional levels he experiences. When freed from the chair, Howe effectively controls his energy level and doesn’t allow it to upstage Kolundzic and Keat. There’s a bubbling, boiling and ultimately scalding intensity watching the events unfold at the end. And it’s good theatre. And that’s why you should get to the Five Points Theatre to see this Canadian piece that will hopefully be picked up and produced around the province. Running time: approximately 85 minutes with no intermission. ‘Icemen’ runs until November 12 at the Five Points Theatre, 1 Dunlop Street West, Barrie. For tickets, call the Box Office at (705) 739-4228 or visit https://tprocob.ticketpro.ca/en/pages/COB_TBTB_Icemen Theatre by the Bay presents the world premiere of ‘Icemen’ by Vern Thiessen Directed and produced by Iain Moggach Stage Manager: Khaleel Gandi Production Manager: Rochelle Reynolds Set Designer: Joe Pagnan Lighting Designer: Logan Raju Cracknell Music Director/Composer: Mathew Magneson Costume Designer: Madeline Ius Props: Brenda Thompson Performers: Nathan Howe as F. F.; Tom Keat as Rennie; Isaiah Kolundzic as Joe Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Lisa Horner Moving Forward ... Joe Szekeres Lisa Horner’s professional life as a performing artist is quite extensive when I had the chance to peruse her resume. Along with her famous IKEA The Winter Sale commercial of “Start the car, start the car, start the car.”, I also had the opportunity to see Lisa perform the role of Beulah in the Toronto company of ‘Come from Away’. Lisa’s onstage appearances don’t stop here. I also saw her as Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the Elgin several years ago and in ‘Guys and Dolls’ at The Stratford Festival. Lisa has also appeared on CBC’s ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie’ and has worked at the Shaw Festival, Gryphon, Neptune and Grand Theatre (London, Ontario), and at Drayton Entertainment over the years. We conducted our interview via email. Thank you so much for the conversation, Lisa: It has been an exceptionally long five months since we’ve all been in isolation, and now it appears we are slowly emerging to some new way of living. How have you been faring? How has your immediate family been doing during this time? I don’t know how to describe it really. At first, I took the opportunity to really slow down and check in with myself and my life. My husband is an actor as well, so we took the time, we cleaned and cooked, it was a novelty and relaxing. Honestly, I thought we would be back to work by the fall, which seems crazy now. My family is doing well, I have a family member who is quite compromised because he is diabetic so that’s nervous making. My nephews are heading back to school this week and I am thinking a lot about them right now too. As it goes on, I have good days and bad days. I’ve decided to just let whatever day it’s going to be and I don’t put pressure on myself. The bad days are good reminders of my privilege, I am so lucky. It helps me when I remember that. As a performer, what has been the most difficult and challenging for you professionally and personally? I think the biggest challenge was always to balance personal and professional life. Being an actor is an all encompassing 24/7 job and a passion. I’m sure any actor will say they’ve missed weddings, funerals, anniversaries, etc. Ironically, that is not the case now. it’s a different set of huge challenges we all face. Were you in preparation, rehearsals, or any planning stages of productions before everything was shut down? What has become of those projects? Will they see the light of day anytime soon? I was playing Beulah in ‘Come from Away’ for Mirvish Productions, so in fact we had been going for two years. I have (had) the best job in the world. The producers have been very reassuring that the story will have a life after our industry comes back. I believe them. I hope it won’t be a long time, but I suspect we have a ways to go. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy during this time? I made the decision to go back to school when it became clear what state our country and the world is in. I kept reading about the situation in the Long-Term Care Homes, the isolation people were facing and the danger that the staff were under and how short staffed they were. I couldn’t sit still; I was starting to feel helpless and depressed…so I am working on my Personal Support Worker accreditation. Exam in January! And again, my privilege of having a good job (which gave me good credit!) meant I could do that. I’ve been thinking about doing it for a few years now. It feels like we are in a war and I wanted to get on the lines, I couldn’t watch anymore. Any words of wisdom or advice you might /could give to fellow performers and colleagues? What message would you deliver to recent theatre school graduates who have now been set free into this unknown and uncertainty given the fact live theaters and studios might be closed for 1 ½ - 2 years? I am a teacher as well and I said to some of my students, “This is an intermission. A long one.” I don’t envy young actors trying to keep their mental health intact with all of this. A lot of promise, excitement and then this. But nothing, nothing ever takes away from what you are. We are artists. We are suffering as an industry, but we know what we are worth and what our purpose is in the global community, we’ll get through. Invest in yourself, be kind to yourself and be kind to others. Do you see anything positive stemming from Covid 19? Yes, I do actually. The pressure was clearly building and most of the world woke up to the injustices our BIPOC brothers and sisters have been facing. We should have seen it many, many years ago but here we are. Our theatre community is going through huge changes and I am very grateful to be here for that and help anyway I can. We have the time to gain clarity (if we want it) about how we got to this place. Social media is a lot of things, but personally I am grateful for the education and information that the internet can provide (good and bad). It is a powerful thing that internet. Critical thinking is a very necessary tool these days. Do you think Covid 19 will have some lasting impact on the Canadian/North American performing arts scene? Oh, I’m sure. I don’t know what it is yet. But if we don’t let ourselves be affected and grow how can we be better? Certainly, the BLM movement is going to be a huge force of change in our community. Some artists have turned to You Tube and online streaming to showcase their work. What are your comments and thoughts about streaming? Is this something that the actor/theatre may have to utilize going forward into the unknown? I think that actors can put a box on a sidewalk and make magic. I am loving the ingenuity and imagination that is going into live online entertainment. There is such a technical aspect of it that eludes me and makes me frustrated sometimes. We have an expression in our house which is ‘don’t smash it Lisa’…we certainly can’t afford new computers, so I try to stay out of the entertaining and just be the entertained for now. I’m not sure what may come out of all of this, but it certainly is lovely to reach people with live performances who would never have watched before. Despite all this fraught tension and confusion, what is it about performing that Covid will never destroy for you? Nothing in this world will ever destroy performing for me. Covid has made me fearful and sad that we aren’t doing as well as we could as a global community. We haven’t taken care of each other and our planet as well as we could have. But in terms of my art and what I do, that is my mental health and my church (for lack of a better description). I am on an intermission, but I’ll see you back in the theatre when everyone takes their seats. Previous Next

A Canadian look at an important part of our culture and history. Back ‘Singulières’ Crow’s Theatre and Théâtre Français de Toronto present a Le Collectif Nous Sommes Ici, Le Théâtre Catapulte and La Bordée Coproduction Theatre Francais de Toronto Joe Szekeres This ‘Singulières’ remains timely and appropriate given the status of our woke culture About halfway through this critical documentary theatre production, it suddenly dawned on me the important relevance of ‘Singulières’. The last two years of the pandemic have seen the rise of Black Lives Matter, #metoo, and a myriad of other social justice issues which have had their place and deserved consideration. It’s time to consider the role of women. This may sound oddly out of place, but this topic of women and defining what the term means has pre-occupied the minds of many who believe the term cannot be defined or identified in our woke culture. Just recently, Conservative Matt Walsh from The Daily Wire produced his fearless documentary film “What is a Woman” billed as questioning the basic logic of this term that many either are reluctant to answer, don’t want to answer, choose not to answer or are afraid to answer. I haven’t seen the film yet but am planning to watch it because I want to hear what he has to say, so don’t jump down my back because I haven’t seen it at this point. However, in preparation for the film after watching this timely and appropriate ‘Singulieres’, I felt the play vitally focuses on the question of what it means to be a woman (and Quebecois and single). Staged at Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre, the following information is taken from the website: “Directed by one of Québec’s fastest rising directors/auteurs, Alexandre Fecteau, SINGULIÈRES is an unexpected, hilarious, and moving encounter with five “single ladies” from Québec and follows the women in their 30s and 40s over two years, each of them living the single life with joy and purpose, all the while defying society’s expectations and redefining their own concepts of happiness, identity, and love. “ Fecteau uniquely stages the production in what appears to be a set design of a functioning television studio, perhaps Radio Canada or the CBC (cleverly designed by Ariane Sauvé). In the centre of the stage is a round turn table on which there are small set pieces used as locales when the women speak on camera. Upstages right and left are green screens where the artist will speak into the camera, and when the audience looks at the screen a backdrop is placed behind the artist. I’ve seen this done on Zoom calls recently where some have decided not to show the room in which they are sitting so an AI setting is used instead. There are television cameras that freely move about the playing space where the actors are filmed. And then we are introduced to Jordan, Joelle, Zaya, Nathalie and Rose and listen to their stories as they live single lives in Québec and how they are coping. At times, their stories are juxtaposed with black and white filmed responses from what I am supposing were Québec women in the late 60s/early 70s and describing what life was like in the feminist movement then and perhaps their place within it. At one point, there were men describing the role of women at that time, and their understanding is VERY DIFFERENT from the way the Québecois women saw themselves and their place in the world. To give away too much of ‘Singulières’ plot would spoil the very reason why audiences need to see this production. There were a few of us men in the audience on the Sunday matinee, and I do hope more see it this week before it closes. There is a digital presentation upon the closure of the play, and I will include that information near the end of the review. Suffice it to say the play shuns how women evade traditional stereotypes of marriage, motherhood and monogamy. This strongly confident ensemble of ladies (Frédérique Bradet, Savina Figueras, Danielle Le Saux-Farmer, Nadia Girard Eddahia and Sophie Thibeault) strongly and grittily tackle these stereotypical themes and sometimes narrate what it means for them to be a woman through stories, sometimes of humour but also horrifically of abuse and sexual assault. I came away from this production ultimately believing that there are some issues where there are certain private female moments felt and experienced that I can’t understand. Even playwright Maxime Beauregard-Martin wrote in his online Programme Note: “How could I possibly do justice to a situation that was simultaneously so intimate and foreign from my own?” From my male perspective, he accomplished what he set out to do. Yes, men can follow the storyline of women. Yes, men can have intimate encounters with women; however, that intimacy which the playwright discovers is something only a born woman can only and truly understand what another born woman feels and experiences. I hope that the previous comment becomes a conversation starter rather than looking upon it as getting into hot water. Some dynamite performance moments in ‘Singulières’ made me feel uncomfortable concerning the subject material, but that’s what a good artist must do in front of a live audience regardless of sex or gender as I paid strict attention to what was taking place right before me. Final Comments:’Singulières’ becomes that necessary conversation starter, that touchstone, of what it means to be a woman in all its joys, fears, sorrows, laughter, tears, and angst. Production runs to June 10 at Crow’s Theatre, 345 Carlaw Avenue. For tickets to the stage production, visit www.crowstheatre.com . The production is then presented digitally June 11-26. For tickets visit www.crowstheatre.com . As of the writing of this article, Covid protocols are in effect at the theatre. The production is staged in French. Audiences have the choice to read the surtitles on a screen above the stage which is large enough to see from the house. There is also the choice to place over your eyes headgear that will allow you to read the English translation above the actors on stage. This headgear is Star Trek fashionable. I tried it. For the most part, it worked fine for me, but there were moments when I had to remove the headgear because it hurt the back of my ears. In future for me two things: read the surtitles OR force myself to listen to the play since my undergraduate minor is French language. Previous Next

Where we deconstruct a piece step by step. Back Ballet Edmonton’s “e-motion” tour presented by DanceWorks Guest reviewer Geoffrey Coulter, actor, director, arts educator Nanc Price Toronto’s DanceWorks continues its diversely provocative season of dance with an exhilarating triple-bill program from Ballet Edmonton, a contemporary ballet company offering new and original works each season. This 90-minute performance featured eclectic storytelling by three outstanding choreographers interpreted by the bodies of 10 highly skilled and talented members of the company. Act One began with “Persistence of Memory” by award-winning Artistic Director Wen Wai Wang. This 25-minute piece, set on a bare stage and (somewhat under) lit by lighting designer Dorrie Deutschendorf, was conceived out of the pandemic of 2020, fueled by our deprivation of human contact. The company, wearing black suits in the first section, moved quickly about the stage in intricate formations. Sharp staccato movements contrasted with beautiful soft fluidity and unbelievable synchronicity. Wang utilizes the stage to the utmost, cleverly using space between his dancers to evoke separation and desire. Unfortunately, harsh spotlighting from above and behind the dancers kept their faces mainly in shadow, masking the full emotion of their performances. While this seemed an intentional decision, I felt it somewhat incongruous with the explicit physical emotions of the piece. The second part of the number featured 3 couples in pas-de-deux, each telling their own story of connection. With breathtaking fluidity, each couple entwined their bodies, not always making physical contact, yet still moving as one being. The last part of the piece brought the company together again with more finely executed, synchronous and hard-hitting contemporary moves. An enthusiastic and well-deserved ovation for this fabulous company of artists capped off a wonderful start to the show. After a 5-minute pause to re-set, the curtain opened on the second piece, “Black Moon” by Montreal choreographer Dorotea Saykaly. A single male dancer emerges in centre stage spotlight, performing vertical and horizontal contortions in slow motion, exhibiting mighty control, superhuman flexibility and phenomenally sensitive connection with the original score by Riku Mätinen. There’s definitely a mythical, sci-fi approach to this one, something post-apocalyptic even. Dressed in frayed and ripped grey togs, the performers writhe and gesture, elongating their backs, and legs in full extension. They come together in breathtaking unison, each performer an integral part of a larger, living unit. More sharp, distinct movements and provocative tableaus like bodies frozen in what appeared to be a running race, evoked powerful images of faith and desire. This piece showcased the immense condition of the dancer’s bodies as they seemed to effortlessly perform extreme core isolations while on relief for minutes at a time. Fantastic! After a 20-minute intermission Act 2 brought us “Valei-mei” by choreographer Diego Ramalho. Mr. Ramalho brought us a different narrative, exploring feelings of belonging and how music evokes an unconscious connection to a place. Dancing to traditional Brazilian folk music, the entire company once again impresses with stunning synchronous movement under the golden lighting simulating the hot Brazilian sun, once again from designer Dorrie Deutschendorf. This time we could see each emotion, hear each breath, see each drop of sweat. The women had their own exquisite small group section, making powerful and sensitive connections to each other while maintaining the compelling narrative of music and soul. Later, a male dancer entered carrying pales of water, eagerly received by three other male dancers. The water was intentionally sloshed and splashed onto the stage with several members pouring most of it onto themselves at the end of the piece. I wasn’t sure about this part of the narrative here, but it was fitting for the last piece of the evening. As a contemporary ballet company, Ballet Edmonton is breaking new ground. Its vision to explore new ideas with passion and curiosity is equalled only by its immensely talented ensemble of dancers and technicians. Their dedication to presenting thought-provoking works to the community through contemporary ballet while furthering the artistic development of its artists is both laudable and necessary. May they continue their journey to bring reflections of the world to stunning life through movement. