Tag: theatre Page 8 of 9

Just ‘Cause

On February 16, 2009

A few items of interest presented themselves today.

The first is a fantastic piece courtesy of the New York Times’ video site detailing a new theatre piece that involves the use of mobile phones and computers. I confess, I initially had a few doubts about this, but seeing the participants’ reactions, thinking about the intimacy being created (especially via modern technology), well… I’m a believer. Check it out.

Still with the Times is a video covering the recent art show in Baghdad called The Art Of Reinvention (along with a written article). Fascinating for the way politics is so deeply interwoven with art -art’s taken on a whole different significance for the people of Iraq. To quote the article,

“Isn’t it pessimistic?” a person in the crowd of visitors asked the exhibition’s curator, Asad al-Sagheer, as he described an unsettling composition of death masks, painted in thick strokes of red and blue. The artist, Halim Qassim, found inspiration in Baghdad’s central morgue, near his home in Babalmuabhm, a place once overflowing with corpses.

“He thinks there’s beauty in the faces,” Mr. Sagheer said, “even after they’ve been killed.”

Closer to home, people are getting the role arts and culture plays in daily life. Apparently the National Endowment for the Arts is getting additional funding as part of President Obama’s stimulus package, and artist Chuck Close thinks there’s no better time than tough times -now -to be an artist, despite his opinion that the Depression didn’t produce especially good art.

“When we’ve had major times of financial distress in this country.. .a lot of people argue that some of the best work was made. I don’t think it was America’s greatest hour; art… the best period for me in American art was the 50s and early 60s… That could be seen as a time when America opened its arms to … immigrants, and we became a beacon as a free and open society, and attracted some of the best and brightest from all over the world.”

Toronto The Good… ?

By Catherine Kustanczy

On February 11, 2009

In opera

So, there I was, writing about how I wasn’t going to be covering theatre so much anymore… and I went and saw an awesome work lastnight I felt compelled to write about. Naturally!

The formal review of Andrew Moodie’s Toronto The Good will be posted at New Theatre Review tomorrow, but in the meantime, I can tell you… I loved it. Why? Fully fleshed-out characters, strong dialogue, an involving story about important themes. But it was never preachy, never judgmental, never pretentious. Nothing turns me off faster than going to the theatre and getting a finger wagged at me. That isn’t helpful, not is it dramatically involving.

Northrop Frye said you should always describe what is there… so? Toronto The Good is smart, funny, sad, thoughtful, and really well-acted and staged. And deeply relevant to the times and conditions we’re living in. That’s huge for me, and, I suspect, for a lot of other people that might find theatre to be a bit too… uh, thee-uh-tah-ish. Toronto the Good brings all the issues of modern, urban living up close and in your face -and there’s a rap scene too (how often does this happen in the theatre?). You’ll find yourself thinking, more than once, “I’ve seen that” or “I’ve done that” or “I know someone like that” or even “Oh Gawd, that’s me…” Such is the power of Moodie’s writing; he manages to raise some really important issues around ideas of race, ambition, opportunity and modern relating, but at the same time, keeps the personal touch that makes good drama so appealing.

Kudos to everyone. Bravo.

Girl Soldiers

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 30, 2009

In opera

When people think of warfare, images of fatigues, guns, and tanks come to mind. Taken for granted is the gender of the soldiers. But female soldiers do exist. Really.

Colombian director/ playwright Bea Pizano explores this fascinating reality in her new work, La Communion. It’s being read as part of this year’s Groundswell Festival put on by Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre. La Communion portrays the experiences of a young woman who’d been kidnapped by guerillas at the age of twelve. It isn’t just based on imagination, either; Pizano actually met and spoke with several women who’d been kidnapped and forced to be part of Colombian guerilla groups during their childhoods.

Bea Pizano talks about women, drama and warfare, tomorrow on Take 5.

Just after 9amET.

Listen local: 89.5FM
or
Online: ciut.fm
Click the “listen live” button on the top right.

Community radio.
Worldwide community.

Staging Stranger

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 28, 2009

In interviews

The popular Albert Camus novel L’Etranger tells the story of Mersault, who kills an Algerian man and is put on trial. It’s been adapted for film, and has influenced music and pop culture since its publication in 1942.

Toronto’s Praxis Theatre Company has transferred L’Etranger to the stage, where it’s become Stranger, a collectively-adapted work exploring the themes of Camus’ work with some contemporary touches.

Thursday morning on Take 5, I’ll be speaking with Stranger’s director and Praxis’ co-Artistic Director, Simon Rice, just after 9amET.

