Articles tagged with: Mainstage

PANTALONE’S PALACE, DART’S First Mainstage for 2017-18, opens October 27!

Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | By dvivian

Pantalone’s Palace

Love and power collide in this fun-filled, fast paced physical comedy.

Written and Directed by Mike Griffin

Set & Costume Design by: Kelly Wolf
Lighting Design by Chris Malkowski
Sound Design by: James McCoy
Mask Maker: Gina Bastone
Assistant Direction by: Helena Ciuciura

Hardworking Columbina just wants to enjoy the majestic Wooers’ Woods in peace after a long day’s work, but the greedy business tycoon Pantalone is scheming. When Columbina discovers his plot to build the biggest casino in the world, she knows she must take action. Armed with her wits and her lovesick friends, she aims to set things right in this fun-filled, fast paced, physical comedy that explores the meeting of contemporary life and classical Commedia dell’Arte.

When: October 27 – November 4, 2017
FRIDAY, OCT. 27 & SATURDAY, OCT. 28 at 7:30 pm
SUNDAY, OCT. 29 at 2:00 pm
FRIDAY, NOV. 3 at 11:30 am & 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, NOV. 4 at 7:30 pm

The Department invites teachers and educators to bring their students to see this exciting new production of Commedia dell’arte.
Read the Special Invitation to learn more.

See the article in the Brock News.

See the teaser video.

Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at the
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
Limited paid parking onsite

Purchase tickets at the FirstOntario PAC Box Office
905.688.0722 or online firstontariopac.ca
Tickets: $18 Adults|$15 Seniors/Students| $5 eyeGo | $12 Groups
*Applicable fees and taxes are extra

Tags: commedia, commedia dell’arte, Dramatic Arts, Mainstage, Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Performance, Play, plays
Categories: Events, News, Performance Season, Plays
Brock University engages with community at Burlington Performing Arts Centre

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 | By dtemprile

Brock University Dramatic Arts faculty and students engage with young theatre artists and teachers at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre

This past Tuesday Oct. 17, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts participated in “Career Day – Life in the Theatre Industry” at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. This event welcomed approximately 150 students/teachers from seven different schools and three different district school boards.

The day consisted of interactive workshops and demonstrations to explore the many diverse careers available in the theatre industry, a live theatrical performance, and the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with representatives and students of the leading college and university programs offering performance and production related theatre courses. It was a great opportunity for students to delve into the vocations of the theatre world in a creative and experiential manner.

Throughout the day many teachers mentioned how successful the event was and how it fits so successfully into the secondary curriculum.

The Department of Dramatic Arts looks forward to meeting these young artists again when they apply for future studies at Brock University!

Tags: Applied Theatre, brockudart, DART, drama in education, Dramatic Arts, Mainstage, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, production and design, stagecraft, theatre
Categories: News
Gormenghast

Monday, November 07, 2016 | By Nikki Prudden
DART Performances in 2016-17

Our second season in the new Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at 15 Artists’ Common!

Presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University

Gormenghast

by Mervyn Peake. Stage adaptation by John Constable.

Directed by MIKE GRIFFIN, Assisted by SYDNEY FRANCOLINI
Designed by DAVID VIVIAN
Lighting Design by JENNIFER JIMENEZ
Sound Design by MAX HOLTEN-ANDERSEN

When:
November 11-19, 2016
FRIDAY, NOV. 11 & SATURDAY, NOV. 12 at 7:30 pm
SUNDAY, NOV. 13 at 2:00 pm
FRIDAY, NOV. 18 at 11:30 am & 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, NOV. 19 at 7:30 pm

Location:
Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines

Cost:
Tickets: $18† adults; $15† seniors/students; $5† eyeGo program; $12† groups (10+)
†Applicable fees and taxes are extra.

Evil is afoot in the Gormenghast castle! Come and join us in this labyrinth of dark corridors, where the bizarre and mysterious come to life. Gormenghast is a haunting and hilarious tale of the dysfunctional house of Groan, adapted from the UK cult classic fantasy trilogy written by Mervyn Peake.In a world bound by iron laws, where ancient ritual and order reigns supreme and the governing motto is “No Change!”, two youth rise up to shake the castle walls: Titus Groan, the rebellious seventy-seventh Earl and heir to the decaying castle, and Steerpike, a conniving kitchen boy, determined to rise above his lowly position to control the House of Groan.The Guardian wrote about John Constable’s adaptation of Gormenghast, “A gloriously impossible realisation of Mervyn Peake’s soaring flight of fancy.”