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Hannah Moscovitch The Self Isolated Artist Alejandro Santiago Joe Szekeres I have either read or heard of Hannah’s name over the years in the entertainment section of the newspaper (is there such a section anymore?) or in discussion with others who have a keen interest in Canadian theatre. When I sat on play reading committees for various amateur theatre groups years ago, I can’t recall if I had read anything by Hannah or not. After reviewing two extraordinarily fine productions of her plays ‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes ‘and ‘Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story’ at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, I certainly want to keep aware of Hannah’s upcoming works. I found both productions exceptionally theatrical while crossing boundaries of all sorts with a fine mixture of psychological drama added to pepper character development. While a prolific and exceptional playwright, Hannah is also a TV writer (‘X Company’ which I did watch on CBC) and librettist. Regretfully I bow my head as I did not have the chance to see ‘The Secret Life of a Mother’ or ‘Bunny’ where I heard artist Maev Beaty’s stunning work was captured exquisitely. I hope and trust there is an opportunity to see both works in the future once we’re all allowed back in the theatre. Hannah and I conducted our interview via email: 1. It has been nearing three months now that we have been under this lockdown. How have you been doing during this period of isolation and quarantine. How has your immediate family been doing? We are good. None of us are sick. We have money. We live in Nova Scotia where there are a small number of people – it’s easy to stay isolated here. My work is solitary for long stretches so I am used to being alone. 2. Were you involved or being considered for any projects before the pandemic was declared and everything was shut down? I’ve had, I think, seven shows cancelled or postponed so far. New productions of ‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes’ in Edmonton and Melbourne Australia and international tours of ‘Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story’. A couple of workshops of new projects have been pushed back – ‘Post-Democracy at PTE’ and ‘Ten Days in a Madhouse’ at Opera Philadelphia. More will be cancelled or postponed soon, I think. But there’s a worldwide pandemic so, uh, that seems like the right choice. 3. What has been the most difficult and/or challenging element of this period of isolation for you? I have half the work time because my son is home. He’s only four. There are still big expectations on me to meet deadlines, as though I don’t have a kid at home, so that’s been harder, I feel crushed by work. On the bright side, I have work. 4. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy during this time of lockdown? I think this question applies to people without children. I am busy all the time. There is not a minute I’m awake that I am not working flat out or with my son. It feels relentless at times, in fact. It’s complicated because I love my son and my life, but it’s hard not to let the work pressure colour what is actually beautiful time with my son. Anyway, I am not lonely or bored or in need of distracting activity. 5. Any words of wisdom or sage advice you would give to other performing artists who are concerned about the impact of COVID-19? What about to the new theatre graduates who are just out of school and may have been hit hard? Why is it important for them not to lose sight of their dreams? Jeez. Pandemic circumstances are new, so I can’t draw on any experience or theories of mine to offer advice or consolation. 6. Do you see anything positive stemming from this pandemic? I hope that empiricism and science and rigorous truth-making systems will be re-established, and that the right wing won’t so breezily make up facts like “coronavirus is a hoax”. 7. In your estimation and informed opinion, will the Canadian performing arts scene somehow be changed or impacted as a result of COVID – 19? I think it already has. There are theatre companies that are going bankrupt. There are artists who won’t be able to hold out, financially, and will opt out of this industry, taking their talents with them. There are established artists who are turning to other mediums – publishing for instance – to get through. Artistic Directors speak regretfully about how new works will be stalled. Listen, there may be good outcomes too – we aren’t at that moment yet. 8. Many artists are turning to streaming/online performances to showcase/highlight/share their work. What are your thoughts about this format presentation? Any advantages to doing this? Disadvantages? Are you participating or will you be participating in this presentation format soon? I gave a 20-minute talk on this recently for Canadian Stage. The short version is I think it makes sense to maintain audience bases via archivals. I’m interested in live online work, and I have no doubt iterations of it will blow my mind. I do also think theatre people going online live could consult with people in the TV industry who are more familiar with the medium and get good help. 9. What is it about the performing arts scene you still love given all the change, the confusion and the drama surrounding the theatre community from Covid 19? I love that it’s a supportive community, and that everyone is managing to be kind in a difficult situation. With a respectful acknowledgment to ‘Inside the Actors’ Studio’ and the late James Lipton, here are the ten questions he asked his guests at the conclusion of his interviews: a. What is your favourite word? Love. b. What is your least favourite word? Words used to demean people. c. What turns you on? I’ve given long and short ones below, Joe. (Note: I had no issue with this, especially when you read Hannah’s answer to question d.) Short Answer: Right now I’m into the TV show Normal People. Long Answer: Right now I’m into the TV show Normal People, and I have been listening to Connie Walker’s podcast which is so extraordinarily good – Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo and Who Killed Alberta Willians, and I just read “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Mohsfegh which I loved. d. What turns you off? Short Answer: Right now? The murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers. Long Answer: I’m turned off by reconciliation in Canada without justice or a reckoning for Indigenous communities. I’m Jewish, and we don’t believe in forgiveness without justice – that’s a Christian concept. I’m turned off by the failure in Canada to take responsibility for the genocides and atrocities of the past and the present on a systemic level. I love Canada, and so I’d like Canada to be better, I’d like our country not to just pay lip service to taking responsibility. I want us to actually reckon with our fucked up prisons, fucked up child welfare systems, fucked up police forces where racism is entrenched, fucked up drinking water, fucked up governments responses and our overt and insidious racism towards Indigenous people. I feel strongly about it because I come from a people against whom atrocities and genocides have been committed. I can’t distance myself from it. And listen I want to say I didn’t know very much about what was going on with Indigenous communities until the last few years – and it took me a while to really get the full scope of the horror, and to wrestle with my own false ideas about Canada, so. e. What sound or noise do you love? The wind. In particular on Northern Atlantic beaches. f. What sound or noise bothers you? It distresses me, on a physical level, when babies cry. Even though my son is four now when I hear that sound I get ready to run towards it. g. What is your favourite curse word? Fuck. h. What profession, other than your own, would you have liked to attempt? War journalism. i. What profession would you not like to do? Vermin control. j. If Heaven exists, what do you hope God will say to you as you approach the Pearly Gates? I guess if I think about God as being my mother and father, and my sister, and my husband and my son, combined, I can say I’d like them to say to me: “Hannah, I love you and you’re a good person. You have made my life good. You’ve done your part. It’s going to be okay.” Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Karine Ricard Theatre Conversation in a Covid World Wesley French Joe Szekeres As soon as I had read of Karine’s appointment as Artistic Director for Théâtre Français de Toronto, I had to do my best to get an interview booked with her. I took a chance and contacted her through Messenger to see if she might be available for a conversation. And I was ecstatic when she got in touch with me quickly. Karine is an established artist who is well known in Toronto and throughout the Franco-Ontarian community. She has worked with TfT on several occasions, both as a performer and as a dramaturg for Les Zinspiré.es, the company’s annual writing competition. Originally from Montréal, Karine studied at the École de Théâtre de St-Hyacinthe. She began her career creating and co-writing the cabaret Les Effeuilleuses presented at the Lion d´Or and the Casino de Montréal. She then self-produced a variety of works, including François Archambault’s Adieu beauté at the Théâtre Prospero. She worked for several years with the Alliance théâtrale haïtienne de Montréal, where she wrote and directed a number of productions. In 2004, she moved to Toronto where she directed at the Fringe Festival. She has appeared frequently on the TfT stage: Le Misanthrope by Molière (2007), the TfT’s 50th anniversary show Ici, les arbres s’enracinent dans l’eau (2016) and La Seconde Surprise de l´amour by Marivaux (2018). Perfectly bilingual, she has also performed in English, notably in The Numbers Game (2016), a series of theatrical pieces presented at the Storefront Theatre. On the small screen, Karine has performed in such television series as The Detectives, The Coroner, Orphan Black, The Covert Affairs, Météo+, Toi et moi and La Malédiction de Jonathan Plourde. In 2020, she wrote Les Septs Péchés capitaux, presented as part of the Les Feuilles Vives playwriting festival as a podcast. Currently, Karine is shooting a children's series which will be presented in French and English on Radio-Canada and CBC. She will succeed Joël Beddows effective July 1, 2021. We conducted our conversation via Zoom. Merci beaucoup pour notre entrevue, Karine: In a couple of months, we will be coming up on one year where the doors of live theatre have been shuttered. Today is the first day of the anniversary of the first confirmed case here in Canada. How have you and your immediate family been faring during this time? Quite frankly, I have two children at home so they’re online schooled at this time. They’re in Grade 3 and Grade 5. They’re kids. They like to chit chat with their friends and in between the blocks of learning they have. It’s quite an adjustment for them to be so involved in the electronics of the learning world and having to be in front of a screen all day. That’s been something I’ve been trying to prevent so that changes a lot of things. It’s been a challenging year just to be able to continue working while being a coach and teacher for the kids. How have you been spending your time since the theatre industry has been locked up? Funny enough, just before Covid, I had just received the news that my play which was still a work in progress had been accepted for a festival called ‘Les Feuilles Vives’ which is a festival that happens every other year. It encourages new plays and new playwrights. My play had been accepted except that it was incomplete at that time. With Covid, I’ve got a little bit more time to focus and to finish the play. I had a deadline the end of May. In June we worked again, but with a coach so that it would be ready for the festival which was in September. So, I spent a lot of my time writing. And being Mom to the kids and trying to take some fresh air even for myself, and to get away from the computer. The late Hal Prince described the theatre as an escape for him. Would you say that Covid has been an escape for you or would you describe this near year long absence from the theatre as something else? I don’t find that it’s an escape. What I do find for most people who are not struggling to put food on the table or more emerging matters, for the rest of us who were fortunate enough to work from home, what it gave us is the opportunity to just stop as everything was going so fast all the time. We’re being required to do so much, as parents with so many activities with the kids. Covid gave us a moment to gather our thoughts and to slow down for a moment. There is some good in this slowing down period for artists. For some people, it feels like they can never catch their breath. I’ve interviewed a few artists several months ago who said that the theatre industry will probably be shut down and not go full tilt until at least 2022. There may be pockets of outdoor theatre where safety protocols are in place. What are your comments about this? Do you think you and your colleagues/fellow artists will not return until 2022? You know what, I’ve hoped that it would be sooner; however, now that we’re at the beginning of 2021 and Théâtre Français de Toronto (TFT) is already talking about a program for next year. We’re wondering is it possible and does it make sense to plan something right now for next fall 2021? We don’t have the answer. Yes, the desire is there but I think we’re going to have to be more patient. The general feeling is things aren’t really going to start happening until 2022. The kids are going to be the last vaccinated. At TFT we’re trying to reach out to work with kids and teenager, and we know they won’t be vaccinated in time for the fall for them even to consider coming to see a show with their family or with a school. Yes, there may be pockets of theatre. We’re going to have to be creative and perhaps be outdoors. As much as we all want to return to the traditional form of the theatre, we have to be safe. We want to feel the warmth of a real show. The same thing is happening with sports and concerts. We all want to get to see these events, but it probably won’t happen until at least 2022. I had a discussion recently with an Equity actor who said that yes theatre should not only entertain but, more importantly, it should transform the actor and the audience. How has Covid transformed you in your understanding of where TFT is headed? Honestly, my head is going in two different directions when I think about this question. If you think about Covid, all of the active theatres had to offer some online programming. We’ve started to see things that you would not have seen before like readings online. TFT organized many contests for playwrights to write short plays and to perform them online. Of course, that’s not the future of theatre to be online. We don’t want to go there but what it did do: a) It made us focus on more creative projects on encouraging new artists that we wouldn’t have had time to see. b) It brought an extra platform to supplement what is happening on stage. For example, there might be discussions on Zoom after the play or on a Saturday there might be an opportunity for a discussion on what is happening at TFT. At TFT, we’ve learned a few things and have come up with some new ideas that we’re going to keep. What Covid brought for most artists are questions – what is the future of theatre? What is the future of the art? Are we losing an art form as theatre is not television. Again, theatre needs that presentational element so how is this going to be transformed? It’s an exchange between artist and audience. Fear not. People and audiences will always want that live connection and to have that exchange between audiences and actors. The late Zoe Caldwell spoke about how actors should feel danger in the work. It’s a solid and swell thing to have if the actor/artist and the audience both feel it. Would you agree with Ms. Caldwell? Have you ever felt danger during this time of Covid and do you believe it will somehow influence your work when you return to the theatre? Obviously, artists must never feel personal danger to themselves in the environment. That is a given first. Ms. Caldwell is right. What’s strange about this is that not everyone has the same comfort level. Some people will feel safe as long as masks are worn while others might say I don’t feel safe coming in until everyone involved has passed a Covid test. I work in film and television and the protocols are all in place in these two mediums. But I don’t blame those if they don’t feel comfortable returning to work until everyone has been vaccinated. It brings an extra thing – do I want to do this project? Do I like this play? Is it going to pay enough but on top of that: is it safe to do this play? On top of this, people still have their bubble and if I bring Covid back home it’s a chain effect. So yes, danger is added on top of all this since there is talk and possibility this variant of the virus could or might produce a third wave according to recent media. Now the media can make us feel guilty even though we are doing everything we can. The late scenic designer Ming Cho Lee spoke about great art opening doors and making us feel more sensitive. Has this time of Covid made you sensitive to our world and has it made some impact on your life in such a way that you will bring this back with you to the theatre? Well, I’m grateful for some of the things this time of Covid has brought especially in making us aware of the social justice issues of Black Lives Matter and the Indigenous and First Nations issues. We have had the time to listen to these matters. My partner is First Nation, born and raised on the Reserves, and my kids are identified as First Nations. Once all of us become aware of these issues and light has been shone on them, it’s easier to begin and to open conversations. I sit on a variety of panels as school board trustee. We’re talking about systemic racism within the educational setting. Again, the late Hal Prince spoke of the fact that theatre should trigger curiosity in the actor/artist and the audience. Has Covid sparked any curiosity in you about something during this time? Has this time away from the theatre sparked further curiosity for you when you return to this art form? Covid has brought us time to open our eyes and pique our curiosity to listen to the voices that were unheard before. Emerging artists who have things to say and who are witnessing things right now in the world are inspired by what’s happening. When we return to live theatre, and this is something I want to put forward on TFT’S agenda, we cannot ignore what is going on in the world. Yes, the projects I will choose, and we will choose, to bring forward to TFT will speak of these different issues. Live theatrical art is crucial to bring these issues forward. It’s important to have entertainment where people can laugh and cry, but it is also equally important to examine these issues in which we find ourselves now and address them through art and plays. To learn more about TFT, please visit the company website: www.theatrefrancais.com . You can also visit Théâtre Français de Toronto Facebook: Theatre Francais de Toronto Twitter: @theatrefrancais Instagram: @theatrefrancais Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'Rear Window' adaptation by Emily Dix Now onstage until May 31 at Toronto's Hart House Theatre Courtesy of Bygone Theatre's Facebook page Guest writer Peter Mazzucco “A tight and tense adaptation without a wasted beat.” ‘Rear Window’ is based on the short story, “It Had to Be Murder” which director Emily Dix has adapted to the stage. Her adaptation is taught and tense without a wasted beat. She understands the genre proficiently to weave a narrative that establishes suspense skillfully, embraces character development, and touches on the themes of voyeurism and how we become who we don’t want to be when we are fixated. Wesley Babcock’s set design is impressive. The apartment of protagonist L.B. Jefferies (Oliver Georgiou) is in the centre, surrounded by multi-storied apartments and tenements on each side. It seems as if we are on the outside