Performed live and in person at the Here for Now Theatre, New Works Festival, Stratford, Ont. on the back lawn of the Bruce Hotel, under a lovely canopy.
Written and performed by Roy Lewis
Music composed and played by Ben Bolt-Martin
Roy Lewis is an accomplished actor in his own right and has acted for many seasons at the Stratford Festival and around the country. Gifted, accomplished poet is now added to the list. Last year he presented his piece, I See The Crimson Wave about Nat Love, a cowboy who love haiku. This year we have Moments with You.
Because this was the first performance of this reading of Roy Lewis’ Moments with You, I will comment rather than review (because comment was welcome).
This is the published description of the show: “Moments with You is a modern Psalm; a dialogue offered in two voices chronicling the death of love, the ensuing struggle to understanding, and the peace found in grace and redemption. A poetic journey across the landscape of the heart written and performed by Roy Lewis with cellist Ben Bolt-Martin.”
In prose and poetry Roy Lewis tells the story of falling in love with Katarina known as ‘K’ and she with him and how quickly that changed. There are references to other lovers for context—Romeo and Juliet, Odysseus, Persephone, Don Juan. But it’s Roy Lewis’ words about his relationship, his love, that is so vivid to the listener.
His description of the love affair with ‘K’ initially is sensuous, sensual, and intoxicating. One gets the sense of the headiness of it all because of Lewis’ description. One almost gets the sense of being an intruding voyeur the words are so personal, but we can’t turn away (“I loved the turn of her leg and she loved my rough beard on her thigh”). We are compelled to listen. The words are complex; the perception of what is happening is almost like dissecting a living thing, without destroying it. Rather we get a closer, keener look at how the relationship happened, formed, was shaped and eventually fell apart. Lewis’ sense of awareness and perception and his mastery of language makes this relationship and his descriptions of it so compelling.
And there is this description of the man: “And if I asked you to look at my face, would you see the dark eyes, the proud forehead, the nose with its flared nostrils, the dark cocoa of the flesh.”
The sentence is so simple and so vivid in noting that Roy Lewis is a Black man. Not to acknowledge it leaves out a vital component of who he is.
And then there is Roy Lewis’ voice. The words are delivered in a bright, deep baritone, each word crisp, precise, a gem of clarity. He is microphoned, not because he needs it, but because it offers a balance with Ben Bolt-Martin’s cello (which thankfully is not microphoned). Bolt-Martin’s music is at once lush and often jazzy when the relationship is flourishing and discordant when it’s not. The music and the words serve each other perfectly.
I do have a bit of a quibble. Towards the end of the piece Lewis introduces stories of his parents, their relationship and his observing of them. I found that reference to their relationship—long lasting to be sure—to seem an add on from the main relationship with Lewis and “K”. Perhaps if the reference to his parents and their love could be woven into the narrative at an earlier part in the story, it would seem seamless and not disjointed. I can appreciate this adds context, it’s just that it seems tangential to the main story.
Roy Lewis is on the stage as the audience files in as is Ben Bolt-Martin who is playing quietly. Lewis is affable and greets everybody. At about fifteen minutes to curtain time, Bolt-Martin plays a few chords of the Stratford Festival fanfare. It’s impish, funny, sweet, and so moving because we are reminded of how much we have missed that ritual, even if it is ‘the other’ festival in Stratford at the moment.
Moment with You is based on his published book (2011), With You The Moments Of My Life Are Fading which is composed of the poems and stories of the relationship. (and for sale if one want to buy a copy).
I found Moments with You wonderfully poetic, linguistically intoxicating, telling a deeply moving emotional story. Roy Lewis does not let you sit back and relax and let the story wash over you. Rather he makes you sit forward, alert, anticipating the next vivid description, story and poem. Good theatre does that.
The wonderful HERE FOR NOW Theatre begins in Stratford, Ontario, on the back lawn of the Bruce Hotel under their spiffy marquis. Live, in-person with other theatre lovers present!
Here For Now Theatre Company is thrilled to announce our 2021 New Works Festival comprised entirely of world premiere productions. Local artists are coming together to create a season that will include ten shows with small, socially distanced audiences, under an open-air canopy at the Bruce Hotel.
“It’s hard to move forward when you keep lookin’ back.” In the premiere of this witty musical featuring the original songs of singer / songwriter Kale Penny, worlds collide when a street corner busker encounters a classical violinist who finds herself at a crossroads.
Book by Mark Weatherley with music and lyrics by Kale Penny. Directed by Monique Lund, starring Kale Penny and Lauren Bowler.
Walter Norman is a retiree living a quiet life in a small town. Not much happens in his day; he’s content to sit in his chair on the front porch and watch the world go by. Enter Shannon. A busy mother of two who moves in across the street and opens a daycare. An unlikely friendship develops between these two and soon their visits become a daily ritual. Join Walter and Shannon as they sit and talk about everything from life to love to death to egg rolls. If only he could remember her name. Or what happened the day before. A year in the life of two lonely people who didn’t know how much they needed each other. Until they did.
Written and directed by Steve Ross, starring Laura Condlln and John Dolan.
Moments with You is a modern Psalm; a dialogue offered in two voices chronicling the death of love, the ensuing struggle for understanding, and the peace found in grace and redemption. A poetic journey across the landscape of the heart written and performed by Roy Lewis with cellist Ben Bolt-Martin.
Janet is determined to get over her mysterious ailments and keep her custodial job, so she’s agreed to take doctor-prescribed art lessons. Louise’s art studio is floundering; there is endless roadwork outside and her prickly personality chases people away. Janet arrives but thinks she might quit. Louise can’t afford to lose another student. Then Janet finds a man’s tooth inside a jar. . . At turns funny and heartbreaking, this new play asks what happens when two strangers confront what they’ve tried so hard to keep hidden.
Written by Deanna Kruger and directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey. Starring Brigit Wilson and Peggy Coffey.
Inspired by four haunting characters from four iconic Alice Munro stories, Post Alice is a stunning new contemporary play which asks the question: what really happened to Mistie Murray? And what happens to all our missing girls? Come sit around the fire with four bright and hilarious Huron County women as ghost stories emerge, songs fill the air, family secrets are revealed, and mysteries unravel into those wonderful contradictions which live inside us all.
Written by Taylor Marie Graham and directed by Fiona Mongillo.
Tickets to this free event will become available July 30th and must be booked online.
Twelve-year-old Pegeen O’Hara lives in the quiet town of Stratford, Ontario. She helps her mother run a boarding house after the death of her father and they are putting her brother Kerry through university. There just never seems to be enough time or money, and Pegeen’s dreams of becoming an actress seem hopeless. Then an extraordinary thing happens – a Shakespearean festival is planned for Stratford. As the festival develops, so does Pegeen. She learns a great deal about Shakespeare, the boarders at home, and she develops a new circle of friends, including a mysterious pilgrim. Adapted for stage by Brigit Wilson from the beloved novel by Lyn Cook.
Written and directed by Brigit Wilson with assistant director Stacy Smith.
In the summer of 2020, theatre artist and Stratford resident Liza Balkan first began interviewing people who live and work in this town, asking after how they were doing through the fulsome and challenging initial months of the pandemic. She met withbusiness owners, employees, artists, nurses, retirees, actors, parents, kids, farmers… The months became a year and the interviews continued. So many stories.
So, how’s it been?is a song cycle co-created by writer / director Balkan and composer / musical director Paul Shilton, inspired by – and using – the words from these recorded conversations. The songs and poetry are moving, surprising, funny, harsh, wild, curious, and empowering. And true. With music composed by Paul Shilton plus an additional song or two by Katherine Wheatley, Bruce Horak, and others, join extraordinary performers Marcus Nance, Barb Fulton, Trevor Patt, and Evangelia Kambites as they share a reflection of this highly particular time in this highly particular town. It’s a concert. It’s a conversation. How’s it been for you?
If marriage is the right to annoy one special person for the rest of your life, then Charmaine and Kingsley have the perfect marriage. That is until a surprise from their past meddles with the certainty of their future. But after 25 years is it too late for them to discover the redemptive power of love?
Written by Mark Weatherly and directed by Seana McKenna. Starring Monique Lund and Mark Weatherley.
Wouldn’t it be nice if life came with a manual? This ‘making sense of living’ thing is hard, no matter who you are. Join our protagonist as she candidly wrestles with the grand improvisation of being human. It has something to do with a ferret. And space. And being in love.
Written and performed by Jessica B. Hill and directed by Rodrigo Beilfuss.
It’s the bottom of the inning, a full count with two down. The Kroehler Girls socked two hits and their heavy hitter is a star with the willow, is it enough to bring the title home?
Furniture and Softball. It’s the early 1950’s and Stratford’s all girls softball team is known for building furniture by day and dominating the ball diamond by night. Can the Kroehler Girls live up to their reputation after a devastating loss the previous season? Times are changing at a breakneck speed in these post-war days and this team, along with their hometown, have to prove they have what it takes.
A new comedy that celebrates all that is Stratford in the early 50’s: the remarkable furniture company and their legendary softball team.
“We’ll sing you the song of our ball team, it’s the finest team in all the land. We’ll tell you about all the players and we’ll tell you the truth if we can.”
Co-created and performed by Kelly McIntosh, Stacy Smith and Andy Pogson with co-creator and director Severn Thompson, assisted by associate director Keira Loughran.
The Dumb Waiterwill be live streamed as part of our OLD VIC: IN CAMERA series – you will be watching from home if you book a ticket for this production.
ABOUT THE SHOW
‘We send him up all we’ve got and he’s not satisfied. No, honest, it’s enough to make the cat laugh.’
Ben and Gus are seasoned hitmen awaiting details of their next target in the basement of a supposedly abandoned cafe. When the dumbwaiter begins sending them mysterious food orders, the killers’ waiting game starts to unravel.
Daniel Mays and David Thewlis star in Harold Pinter’s darkly funny, insidiously menacing The Dumb Waiter for the sixth production in our globally live streamed series, OLD VIC: IN CAMERA.