“The play has a huge appeal to those with taste for very dark humour…not for the faint of heart.” (The BBC)

see the calendar listing for more information.
Teaser

Check out this sneak “Peake” of Gormenghast – a haunting and hilarious tale adapted from the fantasy trilogy written by Mervyn Peake.

The play runs Nov. 11 – 19 in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON.

Buy tickets here: http://bit.ly/2fwuqdE

Teachers and faculty should read this letter about group bookings and discounts.

Study Guide

This is a Study Guide to inform and enhance your appreciation of our production of Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, with stage adaptation by John Constable. The production is directed by Mike Griffin, faculty at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The Study Guide was prepared by the Assistant Director, Sydney Francolini.

The Study Guide provides information about considerations regarding Direction, Design, Style, Puppetry, and Gender.

The authors of the Study Guide do not own the visual content found on the web and are using it here for educational and learning purposes. Please contact us if you wish to have any material removed.

Contact and Media inquiries:
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
905.688.5550, x4765 or e-mail: mbalsom@brocku.ca
Tags: 2016-17, Gormenghast, John Constable, Mainstage, Mervyn Peake, November 2016
Categories: Events, Plays
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Monday, November 09, 2015 | By mbalsom

WRITTEN BY: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
DIRECTED BY: Virginia Reh
SCENOGRAPHY BY: David Vivian

Show dates/times: Nov. 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee performances: Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., & Friday, Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m.

Performed in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines.

Purchase tickets here

Come to Mahagonny where all your dreams and nightmares come true. The Widow Begbick welcomes you to her fantasyland for grown-ups. Every day’s party day in Mahagonny. Music! Dance! Drama! Why would you ever want to leave?

Tickets are $18 Adults; $15 Students/Seniors; $12 Groups (10+); $5 eyeGo high school program, and are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office Centre
at or online at boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca

Brock University
MEDIA RELEASE

October 29, 2015
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
905.688.5550, x4765

The curtain rises on the first mainstage presentation of the inaugural season for the new Dramatic Arts Theatre: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts presents their rendition of German playwright Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill’s renowned opera/musical, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, to be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, from Nov. 13 – 21, 2015.

The title refers to the colour ‘mahogany’, Brecht’s reference to the German ‘Brown Shirts.’ This production is set in 1957 on the Gulf Coast, close to Pensacola. In parallels to the original productions, America is recovering from the McCarthy era, and the coast is threatened by an impending hurricane – in our case, Audrey.

An opera of Epic Theatre, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny follows the lives of its denizens as they are consumed by the power of money, which wins out against all other forces that motivate us: friendship, family, morality, philosophy.

“In the whole human race, there is no greater criminal than a man without money.” ~Brecht/Weill, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Directed by Guest Artist Virginia Reh and designed by Associate Professor David Vivian, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny showcases the talents of students in the Department of Dramatic Arts undergraduate program, including the performers: Keri Bishop, Helena Ciuciura, Nikka Collison, Caroline Coon, Ben Fallis, Andrew Godin, Rob Grady, Lena Hall, Mark Harrigan, Shanza Hashmi, Cole Larson, Adrian Marchesano, Sean McClelland, Jonah McGrath, Elizabeth Pereira, Julia Scaringi, Demetri Tsioros, and with special guest alumni David MacKenzie and Steve Reistetter.

Virginia Reh states, “The original productions were in the early 1930s and very much in Brecht’s style of theatre for the people. In recent years, Mahagonny has become popular with large opera companies. Our production aims to dial the piece back to something Brecht might actually recognize.”

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny will run Nov. 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.; and Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m., and will be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines. Tickets are $18 Adults; $15 Students/Seniors; $12 Groups (10+); $5 eyeGo high school program, and are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office at 905.688.0722, online at http://firstontariopac.ca or via email: boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca

Such programs from the Department of Dramatic Arts (https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts) are an integral part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate in building connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

Parking is not available on-site, however, there are more than 1,000 spots available in nearby parking garages, surface lots and on city streets within a five-minute walk to our address at 15 Artists’ Common. Visit this website for a list of parking locations.

This production contains strong language and sexual content.

Media Day: Tuesday, November 10 at 5 p.m., held at the Dramatic Arts Theatre, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON.

