Finster Finds

EDMONTON PLAYWRIGHTS’ CIRCLE READINGS May 6, 2013 7:30PM Walterdale Theatre Admission by donation An evening of readings of segments from brand-new plays written by the participants of our 2013 Playwrights’ Circle, facilitated by Conni Massing.  Always an entertaining evening, please join us in helping these writers take their plays from page to stage for the first time. The Writers: Liane Faulder Alexis Hillier Gilbert da Silva The Acting Ensemble: Amber Bissonnette Julie Golosky Richard Lee Michael Peng Hope to see you all there! ____________________________________________________ For more information about any of our programs, please go to our website at: www.albertaplaywrights.com

I saw a play last night I wish I had written.  This happens every once in a while when I go see a new work.  I marvel at the work the playwright did.  I wonder, " How will I ever know how to do that? " That's how I feel about Collin Doyle's new play Let the Light of Day Through now playing at Theatre Network.  The script is so elegant and tight and funny and honest and it feels effortless as we experience it.  I don't want to say too much, because much of it's brilliance comes in the way the story is unwrapped. We start in the now of Chris (Lora Brovold) and Rob (Jesse Gervais), a couple in their thirties and then swoop along with them as they portray each other's parents and co-workers and themselves when they were younger.  We experience their growing relationship thinking we know how it will go because we have already met them in an older form.  It begins with a lot of laughter. A LOT of laughter.  Brovold and Gervais have great chemistry an...

I've been thinking about doing a series about how to see more theatre even if you can't afford it so when I got information about the newest Catalyst Theatre show, The Soul Collector , and what they are doing to help those with smaller pocketbooks see the show I figured I would start with it!  Stay tuned for other tips as I hear about them! Here are some of the ways you can see the show at a rate reduced from the regular $36.75 - $42 ticket prices.  First of all: YOUTH WALK UP TICKETS! 10 tickets at $10 each will be available at the door for each performance for youth up to the age of 21. 1 per person, proof of age required. Available 1 hour prior to show time. Secondly they are currently releasing 100 tickets for $20! These tickets are for ANY show during the run - with the exception of opening (May 3). You got to get them fast though! Deadline is Saturday at 4pm. Get them through Tix On the Square (phone only  780.420.1757). Use the code GIDEON . Two...

Joe Garreck What is your role in this show? Doug Panch. He's  s trung a bit tight but enamoured with Rona Peretti What is your background in theatre? Acting for 29 years - trained at the U of A. Third show with ELOPE (previous ELOPE shows -  Into the Woods and I Love you You're Perfect, Now Change ) What is your favourite word to spell, and why? Ossuary - great sentence for teachers (you'll have to see the show to find out why!) Alyssa Lightfoot Role: Brooke Coneybear, one of Leaf's many siblings Background in theatre:  This is my first ELOPE show but I have always had a passion for theatre! When I was in high school I was in a theatre intensive program! I was also in Young Frankenstein at the University of Alberta and in high school I did  Pippin, Urinetown, and Babes in Arms ! Favourite word to spell: Apoop because it always makes me laugh! Photos: Top - Joe Garreck as Panch, "That is Correct!" Bottom - Angela Tran and Alyssa Lightfoo...

So, I have mentioned that I have been very busy lately.  This is because I have a couple of projects on the go.  The biggest one is that I am directing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for ELOPE Theatre.  I am working with Sally Hunt as Music Director and Jake Hastey as Choreographer and it is coming along wonderfully!  Last week I had my good friend Janine Hodder come in and take some photos of rehearsal and I thought I would share a few of them with you so you can see some of the terrific images I get to see at each rehearsal. There are many more photos and as we enter this last couple of weeks of rehearsal, I might be regaling you with a few more stories about the process and I will share some of the others shots then! But enjoy these for now!