OLD VIC: IN CAMERA performances are streamed live from the iconic Old Vic stage with the empty auditorium as a backdrop.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS:
The Old Vic: In Camera series is made possible thanks to the unwavering support of Royal Bank of Canada as The Old Vic’s visionary Principal Partner. Since the beginning of Matthew Warchus’ tenure in 2015, RBC has sponsored over 30 main stage productions and now, in the face of such challenging times, RBC continues to stand alongside us and support our theatre and our audiences by enabling the delivery of this series. And, thanks to PwC’s steadfast generosity through this crisis, we’re delighted to be able to make this artistic initiative widely accessible with a number of PwC £10 Tickets offered across all performances.
STUPIDHEAD! to hit Airwaves, Porches and Backyards in July! ANNOUNCING THE RETURN OF STUPIDHEAD!, the hit musical comedy about dyslexia, failure and friendship.
Reimagined by Creators Katherine Cullen and Britta Johnson, Director Aaron Willis and Production Designer Anahita Dehbonehie for our current moment. Gather your household ‘round the wifi router for a limited number of live “radio” broadcasts. Or book your very own intimate IRL serenade for your family and friends to enjoy on a porch or backyard.
With musical gems like “Dobermans and Nutella”, “Is This Where the Puppet People Get Picked Up” and “What If I Never Find My Way”, we guarantee that you won’t be able to get this show out of your (stupid)head. CLICK HERE to listen to an audio-only version of this announcement from Katherine Cullen herself. “…riotously funny, musically charming, and emotionally resonant… a perfect blend of humour, heart, and soul.”– Kingston Theatre Reviews
BOOK NOWThere are Two Different Ways to Experience STUPIDHEAD! Live 1. Live Digital Radio Broadcast (July 7th – 16th) “Modelled on your favourite radio variety shows from times of yore. It’ll be like we’re performing in your living rooms… but we won’t be, because we respect your health and wellbeing, and also we’d get fined by the Ontario Government.” – Katherine Cullen All you need is a wifi signal, a feel-good beverage and your favourite emotional support stuffed animal to tune in to this run of six “live-to-air” audio performances. Limited Capacity for Each Live Broadcast Tickets: $15BOOK NOW 2. “At Your Place” Performances (July 19th – Aug 1st) “Stupidhead is all about not being alone. With that in mind, we’re hoping that small groups of families, friends and neighbours will book these intimate outdoor performances together.” – Mitchell Cushman, OtM Artistic Director STUPIDHEAD! will also play a select run of a dozen in-person performances – available for booking on decks, porches and other private outdoor spaces across the GTA.
For Torontonians who are badly missing the presence of live theatre in their life, this is a chance to bring a show right to your very own front (or back) door!
Outside the March will work with each group to ensure that each performance is conducted per provincial health and safety guidelines. Presentation Fee – $400 to book a private performance for friends n’ fam! (100% of which goes directly to the artists working on the show) TALK TO US ABOUT BOOKING OtM’s production of STUPIDHEAD! will also enjoy a two week run in Barrie, Ontario in August as part of Talk is Free Theatre’s “Bees in the Bush” Outdoor Theatre Festival.
Wednesday, July 7—2021
Theatre By the Bay, in Barrie, Ont. opens its new season with The Ghost Watchers.
THEATRE BY THE BAY ANNOUNCES 2021 SEASON Barrie, ON. After taking the time to plan and regroup in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Theatre by the Bay (TBTB) is excited to deliver a safe and strong return to theatre, offering dynamic programming of four plays based on local stories.
The season will run from July until October 2021 and will include both in person and digital ways to engage with the works.
The Ghost Watchers. Summer, 2021. Presented in partnership with Tourism Barrie. Based on a concept by Michael Whyte. Written by Emily Adams, Mary Barnes, Rhiannon Hoover, Rochelle Reynolds, and Trudee Romanek. Join us on an Augmented Reality Walking Theatre Experience directed by Iain Moggach. Follow a mysterious Ghost Hunter through downtown Barrie using state of the art ‘Spectrovision’ to discover the ghosts of Barrie’s past and find out what is keeping these spirits in our realm.
The Simcoe County Virtual Theatre Initiative Featuring the RBC Emerging Artists Program. August, 2021 (date TBD). The RBC Emerging Director Project provides two emerging directors from the Simcoe County community with the opportunity to receive unprecedented training in theatre directing, culminating in the creation and presentation of two new plays:
Juncture. Directed by RBC Emerging Director Alexandra Gaudet and written by Mary Harris, Juncture follows Christine, a widowed woman in 1930’s Barrie, Ontario. Christine recalls her life and how exactly she ended up in the arms of George Rogers, the man who derailed the life she once knew.
Two Girls, One Corpse. Directed by RBC Emerging Director Keara Voo, Two Girls, One Corpse is written by Michelle Blanchard and Marissa Caldwell. This goofy comedy-mystery follows two girls who attend the wedding of an ex-boyfriend, drink until they blackout, and wake up in their apartment with a dead body.
Mno Bimaadiziwin. Fall, 2021. Based around the experiences of a group of Indigenous people entering a sweat lodge, Mno Bimaadiziwin (meaning, ‘A good way of living’) is a story about the resiliency of love, healing, and of community in the face of trauma. Written by Ziigwen Mixemong and directed by Herbie Barnes. Mno Bimaadiziwin will be presented live at the Orillia Opera House as well as filmed for digital viewing.
Live streamed the Young Company from 4th Line Theatre
THE WOLVES
4th Line Theatre and Trent University’s Traill College Announce 2021 Young Company
From 4th Line Theatre’s 2018 production of Judith Thompson’s Who Killed Snow White?, directed by Kim Blackwell. Photo by Wayne Eardley, Brookside Studio.
4th Line Theatre and Trent University’s Traill College are excited to announce the 2021 Young Company, a group of young, diverse regional artists and performers, who will work with industry professionals to produce livestream virtual play readings and performance pieces this summer. As part of its Emerging VOICES Youth Apprenticeship Program, rural community youth volunteers and apprentices have always played a major role in 4th Line Theatre’s iconic history. From the first play at the Winslow Farm in 1992 to last year’s Bedtime Stories & Other Horrifying Tales, young community actors have captured authentic voices within their plays, allowing the theatre to continue to create epic productions for the past three decades.
Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell explains, “This summer’s Young Company is a chance to fill the gap for regional young people with the theatre being unable to offer its normal artistic opportunities. We will be affording local youth the chance to work with some incredibly creative artists on skills development including acting, directing, playwriting, clown, music and puppetry. The Young Company, in partnership with Traill College, will be a unique training experience.”
In order to expand its youth apprenticeship training opportunities, 4th Line Theatre have partnered with Trent University’s Traill College to launch this exciting, new Young Company initiative. Young Company members will train with industry professionals Maja Ardal, Brad Brackenridge, Brianna Hill, Lisa Ryder, Patti Shaughnessy and Hilary Wear to bring scripts to life and create original work.
Dr. Michael Eamon, Principal of Catharine Parr Traill College and Director of Trent University’s Continuing Education states “Trent University’s Traill College and 4th Line Theatre have enjoyed a long and fruitful association supporting dramatic expression in the community. We are excited to offer a home for the activities of the Young Company and look forward to expanding our support with the construction of the Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre next year. Both Trent University and 4th Line Theatre are committed to education, particularly of local youth. Situated in Peterborough’s downtown, Traill College offers the perfect spot for young actors to refine their craft. We hope that this partnership will strengthen the University’s unique bond with 4th Line Theatre as we share the value of expression, community engagement, and self-betterment through learning.”
The 2021 Young Company is led by Young Company Coordinator Madison Sheward (Bedtime Stories & Other Horrifying Tales) and its members are: Mohamed Abi, Kate Bemrose, Zachary Chiagozie, Maude Rose Craig (Who Killed Snow White?), Molly Dunn, Mosunmola Fadare (The Other: A Strange Christmas Tale), Huseyin Halil, Laurin Isiekwena, Sahira Q, Emma Khaimovich (Bedtime Stories & Other Horrifying Tales), Aisling MacQuarrie (Carmel), Alison Mcelwan, Frances Milner, Aisha Fazilahmed and Ty Cohen.
LIVESTREAM PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Admission is free and all live stream events begin at 7:00 PM EST. Register for each event via the Eventbrite links below and receive reminder emails prior to the livestream. The live stream events will be broadcasted on 4th Line Theatre’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZMAyjpmSq_jviIb7_7bLg
July 9, 2021 at 7 PM
The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Lisa Ryder
In this contemporary slice-of-life play, The Wolves, a girls’ indoor soccer team, practice drills as they prepare for a succession of games. As they warm up and talk about life, the girls navigate the politics of their personal lives. Each team member struggles to negotiate her individuality while being a part of a group. The team seems as if it may disband after the sudden death of one of the girls, but they manage to come together. In the end, the surviving team players prepare to play yet another game together – closer, stronger, wiser, and fiercer.
Streaming on the Prairie Theatre Exchange website until July 11: https://www.pte.mb.ca
Written by Ismaila Alfa
Directed by Cherissa Richards and Thomas Morgan Jones
Set concept by Cherissa Richards and Thomas Morgan Jones
Costumes by Joseph Abetria
Lighting by Jaymez
Sound by Deanna H. Choi
Original music by Ismaila Alfa
Ice River Films
Director, Sam Vent
Cast: Ismaila Alfa (voice over)
Melissa Langdon
Ray Strachan
Voice is a father’s love letter to his daughters on how to be a confident, useful citizen. It’s also a careful guide to being a devoted, caring father.
The Story. Ismaila Alfa is a radio broadcaster from Winnipeg. The catalyst for Voice was a job opportunity in Toronto. He went to Toronto for two weeks to audition for the job. He had to leave his daughters in the care of his ex-wife. He missed his daughters and lamented that they didn’t contact him regularly in the two weeks he was away. Were they ok? Would they forget him? They had their own lives to occupy their time, but still it rankled when he didn’t hear from them in calls or e-mails.