For more information or to set up interviews contact:
Marie Balsom, Communications
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
T: 905.688.5550 x4765
C: 905.964.7646
E: mbalsom@brocku.ca
W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts

Media & Downloads:

View the TVCogeco feature on The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny below:

Download a copy of the poster and the promotional card by clicking on the images below:

Poster:

Promo Card:

Tags: Bertolt Brecht, Brecht, Kurt Weill, Mahagonny, Mainstage, musical, opera, plays, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Weill
Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Plays
THE BELLE’S STRATAGEM

Sunday, October 12, 2014 | By Nikki Prudden

“Marie Antoinette” by Yuling Deng

WRITTEN BY: Hannah Cowley
DIRECTED BY: Gyllian Raby
SCENOGRAPHER: Kelly Wolf

November 13, 14, and 15, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee performance: November 14 at 11:30 a.m.

Performed in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University

Hannah Cowley’s most successful Town Comedy of 1783 demonstrated how to get your man and keep him in Georgian times — but once relocated in today’s Toronto, the laughing feminism lurking within the Marriage Plot is exposed in all its decadent hilarity.

purchase tickets here

A Study Guide is available for review, prepared by Assistant Director Nicholas Leno: download to print a copy (PDF, 3.7 MB)

Please scan here to buy tickets and follow us on social media. keepingupwithmrsracket.com

The Belle’s (Social Media) Stratagem
A central character in the Department of Dramatic Arts’ autumn Mainstage production, The Belle’s Stratagem, will have an active life on social media thanks to a partnership between students in one of the department’s courses and the Mainstage production team. The goal of this partnership is extend the life of The Belle’s Stratagem both before ad after the actual run (November 13-15) and to engage audiences in critical dialogue around the show.

Director and DART professor Gyllian Raby and assistant director Nick Leno have adapted and updated Hannah Cowley’s 18th-century comedy to be set in today’s Toronto. Through Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, tech-savvy students in DART 3P95: Studies in Praxis I: Theatre Criticism are creating an online identity for one of the play’s central characters, Mrs. Racket. Followers of @racketlife can see photos of her favourite products, read her daily aphorisms, and watch “fan” videos posted on YouTube. Mrs. Racket’s online persona not only develops the character beyond the page and stage, but also highlights some of the production’s key themes related to consumerism, celebrity, and social class.

The social media platforms officially launch on October 20. Each platform is interconnected through the blog www.keepingupwithmrsracket.com; the blog is also accessible via the production’s QR code, which is included in all publicity materials. Followers are encouraged to interact with Mrs. Racket across all three platforms using the hashtag #racketlife: they can repost her Instagram photos or post and tag their own, tweet with Mrs. Racket, and vlog about the production on YouTube. The possibilities for participation are endless! During the show’s run, Praxis students will be present before each performance to demonstrate this technology through an interactive lobby display.

This partnership is part of a key component of the Theatre Criticism course, in which students immerse themselves behind-the-scenes in creative processes with local arts organizations, and write about it for the course blog, DARTcritics.com. The Belle’s (Social Media) Stratagem is an innovation this year, the first time that Theatre Criticism students have gone behind the scenes on a DART Mainstage and the first time that the learning outcomes involve a social media strategy.

Instagram account: @racketlife
Twitter account: @racketlife
YouTube channel: Racketlife

some words from our guests:

…excellent adaptation with the references to modern Toronto and all its foibles.
– Associate Dean, Dr. Brian Power

By re-historicizing Hannah Cowley, [Gyllian Raby, the director] is able to liberate her message. Cowley’s hesitant feminism is sharpened in Raby’s adaption. And shifting the play’s locale from eighteenth-century London to twenty-first century Toronto, Raby adds biting commentary – much of it delivered through choruses of rap music – on the ravaging cultural and economic effects of unfettered financial capitalism, which goes well beyond Cowley’s predictable tut-tutting about the vulgar spending displays of England’s nabobs. . . . . Mixing rap music with formal eighteenth-century drama sounds depressingly like a sterile post-modern conceit. But it works wonderfully well in this instance, partly because Raby is the director of the play she adapted. She directs an exuberant student cast who seem just as much at home mincing through the formalities of a masqued ball as they do gyrating to the strains of Rick Ross, Lil’ Mama, and Salt ’n’ Pepa.
– from a review by Professor Emeritus John Sainsbury in the online British Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies published by the The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Press:

Published on Nov 8, 2014: The Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University presents The Belle’s Stratagem from November 13th to 15th. Katie Jones reports. See the Cogeco TV report on The Belle’s Stratagem:

Published on Nov 11, 2014: From Brock TV, a look into The Belles Stratagem, opening this Thursday! Meet the cast and crew of DART’s latest production of Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem.

