Arkady Spivak, the Artistic Producer of Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ontario doesn’t seem to be aware that there has been a crippling pandemic for the past 14 months. He creates theatrical initiatives that keep employing and paying actors (what a concept!), that engage audiences and keep the artform alive. His latest scheme is this humdinger:
| WORLD PREMIERES AND BOUNDARY-PUSHING NEW WORKS FEATURED IN NEW IN-PERSON FESTIVAL Barrie, ON…. TIFT Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak announced today the programming of The Bees in the Bush Festival, featuring twelve eclectic in-person productions. Running from August 3 to October 3, 2021, all programming will be performed at outdoor locations – using parks, conservation areas, residential backyards and more, for a reduced in-person audience and with observance of current COVID-19 protocols. The Bees in the Bush will include several productions reconfigured for an outdoors presentation, as well as boundary-pushing new works and a return of TIFT’s hit musical-in-concert in a new setting. Six world premieres will also be produced, including the musically infused cabaret based on a Greek legend; a documentary-style interactive collection of migration stories, created by DopoLavoro Teatrale (DLT); an experimental performance piece created by Simcoe Contemporary Dancers; an intimate but amplified one-person musical discussion; an immersive installation using augmented reality technology; and an explorative piece about one of history’s most divisive figures. As previously announced, all programming will be free, and subject to TIFT’s booking policy available at www.tift.ca. Talk Is Free Theatre supporters are offered exclusive booking privileges starting on June 15, 2021. Bookings will be open to the general public starting July 5, 2021. Further Details of the Bees in the Bush Festival programming August 3-8, 2021, several engagements between 5 and 7pm I & I World Premiere Written and dramaturged by Daniele Bartolini and Anahita Dehbonehie with personal stories of newcomer artists Directed by Daniele Bartolini and Danya Buonastella A DopoLavoro Teatrale – DLT production The confrontation of the self of the immigrant before and after leaving their motherland I & I is a poetic, documentary style collection of migration stories, memory treasures and rituals from different cultures where you are invited to get close and personal with a world of newcomers. Created by Italian born Daniele Bartolini, Italian-Canadian Danya Buonastella and Iranian born Anahita Dehbonehie with a group of newcomer artists, I &I provides an opportunity of encounter for citizens of different cultural backgrounds, shining light on the life experience of newcomers to Canada. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 4. Performance duration: Approximately 60 minutes Venue: Sunnidale Park, Barrie August 5-8, 2021 at 6pm ALPHONSE Written by Wajdi Mouawad Translated by Shelley Tepperman Directed by Alon Nashman a Theaturtle production, in partnership with Shakespeare in Action “A Runaway Theatrical Success” – J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe & Mail Alphonse is lost, walking along a country road, weaving an intricate web of stories, while everyone is searching for him: parents, friends, teachers, the police. What they find is the thing we often give up in order to grow up. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 20 Performance duration: 70 minutes Venue: A private residence at 801 Big Bay Point Road, Barrie, outdoors Aug 11-14, 2021 at 6pm YOU FANCY YOURSELF Written and performed by Maja Ardal Directed by Mary Francis Moore Designed by Julia Tribe Maja Ardal returns this summer with You Fancy Yourself, the prequel to last season’s sold-out production of Cure for Everything. You Fancy Yourself is the story of young Elsa and her attempt to fit into a tough world after immigrating to a new country. Touring for the last 10 years across Canada and through England, the production is acclaimed for portraying the world of childhood with humour and tenderness, in a way that people of all ages can relate to. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 20 Performance Duration: 60 minutes Venue: The backyard of a private residence, located at 23 Theresa Street, Barrie. August 16-29, 2021 at 6pm STUPIDHEAD! Written and performed by Katherine Cullen & Britta Johnson Directed by Aaron Willis An Outside the March Production “…riotously funny, musically charming, and emotionally resonant… a perfect blend of humour, heart, and soul.” – Kingston Theatre Reviews A dyslexic backyard musical about not being alone. This is a show about learning that no matter who you are, you’re not alone. After successful runs at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2017 and Kingston’s Kick & Push Festival in 2019, Talk is Free and Outside the March are teaming up with Cullen, Johnson, director Aaron Willis and designer Anahita Dehbonehie to reimagine that message for our collective isolated purgatory. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 16 Performance Duration: 90 minutes Venue: The backyard of a private residence, located at 1076 Winnifred Court, Innisfil Aug 19-22, 2021 at 4pm INTO THE WOODS in Concert Book by James Lapine Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Directed by Michael Torontow Music direction by Wayne Gwillim Choreography by Lori Watson Set design by Joe Pagnan Costumes by Laura Delchiaro Sound Design by Josh Doerksen Featuring Noah Beemer, Aidan deSalaiz, Griffin Hewitt, Richard Lam, Jamie McRoberts and others “…the star for me is Director Michael Torontow. What he created was a clear reading of the musical that was inventive in its presentation, creative, illuminating and accomplished in realizing Sondheim’s difficult piece.” – Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter Nestled whimsically within one of Barrie’s beautiful forest parks, TIFT’s hit production of Into the Woods returns by popular demand in a new outdoor setting for a unique and magical experience. Enjoy the masterful songs of Stephen Sondheim and become immersed in the fantastical world of these beloved Brothers Grimm characters as they search for their ‘happily ever after’. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 50 Performance duration: 2.5 hours, including one intermission. Venue: Springwater Provincial Park August 25-28, 2021 at 6pm CYCLOPS: A SATYR PLAY World Premiere Written, directed, and performed by Griffin Hewitt Original text by Euripides Original music by Juliette Jones Assistant direction and dramaturgy by Giovanni Spina What happens when we allow a debaucherous and morally indifferent goat-man to take hold of one of our oldest stories of good and evil? Cyclops: A Satyr Play takes Euripides’s only surviving Satyr comedy, and using music, dance, games, good wine, good food, and everything else you need for a good time, engages the audience in a journey to find what makes us truly free. This production is also part of the Eternal Ego Festival Maximum audience capacity per performance: 16 Performance Duration: Approximately 60 minutes Venue: The backyard of a private residence, located at 16 Lougheed Road, Barrie September 1-4, 2021 at 7:30pm RASPUTIN ON A DATE World Premiere Written by and starring Brendan Chandler Dramaturged and Directed by Maja Ardal This new short play explores aspects that surround the legend of Rasputin, the historical figure whose life and actions are shrouded by rumour and hearsay. Was Rasputin wicked, was he good or was he neither? A divisive character in Russian history, Rasputin gained considerable influence with Tsar Nicholas II and their relationship is one of mystery and allegation. Set in the afterlife, witness the story of Rasputin and Tzar Nicholas II as they meet for a date. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 25 Performance Duration: Approximately 30 minutes Venue: The Beth Foster Floating Auditorium Located between Southshore Centre and Minet’s Point September 8-11, 2021 at 6pm I SEE THE CRIMSON WAVE Written and directed by, and starring Roy Lewis Creative Adviser Marti Maraden “Roy Lewis instills so much joy in the telling, makes the words sound delicious and makes us fall in love with the beguiling Nat Love.” – Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter Poet, actor, storyteller, Roy Lewis takes us on a cattle drive with legendary African American cowboy and raconteur Nat Love. Join Roy as we explore together this forgotten history of the late 19th century, from the end of American Civil War, the freeing the African Slaves, the expansion of the Railroad and the killing of the buffalo. This is an impressionistic vision in prose song and poetry. I See The Crimson Wave is a vivid reimagining of the old west which comes to life in the captivating persona of Roy Lewis. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 14 Performance Duration: 55 minutes Venue: The backyard of a private residence, located at 59 Shanty Bay Road, Barrie September 10-12 and 26 2021, various times IN THE TIME BEFORE THE IMMEDIATE PRESENT AND THE TIME TO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW V2 World Premiere Process Facilitator Sarah Lochhead Performers/Collaborators Jaqui Brown, Casey-lee Cooper, and Eligh Zimmerman of Simcoe Contemporary Dancers Creative Technologist Max Lupo Music/Sound The Base – Rich Aucoin, Remixed sound samples of The Base – Rich Aucoin Source files courtesy of Aucoin A Simcoe Contemporary Dancers production What happens when our live experience of performing and witnessing are mediated by technology while simultaneously dependent on our presence in the shared physical space? You are invited to be part of a performance experiment. Your presence in the space determines the sequence of events. A solo performer responds in real time to the sound cues activated by your location as read by a 360 radar. The dancer’s movements are in turn interpreted by a device that will activate a signal inviting you to find a new spot in the space — creating the next sequence of events. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 6 Performance Duration: 25 minutes Venue: MacLaren Arts Centre Courtyard, located at 37 Mulcaster St, Barrie. September 15-18, 2021 at 9pm MAHAGONNY-SONGSPIEL Written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht Libretti by Bertolt Brecht Musical Composition by Kurt Weill Directed by Richard Ouzounian Based on Mahagonny Songs, a series of five poems written by Brecht, Mahagonny-Songspiel is a small-scale scenic cantata, created by two of the 20th century’s most accomplished and versatile creative minds. This ground-breaking collection of songs set in motion the long running relationship between Weill and Brecht whose collaborations would take Germany and the world by storm. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 25 Performance Duration: 30 minutes Venue: The amphitheatre behind the Southshore Community Centre, located at 205 Lakeshore Dr, Barrie September 22-25, 2021 at 8pm TORONTOW{AFTER DARK} World Premiere Conceived by and starring Michael Torontow Michael Torontow loves a good post-show talkback. You know, that rare opportunity after a performance when artists share secrets about the show, the process, and themselves. Torontow {After Dark} is this intimate gathering but amplified, when Michael–director of TIFT’s Into The Woods and leading actor in The Curious Voyage, Every Brilliant Thing, The Music Man, Candide and Floyd Collins—invites you in to relax, hear some stories, some great music, and indulge your curiosity. Maximum audience capacity per performance:16 Performance Duration: Approximately 60 minutes Venue: Five Points Theatre, located at 1 Dunlop Street West, Barrie October 1-3, 2021 at WHAT SHE BURNED World Premiere Based on the folklore written by Alexander Afanasyev Created and Artistically Led by Joe Pagnan Movement Directed by Clarke Blair Composition by Richard Lam Narrated by Glynis Ranney Walk into the woods to retrace steps taken by a heroine of Russian folktales. Find out What She Burned this fall in an immersive installation using mid-century bootlegging techniques fused with modern augmented-reality technology. Inspired by a children’s story about a young woman facing an evil witch in the woods, this piece has dark elements and is experienced in intimate groups no more than four. Maximum audience capacity per performance: 2 per viewing. Multiple viewings are available throughout the day of the performance. Running time: 30 Minutes Venue: Location in Barrie to be announced at a later date. Details: www.tift.ca |