He got the job—as the host of CBC’s radio show Metro Morning although this is not actually said. Ismaila Alfa would have to relocate from Winnipeg to Toronto and he would not be able to bring his daughters with him, at least not right away. Voice is a means of noting what made Ismaila Alfa the man he is today, his ethics, beliefs, struggles, thoughts and character. It’s also a condensed means of passing on that wisdom to his daughters.
Ismaila Alfa was born in Nigeria and came to Canada as a young boy with his family, via Sydney, Australia. There is a warning to the streamed production that says that the production contains descriptions of racism and police brutality. Ismaila Alfa is Black.
Alfa was guided in his life by his father’s teachings and wisdom and now he is passing that on to his daughters. In his bracing, compelling play, Alfa says: “My Dad told me that if I didn’t feel like this year was way more challenging than last year, I’m not making progress…
“I was born knowing who I am. I didn’t know that I also had to figure out who everyone else thought I was. That was a lesson I learned when I came to Canada…I had an identity thrust upon me even before I needed I.D: who are you and where are you from?”
Race is obviously important to the narrative of Voice. Ismaila Alfa says, “I’m rich with race…Our identity isn’t who made us, it’s what we have made of ourselves with their guidance. My ancestors hold me up but I decided my direction through the maze we call life.” Culture was passed down from generation to generation.
Alfa has passed on that wisdom to his own daughters. “Lead by example. Adapt. Take every step with confidence but know when to change direction….Patience. Focus. Follow through. You are a gift. Family over anyone…I learn ‘cause I listen.”
I found Voice to be loaded with such wisdom I wanted to write it all down, or at least have a copy of the text with me. You get the sense of how important and urgent it was for Ismaila Alfa to pass on this wisdom to his girls in his absence, even though we know there is the phone, Facetime etc. to stay in touch.
The Production. Voice is performed on two round wood platforms. On one platform there are neat rows of milk crates piled one on top of another, full of neat notebooks and the occasional piece of clothing. They represent Ismaila Alfa’s packing to move to Toronto. A young woman (Melissa Langdon) in jeans and a casual, top surveys, the boxes. She represents Alfa’s three daughters. We hear the voice over of Ismaila Alfa speaking sometimes in personal musings, sometimes in poetry sometimes in the style of hip hop. The voice is rich and quietly compelling. Ismaila Alfa also composed the music for the piece, various rhythmic drumming, that added an urgency and heartbeat to the piece.
The young woman flips through the notebooks, selecting one by random and reading, then another then another. It’s as if she is getting a different idea of her father through his writings and this leads her to other crates and other notebooks. Almost by some innate sense she removes crates that are piled on top of each other to find one that has his sweatshirt in it. She takes it out carefully and smells it to get the scent of her father into her lungs. Co-directors Cherissa Richards and Thomas Morgan Jones have created in that image a sense of the daughter’s longing for her father and how she will miss him and how much she loves him. She finds another crate with his jean jacket in it and she puts it on. At another point she finds a pair of earrings that she puts on—they look like they might have been passed down from generation to generation. In any case these earrings seem apt for this character who is in embracing her identity.
On the other round wood platform is Ray Strachan as the father in comfortable pants, a zip-up sweat shirt over a shirt and shoes. He uses his own voice to express different aspects of his character. His platform is bare. We know the character is moving to another city. The mixed sense of longing and missing his daughter, mixed with the adventure of the new job is there in Ray Strachan’s face, body language and voice.
For most of the duration of the production both spaces are separate. When one platform is illuminated, the other is in darkness. The viewer wants the two characters to interact but first each character must navigate his/her own journey of discovery. The father has to express his feelings and the daughter has to discover her feelings by making her many discoveries of her father through his writing and thoughts. Only after each character has made their journey do they interact.
The sense of longing between father and daughter is so palpable in Voice, the love and bond between the two is so strong. Another wonderful piece of theatre from Prairie Theatre Exchange.
Voice streams on the Prairie Theatre Exchange website until July 11:
Streaming on stellartickets.com until June 7, 2021.
Plays on Demand.
Written by Adrienne Kennedy
Directed by Kenny Leon
Starring Audra McDonald
Warner Miller
Lizan Mitchell
Ben Rappaport
Adrienne Kennedy is an African-American playwright who is a towering pioneer in American theatre, writing about the Black experience in the United States, although one would hardly know it, since her plays had been rarely done over time. That has changed of late. A few months ago Round House Theatre in Maryland had an on-line festival of four of Kennedy’s plays where I first saw them. They were introduced by the likes of Jeremy O. Harris, who considers Kennedy a mentor, and Michael Kahn, former Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. who directed Kennedy’s plays at the beginning of her career and considers her a friend. The plays were a revelation. Alas they are never done here in Canada. One of the plays in that festival was Ohio State Murders.
Another reading of Ohio State Murders is being offered until June 7, as a fundraiser for the Actors’ Fund of America on demand. It stars the wondrous Audra McDonald reading the lead part of Suzanne Alexander.
The blurb on the play describes it this way:
“Ohio State Murders is an unusual look at the destructiveness of racism in the U.S. when Suzanne Alexander, a fictional African American writer, who returns to Ohio State University to talk about the violence in her writing, a dark mystery unravels.”
As Suzanne Alexander, Audra McDonald’s reading of the character is tempered, the pace is measured, almost unemotional, considering the play is packed with emotion. Suzanne Alexander tells how in 1949 she was admitted to Ohio State University as an undergraduate. She loved English but knew that Black students would not be admitted to the program. She took a course in English Literature with a young professor who initially taught Thomas Hardy’s
“Tess of the D’Urbervilles.” Suzanne Alexander wrote a paper for that class and the professor questioned if Alexander wrote it, it was so brilliant. The veiled racism is evident. A relationship between student and professor developed. The story took many turns; there was violence, murder, expulsion, loss. The quiet, deliberate performance of Audra McDonald as Suzanne only emphasizes the eye-popping resolution to the story. There is one section in which McDonald reveals Suzanne’s heart-squeezing emotion at what has happened to her that is both a surprise and devastating. She catches us unaware.
Adrienne Kennedy has chronicled the racism that a Black person has experienced in America through her plays. Her characters are complex; the stories are rich in detail and perception; the language creates a world that has not improved really changed over time. Kennedy is brilliant. Don’t miss this chance to hear the play and see this compelling performance by Audra McDonald.
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
I’m posting this whole press release from Talk Is Free Theatre that is a repeat of its initiative for a dinner and some theatre. it’s a great idea to aid the restaurant business in Barrie, Ont. and elsewhere. Give a look:
For Immediate ReleaseApril 23, 2021 TALK IS FREE THEATRE BUILDS ON LATEST STAR-STUDDED PROJECT’S MAJOR SUCCESS TO INCLUDE AND BENEFIT ALL LOCALLY OWNED RESTAURANTS IN BARRIE. “The readings were accomplished, the stories were clear and the humour and drama were expertly realized.” – Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter. Barrie, ON….Building on the wildly successful Dinner à la Art project launched earlier this month, TIFT Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak announced today the exclusive online readings, starring iconic international artists including Eric McCormack, Len Cariou, Chilina Kennedy, Ed Asner, Colin Mochrie, Cynthia Dale, Gavin Crawford, Daren A. Herbert and more, will be rebroadcast to benefit a greatly expanded number of participating businesses to include all of Barrie’s locally owned restaurants and qualifying retailers.
Patrons can now choose from over 100 of Barrie’s diverse community of locally owned restaurants and Downtown Barrie BIA businesses to purchase a meal or gift card and receive a complimentary link to an exclusive online reading. Individuals living outside of Barrie or are unable to redeem their purchase have the option to donate their purchase to a stranger. “The response to Dinner à la Artwas overwhelmingly positive both artistically and as a community supporting project. We are thrilled to expand this initiative to help benefit so many of Barrie’s restaurants and retailers with TIFT’s brand of unique theatrical experiences.” – Arkady Spivak, Artistic Producer, Talk Is Free Theatre. BROADCAST DATES (IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME) May 7, 2021 at 7pm
The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Adapted & Directed by Richard Ouzounian International star of Broadway, television and film, Emmy Award winner Eric McCormack, along with Broadway’s Beautiful: The Carole King Musical star Chilina Kennedy lead this brand-new adaptation of the seminal novel. May 9, 2021 at 7pm
She Stoops to Conquer By Oliver Goldsmith Directed by Richard Ouzounian Comedy superstars Colin Mochrie, best known for his work on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, alongside Gavin Crawford, alumni of This Hour Has 22 Minutes both star in this uproarious comedy. May 11, 2021 at 7pm
Heartbreak House By George Bernard Shaw Directed by Richard Ouzounian Award winner and star of television series Blue Bloods, Len Cariou and seven-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner star in this tragicomedy by acclaimed dramatist and literary icon, George Bernard Shaw. May 13, 2021 at 7pm
Riot By Andrew Moodie Directed by Tawiah M’Carthy Dora Award winners Daren A. Herbert and star of Mirvish Productions’ Kinky Boots, Vanessa Sears star in this award-winning drama that follows the Canadian response to the Rodney King Trial results in 1992. May 15, 2021 at 7pm
Bright Lights Written & Directed by Kat Sandler This razor-sharp dark comedy by Dora Award winner Kat Sandler features award winning actor Jeff Lillico and star of the popular television series The Expanse, Vanessa Smythe.HOW IT WORKS Purchases of a $30 CAD meal or gift card to any locally owned restaurant in Barrie or participating member of the Downtown Barrie BIA will qualify for access to any one of the exclusive readings. Individuals living outside of Barrie or those unable to redeem their purchase have the option to donate it to a stranger living in Barrie.
All purchases must be made through the qualifying restaurants or retailers of choice. After the purchase is made, send a picture of your receipt to dala@tift.ca with your name, phone number, and the reading you would like to attend. After your name has been registered, a confirmation email will be sent. Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection.
Women Without Men is a workplace drama laced with biting humor, set in the teacher’s lounge of a private girls’ boarding school in Ireland in the 1930s. The play explores the clash of conflicting natures and petty competitions that erupt amongst the school’s cloistered teaching staff. Playwright Hazel Ellis began her theatrical career in the 1930s as a member of the acting ensemble of the Gate Theatre in Dublin. She went on to write two plays for the company, including Women Without Men which was produced at the Gate in 1938. Despite acclaim, the play was never published or revived — until we produced the play’s belated American premiere to much acclaim in 2016 at New York City Center Stage II.