Photos:

Painting the set floor for Belles Stratagem. L-R: Nikka Collison, Caroline Coon, Andrew Von Lukawiecki, and Brian Cumberland (Production Manager)

Tags: 2014-15, Gyllian Raby, Hannah Cowley, Kelly Wolf, Mainstage, plays, The Belle's Stratagem
Categories: Events, Plays
Jehanne of the Witches

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | By mbalsom
JEHANNE OF THE WITCHES

by Sally Clark

February 13-15, 2014 at 7:30 PM
Student Matinee February 14 at 1:00 PM

DIRECTED BY Virginia Reh
Scenographer: David Vivian

Assistant Director: Casey Gillis
Assistant Designer: James McCoy
Dramaturg: Brittany Stewart

Black magic, illusion, and the suppression of Truth. Voices swirl as Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais, the infamous Bluebeard, concoct a witches’ brew of sexuality and the use – and abuse – of power.

The Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is proud to present this play by Canadian playwright Sally Clark. Ms Clark was part of a wave of female playwrights in the 1980s who wrote plays about notable women from a female perspective. The play is mostly based on solid historical fact; Clark weaves her magic through unique interpretation and theatricality.

Information:

View our media release.

High-School teachers should read this letter about the Matinee performance opportunity available for Jehanne of the Witches (February 2014). We’re also providing information on Secondary Education Curriculum Ties.

NEW! An Audience Guide is available for download.

Download the poster

Join us on our Facebook event page

Purchase tickets here!

Media:

see the preview on Cogeco TV below:

see the article in the Brock News:

That burning feeling: Jehanne of the Witches

Media call photos:
Tags: Jehanne of the Witches, Mainstage, plays
Categories: Events, Plays
TWELFTH NIGHT, (or what you will) a comedy by William Shakespeare at the Department of Dramatic Arts

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | By mbalsom

image by Nitin Vadukul

TWELFTH NIGHT, (or what you will)

a comedy by William Shakespeare

November 7 – 9, 2013 at 7:30 PM
Student Matinee November 08 at 11:30 AM

DIRECTED BY Gyllian Raby
Co-Director and Vocal Coach: Danielle Wilson
Assistant Director and Dramaturge: Keavy Lynch

If music be the food of love, play on!
“Twelfth Night, (or what you will)” presented on stage at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre

The Department of Dramatic Arts’ rendition of Twelfth Night gives this classic Shakespearean comedy a 20th century twist, setting it in the 1950s and taking audiences to the era of soul-searching country blues. This production runs November 7, 8 and 9, 2013 at 7:30 p.m., and November 8 at 11:30 a.m., held at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University.

The magical fictitious kingdom of Illyria is a modern world where boys are boys and girls are girls and subterranean passions blow apart rigid conventions. Fools, lovers, and shipwrecked souls grapple adverse fortunes and comic misunderstandings to find what truth and love might mean. To meet Shakespeare’s demand that Illyria be a land where music is “the food of love,” we present the fool musician Feste as the leader of a country blues band.

The production is a directorial collaboration between Dramatic Arts faculty Gyllian Raby and Danielle Wilson, assisted by Keavy Lynch. Raby states, “We are performing Twelfth Night using music rooted in contemporary culture, so although this production is not a musical, music is threaded throughout the play.” Wilson adds, “The play has many of the elements common to Elizabethan romantic comedy, including the devices of mistaken identity, separated twins, and gender-crossing disguise, and its plot revolves around whether one can manage betrayal, and overcome the obstacles to truth and love.“

Have a look at our media release (PDF).

Let us know you’re coming by joining our Facebook Event.

High-School teachers should read this letter about the Matinee performance opportunities available for Twefth Night (November 2013) and Jehanne of the Witches (February 2014) (PDF)

A Study Guide is available for review,
prepared by Gyllian Raby and Keavy Lynch:
download to print a copy (PDF, 2.0 MB)

watch this preview on Cogeco TV:

see the article in the Brock News!

(From left): Sean Rintoul, Chris Chapman and Bri Lidstone perform in the Department of Dramatic Arts production of Twelfth Night, which opens Nov. 7 at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre.