This week Undercurrent Theatre presents  (un)earthed,  premiering at the Arts-Based Research Studio (4-104 Education North, University of Alberta) on April 25, 26, and 27 at 7:30 PM . Undercurrent Theatre is an artist-run company dedicated to the critical exploration of society through the development of new theatrical works and community-engaged artistic projects. Tickets are by donation, and a talk-back follows each presentation.  About the Piece: Sifting, digging, burying; planting, seeding, uprooting. A group of five women from various pockets of time and space are brought together. In defying materiality and temporality, they uncover a sense of place . (un)earthed investigates the nature of agency, power, and (second) chances. Facilitated and Directed by Nikki Shaffeeullah  Stage Management by Emily St Aubin  Featuring Saima Butt, Neelam Chattoo, Aliya Jamal, Rebecca John, and Natalia Knowlton The play (un)earthed is the final ins...

As is my way, I had a very busy calendar this weekend.  I had my sister in town from Toronto, a Theatre Alberta Board Meeting, Rehearsals and TWO SHOWS to see!  It all worked out well for me as I had it all carefully scheduled, but I must say, the shows offset the busy because they were a delightful release of laughter! On Saturday Night, my sister and I had a fabulous dinner at Normand's Bistro in the Citadel before catching the first Preview of Spamalot .  The dinner was wonderful and a nice prelude to the show.  I had seen the show a few years back when it came through with Broadway Across Canada and the cool thing is that the Citadel Production was clearly it's own interpretation as I could not really remember much about the other production. So, it is worth it to see this production if you were hesitating.  The choices are their own, but they still give proper homage to the Monty Python aesthetic.  This is the show for the Monty Python fan or ...

Yesterday I took in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin presented by Edmonton Opera at the Jubilee Auditorium.  It was beautiful to watch and hear. The production captured all the expectations of a Russian story.  I am currently reading Anna Karenina and in watching this opera I felt transported.  Everything looked and sounded and felt just right.  The costumes are delightful.  The opera moves from the rustic country outdoors, to a country ball and then finally to a more formal ball.  As it progresses, the costumes get more and more opulent, reminding us where we are and who these people are. I must comment on the Lighting by Designer Geoff George. It is some of the best lighting I have ever seen and I see a lot of theatre.  Act II, Scene 2 in the woods is absolutely breath-taking.  I actually gasped out the words "how gorgeous" at one point. The sets are simple but at the same time lush and atmospheric.  Kudos to the cast for managing the rake of t...

Tomorrow I will be seeing a Preview of Edmonton Opera's Eugene Onegin .  Since it is in Russian I will definitely want to do a little prep today.  I can follow the sur-titles, but I prefer to keep my eyes on the stage as much as possible. I did the prep work for the last opera I saw and it really paid off.  When I go to theatre, I like a little mystery so that I can be surprised and invest myself more in what's happening onstage, but with foreign language Opera it is a different thing for me.  I feel that maybe someday I will be able to go in a little more blind, but for now, I find the prep work pays off.  In addition to my research, I have been following the twitter feeds of many of the people involved and it has been fun to get caught up in their excitement.  Opera and Theatre are events and I like the build up to opening.  Twitter has been fun in that I feel involved in the journey to the stage even though I am not in the show. So today, before I...

My good friend Zachary Parsons-Lozinski, who I worked with in The Misanthrope at Walterdale this past winter, has a new show opening this week. I am very excited for him and looking forward to seeing it. I always enjoy seeing him onstage and this sounds like something he will be hysterical in! I am expecting major camp! Which I love! The show, All the Devils, opens Wednesday, April 17th at Azimuth Theatre. Here's the description: Hollywood socialite, Lilith Fair, is a highly paid actress…just not a very good one. After her most recent screen disaster, she travels to the secluded county of Dunwich, Massachusetts to prepare for her next performance: Lavinia Whateley in All the Devils . Unbeknownst to her, Dunwich is a place full of dark magic, sinister cults, and ancient Gods. If only she had done her research… Zachary Parsons-Lozinski stars in this modern take on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror while Rabid Marmot Productions’ Jenna Greig ( Dog Sees God, Far From Crazy...

Yesterday I had another delightfully full-of-arts Sunday.  I started the day at the boys' piano lessons, then hustled across town to Walterdale Playhouse to catch Burning Vision .  My date and I grabbed some supper and visited and then we headed off to rehearsal for Spelling Bee.  Following rehearsal i let myself be talked into ending the long day with karaoke at Rosario's. So, it was a full day full of music and theatre. The day had ups and downs. Although I love hearing my boys play piano, it was clear that there were things they had not really spent much time practicing this week. The play was interesting - it's a challenging piece - more of a poem onstage, than a traditional piece of theatre.  I will admit I struggled with it a bit. However, I was very impressed with the complicated sound design which gave the audience a very layered sensory experience, and there were several lovely performances. I was most impressed with Amy Chow as Tokyo Rose, as she has a...