looking in at Jeffries, who is on the inside looking out. Jeffries’ abode is furnished with white countertops and contemporary appliances circa 1940’s to 1950’s. The top floors of the surrounding buildings contain dazzling projections of live images of his neighbours engaging in everyday activities such as conversation, dancing and getting ready for work. Jeffries indulges himself by watching each one. The dynamic screen projections designed by Bria Cole provide a dream-like atmosphere to the set and facilitate seamless scene changes. Sound design by Emily Dix effectively establishes an aural landscape that provides a tone to each character and room, creates suspense, and makes scene transitions cohesive. When the apartment resided by Thorwald and his wife (Simone Matheson) is the focus of scenes, there is an incessant rumbling and muffled voices heard throughout the theatre, which contrasts with the sound of string instruments in Jeffries’ apartment or trumpets playing jazz in the apartment windows above them. The productive use of piercing high-pitched sounds during Jeffries’ apparent decline into delirium and drug-addled obsession works to make us in the audience identify with his pain. When I walked into Hart House Theatre, a noticeable feature of Wesley Babcock’s lighting design was how the stark lighting created an impression of solitude in an urban setting. Similarly to Emily Dix’s sound design encapsulating each character’s apartment, the lighting design captured the tone or nuance of each room. The apartment inhabited by the Thorwalds is often backlit to provide shadows and mystery; Jeffries’ residence is lit to give us a sense of the time of day. The lighting effects during the play’s climax are also very effective and striking. Antonino Pruiti is Thorwald. With very few words, he sublimely portrays a mysterious and menacing antagonist. Pruiti precisely and smoothly reveals Thorwald to be sinister while maintaining an underlying charm, effectively producing an unnerving edge in each scene he plays. When he finally speaks, we are confronted with his true nature and intentions. Charlie (Cayne Kitagawa) is a young journalist, and Jeffries treats him as a threat to his future in journalism. As a young man, Charlie has some naïve yet sensible views regarding life that challenge some of L.B. Jefferies's beliefs. He believes that Jeffries is currently viewing life and love through this “one window…this one lens,” and that is no way to see the whole story. Referencing Jeffries's exploits as a photojournalist during wartime and his need for excitement (Jeffries refers to his work and travelling as a “long vacation”), he Implores him to “stop looking for trouble in faraway places.” Jeffries reminds him that he is his boss and not his friend. Kate McArthur, as Lena, is a young woman in post-war America who tries consistently to convince Jeffries that they should get married, and his response is he just needs a maid. According to Jeffries, Lena, a stage actress, is “lively,” “beautiful and talented,” but he doesn’t feel she can live his life. He has seen real things and horrific darkness while investigating and writing assignments, whereas Lena lives life on a stage that isn’t real, according to him. Lena resents Jeffries’ view of her and risks danger and her own life to prove to him that there is more to her than just beauty. Jefferies is amazed and impressed by her actions. Oliver Georgiou plays protagonist and photojournalist L.B. Jefferies, now confined to a wheelchair because of a broken leg. Confinement and inactivity are foreign to him, and he watches the windows of the surrounding buildings to occupy his mind and his days. He seems to take pleasure in viewing the mundane lives of others day in and day out. At one point, he is reminded by his girlfriend (McArthur) that their blinds are open, to which he responds, “I have nothing to hide.” The tedious tasks performed daily by his neighbours culminate in Jeffries’ listlessness, and he tries to convince his editor that he should write an exposé on the lives of Manhattan housewives. This assignment is banal in comparison to his previous work. The boredom is brief when he believes he witnesses a nefarious act committed through the rear window of a neighbour’s apartment. When he cannot find conclusive proof to corroborate what he trusts has transpired, Jeffries recounts a hazy and distorted recollection of events to his girlfriend, his assistant, and the police. The facts are blurred by his addled mind, which seems to be descending into a state of madness fueled by Demerol and alcohol. His efforts to produce the truth are thwarted inadvertently by everyone around him. ‘Rear Window’ runs until May 31 at Hart House Theatre on the University of Toronto campus. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Jason Sermonia Looking Ahead Billy Bustamante Joe Szekeres Jason Sermonia is one extraordinary artist in the world of dance. He has appeared in some memorable musicals at the Stratford Festival including ‘A Chorus Line’, ‘The Music Man’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and appeared in the Broadway production of ‘Superstar’ when it transferred. I also saw Jason perform at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre in a very naughty and adult production of ‘Snow White: The Panto’ which was a riot to watch and so much fun. At 18 years of age, Jason appeared in the Toronto production of ‘The Lion King’. He also appeared as a dancer in the film version of ‘Chicago’ and performed in two Tony Award presentations in New York. We conducted our conversation via email. Thank you for adding to the discussion, Jason: It’s a harsh reality that the worldwide pandemic of Covid 19 has changed all of us. Describe how your understanding of the world you know and how your perception and experience have changed on a personal level. Over the course of the pandemic, I’ve come to realize that the world works heavily on a structured and scheduled way of life. We are always looking ahead and planning what’s next. Making multiple backup plans for every scenario or barrier that may get in our way. The pandemic forced me to slow down and take life day by day because you never know what the future will hold. We live in a world where everything is fast paced. Everything has a time slot or time limit, to a point that it is no longer quality time well spent. The pandemic taught me to take my time, use my time wisely and spend quality time with those who I love. With live indoor theatre shut for one year plus, with it appearing it may not re-open any time soon, how has your understanding and perception as a professional artist of the live theatre industry been altered and changed? No matter what the circumstances are in the world, artists will always find a way make art or use their amazing skills to find or create work. Artists are so versatile. We can wear many hats no matter what challenges are put forth. Although the live theatre industry is at its worldwide interval, nothing has stopped me from continuing my training. I will be ready when those curtains open again. The world needs live theatre. The world needs that reality check out. Art will always survive, and I believe that the industry will be stronger than ever when it returns. As a professional artist, what are you missing the most about the live theatre industry? As much as I miss performing in front of a live audience, what I miss the most is the rehearsal space. It’s the place where you get to create art onto a blank canvas, explore your craft, tell stories, crack jokes and most importantly build a community… build a family. It’s where all the magic happens. As a professional artist, what is the one thing you will never take for granted again in the live theatre industry when you return to it? That the last time you perform on a stage may be your last. Embrace every moment. Enjoy every moment. Be grateful for every moment. As an artist, every job, every gig, every opportunity is temporary. It has a beginning and an end. I always think that every time I hit that stage, I am possibly changing someone’s perception and possibly someone’s life. Describe one element you hope has changed concerning the live theatre industry. I hope the live theatre industry continues to represent more and more BIPOC artists not only onstage but offstage as well. I hope the live theatre industry continues their efforts to celebrate diversity and embrace all kinds. Explain what specifically you believe you must still accomplish within the industry. I would love to accomplish becoming a choreographer within the industry. My love of dance and movement is itching for the opportunity to choreograph a musical or dance piece for film and tv. Some artists are saying that audiences must be prepared for a tsunami of Covid themed stories in the return to live theatre. Would you elaborate on this statement both as an artist in the theatre, and as an audience member observing the theatre. I believe that it’s too soon. It’s too close to home. Live theatre, yes, is to relate to stories and themes of our society but I think live theatre should focus on getting patrons back into the theatre and give them an opportunity to escape reality just for a moment. I think live theatre should and will present Covid themed stories but just not at this time. As an artist, what specifically is it about your work that you want future audiences to remember about you? I would want people to remember me for my love of the arts. How I danced and performed my heart out every night on stage. My joy of creating works with friends not for money or fame but for the love of art. How I was a strong leader and team player. Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back 'No Change in the Weather' A Newfoundland Musical at The CAA Theatre Mirvish Site Joe Szekeres David Mirvish and Terra Bruce Productions have graciously transported the Rock to us at the CAA Theatre since it might pose a challenge for any of us to get to Newfoundland at this time. Along with hopefully seeing the terrific ‘Come from Away’ again soon, this engrossing opening night production of ‘No Change in the Weather’ makes me long to return for another visit to the Rock as soon as I saw one cast member carry an ugly stick. I attended the show with a friend who has never ventured to the East Coast but seeing ‘No Change’ made them want to travel there as well. There was a momentary hold of about ten minutes into the production for sound issues, but that didn’t bother me at all as I was happy to be back here away from a computer and television screen to watch artists showcasing their craft. A quick look around to gauge other audience members and, from what I could see, they weren’t bothered in the least either by this pause. Here’s ‘No Change’s’ story from the Mirvish website, and yes it might seem puzzling at first: Peggy O’Brien (Kelly-Ann Evans) has died. Her family and friends sneak her corpse out of the funeral home (and tanning salon) and back across the water to her family home, on the unsettled island of God’s Back Pocket. As this brood of body snatchers wake Peggy into the light a wandering American (Philip Goodridge) and newly stationed Constable (Renée Strasfeld) from Quebec find themselves in the middle of a family racket that exposes decades of pettiness, secrets, and enough familial bad blood to ruin every Christmas for eternity. Estranged brothers Bill and James ‘Sonny Boy’ O’Brien (Steve Ross and Duff MacDonald), a child of unknown parentage (Melanie O’Brien), and a slide show of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most farcical political blunder, Churchill Falls, collide with an outcome that does manage to set things right. I especially loved hearing the hypnotic sound effects of the wind and rain upon entering the CAA auditorium as I could vividly recall hearing that same sound, and feeling the mist and fog, when I was in St. John’s years ago. A wooden casket is spot lit centre stage with a floral garland wrapped around. The use of a scrim behind the boat magically creates a shadowy void of darkness as the group of body snatchers transports Peggy’s casket to her family home. Director Brad Hodder in his Programme message writes this production is an “ensemble piece of theatre (as)…all of the characters are completely inter-related and completely necessary for the journey…each one is essential.” Couldn’t agree more here as Hodder’s sharp vision for this first-rate ensemble creates memorable and touching moments of the human spirit in Bernardine Stapleton’s story and Steve Cochrane’s adaptation. In ‘Come from Away’, the opening line of that musical re-iterates audience members will probably only understand about half of what the Newfoundlander says and how it’s said. And that’s what makes listening to the dialect of the East Coast so charmingly enjoyable especially when it is simultaneously captured in the glorious vocal work of the actors. Gorgeous sounding harmonies resonate and soar to the rafters of the CAA Theatre where I experienced goose pimples and just closed my eyes so I could listen to these dulcet toned singers. Attention must be paid (as Linda Loman states) to Musical Directors Kelly-Ann Evans and Josh Ward. Victoria Wells-Smith’s delightful choreography put a big ol’ smile on my face as it reminded of the full-fledged kitchen party I attended when I was in Newfoundland. The Band is in tip top fine form and never overpowered the singers. Thankfully, I could clearly hear the lyrics to each of the songs from where I sat. As matriarch Peggy O’Brien, Kelly-Ann Evans becomes the ghostly spirit who poignantly recounts her family’s story with humane charisma combined with tinges of that east coast teasing and taunting that I always like to hear. One would assume that the matriarchal family figure would have aged appropriately; however, I don’t want to spoil the surprise as to why she is portrayed as young as she is. Steve Ross and Duff MacDonald as estranged brothers Bill and ‘Sonny Boy’ (James) superbly nail that existing tension of fraternal opposites on account of the political mess in which Newfoundland found itself over Churchill Falls. Make sure you leave enough time before the show begins to read the excellent historical background in the Programme surrounding the debacle. Vicki Harnett’s Sally Brown (sister to the brothers) becomes a riotous ‘doula of death’. I liked how Seana-Lee Wood as Jade, a friend to Bill and Sonny Boy and Peggy, mysteriously harbours a secret which is ultimately revealed in the second act. As the rather awkwardly dressed for a wake Liza, Melanie O’Brien scored points with me in how she engendered an awkward relationship the O’Brien family and with Jade. Steve Maloney’s dimwitted Johnny reveals a past about himself and his relationship with Peggy that brought a tear to my eye. Wandering American Richard O’Byrne (Philip Goodridge) who only knew Peggy for a month before she passed away nicely captures and refines that ambiguous relationship he had with her. Julia Dunne, Erin Mackey and Liam Eric Dawson become a ghostly trio of accomplices who strongly fortify the petty secrets and familial bad blood that exists here. Final Comments: ‘No Change in the Weather’ becomes an authentic East Coast celebration of song, of dance, of laughter…and OF LIFE. I’m still thinking today as I write this article about the tremendous joy on the faces of these versatile artists and their kinetic energy that was transferred to me in the house. Absolutely wonderful. A must see as we all emerge from the pandemic. Running time: Approximately two hours and forty minutes with one intermission. ‘No Change in the Weather’ runs to November 27 at The CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, Toronto. For tickets, visit www.mirvish.com . Covid 19 Protocols in effect at the theatre. ‘No Change in the Weather’ – a Newfoundland Musical A terrabruce production Original Concept and Music Curation by Walter Schroeder Written by Bernardine Stapleton with Adaptation by Steve Cochrane. Musical Arrangements by Jesse Grandmont with additional arrangements by Bob Hallett and Paul Kinsman Directed by Brad Hodder Musical Direction by Kelly-Ann Evans and Josh Ward Choreography by Victoria Wells-Smith Musicians: Alex Abbott, Chuck Bucket, Grant King, Kat McLevey, Kelly Russell, Tamsyn Russell, Josh Ward Set Design: Gilliam Gallow, Lighting Design: Leigh Ann Vardy, Sound Design: Pat Dempsey, Costume Design: Sara Hodder, Dramaturgy: Courtney Brown, Stage Management: Jaimie Tait, Production Management: Brendan Agnew, Dialect Coaching: David Ferry and Melanie Paiement, Executive Producer: Walter Schroeder Creative Producer: Bob Hallett Photo by Ritche Perez Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back 'Rock of Ages' Book by Chris D'Arienzo with arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp Presented by More Entertainment/John Hauber at Toronto's Elgin Theatre Credit: Raph Nogal. Dave Comeau as Lonny Barnett/Narrator Joe Szekeres If this ‘tubular’ Rock of Ages is any indication of what’s to come theatrically with More Entertainment, then I say: “More, please, More.” This gnarly cast rocked the hell out of the Elgin Theatre on opening night with confident aplomb and unabashed enjoyment. (It’s the eighties! I haven’t seen the words ‘tubular’ and ‘gnarly’ in a long time) Who really cares if Chris D’Arienzo’s book of this jukebox musical built from some of the rock classics of the 1980s might seem a tad silly and out of date for the twenty-first century? Really, I don’t care about that at all. There are no great messages to analyze or cogitate over in this ‘Rock of Ages’. A couple of modern Toronto references and a piercing jab at former Toronto mayor, John Tory, brought much laughter which is one of the points of the show. Remember, ‘Rock of Ages’ is a jukebox musical. The songs are the primary focus. Go and have some fun and relive those classics that did feel ‘just like paradise’, according to Director J.P. Gedeon’s Director’s Programme Note. Two gentle reminders: this ‘Rock’ is not meant for young, impressionable children. Let’s not forget it was the 1980s with a lot of liberation regarding all things cultural and sexual. Context is also of extreme importance regarding this production. The 80s were times of freedom to be who you were and what you wanted. Keep this in mind as some human behaviour staged in this production can/could/might/would be viewed differently in the #metoo world. The year is 1987. Narrator Lonny Barnett (Dave Comeau) breaks the fourth wall (as do a few others during the show) and sets the traditional girl meets boy story. We are in a seedy area on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in The Bourbon Room, a bar/nightclub, owned by Dennis Dupree (Kent Sheridan) and managed by Lonny. The bar has seen better days as has Dennis. Aspiring rocker Drew Boley (Trevor Coll) works as a busboy in the Bourbon Room. Drew falls head over heels for Sherrie Christian (AJ Bridel) newly arrived in Hollywood from Kansas. She wants to make it big as a film actress. Drew convinces Dennis to hire Sherrie as a waitress for the club. German developers Hertz Kleinman and his son Fritz (Larry Mannell and Tyler Pearse) persuade the LA mayor (Jeremy Lapalme) to bulldoze this area of West Hollywood and clean up the ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ and make this area of town clean living much to the anger of city planner Regina (Steffi Didomenicantonio). When Dennis learns the Bourbon Room will be part of this razing