Announcing $5.00 Fridays!

all holders of Brock ID cards – students, staff and faculty – are invited to take advantage of a special new price for the Matinee mainstage performance. Please present your ID card upon purchase of your ticket.
Tickets for all performances including the $5.00 Friday Matinees are available through the Box Office of the Centre for the Arts
or 905.688.5550 x 3257

For more information, please contact Marie Balsom, Co-ordinator of the School of Fine and Performing Arts, at 905-688-5550, ext. 4765; e-mail: mbalsom@brocku.ca

Tags: comedy, Mainstage, plays, Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Categories: Events, Plays
The Blue Room

Saturday, January 26, 2013 | By mbalsom

By David Hare, freely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde

Director: Virginia Reh
Scenographer: David Vivian
Lighting Design: Ken Garrett
Assistant Director: Jessi Robinson

February 14, 15 & 16, 2013: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Matinee: February 15, 2013: 1pm – 3 pm

Directed by Professor Virginia Reh, The Blue Room is David Hare’s 1998 adaptation of Schnitzler’s Reigen (La Ronde), first produced in 1921. The plot is a “sexual daisychain”: the Girl couples with the Cab Driver, then the Cab Driver with the Au Pair, etc. Each time the new participant in one scene moves on to the next scene and so on, until in the final scene the Girl returns and encounters the Aristocrat. The play looks at casual sexual encounters as a (mostly) unsatisfactory substitute for human connection. This is a universal and timeless quest. The play is an important exploration with diverse current points-of-view: as each character has encounters with two different partners, the play explores the shifting status relationships (both social and personal). The relational dynamics of the play have interesting correspondences to explorations on social media.

Tickets: Adults $15.00, Students/Seniors $12.00, Groups $10.00, eyeGo $5.00. H.S.T. extra.

Theme-oriented and moderated workshops will be available. DART 3F93: Social Issues Theatre for Community Development, taught by Professor Joe Norris, will employ Process Drama and Applied Theatre techniques to explore themes that underlie the Blue Room. Scenes will be created that delve into issue of identity, innocence, risks, thresholds, secrets, awkwardness, beliefs, mores, taboos, exploitation and power. With a participatory dimension cast and audience will enter into conversations to explore the issues further.

Please contact us for more information.

THE BLUE ROOM: A Primer
is available for review before you come to see the production

low res 709kb
high res 2139 kb
print res 3690 kb

Media:

Interactive Arts and Science program student Patrick Gagliardi has put together a sultry trailer for the show.

from COGECO TV, Published on Feb 8, 2013: The Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University are hoping to spice up your Valentines Day with their new production “The Blue Room’.

In the buff with Brock’s Blue Room:
A fun full-first-page-of-the-section article about our upcoming mainstage in the city paper – another great reason to study dramatic arts at Brock University. Come see the play and discover what its really all about.

See the article about the show in The Brock Press, the independent student newspaper.

Tags: Arthur Schnitzler, David Hare, La Ronde, Mainstage, plays, The Blue Room
Categories: Events, Plays
The Suicide – A Russian Comedy

Sunday, October 07, 2012 | By mbalsom
November 8-10, 2012 at 7:30 PM
Student Matinee: November 09 at 11:30 AM

A Russian Comedy by Nikolai Erdman
Adapted by: Gyllian Raby and Anna MacAlpine
Director: Gyllian Raby
Russian Consultant: Larisa Brodsky
Set Design: Nigel Scott
Costume Design: Roberta Doylend
Lighting Design: Ken Garrett
Assistant Director: Dylan Sylvester
Assistant Designer and Poster Design: Stephanie Baxter
Music Director: Anna MacAlpine
Movement: Trevor Copp, with Rachel Romanowski

A classic comedy that satirizes the New society which was developing in Russia under Lenin’s New Economic Policy of 1924 – a program that many communists considered to be a step backwards for communism. A fast moving, unpretentious examination of hubris and lifestyle and its expression in style: physical poise, dress and drawl. An examination of conformity. The play is ultimately very homely in its definition of human happiness with the physicalized characters, balancing serious satire and comedy.

Themes: big items in the human condition: love, ego, appetite, meaning of life and social convention.

There is NO mature language or sexual content and the violence is “keystone cops” – this show is fine for youth.

High-School teachers should read this letter about the Matinee performance opportunity (PDF, 247 KB)
A Study Guide is available for review, prepared by Gyllian Raby and Anna MacAlpine.