“An overlooked gem… An excellent production. There’s absolutely no grandstanding in director Jenn Thompson’s beautifully composed ensemble piece. Individually, the performances are distinctive, but the collective work of the company is even more impressive.”–VARIETY
https://minttheater.org/streaming-series
Wednesday, April, 7, 2021 7:00 pm
Reading of:
Heartbreak House.
INTERNATIONAL CANADIAN STARS LEAD NEW PROJECT TO SUPPORT LOCAL ECONOMIC RECOVERYFrom Barrie, Ontario: Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak announced Dinner à la Art, a brand-new community partnership project, that will bring five exclusive, online readings with iconic Canadian and international artists to homes around the world from April 7 to 11,2021.
The first reading is Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw and directed by Richard Ouzounian to be streamed on April 7, 2021 at 7pm. This one-time event will star Tony Award winner Len Cariou, best known for his portrayal of ‘Sweeney Todd’ in the original cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Film, Television and Stage icon Ed Asner. TIFT alumni and star of Royal Canadian Air Farce Craig Lauzon, Stratford and Shaw Festivals leading actor Alexis Gordon and star of TIFT’s internationally acclaimed The Curious Voyage Michael Torontow. The cast also includes Cynthia Dale, best known for her role as lawyer Olivia Monk in Street Legal and multiple seasons at the Stratford Festival. Joining the cast is Nicole Joy-Fraser, who has performed on West End and across Canada, and debuted her one-person production as part of TIFT’s Plural of She festival last summer.
Play readings for Dinner à la Art were selected and curated by Richard Ouzounian.
An important component of this project is to stimulate economic recovery of the region’s hardest hit, privately owned restaurants and retailers. Admission to any of the Dinner à la Art readings will be with the purchase of a meal or a gift card (a $30 CAD minimum). Purchased meals and gift cards can also be donated to a stranger by each participating restaurant.
This project was conceived to bring Simcoe County’s best elements of entertainment, fine dining, and local merchandise together for a unique, community-inspired event.
How it works Please visit TIFT’s website to see all participating restaurants (dine-in, take-out, and delivery options are available) and retailers. The purchase of $30 CAD or more to any of the participating businesses, an access code will be provided by the chosen outlet to receive a complimentary link from TIFT.
All purchases must be made through the participating restaurant or retailer of choice. After the purchase is made, an access code will be provided by the restaurant and a link to the reading will be provided by Talk Is Free Theatre.
Readings Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Starring Ed Asner, Len Cariou, Cynthia Dale, Alexis Gordon, Nicole Joy-Fraser, Craig Lauzon, And Michael Torontow
In
HEARTBREAK HOUSE By George Bernard Shaw, Directed by Richard Ouzounian
What happens when socialites, tycoons and drifters collide in the British countryside on the eve of World War I? Shaw’s Heartbreak House is a comedy that weaves together the deceptive nature of the ruling class, love triangles, and the fine line between order and catastrophe. -~Running time is 85 minutes~ Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection.
Thursday, April 8, 2021, 7:00 pm
Reading of:
Riot
MORE CANADIAN STARS OF STAGE AND SCREEN ANNOUNCED AS PART OF DINNER A LA ART, TO SUPPORT LOCAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Barrie, ON…Today, Talk Is Free Theatre released the title and cast of acclaimed artists for one more reading as part of Dinner à la Art. Riot was written in 1995 by Andrew Moodie and will be streaming for one night only on April 8, 2021. Directing this Chalmers Canadian Play Award winner is actor, playwright, and co-founder of Blue Bird Theatre Collective, Tawiah M’Carthy.
Starring inRiotis Dora Award-winning actor Daren A. Herbert, who is best known for his roles in television series Kim’s Convenience, Falling Skies, and several productions with Soulpepper. Fellow Dora Award winner Vanessa Sears who has performed across Canada for such companies as the Shaw Festival and Mirvish Productions is also cast in a major role. The cast also includes Cameron Grant, who has performed with the Shaw Festival and InspiraTO festival; Giovanni Spina who is an acting company member of Shakespeare in the Ruff and TIFT, and Jahlen Barnes, who has performed in featured roles with such companies as the Shaw Festival, Neptune Theatre, and TIFT.
The price of admission to any of these exclusive readings is a $30CAD minimum purchase from one of the local participating restaurants or retailers. To see the complete list of participating businesses, please click HERE.
Thursday, April 8, 2021
Starring Daren A. Herbert, Vanessa Sears, Jahlen Barnes, Cameron Grant, And Giovanni Spina
In
RIOT By Andrew Moodie, Directed by Tawiah M’Carthy
A dramatic and often humorous look at six black Canadians of diverse backgrounds who share a Toronto house. Their lives unfold against the backdrop of civil unrest, which erupted when the Los Angeles police officers on trial for the beating of Rodney King are acquitted. The fracas outside keeps intruding as characters clash, collide, and swap jokes about everything from racism to the status of Quebec as a distinct society, from Malcolm X to The Road to Avonlea.
~Running time is 90 minutes~
Audience Advisory Coarse language and adult content
Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection.
Friday, April 9, 2021 9 am to 10 amCIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5fm
I’m interviewing Sandra Laronde, the Artistic Director of Red Sky, a superb dance company specializing in telling Indigenous stories through dance.
Friday, April 9, 2021 7:00 pm
Reading of:
She Stoops to Conquer.
Part of Dinner à la Art Initiative from Talk is Free TheatreLet the laughter in! Colin Mochrie and Gavin Crawford lead cast of acclaimed artists in a one-night-only event for a good cause. Barrie, ON…Today, Talk Is Free Theatre announced that internationally renowned comedian Colin Mochrie will star in an exclusive online event with acclaimed artists as part of Dinner à la Art. Directed by Richard Ouzounian, the uproarious comedy She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith will be streamed for one night only on April 9, 2021 at 7pm.
Colin Mochrie is best known for his work on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and his featured roles in The Red Green Show, Murdoch Mysteries, and many more. The cast also includes Gavin Crawford, whose television show, The Gavin Crawford Show, won the Gemini Award for comedy, and Dora Award winner Rebecca Northan, who is best known for her hilarious roles on Alice, I Think, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Multi-award winning TIFT alumni and Stratford leading actor Gabi Epstein will be playing a featured role along with local professional Jason Allin, whose one-person production Chaplin: About Facewas commissioned by TIFT. Joining the cast are Dora Award winning performer Malindi Ayienga, who debuted her one-person production last summer as part of TIFT’s Plural of She festival, Brendan Chandler, the current star of TIFT’s indefinitely touring production of Tales of an Urban Indian, and Noah Beemer who has performed with such companies as Young People’s Theatre and TIFT to name a few.
The price of admission to any of these exclusive readings is a $30CAD minimum purchase from one of the local participating restaurants or retailers. To see the complete list of participating businesses, please click HERE.
Friday, April 9, 2021
Starring Colin Mochrie, Gavin Crawford, Jason Alin, Malindi Ayienga, Noah Beemer, Brendan Chandler, Gabi Epstein and Rebecca Northan
In
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER By Oliver Goldsmith, Directed by Richard Ouzounian
Some things have not in changed in the world of romance since 1773 when She Stoops to Conquer was first performed. Egotistical men still make fools of themselves pursuing women who are far more intelligent and sensible than them. To illustrate how contemporary this classic is, director Richard Ouzounian has assembled a cast featuring some of the finest comedians available today. The Zoom stage is set for hilarity.
~Running time is 90 minutes~ Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection. Saturday, April 10, 2021, 7:00 pmReading of:Bright LightsLook up! An out-of-this-world experience with stars of stage and screen is coming this April. Streaming online to screens around the globe for one-night-only on April 10, 2021 is the razor-sharp farce Bright Lights, written and directed by Dora Award winner Kat Sandler. Performed by celebrated Canadian artists, this exclusive reading is part of Dinner à la Art, a new project from TIFT to help support some of Simcoe County’s hardest-hit, privately-owned restaurants and retailers.
Garnering numerous accolades since its sold-out premiere in 2016, this masterfully orchestrated comedy stars distinguished stage actor and Dora Award winner Jeff Lillico, whose recent credits include the award-winning television series On the Basis of Sex. The cast also includes award-winning performer Jakob Ehman who starred in the film adaptation of The Drawer Boy and several TIFT productions including The Libertine, and Gotcha. Featured roles are played by the Stratford Festival’s Tahirih Vejdani, whose work can also be seen on CBC and Netflix series, Dora Award nominated performer Brandon Antonio, whose credits include The Rocky Horror Show and Next to Normal, and Vanessa Smythe, best known for her role as ‘Michio’ on the television series The Expanse and performed her solo production as part of TIFT’s Plural of She festival last summer.
The price of admission to any of the exclusive Dinner à la Art readings is a $30CAD minimum purchase from one of the local participating restaurants or retailers. An access code will be provided to anyone making a purchase between now and the performance dates. To see the complete list of participating businesses, please click HERE.
Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 7pm
Bright Lights
Starring Brandon Antonio, Jakob Ehman, Jeff Lillico, Vanessa Smythe and Tahirih Vejdani In
BRIGHT LIGHTS Written and Directed by Kat Sandler
Bright Lights is a dark comedic snapshot into an hour in the life of an alien abduction support group after its leader is accused of being an alien. How do they decide who to believe when everything is shrouded in absurdity? ~Running time is 90 minutes~ Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection. Sunday, April 11, 2021. 7:00 p.mReading of:The Great Gatsby.Eric McCormack and Chilina Kennedy star in a one-night-only event to help support local restaurants and retailers across Simcoe County. Barrie, ON…Talk Is Free Theatre announced today the title and star-studded cast of one more reading as part of Dinner à la Art. Streaming for one night on April 11, 2021 at 7pm is a new adaptation of the seminal novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The classic novel was adapted for online audiences by Richard Ouzounian, who also directs.