to the ground, he invites rock star Stacee Jaxx (Jonathan Cullen) and his band Arsenal to perform. Stacee just announced he is venturing out on his own. Dennis believes this final show will generate money. A decision is made whereby Drew will open the set for Stacee, but things don’t turn out as planned when Drew learns of a tryst involving Sherrie and Stacee. Record producer Ja’Keith (Jeff Madden) hears Drew perform the opening set and believes Drew should take over for Stacee. Plot action flies by quickly and you’ll have to pay close attention to what happens. But it’s all part of this spectacular retro trip to the past. It was tremendous fun not only watching what was happening on the stage but also seeing (and hearing) what was being shouted from the audience. My eyes kept moving quickly around the set as I tried to pick up as much as I could visually. Ellie Koffman’s selection of primo costume designs to Erroll Reinart and Narda McCarroll’s stellar neon and laser lights are spectacular. Nick Blais’ multi-tiered set design with matching staircases left and right is appropriately set centre stage. Simon Clemo’s projected video designs were another part of the visual treat from an audience perspective. Hello, Max Headroom. Periodically, John Lott’s sound design needed some necessary tweaking to hear the spoken dialogue. During several ensemble numbers where there was heavy electric guitar accompaniment, some of the song lyrics were drowned. Personally, that was not a big issue for me. It can be forgiven as those of us who grew up with these songs knew the words anyway. Sean Cheesman’s electrically vibrant choreography keeps the show pulsating. It’s one of the highlights of the show. Mark Camilleri’s music direction is top-notch. I was impressed with many of Ethan Popp’s arrangements and orchestrations. Two of them come to my mind: ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ and ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’. The Act Two opening with ‘The Final Countdown/We Built This City’ blew the roof off the Elgin Theatre vocally and visually with the dance number. Spectacular indeed. Director J. P. Gedeon wonderfully captures this bygone 80s era with magical panache in style and action. I couldn’t stop smiling for the entire show, so I must thank J.P. for this proverbial trip down memory lane. And what a sultry and ‘hawt’ ensemble cast of artists he has assembled which is another reason to see the show. The dancers perform incredible backflips combined with suggestive sexy movements that might just leave future audiences wanting to cool themselves off later. Dave Comeau’s Lonny Barnett mightily grabbed my attention at the top of the show. He exudes natural confidence in wanting to tell a story as the Narrator. As the gravelly-voiced, Sam Elliott look-alike regal owner of The Bourbon Room, Kent Sheridan’s presence grandly hovers even when he is not in the scene as Dennis Dupree. Jonathan Cullen’s bad-boy sans-shirted Stacee Jaxx may be the steamy boy toy at the beginning, but as Shakespeare once wrote: “All that glisters is not gold/Often that have you been told.”. Louise Camilleri is a big-hearted welcoming entrepreneur/madam of the nearby Venus ‘gentleman’s club’. Steffi DiDomenicantonio’s Regina (as in the capital city of Saskatchewan) is a dynamite force to be reckoned with as the City Planner. And she’s also a hell of a dancer too. Larry Mannel and Tyler Pearse are a hilarious Mutt and Jeff father and son who ironically and amusingly believe it is their job to clean up West Hollywood. Jeff Madden’s suave blond-headed record producer Ja’Keith is a terrific throwback reminder of the Miami Vice television show. Trevor Coll and AJ Bridel’s vocal numbers soar past the roof of the Elgin Theatre. As central characters Drew Boley and Sherrie Christian, they remain in continued harmonious synchronicity in their performances and vocal delivery. It’s almost as if they can just sense what the other is thinking and feeling. Final Comments: In his Director’s Note, Gedeon once again speaks about the transformational and healing power of rock, the thrilling power of theatre and the binding power of community. We need ‘Rock of Ages’ right now. Allow it to bring a smile to your face. Go see it. Running time: approximately two hours and 45 minutes with one intermission. ‘Rock of Ages’ runs until May 20 at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge Street. To purchase tickets online, visit moreentertainmentgroup.com or call the Box Office at (416) 314-2901. MORE ENTERTAINMENT AND JOHN HAUBER presents ROCK OF AGES Book by Chris D’Arienzo with arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp Directed by JP Gedeon Music Direction by Mark Camilleri Choreography by Sean Cheesman Set Design: Nick Blais Lighting Design: Erroll Reinart and Narda McCarroll Sound Design: John Lott Video Design: Simon Clemo Costume Design: Ellie Koffman Production Stage Manager: Matthew Macinnis Performers: AJ Bridel, Trevor Coll, Louise Camilleri, Dave Comeau, Jonathan Cullen, Saphire Demitro, Steffi Didomenicantonio, Jeremy LaPalme, Jeff Madden, Larry Mannel, Tyler Pearse, Kent Sheridan, Joey Arrigo, Evan Taylor Benyacar, Karly Bon, Maeve Cosgriffe, Tiffany Derriveau, Gabi Epstein, Paige Foskett, Will Jeffs, Taran Kim, Lakota Knuckle, Kae Kae Lee, Jordan Joseph Mah, Alana Randall, Conor Scully, Adam Sergison, Kristi Woods. Previous Next

Dramas encompass the human response to a created life situation on the stage. Back 'New' by Pamela Mala Sinha Produced by Necessary Angel in association with Canadian Stage and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Credit: Dahlia Katz Pictured: Fuad Ahmed and Pamela Mala Sinha Joe Szekeres A first-rate production directed with a clear vision and purpose by Alan Dilworth. Set in Winnipeg, in 1970, ‘New’ follows the lives of three South Asian couples who are friends: Qasim (Ali Kazmi), a medical doctor, reluctantly agrees to an arranged marriage and ties the knot over the phone much to the shock of his girlfriend, Abby (Alicia Johnston). Qasim must then face the reality of this decision to welcome Nuzha (Mirabella Sundar Singh) to Canada. Sachin (Fuad Ahmed) and Sita (Pamela Mala Sinha) struggle in their marital relationship. Aisha (Dalal Badr) and Ash (Shelly Antony) are a modern, liberated couple who have been challenged by pressures back home. Nuzha’s arrival becomes the touchstone for these couples to re-examine again where they fit in the world around them and in their relationship with their significant other. I made a concerted effort not to write any notes in my book about the production as I watched it. Instead, I sat back and allowed the story to take me away to a time that I still believe was not that long ago (even though fifty-plus years have gone by). I made the right choice to do that here as I didn’t want to miss a minute of this ‘New’. Lorenzo Savoini’s set design of three separate rooms of the kitchen, living room and bedroom smartly and wisely serve as the home of all three couples. I’m loving the kitschy ’70s set look right down to the shag carpet in the living room and bedroom. The wall phone with the elongated telephone cord was an apt choice. John Gzowski’s terrific sound design of ‘70s music combined with South Asian melodies provided the ideal juxtaposition of two cultures meeting head-on. Michelle Bohn’s capture of the seventies in her costume choices was spot on right down to the men’s plaid checkered pants and ladies’ high-tail boots. The South Asian dresses worn by the ladies remain colourful and eye-catching. Hugh Conacher’s subtle lighting design intensely reflected those moments of dramatic intensity when needed. In her Playwright’s Note, Pamela Mala Sinha stated some of the things she has tried to capture in the play. One of them immediately caught my eye: “[I have tried to capture] what it means to be thought of as ‘new’ – because of how you look – in a country where you are not new, a country that is your home.” That statement is powerful and strikes an emotional chord. Being thought of as new in how one looks really hasn’t changed that much from a twentieth to a twenty-first-century societal standpoint. I like to think some progress has been made but we still have a long way to go. Alan Dilworth directs the play with a clear vision and intended purpose. In his compassionate and capable hands, Sinha’s script naturally flows from its believable dialogue This fine actor ensemble delivers convincing performances of credible emotions which never venture over the top. Ali Kazmi is a forceful Qasim. He still harbours feelings for Abby while becoming strikingly cold in his relationship with Nuzha. Alicia Johnston’s Abby’s frank confrontation with Qasim about why he has contacted her becomes one noteworthy dramatic highlight. Here is a woman who has chosen willingly to let go of the love of her life, painful as it has been for her. But cultural context also opens how this moment is also painful for Qasim as he too experiences regretful choices just like Abby surrounding this arranged marriage from his family back home. Mirabella Sundar Singh showcases an intriguing mystery in her demure performance as Nuzha. Initially, a quiet woman who only wants to please her husband Qasim upon her arrival to Canada, Sundar Singh cleverly manipulates the audience’s feelings and reactions to Nuzha’s newly found growing confidence in her behaviour as the story progresses. In the final moment of the play, as Sundar Singh and Kazmi look at each other, their eye contact and vocal tones strongly indicate these are two strong-willed people who will survive no matter the decisions made going forward. Playwright Sinha tackles the role of Sita with assured conviction. Her relationship with her college professor husband Sachin initially appears grounded; however, the couple’s tragic loss becomes heightened by his growing suspicions about his wife, Nuzha, and how the world he knows has changed. Fuad Ahmed’s charming Sachin in the beginning soon morphs into someone to whom attention must be paid (and not for the right reasons). Solidly dramatic work from Ahmed here. The seventies were a time of change in so many cultural elements of liberation and freedom to do whatever one wants. As the free-thinking Ash and Aisha, Shelly Antony and Dalal Badr aptly evoke that freedom to do whatever they want if it feels good for them as a couple. Just like Sita and Sachin, Ash and Aisha also suffer painful decisions and choices that need to be confronted as they would have been considered an immediate ruin of their relationship and their individuality. Antony and Badr deliver sound performances of a couple who appears to have it all amid the social changes of the ‘70s. When Ash and Aisha’s world comes crashing down, Antony and Badr soundly keep their emotional intensity in check in their last minutes together. It is the deafening silence between the two of them that says so much. Final Comments: Passionate and intense one moment while funny and poignant the next, ‘New’ ‘s universal messages of acceptance, loneliness, sacrifice, and love resoundingly touch an emotional chord. The play must continue to be seen by as many people as possible. Go see it. Running time: approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission. ‘NEW’ runs until May 14 at Toronto’s Berkeley Street, 26 Berkeley Street. For tickets, visit www.canadianstage.com or call (416) 368-3110. ‘NEW’ by Pamela Mala Sinha Produced by Necessary Angel Theatre Company in association with Canadian Stage and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Directed by Alan Dilworth Set Designer: Lorenzo Savoini Costume Designer: Michelle Bohn Lighting Designer: Hugh Conacher Sound Designer: John Gzowski Stage Manager: Sandy Plunkett Performers: Fuad Ahmed, Shelly Antony, Dalal Badr, Alicia Johnston, Ali Kazmi, Pamela Mala Sinha, Mirabella Sundar Singh. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Indrit Kasapi and Marjorie Chan A Canadian Chat Dahlia Katz Joe Szekeres Before this great theatrical pause of 19 months, I had the opportunity to attend some productions at Theatre Passe Muraille which bills itself as one of Canada’s original alternative theatre companies currently developing and producing new Canadian plays. TPM is striving to articulate a distinct Canadian voice that reflects the complexity of our intercultural society. TPM believes there should be a more diverse representation of artists, audience members, and stories in its theatre. I was most appreciative of the time that two of its artists were able to take to speak with me. Marjorie Chan is the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille. As an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, she primarily identifies as a writer with specific interest in contemporary opera and collective forms, while also maintaining an active practice as a dramaturge and director. Indrit Kasapi is the Interim Managing Director of Theatre Passe Muraille. A graduate of Montreal’s National Theatre School of Canada he is well-known to the Theatre Passe Muraille community, having been the Associate Artistic Director under Marjorie Chan for the last two years— collaborating on programming, budgeting, producing as well as coordinating special projects. Prior to beginning in that role, Indrit was also the Accessibility Lab Co-ordinator which explored experimentation in access initiatives which recently culminated in a series of short documentaries. Five years in the making, his play Toka (A Theatre Passe Muraille and lemonTree creations Digital Co-Production) for which he is the writer and choreographer, will finally be shared with audiences in the upcoming year. Indrit is also the Co-founder (along with Cole Alvis) of the prolific lemonTree creations, which was a TPM Company-in-residence for the past three years. We conducted our interview via Zoom. Thank you so much, Marjorie and Indrit, for your time: Could you share the names of one teacher and one mentor for whom you are thankful. MC: Ohh, that’s always really tricky. One teacher – his name was Mr. Kishibe. I knew his first name but I can’t think of it now. He taught English Literature. I took English 11, 12 and OAC (when the province had it). He was at St. Joseph’s/Morrow Park a Catholic girls’ high school. Mr. Kishibe loved Shakespeare and because it was an all-girls’ school, whenever we read Shakespeare he would read the lead – Hamlet, King Lear, he would read MacBeth. He was extraordinary. We were excited to go to his class because he made the lesson interesting because he would perform. I did read a few times aloud in his class and enjoyed it. I didn’t know I was going to be an actor or involved in the theatre at that time. He spoke to me one time and asked me if I ever considered going into the theatre since I really appeared to enjoy it. It never occurred to me that could be a career. Mr. Kishibe came to one of the first performances in Shakespeare in the Rough (the older collective, not the collective now) when I graduated theatre school. I really appreciated it that he saw I was performing and came to see it. I have so many mentors in many forms and roles. A lot of times when I mentor a young person, I often think the reverse is true as well as they have become my mentor because I’m learning about different approaches and perspectives. If I had to mention a particular mentor at this moment, it would be Michael Wheeler who is now a professor at Queen’s University. He certainly helped me think about digital work in a different way and structural organization at theatre companies in a different way. Julie Phan, a young artist who just graduated from the National Theatre School, is also someone who has influenced me. She’s a playwright. She would be ‘mentor/menteree’. IK: This is an easy one for me because I had an important Drama teacher in high school and his name is Teodoro Dragonieri. He’s become a friend of mine now as we’ve kept in touch. He has a brilliant mind. He’s a visual artist who learned mask work and fell in love with theatre and had an extensive wealth of knowledge. He was just one of those people who has a creative mind. He was teaching us in Grade 10 how to make masks out of recycled jugs. He was an inspiration and made me realize the potential of what theatre can be and what live performance can be. He embraced my training as a dancer and saw the world in a multidisciplinary way without even using that word. Now that I think about it, my work strongly centered around that sense of creativity in a multidisciplinary format. There’s an immediacy to the work he was doing in the stories he was telling. I’ve been very thankful that my mentor is now my colleague – Marjorie Chan. She has been a huge influence on me. It’s been a beautiful journey of learning from an incredible person dating back to Cahoots Theatre from years ago. She has so much to teach all of us even as she learns from us. I’m trying to think positively that we have, fingers crossed, moved forward in dealing with Covid. How have you been able to move forward from these last 18 -19 months on a personal level? How have you been changed or transformed on a personal level? MC: It’s a huge question. I’ve been quite public on my social media; as a matter of fact, Joe, in late October of 2020 I had a stroke. I feel great. I’ve had a lot of support through the various programs available, but it’s an ongoing, lifetime journey for me. Doctors will be looking at my brain for the rest of my life. This particular full calendar year since 2020 has been a huge re-examination of everything for me and that includes in my personal life as I’m dealing with my health. All the conversations that are happening around the culture of work in the theatre industry, in terms of our scheduling, and in the way we do things, these are things that I really take to heart in terms of these conversations. IK: These last 18-19 months have made me appreciate my alone time a lot more than I used to. Before I was always needing to be in community and with people, but the pandemic has made me think more about my alone time. How have these last eighteen months of the pandemic changed or transformed you as an artist professionally? MC: It’s been interesting to think about if you’re a practicing artist and you also have a full-time job running a theatre company, I’m already very specific about the other projects in which I involve myself. Definitely that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic – to be mindful to what I put my energy towards. For me, that’s about a selection of projects of what I do outside TPM (Theatre Passe Muraille). As an artist, I’ve limited energy so I have to be quite specific, careful and intentional whether to take a project or not. IK: Professionally, it has made me think a lot about the technology and technology within the context of the theatre medium, and how these two intertwine in various different ways, how they help and sometimes how they challenge each other. My perspective has been opened as I thought live performance was a different experience than something that’s digital. The digital world has a harder time creating community. But I think I was proven wrong in many ways because we found community in different forms, and technology was a huge support in that. I’m thinking a lot more about how technology and digital methods continue to do what live performance does in terms of bringing people together. In your professional opinion, how do you see the global landscape of Theatre Passe Muraille