A copy of this special new adaptation of the script is available for download here. (PDF, 120kb)

The Suicide, By Nicolai Erdman
Adapted by Gyllian Raby and Anna MacAlpine
Thanks to Larisa Brodsky.
Royalty free with permission, 2012.
Gyllian Raby
Department of Dramatic Arts
Brock University
graby@brocku.ca

Photos:

Director Gyllian Raby and Set Designer Nigel Scott present the concept of the set design for this innovative new production of The Suicide, seen below:
Production images below courtesy of Naturally in Niagara. Click the link to see more of their images from our media call.
Tags: Mainstage, Nikolai Erdman, The Suicide - A Russian Comedy
Categories: Events, Plays
Lion in the Streets

Thursday, January 12, 2012 | By Nikki Prudden
Written by Judith Thompson

Directed by Danielle Wilson
Designed by David Vivian

Lion in the Streets is a beautiful nightmare.
– Danielle Wilson, director

February 16, 2012 – 7:30 pm
February 17, 2012 – matinee 11:30 am AND 7:30 pm
February 18, 2012 – 7:30 pm

Adult $15 : Students/Seniors $12 : eyeGO $5 : Group Rates $10
Buy tickets at arts.brocku.ca

All DART Students receive ONE free ticket.

Lion in the Streets is a play in which the obsessions of the characters erupt forth in heightened, surreal and imagistic language. The young protagonist, a Portuguese immigrant to Toronto named Isobel, is a ghost in a purgatorial condition. She deftly moves in and out of critical, extreme moments in each of the characters lives while searching for the man who killed her seventeen years prior. Twentieth century music underscores the critical moments in these characters’ lives animated with contemporary movement inspired by dance company La La La Human Steps. This unique mixture complements and elucidates surreal moments while revealing Thompson’s brilliant, sparkling humor. The production embodies our contemporary quest for faith, truth, and a ‘state of grace’ while contending with the absurdity of daily life.

Lion in the Streets is written by award-winning Canadian Playwright Judith Thompson. Premiered at the Tarragon Theatre in 1990 the play won the Chalmers Outstanding New Play Award in 1991. Thompson’s plays embrace subconscious elements of human experience not often seen on stage, capturing audience’s attention across the country. Canadian theatre companies regularly perform her work, such as Soulpepper’s 2011 production of White Biting Dog at the Young Center in Toronto.Lion in the Streets continues to be one of Thompson’s most known and most popular plays. High School students will be confronted with daring subject matter which could provide context and relevance to their lives. The play explores themes of repressed violence and sexuality, the search for identity and the powerful nature of love and forgiveness. While the subject matter is dark, Thompson has crafted this exquisitely surreal play with moments of humor, hope and redemption or what she calls “moments of grace”.

Contemporary movement will be choreographed by Gerald Trentham, Artistic Director of Toronto’s Pounds Per Square Inch Performance company. Our production will showcase 8 second to fourth year Brock students, playing a total of 29 roles, with additional assistance from students studying the areas of production, stagecraft, design and directing.

With this production both Director Danielle Wilson and scenographer David Vivian look forward to honoring the wit and intelligence of our departed colleague, Dr Marlene Moser, a leading scholar of the oeuvre of Judith Thompson. Moser’s published thesis entitled “Postmodern Feminist Readings of Identity in selected works of Judith Thompson, Margaret Hollingsworth and Patricia Gruben” (Ph.D. Thesis, 1998. Graduate Center for Study of Drama University of Toronto) and the article “Identities of Ambivalence: Judith Thompson’s Perfect Pie” (Theatre Research in Canada, Volume 27 Number 1/ Spring 2006), explore themes of gender, narrative, identification of the subject and patriarchal abuse, dwelling upon their relationship to the stage, the language and how the audience will perceive them.

High School Teachers and Educators: please read this letter for detailed information about the production, curriculum ties, and student matinee booking.

Lion in the Streets: A Study Guide, is an introduction to our production, prepared by our Dramaturge and Third Year DART student, Erica Charles. Included are: 1) Collaboration, 2) Play Synopsis, 3) The Playwright: Judith Thompson, 4) Director’s Notes, 5) Designer’s Notes, 6) Isobel and her Lion, 7) Symbolism, 8) Images, 9) An Interview with Judith Thompson by Eleanor Wachtel, 10) Additional References, 11) List of Figures, 12) Endnotes and Bibliography.

Download your PDF copy of Lion in the Streets: A Study Guide
(PDF, 8.7 MB, remotely hosted)

Download a copy of the poster (PDF, 1 MB)

Buy tickets at arts.brocku.ca

Press:

“Dramatic Arts play explores the death of a young girl” – see the article in The Brock News

Photos:
Tags: Danielle Wilson, David Vivian, Judith Thompson, Lion in the Streets, Mainstage, plays
Categories: Events, Plays