Playing the role of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby is international star of Broadway, Film and Television, and best known for his role as Will Truman on NBC’s smash hit sitcom Will & Grace,Eric McCormack. Star of Broadway’s Beautiful: The Carole King MusicalChilina Kennedy will be playing debutante ‘Daisy Buchanan’. The cast also includes TIFT co-founder and Stratford leading actor Mike Nadajewski, Kimberly-Ann Truong, best known for her featured role in the Stratford Festival’s The Rocky Horror Show, Autumn-Joy Dames, who has been featured in Legally Blonde, and Sister Act; Griffin Hewitt from TIFT’s production of Into the Woods; the Stratford Festival’s Aidan deSalaiz, and Montreal based Gabe Maharjan, who has performed with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
The price of admission to any of these exclusive readings is a $30CAD minimum purchase from one of the local participating restaurants or retailers To see the complete list of participating businesses, please click HERE.
April 11, 2021
The Great Gatsby Starring Eric McCormack, Chilina Kennedy, Autumn-Joy Dames, Aidan deSalaiz, Griffin Hewitt, Gabe Maharjan, Mike Nadajewski, And Kimberly-Ann Truong
In
THE GREAT GATSBY By F. Scott Fitzgerald, Adapted and Directed by Richard Ouzounian
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story of romantic obsession in the Roaring Twenties gets an intimate and searching re-examination in this Zoom adaptation by Richard Ouzounian, the first dramatic look at this story since it went into public domain this year. Eric McCormack stars as the mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby and Chilina Kennedy is Daisy, the woman he loved, lost and tries to win again…with tragic consequences for all concerned. -~Running time is 90 minutes~
Technical Requirements A valid email address. A good internet connection.
(not to be confused by the play Bug by Tracy Letts)
ISBN 978-1-927922-66-8
Scirocco Drama
As we have not been in a theatre for a year to see a live performance, I’m reviewing the next best thing, a text of a recently published play. Previously I reviewed Controlled Damage by Andrea Scott. This time I’m reviewing bug by Yolanda Bonnell. In both cases I bought the text.
From the blurb of bug: “The Girl traces her life from surviving the foster care system to her struggles with addictions. She fights, hoping to break the cycle in order to give her daughter a different life than the one she had. The Mother sits in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recounting memories of the daughter that was taken from her, and the struggles of living on the streets in Northern Ontario. They are both followed by Manidoons, a physical manifestation of the trauma and addiction that crawl across generations.
bug is a solo performance and artistic ceremony that highlights the ongoing effects of colonialism and intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous women, as well as testimony to the women’s resistance and strength.”
The Story.
The text begins with circles (characters in the play will meet in support circles). The sound of a drumbeat. The importance of ancestors and elders is established, as is nature, the searching to understand what one does not understand and metaphor, symbolism and resilience.
The play is about the cycles of despair, trying to overcome it, failing, trying again. The lives of The Mother and The Girl will be entwined (encircled?) because they both experienced the same things, try as they might not to. The Mother was addicted to alcohol and constantly tried to stop. A saving grace was her daughter. The Mother loved her unconditionally. Eventually her daughter was taken away by the authorities. A cycle of foster home placements followed for The Girl. She became addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, food and drugs. She found ‘love’ with boys and men. She got pregnant. When The Girl’s daughter was born The Girl gave her baby unconditional love as well. (The Girl says: “All I wanted was to love my baby the way I wasn’t.”)
But always present were Manidoons, ‘a physical manifestation of the trauma and addictions that crawl across generations.” Their grip was so tight first on The Mother and then The Girl, trying to escape was almost futile. That didn’t mean they didn’t try with all their might.
In one harrowing scene The Girl is bathing her baby daughter in the bathtub and singing to her when Manidoons entices The Girl away. (“At some point in the song, her MANIDOONS hand begins to creep and pull her away. She tries to fight it momentarily but eventually it wins, both hands infected, crawling up her body.”) When The Girl breaks free of the grip of Manidoons she races back to her daughter and finds her submerged in the water. We fear the baby is dead. The Girl saves her. But again, the authorities take The Girl’s daughter from her.
Yolanda Bonnell’s language is vivid, spare and onomatopoeic—the choice of words evokes sounds. For example, in the first of five Manidoons scenes:
“….The sounds of escape
The pitter
Pitter
Of helplessness
The patter
Patter of despair
The tip and the toe of running towards the thing she loves the most in this world
Of thirst and
Need and
Want and…”
The words sound like drum beats, rhythmic beating. Hypnotizing and commanding. The play is full of such language.
Yolanda Bonnell’s play is vital, provocative and important in illuminating Indigenous stories, traditions and ceremonies. As with all works of art, the play transcends one specific culture and has resonance in others depending of course on the reader. While Manidoons is so specific to Indigenous culture with its particular definition, that manifestation could also have resonance to ‘the Devil’ in Christianity; ‘the Dybbuk’ in Judaism, the ‘gods’ in Greek mythology, the crow in Australian Aboriginal culture, and many other names in other cultures.
The Girl is fascinated by fire flies, a recurring symbol, she tries to catch them and their light. They offer her light in her dark world.
bug is both poetic and justifiably brutal in what happens to The Girl and her Mother. Yolanda Bonnell shines a light on issues that should concern us all. Her characters have demons and resilience in fighting them. And in a shining moment the play ends with Hope.
Comment.
The text of bug contains many informative essays. One is “A Decolonial Act of Resistance” which explains why manidoons collective (Yolanda Bonnell and Cole Alvis the director of the theatre production of bug) made the decision not to invite white theatre critics to review the production when it played in Toronto in February 2020. I would be remiss if I did not respectfully address this decision and the essay.
To be accurate, Ms Bonnell writes: “In our process and work of decolonizing theatre practices, centering marginalized voices, particularly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) is incredibly important. There is an aspect to cultural work—or in our case, artistic ceremony—which does not align with current colonial reviewing practices. In order to encourage a deeper discussion of the work, we are inviting critiques or thoughts from BIPOC folks only. There is a specific lens that white settlers view cultural work through and at this time, we’re just not interested in bolstering that view, but rather the thoughts and views of fellow marginalized voices and in particular, Indigenous women.”
Ms Bonnell writes they received mixed responses to the request, some supportive, much of it vitriolic. Welcome to my world.
Conspicuous by its absence in this essay is any Canadian historical context that notes that for at least four decades the theatrical stories, plays and voices of many marginalized peoples, not just Indigenous, were supported and championed by the very people Ms Bonnell wanted to exclude from reviewing her production.
Also missing is any reference that the whole practice of reviewing plays in the media has been decimated over the last several years. There used to be four daily newspapers in Toronto, all of which reviewed shows regularly. Now there is only one newspaper (The Globe and Mail) that thinks theatre is important to review regularly. NOW Magazine used to review every professional production. Since ownership changed hands reviews are few and far between. CBC Radio used to review theatre, dance and music (Where I reviewed theatre weekly). That stopped completely about 11 years ago when ‘their demographic changed.’ This ushered in the world of the (unpaid) blogger who had something to say and created a platform for themselves to say it. Welcome to my world again. I am also fortunate to review theatre for CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 for CIUT FM a radio station that caters to other voices, with its multi-racial, multi-ethnic shows. Again, we volunteer and don’t get paid.
Also decimated were criticism programs at Universities, colleges etc. to learn the craft of arts reviewing.
New, culturally diverse voices are always welcome. Room is always made in the circle for a different point of view. What Ms Bonnell seems to be espousing is exclusion. And equating a person’s perceived skin colour (white) with the lens with which they view anything, suggests racism to me. It’s as if the perceived skin colour negates a person’s life experience, character, education, theatre going experience, perception, curiosity, embracing of other ideas, observations, analytical abilities and all the other myriad aspects that go into looking at theatre and forming an opinion. This blinkered attitude cuts off discussion, respectful disagreement and exchange of ideas. It renders any kind of desire to understanding the other side of the story as hopeless.
But them Ms Bonnell has the wonderful essay: “Decoding Manidoons—An instructional manual” in which she explains the five Manidoons scenes in the play. Most important for our purposes is the first paragraph: “I initially wrote this manual for our design team so they would grasp a deeper understanding of Manidoons’ text—their needs and wants hidden within the poetry. So I give this here, but also understand that whatever you, the reader, feel any of these words mean to you—you are correct. Nothing only means one thing in this story.”
Hallelujah!
For years, for every theatre discussion group I have led; every theatre workshop or reviewing workshop I’ve conducted, I have always said that there are as many different opinions of a play as there are people in the audience watching it. And those opinions are all valid. They aren’t equal, but they are valid. It is so heartening that Yolanda Bonnell has arrived at this realization—that all opinions are valid. Discussion and understanding is possible and Ms Bonnell gives us that most important word used at the end of her play, HOPE.
As many of you know, I have been giving out Tootsie Pops for many years to people in the theatre as a way of saying ‘thank you for making the theatre so special for me.’ Instead of doing top 10 lists of the best theatre and performances of the year, I do The Tootsie Awards that are personal, eclectic, whimsical and totally subjective.
Here are this year’s winners:
PEOPLE
The Guts of a Bandit Award
Allyson McMackon
Allyson McMackon founded Theatre Rusticle in 1998. She has been its Artistic Director and moving force since then. The company uses balletic movement to dig deeper into the meaning of classics. McMackon has a keen sense of artistry and daring. She disbanded the company this year but left us with one intoxicating, sensually provocative production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This was the first year that the company did not receive funding. That didn’t stop her. She has the guts of a bandit. I will miss her stunning vision in all things theatre and I’m not alone.
Maja Ardal
Maja Ardal was hired by Arkady Spivak, Artistic Producer of Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. (more on him below), to curate a program of plays. The result was The Plural of She Festival devoted to plays created and performed by feminine-identifying artists. The plays were bracing, funny, bold and revelatory about race, culture, dealing with sadness and trying to fit in to a world that might not be accepting. The plays were done in backyards of private homes in Barrie and each performance was sold-out. Maja Ardal is one terrific spirit.