changing, adapting, and morphing as a result of these last 18 months? MC: When we were streaming work and doing OUTREACH where we were meeting new artists, that opportunity to connect with individuals not necessarily in Canada, even in North America, opened itself up. The artists were interested in it as well. It just shows what is possible. Certainly, on one end it was exciting to have equal access to work all across the country even if it meant that I had to wake up at 7 am in the morning to watch a show that was coming out of Hong Kong. I don’t usually watch a live theatre show at 7 am, but an exception will be made when you want to connect with live work across the globe. At the same time it’s made us all understand the need and the change in conversation that can happen when a global conversation happens. I think that’s very exciting and it’s something we’ve been pursuing in our upcoming year. We do have an international artist coming and who might bring a different perspective and enlighten our community here in Toronto. We’re also aware and want to learn more about our local neighbourhood here in the area of Queen and Bathurst and the area. IK: To add to what Marjorie is saying, I think we’ve also taken some big steps towards what is being updated through TPM. We are renovating our Back Space and we’re also launching a Digital Creators as well at the DC Lab. We are looking at how technology comes in theatre and also who from the community of artists gets access to those kinds of training, those kinds of tools. We want to make sure that our priorities in terms of the kinds of artists that we want on our stages and the stories to be represented on our stages that those artists are the first ones to have access to these trainings, the tools. The learnings from the other companies with whom we partnered, we will bring some of their expertise as part of that journey. What intrigues you post Covid? MC: Of course, I want our audiences to have positive experiences. That seems very general, but I think very deeply about this from what it means in trying to invite audiences back on their own terms (ie. a gentle entry to being back in the building and sharing the space with others). I’m intrigued by the art to come. I don’t think anyone can be unchanged by these 20 months from a social-political perspective, from a personal perspective, from not experiencing in person theatre. A lot of our work that is to come on our stages is work that was postponed from the pandemic. I’m definitely intrigued to see what’s to come. IK: For me, I’m intrigued by immersive experiences and the immediacy of us being together. How does technology and augmented reality all become a part of this. I’m curious to see how virtual reality will make its way into theatre, how audio dramas will fit into this equation. It feels to me we are in an exciting place of rejuvenation of sort as live performance art makers, and what does that mean, where is it going to go? The possibilities are endless and I’m intrigued. What unnerves/disappoints you post Covid? MC: What’s unnerving and disappointing is if the lessons of the pandemic are lost; if the lessons of the pandemic have been dismissed and there’s a return to “normal”. We can’t have the murder of George Floyd and then things return to the status quo. What is the conversation and how do we dig in? What is an organization’s responsibility? To me, that would be disappointing if the theatre industry did not take away lessons from the pandemic and things returned to the way they were. IK: I’d say the same thing. If we pretended the pandemic didn’t happen that would be unnerving and disappointing. So much has changed and how are we taking in what happened and moving forward rather than retreating and going back to what once was. I want for all of us to learn and not forget and to grow and to move forward. RAPID ROUND Try to answer these in a single sentence. If you need more than one sentence, that’s not a problem. I credit the late James Lipton and “Inside the Actors’ Studio’ for this idea: If you could say one thing to one of your mentors and teachers who encouraged you to get to this point as an artist, what would it be? MC: Thank you for seeing more of me than I could see of myself. IK: Thank you for your passion and creativity because it’s inspirational. If you could say something to any of the naysayers in your career who didn’t think you would make it as an artist, what would that be? MC: In a short way, I would say “Welcome”. Some of these naysayers have not come around. IK: I would say “Thank You because it was you not believing in me that drove me to work even harder.” What’s your favourite swear word? MC: I swear a lot actually depending on the company I’m with. I use the “F bomb’. I don’t use the word ‘Shit’ very much, I don’t. I’ve said, “Damn”. Sometimes if I have nothing to say or I’m stuck in a situation where I don’t know how to proceed, my staff will tell you that sometimes I might meow when I don’t know what to do (And Indrit pipes in and agrees that is Marjorie’s favourite thing). IK: For sure, 100%, it’s the “F bomb” because it’s not as heavy for me. English is my third language actually. I don’t swear in Albanian as it feels very wrong for me to do. When I use the “F bomb’ in English, I get what I need to get out of it. What is a word you love to hear yourself say? MC: What I like to hear myself probably say is “Welcome”. IK: ‘Hence’. I don’t mind hearing myself say it. What is a word you don’t like to hear yourself say? MC: Frankly, I don’t like to say “No”. IK: Wow!!!! I don’t know. I don’t enjoy hearing myself say “No”. I don’t say No often. With whom would you like to have dinner and discuss the current state of the live Canadian performing arts scene? MC: I would like to have dinner with a person who hates theatre and hates what it represents and has articulated they will never return to the theatre. IK: This has been on my mind lately. This is a person whom I didn’t have a chance to get to know and have been reading a lot of their tributes. I think I would have loved to have dinner with David Fox. It seems as if he has affected so much of Canadian theatre and the lives of artists in this country, and I would have loved to have heard from him what he thought about the Canadian theatre and the scene. What would you tell your younger personal self with the knowledge and wisdom life experience has now given you? MC; To my 3-year-old self: “Hang on to your sense of playing because it will help you as you continue.” To my 10-year-old self: “Hang on there because art will reveal itself soon and you will love it.” To my teenage self that did acting randomly: “Pay attention as this might be your career, and not in Museum Studies or Teaching as you thought.” To my theatre school self: “This is all great knowledge. Hang on to it but you may not end up as an actor as you think.” To the person that got an internship to become an artistic administrator: “Becoming a cultural leader is going to change your life.” IK: “Don’t be afraid to be all the things you want to be rather than just trying to be one thing. As long as it’s clear for you, be all the things you can be.” With the professional life experience you’ve gained, what would you now tell your upcoming artist careers from years ago who was just in the throes of beginning a career? MC: “Continue to be brave.” IK: Wow!!!!!! This is good. “You are a director. Period. Get over it.” What is one thing you still wish to accomplish both personally and professionally? MC: Personally, I would like to run a 5K race. I’d like to be in a place where I can do that. Professionally, I’m so open to whatever comes. I’d like to write a play that is popular (and both she and Indrit start to laugh) and just has a broader reach even in a story in some way. IK: Personally, I would love to live in different places in the world and learn a fourth language. Professionally, it has nothing to do with theatre, but I would love to publish a book of poetry. Name one moment in your professional artistic careers that you wish you could re-visit again for a short while. MC: As not quite 18 years of age, I was a production assistant at Mirvish Productions for the opening of the Princess of Wales from years ago and the Canadian premiere of ‘Miss Saigon’. I was learning so much; I was doing sponsorships, opening nights and all this producing work and not understanding that I was gaining such invaluable experience from that. This time was also a lot of fun and to be involved in such a large production with ‘Miss Saigon’ for a teenager was quite magical as an assistant to the Assistant Producer. IK: Performing at The Tokyo Metropolitan Arts Centre on a piece by Corpus Dance Projects. It was a good time. What is one thing you will never take for granted again post Covid? MC: For sure, my health. 100% IK: Proximity to my friends and family and the side conversations at the office. Would you do it all again if given the same professional opportunities? MC: I would do it exactly the same. IK: That’s exactly my answer too. I have zero regrets. I’d be happy to come back again and do it all the same. To learn more about Theatre Passe Muraille and its upcoming season, visit www.passemuraille.ca . You can also visit the Facebook page: @TheatrePasseMuraille and Twitter: @beyondwallsTPM. Previous Next

What makes a comedy work - plot, characters, setting and theme. Back 'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare with additional text by Erin Shields Now onstage at the Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario Now onstage at the Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario Joe Szekeres Misunderstanding the word ‘nothing’ in the title becomes something, especially in the delicate intricacies of male and female relationships. Director Chris Abraham’s terrific cast makes this ‘Much Ado’ really something for twenty-first-century audiences. I must confess that I have mispronounced ‘nothing’ since my undergraduate days at Western. I took a Shakespearean course during my second undergraduate year; however, in 1980, I cannot recall the course’s instructor ever saying that ‘nothing’ (pronounced ‘no thing’) referred to, what Oprah Winfrey calls, the ‘va j j.’ Yes, the Elizabethans jokingly refer to the vagina as no thing. Ergo, the play’s title is ironic because it’s “Much Ado About a va j j,” which explains why the play is probably and rarely studied in Ontario secondary schools. That doesn’t mean this ‘Much Ado’ isn’t worth paying a visit because it is most definitely. Don Pedro (André Sills) and his companions return home from a military campaign in celebration when they accept an invitation to stay a month at Leonato’s (Patrick McManus) estate. Among Pedro’s companions are his half-brother Don John (Michael Blake) and soldiers Benedick (Graham Abbey), a self-confirmed bachelor and Claudio (Austin Eckert). Benedick continues his spar of words and wit with Leonato’s niece, Beatrice (Maev Beaty), and Claudio falls in love with Leonato’s daughter, Hero (Allison Edwards-Crewe), who returns his affections. Claudio joins Don Pedro and Leonato’s secret campaign to bring the sparring Benedick and Beatrice together in love and matrimony. Different plots and counterplots follow as misunderstandings in overheard conversation give way to singular hilarity and comic events, sometimes of slapstick and farcical nature. Where the play is terrific both to watch and hear are the double entendres and dual meanings. The Festival Theatre auditorium has been transformed into a romantic setting by designers Julie Fox and Arun Srinivasan. The ambiance is genuinely captivating, from the lush decor to the warm, focused lighting. The final dance by Adrienne Gould, a hallmark of Shakespearean comedies, elicits smiles from both the cast and me. Director Chris Abraham’s vision of examining the intricacies of male and female relationships remains sharply and often comically intuitive. In his Director’s Note, he credits and thanks writer Erin Shields for being there “from the beginning to tackle a play that is contemporary, troubling, hilarious and worth doing.” Both Abraham and Shields are trusted and knowledgeable theatrical professionals. They instinctively know what they’re doing. When a fine cast is assembled for this ‘Much Ado,’ with Abraham and Shields at the helm, the play is worth doing AND worth seeing. Hero and Claudio are the young couple at the center of attention. Allison Edwards-Crewe and Austin Eckert sweetly reveal their love story, which unfortunately takes a dark turn when the villainous Don John tricks Claudio into believing that Hero has been unfaithful. As with most of Shakespeare's comedies, the audience is given glimpses into the malicious intentions of villains, and Michael Blake’s Don John is dashingly dastard. Patrick McManus is convincingly lifelike in his anger at his daughter Hero’s supposed indiscretion. With all these men controlling Hero’s life, ‘Much Ado’ becomes a critical twenty-first-century commentary of a dominating patriarchal world. However, as Hero, Allison Edwards-Crewe cautions Claudio about her awareness of the oppressive nature of the patriarchal world that nearly destroyed their marriage. As I listened carefully to the wisdom given by Hero to her intended, I felt goosebumps. Edwards-Crewe remains peacefully and stalwartly calm and convicted in advising how she, as Hero, can move forward with Claudio into marriage. It’s a theatrical highlight of the show. Graham Abbey and Maev Beaty are excellent as Benedick and Beatrice. Their perfectly timed verbal sparring denotes clear-cut sexual tension. Another theatrical highlight of the show is their injection of physical comedy into their work. At one point, Beaty crawls around her knees at one moment and then scales from the stage's lower to the upper playing level. Abbey deliciously plays with the front row of the audience regarding the boot he’s wearing. This verbal sparring ultimately makes them understand and accept the other for who they indeed are. Outstanding work all around. An enjoyable time at the theatre. Running time: approximately 2 hours and 55 minutes with one interval. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ runs until October 27 at The Festival Theatre, 55 Queen Street, Stratford. For tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1-800-567-1600. ‘MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING’ by William Shakespeare with additional text by Erin Shields Directed by Chris Abraham Designer: Julie Fox Lighting Designer: Arun Srinivasan Composer and Sound Designer: Thomas Ryder Payne Choreographer: Adrienne Gould Performers: Graham Abbey, Anousha Alamian, Akosua Amo-Adem, Maev Beaty, Michael Blake, Déjah Dixon-Green, Austin Eckert, Allison Edwards-Crewe, Jakob Ehman, John Kirkpatrick, Kevin Kruchkywich, Josue Laboucane, Cyrus Lane, Patrick McManus, Jameela McNeil, Danté Prince, Glynis Ranney, Anthony Santiago, André Sills, Gordon Patrick White, Rylan Wilkie, Micah Woods. Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back 'Freedom Cabaret' at Ontario's Stratford Festival Stratford Festival Stratford Festival Site David Rabjohn (By David Rabjohn, Associate writer for Our Theatre Voice) The “Cabaret” series continues at the Stratford outdoor festival with a rousing display of black music surrounding the theme of freedom. Program notes suggest that black music, from its beginnings of Negro spirituals through to contemporary rap music have always been closely associated with the need and longing for freedom. Curated, directed and music directed by the versatile Beau Dixon, the night’s agenda is remarkably far-ranging and thorough. The result is an entertaining evening of both introspection and joyful celebration. Joining Dixon’s vigorous performance are three outstanding voices that both contrast and compliment. Robert Ball’s beautiful voice is on full display with the haunting “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” Alana Bridgewater’s strength and range is demonstrated with an animated “Hound Dog” that had some males in the front row fearfully hanging on to their seats. Her versatility is displayed in the powerful “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” by Thomas Dorsey. Camille Eanga-Selenge’s high soaring voice captivated the audience in a number of selections. The evening had a true “cabaret” style feel to it with some high barstool seating and a rustic circular stage with red drapery. Dixon’s opening wail on the harp produced the infectious beginning. The band was strong from the outset with a large dose of rhythm with both a full drum kit and a diversified percussion set managed deftly by the bandaged fingers of Joe Bowden. Dixon’s research must have been exhaustive. He found dozens of gems that did indeed reflect the constant yearning for freedom. Traditional songs such as “Hold On” represented the working slave who is holding on to the plow that is both killing him and keeping him alive. The evening moves through hits by black writers which are both acclaimed and less well known. You realize it will be an entertaining night when the program lists Lead Belly, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce and Sam Cooke numbers. Bob Marley was well represented and, as the singers warn us – he is not just a touchstone for stoned hippies. The tragedy of black music being appropriated into the mainstream was subtly but strongly observed. Some narrative about black musicians losing their political messages and the issues of racism in general gave some sobering support to the program. The genius in this support was that it was not consuming, and the big messages were left to the songs and the musicality to tell their own story. Returning to the singers (the heart of the program) solos were not the only fare. Gorgeous harmonies carved out some rich numbers. Back up voices were equally important, especially under the tutelage of Dixon’s entertaining conducting. A nod should go to the technical engineers as outdoor programming must create special challenges. The evening’s message is that the history of black music and musicians is deep, rich, and very closely connected to freedom in all its forms. And the entertainment was elevating! ‘Freedom Cabaret’ curated and directed by Beau Dixon closed September 5 but will stream virtual selections October 14 – December 3, 2021. For further information, please visit www.stratfordfestival.ca . Photo of Alana Bridgewater and members of company of ‘Freedom Cabaret’ by David Hou. Produced by The Stratford Festival Performers: Robert Ball, Alana Bridgewater, Beau Dixon, Camille Eangu-Selenge, Gavin Hope. Band: Beau Dixon, Rohan Staton, Roger Williams, Paul Antonio, Joe Bowden Lighting Design: Kaileigh Krysztofiak Sound Design: Peter McBoyle Previous Next