Local: 89.5FM
or
Online: ciut.fm
click “listen live” on the top right

Enjoy!

Previewing Groundswell

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 20, 2009

In opera

The Next Stage Festival may be wrapped up for another year, but Toronto’s theatre scene is hopping. The Groundswell Festival, celebrating Canada’s incredible female playwrights, kicks off January 26th at the Berkeley Theatre.

Wednesday morning I’ll be speaking with one of the writers featured at this year’s fest: Florence Gibson.

Originally trained as a medical doctor, Gibson is known for her powerful portraits of family and relationships. Her new work, Augury, revolves around the 1879 abortion trial of Emily Stowe, one of Canada’s most important historical figures.

Tune in, just after 9am ET.

Toronto local:
89.5FM

Listen live online:
http://ciut.fm

Click the “listen live” button on the top right.

http://take5.fm

them & us & TPM

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 16, 2009

In opera

Now here’s a neat example of the power of online media in the arts world.

Mention this blog to receive a $15 ticket for Tracy Dawson’s Them & Us, on now through January 31st. That’s for any ticket, any night, any time.

Them & Us is made up of a series of vignettes exploring the ins and outs of modern relating. By turns funny, poignant and… well, salty (the skit involving a 16-year-old propositioning her father’s business partner is one you won’t soon forget), Dawson’s work goes way past the boring “relationship drama” cliches. That can only be a good thing. And it features a quartet of awesome Canadian talent; as well as Dawson, there’s Sarah Dodd, Gray Powell, and Michael Healey (A comment about his performance I overheard at the opening: “If he were any more dry, he’d bleed sand…” True story.)

It’s cold and wintery. You’re not in Utah. So go to the theatre already.

Call the Arts Box Office (416.504.7529) or check out the TPM website.
Tell ’em Play Anon sent ya.

Pinter’s Dance

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 14, 2009

In opera

He thought “choreographically.”

I knew it.

Lovely Ladies

By Catherine Kustanczy

On January 7, 2009

In opera

With the openings of Them & Us, Bear With Me, and East of Berlin, it could easily be argued that Toronto’s theatre scene is in the throes of an all-out estrogen fit. And that’s not even counting the works in this year’s edition of the Next Stage Festival; Julie Tepperman, Sarah Michelle Brown, and Kate Hewlett all have works being produced there.

Tracy Dawson is the woman behind Them & Us. Opening at Theatre Passe Muraille this week and directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones, it explores the ins and outs of relationships in 30 different vignettes. I can hear the guys (and some gals) yawning: Oh great, another woman writing about relationships. But wait… Dawson’s caustic, funny, and sarcastic. She freely admits she isn’t Dr. Phil. In fact, in a recent interview, she named John Cassavetes as the single-biggest inspiration on Them & Us. She also said her work isn’t shying away from one big aspect of relationships: sex. “Oh yeah, we’re going there,” she told me. Good. About time a woman playwright did -with gusto, passion, ferocity, joy and hilarity. Sex should involve those things, onstage and off.

Over at the Berkeley, Diane Flacks is doing a solo show about her first pregnancy (Flacks is now a proud mum of two). Bear With Me started out life as a series of columns, and then a book. It turned into a play when Nightwood Theatre AD Kelly Thornton approached Flacks about the possibility of adapting Flacks’ work for the stage (Thornton also directs). Will Flacks pull it off? Solo shows can either be great or dreary; as an audience member, you only have one person to guide you through the sometimes-labyrinthine world of the writer. As well as being curious about how the show will be presented, I’m also wondering what the play offers non-moms in the audience, beside an insight into the wonderful worlds of big-belly-sex, flatulence, and epidurals. Hmmm.

The Tarragon Theatre is remmounting East of Berlin, Hannah Moscovitch‘s hugely acclaimed 2007 show, with the same cast and director (the awesome Alisa Palmer). For me, Moscovitch’s writing is a neat mix of classical and contemporary; she freely, easily mixes recognizable elements of modern life with more classical structures and ideas, and the result makes for great, capital-D drama. East of Berlin is the story of Rudi, a young man forced to deal with his Nazi parentage. I’ll be interviewing Moscovitch Friday morning on CIUT‘s Take 5; we’ll discuss the work, and the surprising reaction it received during its first run, particularly from Toronto’s Jewish community. Tune in.