So, yesterday afternoon my kids' school presented a very funny and wonderful production along with Trickster Theatre Company.   The company works by coming into the school for a week and working in all the classes to prepare a short (2-3 minute) play with the kids.  Each class has a theme or topic and the kids brainstorm and make up little plays.  Mid week, the school calls in parent volunteers to pull costumes from Trickster's "Bins of Costumes" to support the plays ( I was there !).  They have tech rehearsals on Thursday and on Friday afternoon parents are invited to come and watch all the plays put together.  It was wonderful.  I laughed so hard due to intense cuteness as well as real funny stuff.  It was fabulous to see all the kids participating.  As a former drama educator I could see the principles applies and as a parent I was so happy to hear my kids come home all week long talking excitedly about what they were doing. I was so glad that...

Contrary to the title, I am not going to spend a great deal of time talking about gender politics other than to say that because of recent events in the world like this and this and this  there is something so relevant and current about it.  You wouldn't necessarily think so since it tells a story that is ages old, but it tells it through the eyes of Penelope, the patient and faithful and clever wife of Odysseus.  Over the past few years, when studying drama at the University of Alberta and in working on my own plays a common question was " Why this play now? " and it makes me look at the theatre I see through that filter.   The Penelopiad  has relevance now, because there are many, many situations in the world, and not just far away from us in the world, where women are relatively powerless in the world of men.  Something to think about... And now, about the play and the production... I read Margaret Atwood's play four years ago and loved it. It is a p...

Yesterday I had two events that were musical theatre based to get me through the day.  The first was a Musical Theatre Workshop with Don Horsburgh at The Citadel Theatre .  It took place in the converted Rice Theatre and he took us through a Master-class with 6 young performers.  He had each sing a piece and then he did some tweaking to it, sharing his tips with the crowd and imparting some of the behind the scenes tricks for preparing a musical theatre audition.  I found Horsburgh very personable and humble and he worked with a gentle intelligence with the singer/actors.  All six were well prepared and tuneful and for ten dollars it made for a nice little mini-concert in addition to a workshop.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it made for a nice 2 hours of musical theatre and as a Director I can tell you he gave good tips about preparation for your audition - for example: avoid shiny plastic covers on your music, don't cut off the key signatures, and av...

Tonight I went to Northern Light Theatre's DUST at the PCL Theatre.  It's setting is harsh - Abu Ghraib Prison - and we walk in knowing how the story ends because we have seen it play out in the media. So it is not about the typical beginning, middle and end.  It is mostly about the middle - the ugly middle of torture and abuse of prisoners and the justification and shame in committing that abuse. It's not an easy play to watch.  We see the pictures ( the famous pictures ), well, parts of them for a few moments here and there.  Perhaps it's better that we cannot see all of them and not for very long.  As I said, it's not an easy play to watch but it tries to give insight as to how people could do the things that were done.  We are consoled (?) that one of them clearly does not like doing what is done while the other seems to feel justified because " it is allowed ". An interesting and frightening question - What will people do when they are simply allow...

So last August I won a fabulous prize from Vue Weekly... I wrote about it here .  It has made for one of the most fabulous years of theatre watching for me.  I am really, really, really going to miss all these free tickets next year.  I hope to still be going to see a lot of shows - I did before I had the prize, so I I don't see why I won't - I am just going to have to pay more money... That's alright.  Those artists need to eat too. Anyhow, I only have a few things left on the docket, one of which is  Two passes to Nextfest Arts Festival at Theatre Network and I discovered that I am out of town for most of the festival and I really don't want to see these passes go to waste.  So, I decided to hold my own little contest to give away those passes. Here's how you can win my two passes - comment below and tell me why you want to go to Nextfest and why you should win.  You can relate a story about how seeing something at Nextfest affected you, or how...