Where theatre is not only presented on the stage. Back 'Trojan Girls & The Outhouse of Atreus' by Gillian Clark An immersive theatre experience from OUTSIDE THE MARCH and FACTORY THEATRE in association with NEWORLD THEATRE Amy Keating as Ned. Photo: Jeremy Mimnagh Joe Szekeres Hearty stamina in this energetic ensemble At 3 hours and 10 minutes running time, I’ll call ‘Trojan Girls & The Outhouse of Atreus’ an epic. I’ve never been a Greek mythology enthusiast. Yes, I know, an English Language and Literature major who has no background in Greek mythology. Don’t remind me because I’m aware of this fact, but I just never developed an interest. For those who do, I’m sure you’ll love the licence that has been taken in the re-telling of the lives of the characters. Playwright Gillian Clark even acknowledges this play is not a perfect Ancient Greece or Grease adaptation in the Programme Note. When Greek stories are told cleverly to maintain my interest, I’m all in with the hope I may learn something. At least, that’s what I was hoping for here. With very little knowledge about these Greek characters, off I went to be transported to another world. Upon arrival at Factory Theatre, the audience is divided into two groups with two plays performed simultaneously by this same group of actors. Half gather outdoors around the campfire (this is where I began) and the other half enters the Duck n’ Swing Hall inside the Studio Theatre. At the intermission, the audience switches and experiences the other side of the story. The time is August 2009, the place, New Troy, Canada. Time appears to stop in both worlds where these characters collide. There are connections to the film and stage versions of GREASE, THE MUSICAL. (Notice the homonym connection.) At the conclusion, all attendees gather inside the Studio Theatre. Odysseus (Jeff Yung) is planning an Evel Knievel motorbike Prom-posal. (I’ve been retired from teaching now for five years and thought prom-posals were finished. Was I ever surprised they’re still popular). Nestra (Katherine Cullen) and King Memnon (Sebastien Heins) rendezvous in the Outhouse for some summer lovin’. (This I found rather odd – summer lovin’ in an outhouse? Well, it got my attention) while Cassandra (Amy Keating) noshes on raw hot dogs (Ewwwww!) while sooth-sayin’ the world’s destruction. Along with these plot elements listed above, the audience sees the heartache, trauma and a sense of loss pervading the lives of the other characters. Sebastien Heins is a suavely sexy Menelaus/King Memnon. I loved Amy Keating’s portrayal of old guy ‘Ned’ who sells 50-50 tickets. Even those moments when the scraggly beard didn’t fit properly across her face, Keating naturally re-fitted it and believably made it a part of Ned’s odd nature. Jeff Yung becomes a cocky self-assured Odysseus. Katherine Cullen’s perfectly nailed the valley girl Helen (yes, my age is showing) with aplomb. Liz Der and Elena Reyes’ created strong, feisty women who are most definitely not to be messed with attitudes. Cheyenne Scott is a scrappy Penelope on many levels. ‘Trojan Girls & The Outhouse of Atreus’ remains a visually visceral production with its strength in the keenly focused ensemble work so I will credit Director Mitchell Cushman here. For one, I applaud the hearty stamina and energy as the ensemble moves back and forth from outdoors to indoors in mere seconds sometimes with quick costume changes. We were told at the beginning that sometimes an actor may not make his/her/their cue because everything is timed beautifully. Part of the fun is counting down how many seconds it takes before the actor comes racing onto the scene to continue the story. Whether it was intended or not, there were at least two ‘miscues’ where we started to cut down until the actor entered. Anahita Dehbonehie’s outdoor set design becomes eye candy of that dreaded sense the world is about to end. There’s fencing surrounding the perimeter which contains graffiti of all kinds written on the burlap. The playing space appears to be charred grounds as if the area was once on fire. There are remnants of objects from long ago – an old bathtub and a circular fire pit are just two items. I loved how the Bathurst Street siding of the Factory Theatre was used to its fullest. It’s a three-story building with lots of stairs to climb and windows to open. What worked nicely for me was watching Jeff Yung prepare for his ‘motor bike’ to jump out of the window. I’d like to give credit to Michael Laird’s Audio System Design for the use of headsets outside. What a good idea for the audience to wear them because I could hear the dialogue.. The outside traffic noise did not disturb me in the slightest. After the intermission, my group was led into the Studio Theatre of Factory where it appears we have entered the dilapidated bar of the Duck n Swing Hall resplendent in toilet paper strung ceremoniously along the walls and atop of the overhead lighting. On the stage was the Outhouse of Atrea where the characters go to make decisions of all kinds. I laughed out loud at one point because one of the characters slides to the floor and sits there for a few moments talking to someone ‘on the throne’. Just the thought of sitting on any outhouse floor makes me shudder and laugh trying to wipe that image from my brain. But some choices made puzzled me. For one, the shouting and yelling in actor enthusiasm led to problematic enunciation issues for me. Merlin Simard as Thalthybius and Hermes provided a great deal of comic relief and the occasional pearly words of wisdom, but I lost a lot of their dialogue because I couldn’t hear them. I have a working knowledge of the French language and was looking forward to hearing the language spoken, but I didn’t catch a single thought. That was a tad disappointing because I wanted to hear what Simard had to say. Hopefully, they will be mindful as performances continue. Factory Theatre emailed to let me know smoke will be used throughout the performance. Okay, so I was aware; however, the smoke became overpowering for me from my seat to the point where I started coughing and felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Future audiences, please be aware, and if you do have breathing issues of any kind it would be a good idea to let the front-of-house staff know upon your arrival. Another question I also jotted down in my notes – what is the point of having all that smoke if it makes audiences uncomfortable especially if one is also caught in the crosswind of the firepit centre stage? Ultimately, I’m still puzzled by the running time of three hours for the production. Too long. Could this have been pared down say to two hours maximum with an intermission? I was in overload and couldn't receive any more information. Running time is approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission. The production runs to August 28 and plays both indoors and outdoors at Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto. For tickets, call 416-504-9971 or visit factorytheatre.ca for more information. TROJAN GIRLS & THE OUTHOUSE OF ATREUS by Gillian Clark An immersive theatre experience from Outside the March and Factory Theatre in association with Neworld Theatre Producer: Mark Aikman Director: Mitchell Cushman Set Design: Anahita Dehbonehie Costume Design: Nick Blais Lighting Design: Jareth Li Sound Design: Heidi Chan Audio System Design: Michael Lairs Stage Manager: Daniel Oulton (plus many other names listed in the program) Performers: Katherine Cullen, Liz Der, Sebastien Heins, Amy Keating, Elena Reyes, Cheyenne Scott, Merlin Simard, Jeff Yung Previous Next

Where theatre is not only presented on the stage. Back 'Women of the Fur Trade' by Frances Končan Now onstage at the Aki Studio in Toronto's Daniels Spectrum Kate Dalton L-R: Kelsey Kanatan Wavey, Cheri Maracle, Lisa Nasson Joe Szekeres “A 21st-century Canadian history lesson that hooks its audience initially with humour in its quest to begin recognizing the truth of what actually happened. Strong performances marked by an assured and confident direction.” The time is eighteen hundred and something something. The setting is on the banks of a Reddish River in Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba today. At first glance, playwright Frances Končan’s ‘Women of the Fur Trade’ is hilarious. Set inside a fort, three uniquely distinct women of voice and character use twenty-first-century slang to share their views of life, love, and the ‘beefcake’ hottie of the day, Louis Riel (Jonathan Fisher). The married European settler Cecilia (Cheri Maracle) sits in a rocking chair in the centre. Cecilia sometimes becomes a referee between the other two in their discussions. She sometimes exudes a maternal instinct between the two and harbours an attraction to Thomas Scott (Jesse Gervais), Riel’s assistant. Métis Marie-Angelique (Kelsey Kanatan Wavey) sits in her rocking chair to Cecilia’ s right. Marie-Angelique is Riel’s number-one fan. She becomes smitten with him and will do anything to meet her heroic idol. Ojibwe Eugenia (Lisa Nasson) sits in her rocking chair to Cecilia’s left. When we first meet her, Eugenia is sullen; she struggles to understand why men behave as they do. Eugenia wears her heart on her sleeve. Her facial reactions usually indicate her internal feelings throughout most of the story, but that all changes as the story continues. Through a series of misguided letter correspondence and people pretending to be someone they’re not, ‘Women of the Fur Trade’ becomes an opportunity for Toronto audiences to see a Canadian historical satire of survival and cultural inheritance shift perspective. Končan’s script utilizes humour nicely to propel the story forward. This is smart because the modern vernacular dialogue hooks the audience into listening to what these women tell us. Some wonderfully staged moments also bring laughter. Floating down from the flies are Canada post baskets into which the women place letters to be mailed. At one point, a FedEx basket floated down, which brought laughter. The women also use sock puppets, and there’s one with a noticeable male appendage. The mix-up in the letter correspondence provides the impetus to ponder the subtextual meaning. I did not see the Stratford summer/fall 2023 production under Yvette Nolan’s direction or the Ottawa January 2024 production under Renae Morriseau’s direction, so I don’t have any reference points as a comparison. At the talkback, we were told Morriseau was suddenly called away due to a family situation. Kevin Loring directed the Toronto production, and Joelle Peters was the assistant director. The play takes some poetic licence in its Canadian history lesson. I am the first to admit shamefully that I can’t recall much about Riel’s influence in Canadian history. Hence, I researched before and after the production to refresh my memory about this iconic figure. There’s a great deal to admire about this production. For one, the visual look remains top-notch courtesy of Vanessa Imeson’s colourful and distinct costumes for each of the five characters. When I sat down, Lauchlin Johnston’s scenic design, set on risers on wooden slats in a diamond shape, caught my eye. The units of ribbons along the back wall are striking. The black-and-white pictures of men on the back wall became a sharp and stark reminder of a truth that I am prepared to admit—our Canadian history has been seen and told from the perspective of white males. These individual photographs look genuinely realistic. These men could jump out of the picture frames and take over the fort—credit to Candelario Andrade for creating this stunning visual effect. A second glance at those pictures on the back wall reminds us that the men in these photos look privileged in their dress and comportment; this is another vital fact to remember about ‘Women.’ Kevin Loring directs the Toronto production with an assured hand. He doesn’t allow the comic moments to overshadow the simmering tension the women experience as they sit and wait in the fort for news of any kind, especially the planned Rebellion. Under Loring’s capable hands, Cheri Maracle, Kelsey Kanatan Wavey and Lisa Nasson actively and attentively listen to each other from their rocking chairs. There’s nothing static as these ladies speak to each other with genuine conviction. They’re entirely grounded in their belief systems and ensure that others know exactly where they stand on issues. As Louis Riel, Jonathan Fisher is a bit of a drippy jerk. His Riel is haughty, pompous, and arrogant. Jesse Gervais’s Thomas Scott becomes an appropriate foil to Fisher’s Riel. Gervais is fastidious and particular in his performance as Scott when he wants to ensure Riel’s fan mail has been answered. Gervais and Kanatan Wavey’s seduction is excellent fun, and they never overplay the moment. One theatrical highlight involves the black and white pictures hanging on the back wall. Not only is that moment handled carefully in its execution, but it also becomes an impressive visual image I can still picture in my mind two days later as I complete this article. The Toronto production of ‘Women of the Fur Trade’ is admirable, but the question remains—is it necessary for audiences to see it? Yes, it is for its solid theatrical presentation. But there’s more in this production. Frances Končan’s vital Canadian history lesson reminds us to continue listening, paying attention, and hearing the First Nations' stories while ensuring they are never forgotten. And Another Thought: During the talk-back session, I asked if there would be a student matinee performance of the production. There is one. I don’t know about others. As a retired secondary school teacher, I agree wholeheartedly that young people should see this production. Teachers and parents, be advised that some adult situations are involved. I’m not one for censorship, and I don’t believe Končan’s script should be doctored in any way for student matinées. Nevertheless, teachers and parents, prepare young people before they come to the theatre. Running time: approximately one hour and 50 minutes with no interval/intermission. ‘Women of the Fur Trade’ runs until April 21 in the Aki Studio at the Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas Street East. For tickets, visit www.nativeearth.ca or call (416) 531-1402. WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE by Frances Končan Original Direction: Renae Morriseau Revival Director: Kevin Loring and Assistant Director: Joelle Peters Stage Manager: Jackie McCormick Lighting Designer: Jeff Harrison Scenic Designer: Lauchlin Johnston Projection Designer: Candelario Andrade Costume Designer: Vanessa Imeson Sound Designer/Composer: MJ Dandeneau Performers: Kelsey Kanatan Wavey, Cheri Maracle, Lisa Nasson, Jonathan Fisher, Jesse Gervais Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Ali Momen Self Isolated Artist Sam Gaetz Joe Szekeres After Ali Momen emailed me his answers to the questions for this series, I began to realize how the connection I’ve made with some of the performers from ‘Come from Away’ has made me miss seeing this story and how much I would like to see it again. After interviewing composers Irene Carl Sankoff and David Hein, Astrid Van Wieren (Broadway), Jeff Madden, Saccha Dennis, and soon Kyle Brown (Toronto), I was really pleased Ali took the time to check in with the series to let us know how he’s faring during this world wide pandemic. From his website, Ali is a classically trained singer whose conservatory training was at Sheridan Institute's Music Theatre Performance program where he graduated with the highest overall achievement in performance, and after many years as a pro returned to Sheridan as an acting instructor. His theatre credits include three seasons at The Shaw Festival, and productions with Mirvish, Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, and Why Not Theatre. He originated the role of VIKRAM in Mira Nair's stage adaptation of her hit film, MONSOON WEDDING. Ali currently plays Kevin J and others in Come from Away at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre: It appears that after five exceptionally long months, we are slowly, very slowly, emerging to a pre-pandemic lifestyle. Has your daily life and routine along with your immediate family’s life and routine been changed in any manner? In many respects, we are reverting back to a pre-pandemic lifestyle. Being able to engage in “life”, even in a limited fashion, has been a blessing indeed. I have been finding the extra time I’m having with my family and partner to be something I’m grateful for. I told my girlfriend the other day that being here with you on this Saturday evening is something that I couldn’t have done before with my schedule with COME FROM AWAY. These are good things. I’m grateful for the fact that we seem to have gotten this virus under control and that our health system has not been overwhelmed. We should forever be thankful to our frontline workers. They are forever heroes. However, it is important to keep repeating that while we can go to a mall, get a haircut, and even dine inside a restaurant, art that is able to create a middle class life has either ceased or has become near extinct and rare. Indoor gathering limits of 50, and outdoor gathering limits of 100 do not make for a financially feasible endeavour. For instance, COME FROM AWAY can not happen with 50 people in the audience, nor really can an independent and bare-bones production. If you’re a musician, a ton of streams of Spotify gets you very little pay, but at least you would make up for it in live concerts. Those are now gone. If you’re in film and television, while some productions are able to get back up and running again, a huge swath are unable to get insurance. It’s like being in Miami and asking for Hurricane insurance. It’s just not going to happen. We are in an emergency and to think it anything but that I think is wrong. Were you involved or being considered for any projects before the pandemic was declared and everything was shut down? Well of course! Come from Away! Describe the most challenging element or moment of the isolation period for you. Did this element or moment significantly impact how you and your immediate family are living your lives today? Losing any job is a difficult experience. It doesn’t matter what it is. A job brings purpose. It brings dignity. When that goes away – whether it’s due to downsizing, a factory moving overseas, or in our case a pandemic – it crushes the “ikigai” of a human being. Ikigai is Japanese for your “reason for being.” We all lost our Ikigai. So of course, I’ve hit some sad places. Only recently do I feel like I’m coming out of it by reaching acceptance for what actually transpired. I went through the stages of grief, and thankfully I’ve come towards acceptance. For those reading, you simply lost a job or a job in the future. You didn’t lose your worth. You didn’t lose your talent. You are defined not by what you do, but by who you are – and who you are never changed. What were you doing to keep yourself busy during this time of lockdown and isolation from the world of theatre? Since theatres will most likely be shuttered until the spring of 2021, where do you see your interests moving at this time? I have been making some of my own work. I’m writing a film based on the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. I’m Iranian by heritage. The TMCA holds inside a vault over 3 billion dollars of the greatest modern art in the world. It was kept together by a 32-year-old janitor who was tapped to protect it after the Iranian Revolution. It’s an incredible story and I’m looking forward to fleshing it out to screen. I also started a podcast with my dear friend Torquiil Campbell of STARS. It’s called Soft Revolution. It’s an arts advocacy podcast where we discuss art and how it intersects with politics. You can subscribe at www.softrevcast.com I am tapping into my entrepreneurial spirit now. As the institutions have either shuttered, or paused, it is now up to all of us to put out our lemonade stand and sell our art and make our own way through. Finally, I’m working hard to push government to create an Arts New Deal. We need a modern-day Works Progress Administration like what was set up during the Roosevelt