And, among the many goodies at this year’s Next Stage Festival is Kate Hewlett‘s Humans Anonymous, which details what happens when “a businesswoman who prefers lattes to love meets a sexually experimental young genius looking for Ms. Perfect.” First presented as a Fringe show and then in New York City, the work has garnered serious praise. You might know Hewlett from her work on Stargate: Atlantis, or from Don’t Wake Me, which ran at last year’s Next Stage Fest. As mentioned, this year Festival also features Julie Tepperman’s Yichud (Seclusion) and First-Hand Woman, by Sarah Michelle Brown. Reports as I see ’em.

Add the various productions from this past year that featured the incredible talents of Anita Majumdar, Anusree Roy, Brooke Johnson, Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, Marcia Johnson, Tara Beagan, Oonagh Duncan, and Jennifer Tarver (to name only a few) and I’m left asking the same question I have for a while: when is Toronto getting a Women In Theatre Festival? There is a surfeit of amazing, inspiring talent here, and so many great stories worth sharing -and not just of the “if-my-vagina-could-talk” variety, either. These are stories for men and women alike -for children and parents and families of all kinds, that has a meaning and relevance everyone can dig. Talent is talent, and it’s time the female theatre artists of this city had a proper festival in which to fully, loudly, proudly promote and celebrate theirs. C’mon now. You know both Aphra Behn and Bill the Quill would heartily approve. What are we waiting for?

Drama Is…

By Catherine Kustanczy

On December 3, 2008

In opera

There’s certainly plenty of great drama out there lately.

If you’re in London, there’s the Tony Award-winning August: Osage County. New York has the recently extended one-man show Taking Over, while Chicago has Lynn Nottage’s Ruined. If you’re in Toronto, there’s no shortage of goodness either, with the disturbingly brilliant Festen running into next week, and Frank McGuinness’ timely (timeless?) Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me opening this Saturday.

But oh, the best drama for us Canucks right now is in our own Parliament. The drama! The speeches! The fist-shaking fury! It would all be very entertaining, if it weren’t also real. Ouch. The best part is the level of engagement it’s provoked among average Canadians; considering our last election saw some of the worst voter turnout rates in electoral history, being a part of something so starkly different in terms of mood and passion is… refreshing. The downside is the deep cracks in unity the Ottawa drama is revealing to all of us. Forget the “one” part; we’re just simply “not the same.” Or so we’re being told.

Objectively interesting as it all may be, the cause of national unity isn’t helped by our politicians giving deeply dramatic, occasionally hysterical Bernhard-meets-Kean performances. Makes the fuss over the use of a real skull in an RSC version of Hamlet seem tame by comparison. Then again, I can think of a few people who feel as if their own skulls have been bashed around, watching the frantic arm-flapping of Canadian politicians over the last week. I can only hope there’s a great playwright (or two) watching, listening, and writing. We’re going to need someone to make sense of this for us, and I can’t think of any other way to see it, other than a dramatic presentation in the theatre. If Frost/Nixon taught me anything, it’s that human behaviour is often at its most desperate and revealing when put through the fire of politics. Stay tuned for it: Harper Hears A Hoard, on tour soon.

Staging War

By Catherine Kustanczy

On November 29, 2008

In opera

I came across a fascinating piece on the art of staging warfare yesterday. Written by British freelance journalist and indie theatre director Imogen Russell Williams, the piece explores the whys and wherefores of staging war onstage, noting, quite rightly I think, that most theatre directors revert to some kind of cinematic equivalent in depicting fights. In reading her description of shadow play and slow-motion moves, I couldn’t help but think of the innumerable productions I’ve sat through where both were utilized, along with pyrotechnics. To quote Williams:

Bang! Flash! Up goes a huge pile of money in undulating smoke. We’re supposed to find it impressive that such crashes, bangs and wallops can be achieved even though we’re in a theatre, not a cinema. But it’s probably the uniting factor in bad stage warfare that director and production team are determined to pull off the cinematically spectacular even though they’re making a play, not a film.

This explains (at least partly) why I didn’t like Black Watch, part of Luminato this past summer. Or why so many productions of Shakespeare (and one of Marlowe) in Stratford have been disappointing; lost in the wonder of great acting, design, and staging, I’ve found myself jolted out of the spell by ridiculous, over-the-top fight/warfare scenes.

Note to theatre directors: try talking with some of this city’s awesome puppeteers. Work with them. They’re super-creative. Incorporating puppetry is just what The National Theatre in England has done with War Horse. Williams says this production changed her mind about the depiction of war onstage, and from what I’ve read, the piece seems genuinely moving, and thought-provoking. Puppets aren’t just for kids, and never have been.