The Jon Kaplan Mensch Award
Nina Lee Aquino (Factory Theatre)
Artistic director Nina Lee Aquino adapted quickly to having to close her theatre and adjust her season to the digital reality creating the Satellite Season. She directed a re-imagined production of House by Daniel MacIvor staring Kevin Hanchard, filmed in his house which made us look at that play in a different light. Then she had playwright David Yee re-write his play acts of faith for the digital reality with stunning results. Aquino is offering the whole digital season to her audiences for free. As she has said, “Since we can (offer the season for free) we should.” She then created “The Bedrock Creators’ Initiative” in which playwrights are invited to develop their plays at Factory Theatre and are guaranteed a production of the play—such commitment seems a rarity. Nina Lee Aquino is leading by example.
Kim Blackwell (4th Line Theatre)
Kim Blackwell initiated a farmer’s market every Friday in the summer on the grounds of the Winslow Farm to help various vendors during the time of COVID and to give work to the folks who usually work for 4th Line Theatre. The 4th Line Theatre season was cancelled this summer. Blackwell also organized a series of 27 monologues from past 4th Line Theatre shows that supporters of 4th Line Theatre could arrange to hear by phone. For Free. The actors got paid. The ‘audience’ members were wonderfully entertained and hearing those monologues spoken with such passion by the actors, brought back vivid memories of the plays themselves. She also co-wrote with Lindy Finlan Bedtime Stories and Other Horrifying Tales, a spooky play for Halloween that took place outdoors, at night, in the fields of Winslow Farm. People flocked for the experience. The cast was terrific.
Tim Carroll and Tim Jennings (the Shaw Festival)
They came up with a plan to employ as many actors as they could who were members of the Festival who saw their shows cancelled. They programmed concerts sung by eight singers, played by musicians and employed them for as long as they could. Then they laid them off and immediately re-hired them for outreach and education for the community.
Mitchell Cushman (Outside the March)
In good times Mitchell Cushman and his inventive company, Outside the March, create theatre. In bad times—pandemic, COVID, closed theatres, Mitchell Cushman and his inventive company create theatre. He and his team fashioned The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries in which the ‘audience’ suggested the mystery and the company, in a series of phone calls over six days, solved the mystery. In each call the ‘detectives’ or investigator LISTENED intently to the ‘audience’ for clues and then ran with them in the next calls. The reach of this initiative was international. The New York Times was mighty impressed. And again, actors got paid for their labours.
Then, not sitting on their laurels, the company, in collaboration with Talk Is Free Theatre and the National Arts Centre, produced Something Bubbled, Something Blue, an outdoor wedding in which all the participants were encased in their own huge plastic sphere. The audience watched as they were positioned around a roped circumference. Mitchell Cushman and company adapt, switch, change and continue as usual in a different way. Take a look at the short video and be amazed at the creativity:
When does this man sleep? As the company’s Artistic Producer, he is either busy applying for grants that will help actors in his company with paying for childcare, or with guaranteeing them a contract for three years with a minimum wage, or with budgeting so cleverly that he can offer audiences free theatre for three years if they pay a $25 deposit that will be returned to them when they see a play. Then there is the theatre he produces for his company. Often the plays are forgotten classics or musicals that were not popular but he finds intriguing and he’s right.
And there are the wild experiments such as The Curious Voyage of a few years ago when he engaged hardy audience members to commit to a scheme to go on a curious voyage of theatre that began in Barrie, Ont. and finished in London, England over three days. And there are the readings he has for actors not open to the public because he wants an excuse to put actors to work and pay them for their efforts. He is a theatre man to his toes who cherishes his ‘babies’ (his actors) while he pushes them to be as good as they can be and then challenges them to do something terrifying to challenge them i.e. Michael Torontow, a wonderful actor, was encouraged to direct his first show and he started with Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, a really difficult piece and the result was wonderful.
And this summer, with COVID closing theatres, Spivak got the idea of a festival of plays done outside in private backyards. Maja Ardal, an extraordinary theatre creator, came up with the name, The Plural of She, and curated the plays.
Spivak has not only produced some of the best theatre I usually see in a year, he does it in Barrie, Ont. and has a fiercely loyal, daring audience who support him. Bravo in every conceivable way.
Julie Tepperman (Convergence Theatre)
Background. Convergence Theatre composed of Co-Artistic Directors Julie Tepperman and Aaron Willis, specializes in site-specific plays. But we have a pandemic that is keeping us isolated at home so we can’t go outside to see theatre. Why should that stop the fearless Convergence Theatre? In this instance Julie Tepperman created The Corona Variations in which she wrote (for the most part) stories and scenarios that one audience member at a time listened to via several phone calls over one evening. Julie Tepperman also directed the actors presenting the stories.
The playlets depicted what one might be going through in a pandemic: loneliness, pining for loved ones or friends, the anxiety of a senior. Julie Tepperman even got the listener to engage in a playlet as well. The stories were poignant and hilarious. Julie Tepperman beautifully captured the whimsy and depth of emotion that the characters were going through, and by extension, the audience.
I loved the complex effort of the whole endeavour and Tepperman’s Herculean effort in scheduling what story was to play at what time. It all seemed effortless. This is such a bold idea—phone plays for quarantine and bravo to all of the participants for engaging with such commitment. Again Tepperman engaged the audience, hired actors who needed the work and they all did and paid them for it.
The One(s) to Watch Award
Malindi Ayienga
A gifted theatre creator. She worked with Maja Ardal to create You and I a show for toddlers for Young People’s Theatre, getting right down on the ground to engage with them at eye-level before the ‘show’ began. Grace, kindness and joy was in that performance and the children responded.
In her show, Justice for Malindi Ayienga for the Plural of She Festival for Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. she wrote and performed her one-person show about being the child of a white mother and a black father (from Kenya) and thought about how she fit into the world. She went to Kenya to investigate her roots. The play was one of the results of her ‘journey.’
Another result was that Ayienga and a group of friends formed Diva Day International to fund-raise to buy and send Diva Cups to girls in Kenya. Ayienga found that when a girl got her period in Kenya, she was ostracized from the class and had to sit at the back on a bench covered in sand. Ayienga and company felt the Diva Cup would be important in alleviating the embarrassment the girls experienced when they got their periods.
Ayienga is an artist with compassion, perception, sensitivity and she gives the rest of us a lot to think about as we navigate our own lives.
Tabia Lau
Tabia Lau is a PhD candidate in Theatre & Performance Studies at York University. In her play The Antigone Play she imagines Antigone’s story as one for our time. The production was presented as a showcase for the performance students.
Lau has such a compelling voice and vision in taking this mythic Greek story and applying it to our modern world. She has a dandy sense of dialogue that is gorgeous and vivid and makes her audience feel smart when they can spot her literary references in her work. If The Antigone Play is an example of the quality of the work Lau produces while she is a student I can’t wait to see her next play.
Xavier Lopez
Xavier Lopez is a talented actor who has distinguished himself in such plays as For Both Resting and Breathing for Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. and No Clowns Allowed at the Grand Canyon. But he was truly blazing as Angel in Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train in his Soulpepper Company debut. He played a religious man who was in jail for killing a man by shooting him in the butt. Angel said he was innocent. As Angel, Lopez was full of passion, conviction, righteous indignation and went toe to toe with Daren A. Herbert’s performance as Lucius Jenkins. Electrifying.
Natasha Mumba
Natasha Mumba distinguishes herself in every performance she gives, whether it’s at the Shaw Festival, or in a production for an indie theatre in Toronto, or virtually as she did in acts of faith for Factory Theatre, her work is masterful.
In acts of faith Mumba played Faith, a young woman supposedly with prophetic gifts, and gave a thoughtful, nuanced performance. I saw the sass and resolve of Faith in this bold performance. I also see a delicacy and tenacity that pervades her characters and makes them unforgettable.
Andrea Scott
Andrea Scott is a compelling playwright. Last year her blazingly intelligent play Every Day She Rose (co-written with Nick Green) challenged our perceptions of race, communication, friendship, respect and how we deal with uncomfortable situations and each other. This played in Toronto at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, produced by Nightwood Theatre.
The play of Andrea Scott that really intrigues me is Controlled Damage that played earlier this year at the Neptune Theatre in Nova Scotia. It’s about Viola Desmond a Black business woman who lived in Nova Scotia and experienced a racist incident that took place in 1946 that had a ripple effect for almost 70 years. Viola Desmond is the face on the Canadian $10.
It’s symbolic that the play had its premier in Nova Scotia. Naturally I am eager to see it here in Toronto. What impresses me about Andrea Scott, besides her fierce abilities as a playwright, is her determination and conviction to have Controlled Damage produced to the point that she was the moving force behind its production. She had a collaborator in the company b current, but it was Andrea Scott’s drive to find the money for the production; pitch the play to the Neptune Theatre, and make sure that the play had presence on social media. The result was that the production sold out its run. The play is now published. I think it’s a matter of time that a smart Toronto producer will produce it here. Andrea Scott is a force of theatre.
Jeremy O. Harris
He’s an exception in my list because he’s American—over the years everyone who’s received a “Tootsie” has been Canadian. And ‘exception’ is the word to describe him in every single way.
When he was a third-year student in the graduate program in playwrighting at Yale University he wrote Slave Play that looked at racism, class, slavery, sex and privilege. It was workshopped and produced Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop.
Slave Play then transferred to Broadway where Mr. Harris was listed as one of the producers. He asked for and got a commitment that tickets would be set aside at a very reasonable price (usually unheard of for Broadway) for people who looked like him: Black, students, young, working two jobs to support themselves, who wanted to see a play but couldn’t usually afford the ticket price.
He asked for and got an evening set aside only for a Black audience so that people who might have been uncomfortable being in an almost all white audience could see a play with people who looked like them on the stage and in the audience. It was a triumph.
He asked for and got, not only talk-back discussions in the theatre after the play, but also more extended talk-back discussions at another location the next day. It’s a complex play. It invites a lot of discussion.
Slave Play was nominated for 12 Tony Award nominations, unprecedented for a play in one season.
During the pandemic Jeremy O. Harris has been busy. With New York Theatre Workshop he funded two $50,000 commissions for new works for Black women playwrights.