administration after the Great Depression. We need work-relief where our cultural contributions can be seen as infrastructure building. Find out more at www.makeartswork.ca Any words of wisdom or sage advice you would give to other performing artists who are concerned about the impact of COVID-19? What about to the new theatre graduates who are just out of school and may have been hit hard? Why is it important for them not to lose sight of their dreams? Culture is 3% of our GDP and employs over 650,000 Canadians. It is vital for the soul and structure of a society. There will always be a need. It is going to take a long time to get “back to normal” if that ever even happens. My advice would be to unleash your creative spirit. I think if the plan is to simply wait for an audition and to book a gig, then I really think you’re in trouble. It is going to take years before we are back to where we were. You must be entrepreneurial. Do you see anything positive stemming from this pandemic? If the plan is to just sit and wait for it to all come back after Justin Trudeau walks out of his house and declares “pandemic over”, then no. Instead, we will have institutions shuttered, and a mass exodus of talent. If, however, we decide to build back a better cultural landscape? Then, yes. What that looks like? I don’t know. I think about it every day! In your informed opinion, will Broadway and the Californian performing arts scene somehow be changed or impacted on account of the coronavirus? Of course! When Broadway is back it will be back with far less productions. Theatres will be empty. Now, that could mean they become condos, although in NY the real estate market is souring, or they can be filled with shows that aren’t simply tourist traps. That could be exciting. We could see the entry to new voices! In Canada, the shows and work will all have to be local. Theatre companies have to go out looking for audiences in their areas. That could mean that shows take on a far more culturally specific bent. That would be cool. It’s important that our work not be mere imitations of what we see down south. We can actually make stuff that deeply resonates to us and within us. What are your thoughts about streaming live productions? As we continue to emerge and find our way back to a new perspective of daily life, will live streaming become part of the performing arts scene in your estimation? Have you been participating, or will you participate in any online streaming productions soon? We are slowly learning how to do the live performance thing. We have to, unfortunately, create the proscenium. What I mean by that is that we sadly do not have all the necessary technology to do it well. We need a proper platform. Our broadband is only recently able to upload wide swaths of data, but even so, we may never have tech that allows two people to make music remotely as a millisecond of latency throws people off. In fact, reading a play on zoom will never be what it’s like in person. So, I think people are learning that if you are going to do “stream”, don’t stream live. Record each part and then have a strong edit. New skills for us all to learn! I also think we’ve all gotten new gear! What is it about performing you still love given all the change, the confusion and the drama surrounding our world now? It’s my job. It’s what I’m good at. It’s what I’ve worked hard to be able to do. I honestly have learned that I am not as special as I thought. I don’t miss the poetry. I miss the prose. With a respectful nod to ‘Inside the Actors’ Studio’ and the late James Lipton, here are the 10 questions he asked his guests at the conclusion of his interviews: a. What is your favourite word? Obsequious. b. What is your least favourite word? I love all words! c. What turns you on? Curiosity d. What turns you off? Ignorance. e. What sound or noise do you love? My dog falling asleep. f. What sound or noise bothers you? Sirens. g. What is your favourite curse word? Fuck. h. What profession, other than your own, would you have liked to attempt? Lawyer. i. What profession would you not like to do? Lawyer. j. If Heaven exists, what do you hope God will say to you as you approach the Pearly Gates? “Read this.” Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Jake Epstein Will Soon Be The 'Boy Falls From the Sky' at The Royal Alexandra Theatre Looking Ahead Luke Fontana Joe Szekeres On his day off from final week of technical rehearsals for his upcoming one-man solo show ‘Boy Falls From the Sky’ (which had been postponed twice on account of Covid), Jake Epstein told me during our conversation that, once we were finished the Zoom call, he had stuff to do like laundry and clean his place. I laughed because once I had finished speaking to him, I had the exact same tasks to do. Performing artists also have the daily routines we all have. What an enjoyable conversation I had with Jake this afternoon. He’s excitedly thrilled and feeling good for the opening of ‘Boy Falls From the Sky’. He says that working on the show has been one of the joys of his life in getting to turn this period he buried and didn’t talk with anyone into a show that is joyful and fun. ‘Boy’ is a show on Jake’s own terms as it celebrates the good and bad, and the absurdity of show business. and on his own terms He had a normal life growing up in Toronto. One of the highlights he remembers were the yearly treks to New York City he took with his mother, father, and older sister (artist Gabi) to see Broadway shows. Epstein appeared for six seasons on ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ before he pursued further studies at Montréal’s National Theatre School. He had applied to Ryerson (X) University and was accepted but wanted to attend school in Québec because there is a prestige as only twelve students are accepted. It was also a chance to move away from the comfort of home and try something new. Epstein also knew several of the Montréal faculty at that time who were and are remarkable artists: Marti Maraden, Alisa Palmer, Ted Dykstra, Kate Hennig, so that sealed the deal for him. Jake’s dream was to perform on Broadway. When I asked him what advice he might give to the young people in theatre school now or who are considering a career in the performing arts? “Life isn’t a fairy-tale. It’s not linear. Some of the best moments and career successes in my life have been complicated. A career in performing and show business is wonderful to get to entertain others and I count my lucky stars everyday I get to do what I love. But after doing it for a long time, I hit a wall and had a hard time talking about the reality of the business. It is complicated. That quote you mentioned, Joe, from Lucie Arnaz: “It’s not all sunshine and autographs…I would put that on my wall. I’m not out to scare young performers because it’s one of the greatest jobs in the world plus it’s also one of the hardest jobs too. You have to be a hustler and have to be ready to take the good with the bad.” Personally, how have he and his immediate family been faring: “Knock on wood, everyone is doing okay right now. My sister had a mild case, but she is recovering so very thankful. My parents are doing okay. My wife, (actress) Vanessa Smythe, and I have had each other’s backs.” Like all the artists whom I’ve interviewed for this Profile series, Jake has experienced his share of ups and downs when everything vanished and there was that initial state of panic and wondering if theatre was ever going to be a thing again. Jake and Vanessa were in the stages of purchasing a house so he wasn’t sure if he would be able to make mortgage payments when his work for a year simply vanished. He got a part time job as a transcriptionist. How did the part time job fare? “I was pretty bad at it. I was horrible at it, actually. I was transcribing people from all over the world in different dialects. I was very lucky when I got a film job getting to film a season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ which is coming out on Netflix, so this work allowed me to quit the transcriptionist job thankfully.” Epstein notes the preciousness and vitality of live theatre. It’s not a given in the world and it’s very special when it’s allowed to happen, and it becomes a big deal for all of us to see it in our third year of Covid waves. He appreciates very much the opportunity to perform ‘Boy Falls from the Sky’ even more. The Mirvish website states the following about Jake’s upcoming solo show directed by Robert McQueen: “[dreams]… don’t always go as planned. Through a series of entertaining and soul-baring stories and songs, ranging from touring the US, to surviving ‘Spider-Man’, to withstanding steroid shots and Broadway boos, Epstein shares the rejection, stage fright and heartbreak behind a seemingly successful career in this showbiz tell-all.” ‘Boy Falls From the Sky’ began as a cabaret where it was a series of songs interwoven with some stories. Jake says he is a huge fan of Robert McQueen’s (director of the Toronto run of FUN HOME through Mirvish). Jake also recalled going to see ‘Life After’ a show McQueen developed at the Fringe which then went into further development with Toronto’s Musical Stage Company. Epstein credits McQueen in taking what was very much a cabaret with ‘Boy Falls From the Sky’ and transformed it into a solo show with some various characters, some scenes and stories. For Jake, yes, it’s still a cabaret. But he also calls ‘Boy’ a stand-up comedy show, a solo show and a musical show. Without spoiling the show, all I’m going to say is there are at least two big Broadway names whom Jake mentions - and what they said to him made me laugh out loud. Plus, there is also someone with whom Jake worked who is now making world headlines. You’ll have to see the show to personally experience the comedy of the moment. Epstein also mentions a few other individuals in ‘Boy’ whom he calls inspirational. When I asked him who are some of those who now inspire Jake in his work and personal life, he paused and considered first before he mentioned Tom Hanks (who saw Epstein’s work in the touring company of ‘Green Day’) and Mark Ruffalo. Jake also mentioned Canadian singer/song writer Hawksley Workman, his favourite performer to see. Jake also looks to his older sister and artist Gabi Epstein (who appeared in the Stratford Festival production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) for inspiration in his life. Jake finally got the opportunity to originate a Broadway role – he played Gerry Goffin, singer/songwriter husband to Carole King in BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL. Epstein recalls the first time Carole came to watch and to speak with the original Broadway cast in rehearsals. The first thing she said: “Who’s playing Gerry?” At this point, the look on Jake’s face on camera said it all to me. Part of ‘Boy’ also recalls his time in ‘Beautiful’ and how he responded to Carole’s wish, so you’ll have to come see the show to find out what happened. Epstein recalls how amazing and wonderful it was to be part of ‘Beautiful’, to tell Carole’s story, and to play Gerry Goffin, an iconic singer and songwriter himself. Jake called himself a weird kid because he grew up listening to folk music and not listening to the music he ‘should’ have been listening to in his room. The Beatles, James Taylor, Paul Simon – that was Jake’s music. What are some specific themes or messages he hopes audiences will walk away with at the conclusion of ‘Boy Falls from the Sky’? First and foremost, for Jake, the show has to be fun and a piece of entertainment especially right now given the state of our world with the sixth wave of Covid and the horrible events going on in Ukraine. People want to come to the theatre to be entertained and to be moved. Performing ‘Boy’ has taught him how to let go of the expectations of how life goes. Jake built up this whole narrative that he was going to make it on Broadway, and he will have the world by the tail. That’s not how the reality of how life goes. Jake has learned when you let go of the expectations, all of a sudden there’s space to see beyond a disappointment and to appreciate life more, to appreciate both the good and the not so good. That, for Epstein, is the heart of ‘Boy Falls from the Sky’. ‘Boy Falls From the Sky’ runs April 19 – May 29 at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King Street West, Toronto. For tickets, visit www.mirvish.com or call 1-800-461-3333. Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Oren Safdie "Because theatre is always in a state of life support, every play should feel like an absolute must-see as something that cannot be seen on a screen." Joe Szekeres Playwright Oren Safdie may be on to something regarding hockey. While Canadians may consider such players as Wayne Gretzky, Dave Keon, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito or Yvon Cournoyer memorable, do any of these players have the title of a play named after them? Methinks not. Oren Safdie's 'Beyond Ken Dryden' runs to June 1 at Toronto's Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto's Distillery District. Safdie attended New York's Columbia University, where he was finishing his master's in architecture, when he took a playwrighting elective. Taking that elective changed his life: "I won a schoolwide competition for one of my scenes, and seeing it up on stage in front of a live audience was something I never recovered from. After that, I started a small theatre company that was Columbia-funded, focused on developing young playwrights and actors at the school. This is where I "cut my teeth". Every three weeks, we presented six new one-acts, and I did everything from writing to setting the lights to choosing the material, to promoting the heck out of it." After all this stuff emerging artists do to get their work seen, Oren connected with La MaMa Experimental Theatre in the East Village of New York—the birthplace of the off-off-Broadway movement—where the venerable artistic director, Ellen Stewart, gave him a home to develop his work. It's also where he launched the first and only ever Canadian Theatre Festival in New York. Today, Safdie teaches playwriting at high school and university. What does he say about the art of teaching: "That's been more of an education for me than anything I learned before." Another interesting fact about Safdie is that his stepfather is Roch Carrier, author of the famous Canadian story 'The Hockey Sweater.' Safdie is more familiar with work produced in Montréal than in Toronto. One thing he has always found difficult in Canadian theatre is that so many of the plays are written and made with a grant in mind. People are writing what they will, ticking boxes, and getting their money to finance the show. He argues that the most interesting plays are ones nobody in their right mind would want to fund because they would be controversial. He does not fit well into this model: "Most of my plays have been performed in the US, UK, and even Russia, where I have a play running over two years now. Canadian theatres often talk about attracting new audiences, but sometimes I feel they are not in touch with what that is." Safdie reiterates how controversial social and political issues make for good theatre. Still, they only work when presented without the playwright's politics, allowing audiences to decide instead of being told what to think. That turns audience members off, even if they might stand and clap at the end. 'Beyond Ken Dryden' is a solo show directed by Padraic Lillis and featuring actor Max Katz. The Young Centre website bills the play as: "a boy's idolization of his sport's hero, Ken Dryden, and the Montréal Canadiens, as his own family and the Province of Quebec are coming apart. This deeply personal story opens on the night the Canadiens play their last game at the Montréal Forum, and looks back to a time when Les Bleu, Blanc et Rouges were truly Les Habitants du Montréal." In our email interview, Oren said he is not as huge a spectator sports fan as he was when he was a child. Playing sports has always been his tension release and a survival technique. He loves to spar and tends to be competitive when he plays. An example of this competition that best encapsulates this is a friendly weekly ball hockey club that he belonged to when he lived in Los Angeles, made up of ex-pat Canadians working in the film industry. What appeals to Oren the most about the era in 'Beyond Ken Dryden '? The 1970s were an extraordinary yet tumultuous time to grow up in Montréal. The rise of Separatism and the coming to power of the Parti Québécois led to thousands of Montrealers migrating south on the 401 to Toronto; Jean Drapeau's Olympics in 1976 nearly bankrupted the city; and the era of disco, free-love, and counterculture revolutions challenged the traditional family like never before. Safdie also tells me that one of the main ideas behind his play is to show how hockey in Canada and sports can be essential for bringing people and cities together. Society has so much divisiveness today, but that all melts away when rooting for the home team. It's healthy for community building. For Oren, in the 70s, he saw his parents break up and reunite again a half-dozen times before parting ways for good. Through it all, Ken Dryden and the Montréal Canadiens remained steadfast in his life, lifting his – and the city's spirits - by winning six Stanley Cups in nine years. Dryden was Oren's hero when he was a child, when he needed him. He drew pictures of Dryden and put them up over his bed. Oren got his aunt, who worked in a hospital, to get him Dryden's autograph while taking his urine sample. But the Ken Dryden Oren was corresponding with after his play opened, now felt more like a colleague he admired, but didn't hold the same lore he once had. And that's a good thing for Safdie. Who will tell Safdie's story here in Toronto? Artist Max Katz. Oren couldn't be more pleased. Katz is an actor who understands Safdie's writing and can change his delivery of the material on a dime. There are moments in 'Dryden' that are deeply emotional, followed by comedy and reprieve. Although Katz hails originally from New York, he attended McGill University when he became a Habs fan, so Max knows intimately what the Canadiens mean to the city of Montréal. Katz has also trained in physical theatre at the Boris Shchukin Institute in Moscow, which is crucial for the solo role. 'Beyond Ken Dryden' is not a play where a person stands before the audience and tells a story – it's an hour and twenty-minute workout that can be as physical as the game of hockey itself. Oren also adds: "I've never worked with an actor [like Max] with so much confidence and the ability to turn it on at will. I remember being worried when I heard before opening night in Montréal that Max had played a music gig the night before and was also busy all day doing other unrelated things leading up to the performance. But he did the show without missing a beat." Safdie also has praise for director Padraic Lillis: "He has been an unspoken hero in this production of 'Dryden.' As someone generally skeptical about one-person shows, Padraic has created something visually engaging and full of surprises." What's next for Oren Safdie once 'Beyond Ken Dryden' concludes its run across the country? Film is becoming a bigger part of his curriculum vitae. His latest script, Lunch Hour, with Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Alan Cumming, Krysta Rodriguez, Jamie Kennedy, and MJ Kang, wrapped filming last fall with Toronto director Larry Gutterman (Antz, Cats & Dogs, Mask 2) and is in the final stages of editing. The best way to describe it is an unromantic comedy about a married man who meets a married woman during their lunch hour. Another of Oren's plays, 'Color Blind', will run this summer 2025 in Los Angeles as part of The Road House Theatre SPF Festival. He's also finishing up a new play called The Semi-Anti-Semite, which deals with some of the issues he's encountered since October 7. To purchase tickets for 'Beyond Ken Dryden' at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, call the Box Office at (416) 866-8666 or email boxoffice@youngcentre.ca . Previous Next