Upon sighing a development deal with HBO Jeremy O. Harris also asked for and got a $250,000 annual discretionary theatre production fund which helped produce streamed versions of the Off-Broadway plays, Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Circle Jerk. Each attracted an audience of 10,000 people, many of whom were new to the theatre.
Mr. Harris created “The Golden Collection, named for his grandfather Golden Harris who died two weeks before the playwright learned thatSlave Play had been booked at Broadway’s Golden Theatre. “The Golden Collection” was launched in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign. The collection of plays is to go to a library in a Black community in each of the 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.
The plays selected for the collection include: Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry, The Colored Museumby George C. Wolfe, An Octoroonby Branden Jacobs Jenkins, Sweat by Lynn Nottage, A Collection of Plays(Wedding BandandTrouble in Mind) by Alice Childress, Fucking A by Suzan-Lori Parks, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation by Jackie Sibblies Drury, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, Is God Is by Aleshea Harris, Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith, Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy, For Colored GirlsWho Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enufby Ntozake Shange, Bootycandyby Robert O’Hara, Dream on Monkey Mountainby Derek Walcott and Slave Play.
He pledged fees and royalties from Slave Play to fund $500 microgrants administered by the Bushwick Starr Theatre (an award-winning theater in New York) to 152 U.S. based playwrights.
He gave the proceeds from the streamed Heroes of the Fourth Turning production to the Playwrights Horizons relief fund for theatre artists. (Playwrights Horizons is the theatre that first produced Heroes of the Fourth Turning Off-Broadway).
He has sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden urging him to revive the Federal Theater Project (“The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States.”) He then got Seth Meyers on his show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” to promise he would spread the word to his prodigious, illustrious twitter followers and have them urge Biden to revive the FTP.
And Jeremy O. Harris is a great fan of our own Jordan Tannahill, especially his book “Theatre for the Unimpressed.”
Jeremy O. Harris is 31 years-old. He has and will change the face and the reach of theatre for the better by making it welcoming to a broader, more diverse audience.
PRODUCTIONS
In Person Productions.
The Play That Sums Up Our Lousy Year Award
Sweat
Written by Lynn Nottage.
Co-produced by Canadian Stage and Studio 180
“A group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs, work together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.”
Yes, there are laughs, but there is anger, rage, racism, disappointment, violence done to an innocent man that left him brain-damaged and friendships and lives in ruins. In the end, a hard-worker in the bar, who many there either ignored or insulted, became the manager of the bar. He took care of the brain-damaged man and gave him a job wiping the tables, because as he said, “that’s how it oughta be.”
In the end, compassion, giving a helping hand and doing it quietly wins, because “that’s how it oughta be.”
The Wet Dream Award
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Re-imagined and directed by Allyson McMackon.
Produced by Theatre Rusticle
This was a sexy, raunchy, dangerous and touching production full of director Allyson McMackon’s signature touches: physically robust movement with sensitive attention to the meaning of the play. It was a production that celebrated: love, marriage, fidelity, confusing emotions, jealousy, nature, super-natural worlds, misguided but sensual fairies and the huge, open heart of the theatre.
This was Allyson McMackon’s swan-song and the end of the company. Damn! What a loss.
The Well-Earned Ache In Your Heart Award
This Is How We Got Here
Written by Keith Barker
Produced by Native Earth
Keith Barker has written a play about grief that transcends cultures, religions, beliefs and the differences between peoples and brought everyone together to appreciate and experience what his grieving, wounded characters were experiencing. Estranged parents grieve over the loss of their son who took his own life. How do you give comfort with such loss? Barker writes beautifully and eloquently about how you don’t get over such a loss, but you do get through the grief of it. Cathartic and cleansing.
Is It Real Or Is It Memorex Award
Marjorie Prime.
Written by Jordan Harrison
Produced by Coal Mine Theatre.
Are the characters clones? Are they real? Who’s alive? Who isn’t? The play and production were provocative, complex and unsettling. But the chance to see Martha Henry act in this tiny theatre in Toronto was a gift. The rest of the cast: Sarah Dodd, Beau Dixon and Gordon Hecht was wonderful, as was Stewart Arnott’s sensitive, detailed direction.
The Oil Slick Award
Oil
Written by Ella Hickson
Produced by ARC
Ella Hickson has written a play about the lure, dangers and pervading presence of oil through the ages. Co-directors Aviva Armour-Ostroff and Christopher Stanton created a world that was claustrophobic and accentuated class and position. Designer Jackie Chau’s design was so inventive with a rusting oil drum in the walkway into the space, oil drips along the top of the set and various appliances in the shape of mini-oil drums, we got the message. The cast was superlative. But the hold that oil has on us was frightening. The land acknowledgement came at the end and melded into an indictment of oil pipelines going through Indigenous land.
I Can’t Stand Not Doing Theatre Award
Alphonse
Written byWajdi Mouawad
Co-produced by Theaturtle and Shakespeare in Action.
Alphonse is a play about isolation and uncertainty and the kind of theatre we have missed for so long. The imaginative direction of the production by Alon Nashman and the multi-layered, vibrant performance by Kaleb Alexander are pure joy giving the audience a wonderful opportunity to applaud. It was the first live play to be done in a park in the summer after the first lockdown.
The play is about Alphonse, a lost boy wandering a road who spins a series of stories, all while various people are looking for him.
I loved the open-hearted aspect of this production and everything surrounding it. Alon Nashman, the artistic director of Theaturtle, says that he so missed creating theatre that he couldn’t stand not doing it any longer so he engaged Kaleb Alexander to play Alphonse and collaborated with Shakespeare in Action to produce it. Bless them.
There is Another Stratford Festival Award
Here for Now Open-Air Theatre Festival
Fiona Mongillo is the fearless Artistic Producer of Here for Now Open-Air Theatre Festival. She has created this six-show summer festival to bring live theatre to the people of Stratford (and those who think nothing of driving from Toronto to Stratford to see live theatre) using local talent. Storytelling is the most important endeavor of the festival.
The plays are eclectic in nature and tone, varying from the true story of an abused wife who got even in Whack!; the wildly inventive Instant Theatre in which the audience provides the suggestions and the cast of four improvises the plays; The Dark Lady is a wonderful work of imagination about who ‘the Dark Lady’ was in Shakespeare’s sonnets; A Hundred Words for Snow is a story of love, devotion, and fulfilling a wish to a parent; Infinite Possibilities is a bit of whimsy about the truth about Shakespeare and others told by Shakespeare himself and I See The Crimson Wave tells the story of Nat Love, an African-American former slave who was a cowboy at the turn of the last century, who loved words and had vivid adventures. And it was done in haiku.
So Many Variations of She Award:
The Plural of She Festival.
Maja Ardal curated this festival with the following plays: Having Hope: A Hand Drum Song Cycle, Smart, In Case We Disappear, These Are The Songs I Sing What I Am Sad, Justice for Malindi Ayienga and The Cure for Everything.
As I said when praising Maja Ardal, the plays were bracing, challenging funny, bold and revelatory about race, culture, dealing with sadness and trying to fit in to a world that might not be accepting.
Digital Productions, streamed, etc.
TO Live—Living Room Series
TO Live has produced a series of 100 short videos involving a cross-section of Toronto’s vibrant artists such as: the music of Quique Escamilla, Njo Kong Kie, the vibrant dance of Esie Mensah, Travis Knight, the poetry of Vanessa Smythe, a compelling scene enacted by Suzanne Roberts Smith, storytelling and drumming from Yolanda Bonnell, family history and the importance of creations passed down as told by Santee Smith, the buoyant humour of Tita Collective, the marionettes of Ronnie Burkett, the glorious voice of Teiya Kasahara and so many more artists expressing their art during COVID. You can check out all 100 artists:
A compelling production of a gripping play in this time of isolation.
The production of House by Daniel MacIvor was supposed to be the last production in the 50th anniversary season of Factory Theatre. COVID-19 put a stop to that and the production was cancelled. But the ever-resourceful Daniel MacIvor suggested to Nina Lee Aquino, Factory Theatre’s Artistic Director, and the director of House, that he tweak the play to reflect they are in isolation and that they do a one-off on-line version. And so they did.
The Story. Victor is a disappointed man in work, marriage and in life in general. The production took place in Kevin Hanchard’s basement (he plays Victor in this one man show). MacIvor gave Nina Lee Aquino and Kevin Hanchard license to add subtle references to the script that reflects that Kevin Hanchard is a Black actor. It added such resonance to the production.
It Grabs You By the Throat Award
Les Blancs
Written by Lorraine Hansberry
Produced by the National Theatre (Great Britain) for NT LIVE
The play and the production are brilliant, timely and gut-wrenching.
The Story. Les Blancs (The Whites) takes place in a fictional South African country at the turn of the 19th and 20th century and reflects how the white population control and rule the black population, until the blacks have had enough and take matters into their own hands.
The Production. The production is beautifully directed by Yaël Farber, using traditional music, the Xhosa language in some cases, dance and symbolism.
Hansberry gives the many sides of the story, from the point of view of the well-meaning, to the wilfully ignorant, to the deliberately oppressive and those who are fed up and will not take that treatment anymore. Her perceptions of the politics and mindset of the colonizer are razor sharp and her dialogue in getting that across is astonishing. This is a splendid production of a blistering play that every single person should see.
Not all Black Actors Want to Play Othello Award
American Moor
By Keith Hamilton Cobb.
Produced by Red Bull Theatre (New York City)
American Moor is a stunning, poetic punch in the gut.The play examines the experience and perspective of Black men in America through the metaphor of William Shakespeare’s character, Othello. The play is a doozy.
An African-American actor named Keith is auditioning for the role of Othello in an American production. The director is young and white.
The play takes the form of Keith quoting speeches from Othello and other Shakespeare plays as part of his audition and to the audience for context. We learn that Keith was confined by a director’s view of him, who confined him only to parts for Black characters.
It’s a reflection of the world of Black or BIPOC actors. A well-intentioned but tone-deaf, insensitive director is going to tell them the meaning of something they already know in their bones.