Where music, song and dance all contribute to an enjoyable plot on stage Back '42nd Street' Now onstage at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre Credit: Johan Persson. Pictured: The Company Joe Szekeres "Eye-popping and firecracker tap dancing are only some of the respectful nods in Jonathan Church’s homage to the ‘42nd Street’ show biz from long ago. Splashy and splendid with frivolous frivolity." ‘42nd Street’ is the story of every showbiz hopeful who wants to play on the New York theatre stage. It’s 1933, smack dab in the Depression. Breadlines are common, and that’s where many ‘wanna-be’ actors would probably find themselves if they weren’t cast in a show. Brusque taskmaster Julian Marsh (Adam Garcia) directs the new musical ‘Pretty Lady’ written by Maggie Jones (Josefina Gabrielle) and Bert Barry (Michael Matus). This new production of 'Pretty Lady' stars ageing theatre diva Dorothy Brock (Ruthie Henshall), who doesn’t believe she has to audition for anything and shouldn’t have to do so since she is a star. Because of her attitude, Marsh can sense that Dorothy might be a potential problem. He still insists Brock sings one of the musical numbers. Dorothy does, but it’s not her best. However, the diva reminds everyone that her ‘sugar daddy’ Abner Dillon (Anthony Ofoegbu) fronts $100 K for the show on the condition she remains the star. Dorothy is also fooling around on Abner with Pat Denning (Michael Praed), the man for whom she claims to be ‘genuinely’ in love. Marsh’s assistant, Andy Lee (Alyn Hawke), has put the chorus kids through their intricate tap dance audition routine at the top of the show. When the chorus is finally cast, newcomer hopeful and naive Peggy Sawyer (Nicole-Lily Baisden) enters. She couldn’t make the initial audition because she had to steel herself to walk through the doors of the building. Charming and full of himself, tenor Billy Lawlor (Olly Christopher at this performance) is smitten with Peggy and tells her not to fear that she missed the audition as he’ll do his best to get the young lady into the show. On a whim, Peggy is cast in the chorus. Peggy shares that she has always admired Dorothy Brock and hopes to attain that same fame. Brock has no time for the up-and-coming young actors in ‘Pretty Lady.’ During an out-of-town Philadelphia tryout, Dorothy accidentally becomes injured. She breaks her ankle during a performance when Peggy misses a cue and claims the young ingenue intentionally did so. The threat of cancelling the show looms. Out of shame for what happened, Peggy decides to return to her hometown thinking show business is not for her. After thinking of others who could possibly replace Dorothy, the other cast members believe Peggy can save ‘Pretty Lady’ by stepping into the star’s role. Will Peggy be successful and save the show? I had seen my first production of ‘42nd Street’ in London’s West End in 1986. A bit of historical information – a young Catherine Zeta-Jones performed in the ensemble. That 1986 production was splashy, peppered with frivolous frivolity and combined with beautiful young chorines who were all legs, all smiles, and all ready to enter the spotlight when places were called. Fast forward to 2023. This UK production, directed by Jonathan Church, is still all that. It’s splashy and splendid with frivolous frivolity. Beautiful girls (or dames as they’re called in a musical number) are dressed in spectacular and dazzling costumes designed by Robert Jones. The breathless and stunning choreography in Bill Deamer’s musical staging remains one of the primo highlights of this opening night. There’s something about seeing and hearing firecracker tap dancing performed in tremendously sharp syncopation by this impressive ensemble that transcends right to the very human soul. But is that all there is to ‘42nd Street’? Why are audiences still fascinated with this chestnut? I don’t believe labelling this ‘42nd Street’ with that term is fair. Some terrific musical numbers staged by Bill Deamer appear in the 1933 film - ‘We’re in the Money’ and ‘Lullaby of Broadway’ and, of course, the title song. Consider why ’42nd Street’ was popular in the 1930s. The world was in the throes of the Great Depression. Money was tight, prices soared, and people were out of work. Everyone wanted escapism, even for a couple of hours, from the grim reminders of the times they were in. Sounds somewhat familiar once again, doesn’t it? We’re not in a Depression (some might argue that), but we’re constantly looking for escapism from the reminders of the world we know right now with the return of the ‘C’ word and all that entails. This ‘42nd Street’ appears to be what we just need right now. Sure, the plot based on the motion picture is hokey, but again, who cares? If you’re not leaving the Princess of Wales with a smile, especially since the production plays through the Christmas/holiday season right to mid-January, then this splendid company has not done its job. Robert Jones's set design appears art deco (ish), sometimes with tubular and lean angles. Jon Driscoll’s projection designs of black and white news footage during the overture remind us of the theatre district of New York from the 1930s. Ben Cracknell’s sleek lighting design illuminates a sultry and sexy atmosphere at the beginning of the musical number ‘Forty-Second Street.’ The neon lighting is another wonderful throwback to the 30s. Campell Young’s Makeup and hair/wig designs and Jones’s costume designs are beautiful recreations of the 30s fashions, from the dark pinstripe suits on the men to the frilly and lacy notions on the ladies’ costumes. Kudos to Sound Designers Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker. The melodies and lyrics in ‘42nd Street’ deserve to be heard, and they are in all their glorious sound. The wondrous creative team charmingly takes the audience back some 90 years ago with a respectful nod to the era. Jonathan Church directs the production with heart, maintaining the classic verisimilitude look and sound of the 1930s and the film. There are nasal, bimbo-sounding chorus girls with hints of sexism evident in the theatre industry at that time. Bill Deamer’s choreography remains one of the resplendent highlights of the show. Musical Supervisor Jennifer Whyte, Larry Blanks’ orchestrations, and Donald Johnston’s additional orchestrations combined with Philip J. Lang’s original orchestrations sound exquisite. The cast is terrific. Ruthie Henshall remains deliciously catty, pretentious, and self-absorbing as diva Dorothy Brock. Henshall incorporates a gravelly-sounding gruffness in her voice which aptly works because it indicates an ageing star slowly recognizing that time moves on. She looks great in the array of costumes she wears. Nicole-Lily Baisden is quite lovely as budding ingenue Peggy Sawyer. Baisden is a remarkable triple-threat performer of acting, dance and singing. There is a line voiced by Henshall as Dorothy when she tells Peggy: “Now go out there and be so good it’ll make me hate you.” Baisden is quite good, and it is most appropriate she takes the final bow at the curtain call. Adam Garcia’s Julian Marsh initially didn’t ring true as headstrong director Julian Marsh in the first act. However, I am the first to admit when I’m wrong. In Act 2, Garcia scales the heights of the director who pushes and pushes because he wants the best performance out of someone. Garcia closes out the show with his finale of ‘Forty-Second Street,’ which made my jaw drop. I got goosebumps listening to him vocalize the title song. Fantastic. Supporting characters are solid. Olly Christopher sings and dances with charisma and charm as Billy Lawlor. In the second act, Josefina Gabrielle and Michael Mateus are hilarious in their rendition of ‘Shuffle Off to Buffalo.’ Anthony Ofoegbu pokes fun at the look and the vocal sound of the 30s proverbial ‘sugar daddy.’ Final Comments: Tremendous fun. Give yourselves a Christmas/holiday gift and see ‘42nd Street’. Travel back to New York and its show biz from long ago. Running time: approximately two hours and 40 minutes with one intermission. ‘42nd Street’ runs until January 21, 2024, at the Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King Street West, Toronto. For tickets: mirvish.com or call 1-800-461-3333. 42ND STREET Music by Harry Warren and Lyrics by Al Dubin. Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble Original Direction and Dances by Gower Champion Originally produced on Broadway by David Merrick Directed by Jonathan Church Musical Supervisor: Jennifer Whyte Choreography and Musical Staging by Bill Deamer Set and Costume Design: Robert Jones Hair/Wig and Makeup Design: Campell Young Sound Designers: Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker Projection Design: Jon Driscoll Lighting Design: Ben Cracknell Performers: Ruthie Henshall, Adam Garcia, Josefina Gabrielle, Nicole-Lily Baisden, Michael Matus, Sam Lips, Michael Praed, Anthony Ofoegbu, Erica-Jayne Alden, George Beet, Charlie Bishop, Kevin Brewis, Olly Christopher, Briana Craig, Jordan Crouch, Ashleigh Graham, Alyn Hawke, Aimee J Hodnett, Connor Hughes, Deja Linton, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Greta McKinnon, Ben Middleton, Benjamin Mundy, Jessica Wright. Previous Next

What makes a comedy work - plot, characters, setting and theme. Back 'The Script Tease Project' performed by Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus Now onstage at 180 Shaw Street, Small World Arts-Centre, Artscape Young Place Now onstage at 180 Shaw Street, Small World Arts-Centre, Artscape Young Place Joe Szekeres When Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus are in charge, improvisation can be a hell of a lot of fun. ‘The Script Tease Project’s’ premise is simple. Performers Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus ask a Canadian playwright to pen the first two pages of a script that will probably not see the light of day. Baram and Snieckus elicit responses to specific questions to help focus the story. These suggestions will somehow be incorporated into the improvisation the audience is about to see. Finally, the two of them read the script before us, the houselights go down, and the performance begins. There is no further audience input. As a former community theatre actor, I’ve always found improvisation one of the most challenging dramatic techniques. Teaching improvisation was equally challenging. When I taught Dramatic Arts way long ago in a high school setting (for two years), improvisation was the hardest to utilize within a classroom of rowdy teenagers who were hell-bent on wanting to sound like the latest comedian. Even after repeated explanations of the purpose of improvisation, it just didn’t seem to click with young people. I don’t know how Baram and Snieckus do it. They may make improvisation look easy on the stage; it’s not, but it was a hell of a lot of fun watching the two of them for nearly just over an hour. They are well-trained in improvisation. One-line quips and zingers are flung back and forth at each other, but never in the style of stand-up comics. There was always a purpose behind what they were saying or doing. Canadian playwright George F. Walker penned the two-page plus script the night I attended. The story deals with two siblings whose parents make a suicide pact. And off it went from there sometimes to the bizarre, the hilarious, and a bit on the poignant side. Through it all, Baram and Snieckus remained in solid synchronicity with each other. Even when the audience experienced fits of laughter, the two of them held their focus on each other, paused when necessary so the audience wouldn’t miss any dialogue, and pressed further on in telling the story. Seann Murray’s Sound and Tech Designs sometimes added to the scene's hilarity. One occurred with the wandering spotlight. Final Comment: Just a reminder that Baram and Snieckus never give the same performance each night. Their performance improvisation is different once they read the script and have a few minutes to compose themselves before they launch into their work. And I was so pleased I had the chance to see them at work. And you should also go to see them at work too. ‘The Script Tease Project’ runs until September 22 at Small World Arts-Centre, Artscape Young Place, 180 Shaw Street, Toronto. For tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-script-tease-project-tickets-684275425217?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR3nqPTP-k6bC7lH1wHLaS0IRlgjfiBitCNLWt6w_ElrV3Uwy-bIqgUyp4o Previous Next

A talk with a professional artist about their career. Back Krystin Pellerin "I couldn't be in better company with incredible artists from 'Casey and Diana' " Provided by The Stratford Festival Joe Szekeres A delightful conversation with Krystin Pellerin. This month she appears as Diana, Princess of Wales, at the Stratford Festival’s ‘Casey and Diana’ by Nick Green. The production opens June 1 and runs to June 17 at the Studio Theatre. During our Zoom conversation, I told the National Theatre School graduate she and I went way back. She smiled and quizzed me a bit further. I saw her work back in 2009 when she appeared on CBC’s ‘Republic of Doyle’. I was off on cancer leave from work that year and Tuesday nights were my ‘me time’ spent watching her, Allan Hawco (Jake Doyle), and a cast of wonderful actors tell the weekly story of the Doyles, their work as police officers, and all the other familial machinations. A big smile then came across her face as she was so grateful to hear how the show provided some relief for me and my family. Fast forward past 2010, I have seen Krystin’s work in Soulpepper’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ and at Stratford where she played a sultry Lady Macbeth. By the publishing date of her profile, Pellerin will be in performance of ‘Casey and Diana’. The play is a Stratford Commission. The story follows the Toronto AIDS hospice, Casey House, and the anticipation of the Princess of Wales’s arrival in 1991, the hope she brings, and the effect her visit has on the house residents. This historical moment saw the world in fear over the AIDS and HIV pandemic. Nick Green’s story vividly captures when a rebel Princess, alongside less famous caregivers and advocates, reshaped the course of a pandemic—and how those stricken by the virus found hard-won dignity, community, and love in the face of astonishing hardship. Krystin feels so fortunate to be a part of the production. It has been completely inspiring and fulfilling for her in ways that she could never anticipate. With an incredible script by Nick Green, Pellerin feels this is a perfect opportunity to return to the theatre: “This has been one of the smoothest rehearsal periods. I feel so well taken care of as an actor. I couldn’t be in better company with incredible artists. [Director] Andrew Kushnir has been facilitating all that. It has been a heartfelt and heartening experience. His vision has been crystal clear but entirely collaborative." As an actor, Pellerin acknowledges Kushnir’s mindfulness has allowed the artists to go deep into the intensity of the story. And on playing the late Princess of Wales? Pellerin took a moment and paused to try and find the right words: “It’s daunting and very, very big shoes to fill. It’s such a privilege to be inspired by her for a whole nine months. I was cast in September, and I’ve been absorbing as much as I can in keeping her close to my heart. I intend for Diana’s spirit to stay with me always. She is a gift.” She also spoke about how healing the research and rehearsal process has been. When Krystin gets past the initial moments of feeling scared, she says there is such a calming effect Diana exudes on the actor and the people in Nick Green’s script. Pellerin has said it has been a real treat researching online the videos of Diana and her work in visiting and being with others. There is so much out there, but what has been remarkable in this research was finding those candid and private moments of the Princess. These documentaries where Diana is herself and at home speaking privately were the most informative for Krystin. Any word from Buckingham Palace or the Princes about their mother? Rumours will always float around, and they can’t be verified. However, Krystin has heard there might have been reaching out to Harry and Meghan but that is unfounded. Who knows? One of us just might be sitting next to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As Krystin says: “That would be surreal.” What are some important messages audiences will take away from ‘Casey and Diana’? One thing Krystin has noticed is the lived experience many of the audience members have had about this time in the early ‘90s. She hopes the performance will bring healing to them. For those who are coming without any lived experience of this time, she also hopes the performance gives a glimpse of the people who lived with HIV in the past and those in the present. She trusts the play will remove that stigma that might remain today. How’s she feeling about the return to the theatre? She follows the advice she gives to anyone entering the industry: “Take care of your spirit and be always looking for ways to be inspired on a daily basis. If you’re living well and taking care of yourself you have so much more to give.” Change has been a part of the theatre industry. Nevertheless, Krystin feels this is the first year we are starting to come out on the other side bit by bit. The proverbial next five years of the theatre will be making up for lost time and she appreciates now more than ever to be with an audience again and how changing it can be. She avows we need the theatre industry now more than ever. It takes time for all to adjust and become comfortable again, and yes Krystin at times feels a bit tentative; however, that sense of relief with the personal connection of being in front of a live audience again after having been without it for so long has become a visceral experience. It’s ELECTRIC and so VITAL. Although ‘Casey and Diana’ is a short run, Krystin can sense she and many of the cast feel the play will have a life after its run at the Studio Theatre. Will it tour around the province? Krystin can only speak for herself but she’s almost positive everyone would be there in a heartbeat if it moves forward in that respect. As we concluded our conversation, what’s next for the busy artist once the play concludes its run: “Right now, it’s an open book. We’ll see what happens. I am looking forward to getting back to my family life. My husband and I have a two-year-old daughter. I’ve been away from her during the days and nights and am looking forward to having a summer and quality time with her. I’m open to anything.” To purchase tickets to see ‘Casey and Diana’, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca or call 1-800-567-1600. Previous Next