I think playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb has written an exquisitely poetic, bristling play specifically about a Black actor dealing with a blinkered white director. But from a universal perspective it’s about a Black person who has to contend with white privilege and he’s had it up to here with dealing with it. It’s Keith Hamilton Cobb’s personal eruption of what a Black person or person of colour has to deal with when they are not seen or heard.
Until the Flood
Written and Performed by Dael Orlandersmith
Produced by the Conservatory Rep Theatre of St. Louis.
A shattering piece of verbatim performance theatre about the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Dael Orlandersmith is stunning.
In 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri Michael Brown, a black youth allegedly stole a box of cigars. The police were called and Officer Darren Wilson allegedly shot Mr. Brown several times and killed him. The details of what exactly happened were confusing. Officer Wilson said he shot in self-defence. Alleged witnesses disagreed. Officer Wilson was found innocent of any wrongdoing by a Grand Jury and was released.
Dael Orlandersmith, an American playwright, interviewed people in Ferguson, Missouri about their thoughts on the events. She culled the interviews and we hear the words of eight of them, alternating between a Black person and then a white person. Orlandersmith plays all the parts speaking in their voices.
Until the Flood is told with compassion, wit, humour, perception, and wisdom. Orlandersmith is never judgemental. She let’s her characters have their say. It’s a balanced, devastating work.
The Exquisitely Beautiful Production Award that leads us into a better year.
Something Rich & Strange
Produced by Opera Atelier
Opera Atelier Co-Artistic Directors, Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg had planned to produce Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas to celebrate their 35th Anniversary Season this year. A pandemic put a stop to that.
In Something Rich & Strange, their first offering of their 2020/21 Season of Visions and Dreams, they created a program of music and dance pieces from great composers from the 17th and 18th centuries and fashioned the evening so that it seems a cohesive piece in which each segment focuses on dreams, secrets, desires and visions and seamlessly blends into one another.
While this is a staged production that was filmed in Koerner Hall it does not look like a film. It does look like a beautiful theatrical production come to life through technology. With an Opera Atelier production, the audience gets an exquisite education, in art, dance, music, opera, singing, painting, sculpture and what perfection looks like.
Two plays from Adrienne Kennedy: He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box and Sleep Deprivation Chamber.
Streaming on-line from the Round House Theatre until Feb. 21 as part of a festival devoted to “The Work of Adrienne Kennedy, Inspiration and Influence.”
You can book tickets to the whole festival of four of her plays (and it’s a deal if you do), or you can book them individually. (Ohio State Murders streams Dec. 5 at 7:00 pm, Etta and Ella On The Upper West Side steams Dec. 12 at 7:00 pm)
NOTE: Adrienne (pronounced ADD-rienne) Kennedy might be considered one of the most accomplished, respected and honoured American playwrights you’ve never heard of. She is a great chronicler of the Black experience in America. Her plays are mainly autobiographical and if the two I have just seen are any indication, they are astonishing. Her language is vivid. She is poetic in her writing, often surreal, references history and grips you in the world of her plays.
He Brought Her Heart Back In A Box
Written by Adrienne Kennedy
Directed by Nicole A. Watson
Visual Effects by Kelly Colburn
Lighting by Sherrice Majgani
Sound by Darron L. West
Cast: Michael Sweeney Hammond
Mayo Jackson
A chilling history lesson from 1941 of Blacks in America.
Introduction to the play: The play was introduced by Jeremy O. Harris—a blazing young talent in the theatre. He wrote Slave Playwhile he was still a student at Yale. It played on Broadway last year.
Jeremy O. Harris said that he saw the premiere of He Brought Her HeartBack in A Box in Brooklyn in 2018. And he says of Adrienne Kennedy: “When I was a young playwright and theatre aspirant, Adrienne’s work has been a North Star for me.
I’ve always felt that it’s one of the playwright’s supreme duties to look at their own histories and their own traumas and draw from that some universal truth that can’t be denied no matter how dark or complex or unwieldy….
And if you are a playwright in which you decide that is the way you want to work, there is no other playwright to look at than Adrienne Kennedy.”
(I love that comment—‘When I was a young playwright…” Jeremy O. Harris is now 31 years old!)
The Story. He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box is set in Montefiore, Georgia in June 1941.
Chris Ahern is a young, privileged white man. His grandfather established and ‘designed’ the town, making sure that the Blacks and the whites were separate.
The grandfather didn’t think the Blacks needed anything better than dirt roads, or needed grave markers in the cemetery, or should have mail delivery—they could go and pick up their mail and he felt they certainly should not be allowed to try on clothes at a certain department store.
Chris’s own father, Harrison Ahern, prospered and became a landowner. Harrison Ahern also fathered several black children in the town. He gave them some attention—made sure they went to the Black boarding school for an education, bought a piano for one of them to practice her music, etc. Everybody knew Harrison Ahern fathered those children. Chris’s father has passed away before the play begins.
Chris’s mother was none too happy about her husband’s wayward ways and made sure her husband’s illegitimate children never inherited any of the family’s property or wealth. On this particular day, Chris’s mother had just been buried. Chris did not seem too broken up about her death.
Kay is a young Black woman of the town and of course knew Chris. Kay’s mother gave birth to her when she was 15 and the shame of it drove her out of town. Kay’s father was Chris’s uncle. Kay’s father almost never acknowledged her if he saw her in the town.
Chris has feelings for Kay and we see that now that both his parents are dead Chris can express them to her and tell her of his plans. He says he wants to leave the town and go to New York and be an actor. And he wants to marry Kay and after the war they can go to Paris. From the way Adrienne Kennedy has established the arrogant stiff-fisted attitudes the Ahern family, Chris would never have been allowed to have feelings for Kay or even think of being an actor.
Kay is mindful of the difference between them. He calls her Kay and calls him Mr. Chris.
Adrienne Kennedy establishes this complex world the powerful taking advantage of those that can’t fight back. She paints a vivid picture with language. At one point Chris says of his grandfather that he “understood how language can be used to humiliate.” At another point Adrienne Kennedy writes of “the devastation of the human spirit. “
The Production and Comment. Nicole A. Watson has directed a spare, economical, inventive production. The two actors have memorized their parts. (Agyeiwaa Asante read the stage directions)
If there is a reference to the Black boarding school, one of the characters holds a small model of it in her hand. Some small props are held up to establish artifacts in a store room that Chris is working in.
In their first scene, Chris and Kay are side by side looking out to the ‘unseen audience’. Michael Sweeney Hammond as Chris is sweet, awkward, blinkered and clueless about his privilege. But there is nuance in Hammond’s performance that suggests that Chris has some understanding of the inequity. Is it a step forward in his world that he actually wants to marry Kay, considering that both his father and uncle fathered children with young Black woman no older than 15-years-old it seems. I would imagine that Chris knew his mother would never allow him to be an actor and certainly not marry a Black woman.
As Kay, Mayo Jackson is savvy, aware, and you sense she internalizes everything rather than blurt out what she really thinks. There is an obvious difference between that white privilege and the ‘respectful Black person’ who has to endure the inequity, slurs and subtle innuendo.
In this exquisite one act play, Adrienne Kennedy harkens back to another time, and paints a compelling picture of that world in America in the 1940s.
Sleep Deprivation Chamber
Written by Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy
Directed by Raymond O. Caldwell
Lighting by Sherrice Majgani
Sound by Tosin Olufolabi
Cast: Kim Bey
Deimoni Brewington
Rex Daugherty
Marty A Lamar
David Schlumpf
Jjana Valentiner
Craig Wallace
Like a punch to the gut.
The Story. Teddy Alexander is a Black college student studying theatre at Antioch College Theatre Department. One night he’s driving home when he’s followed for a few blocks by a police car that has the siren and the lights going, wanting to pull him over. It turns out Teddy has a broken tail light. Teddy Alexander is very close to home and drives slowly but only gets out of the car when he drives into his driveway. Teddy gets out of the car to find out what the officer wants.
The police officer beats, drags, and pins him in the driveway of his family’s Arlington home—all because of a broken taillight. The officer beats up Teddy thinking Teddy is being difficult but he isn’t. And Teddy is charged with assaulting the officer which he says never happened.
The play alternates between Teddy being arrested, preparing for his trial and terrified he could go to jail, and his mother Suzanne fighting his cause. She writes endless letters to the governor, her senator, the police department, all in an effort to alert them to the injustice of the situation. She can’t sleep. She has nightmares of Shakespearean dimensions—Suzanne teaches playwrighting.
Teddy is told that if he pleads guilty to a lesser charge he could get off. Maybe. But Teddy is a man of principle, he knows he didn’t do anything wrong and won’t lie that he’s guilty. You look at his two accomplished parents who are still caught in that inequity.
Adrienne Kennedy does not paint a picture that is cliched, in which we would know what’s going to happen. Again, her language is chilling. For example, when Teddy is punched repeatedly in the chest he gasps. “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I’m an American citizen, could you please let me up and breathe?”
Sound familiar? Here’s the chilling part, the play was written in 1996. And it actually happened to Adrienne Kennedy’s son Adam who co-wrote the play. So here we have an autobiographical play that just hits you in the gut. As the program note states: “Sleep Deprivation Chamberis a chilling meditation on race and powerlessness that remains painfully relevant today”.
The Production and Comment.
Adrienne Kennedy paints the picture of a justice system that is different depending if one is Black or white.
Again, the actors had their parts memorized. Director Raymond O. Caldwell used very effective close-up shots and lighting (kudos to Sherrice Majgani) to emphasize the claustrophobic world of being a Black person at the will and whim of a broken justice system. Raymond O. Caldwell ramps up the tension as the action alternates from the courtroom and Suzanne trying to get someone to answer her letters.
The acting is powerful with Kim Bey playing an impassioned Suzanne and Deimoni Brewington playing Teddy with dignity, emotion and a sense that his world is spiralling out of control. The knot in your gut is well earned.
Terrific play.
He Brought Her Heart Back In a Box and Sleep Depravation are streamed on line until Feb. 21.
Ohio State Murders begins streaming Dec. 5 at 7:00 pm and continues on demand until Feb. 21.
Etta and Ella on the Upper West Side begins streaming on Dec. 12 at 7:00 pm and continues on demand until Feb. 21.
