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Aug 5

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“A look into the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary times” – SEAMS at the 2015 SummerWorks Festival

Interview by Bailey Green

I sat down with several members of the Seams Collective, Polly Phokeev (playwright), Elizabeth Stuart-Morris (producer/actor) and Mikaela Davies (director) to discuss their upcoming production of Seams at SummerWorks 2015.

Polly Phokeev began writing Seams four years ago during a playwriting workshop with Djanet Sears. She was asked to write a scene for 4-7 people and was inspired by an old photo of her grandmother sitting with a few other women. “It began as a play about my grandmother, and I drew from her memories of Russia and the memories of others in her generation,” Phokeev says. “But it became a play about accountability to one’s past and the loyalty we have to our friends, family and country.” The play is set in 1939 which comes at the tail-end of Stalin’s purges. “It’s a look into the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary times,” says Polly. 

Polly worked Seams on and off for several years until it took the shape of a two and a half hour draft entitled Ranevskya and the Seamstress. They held a workshop reading and the play was well received. Producer and performer Elizabeth Stuart-Morris encouraged Polly to bring the script to the next level. “I was struck by how beautiful the story was and knew it was time to get the play on its feet,” says Elizabeth.

Polly then reached out to designer Shannon Lee Doyle. “Aesthetic was very important to me,” Polly says, “and it’s a memory play so things weave in and out, and I wanted to have the five senses very active in the piece. So I went to Shannon. She told me she liked it but that I should cut half the words, so I cut the main character of the draft and stayed with the seamstresses.”

For the design of the show, Shannon created two worlds for the characters to exist in—one is 1939 in the back of the theatre where the seamstresses work and the other is a dream world for our narrator Frosya (played by Clare Coulter) who is in the theatre with us. Those worlds break apart and become deeply entwined over the course of the play.

Next on board was director Mikaela Davies, who says she “fell in the love with this world and the people.” Dramaturge Simone Brodie became the fifth member of the Seams Collective (along with Phokeev, Stuart-Morris, Davies, Doyle) though many artists and collaborators have been involved over the process which began in January 2015.

The Collective participated in the Paprika Festival this year. Director Mikaela discussed the experience of preparing for Paprika, “We called it a workshop but we really went for it. And that has made this stage of rehearsing for SummerWorks much easier. It’s much smoother.” During Paprika, Polly and Elizabeth prepared anonymous feedback forms for their audience and they found that the firsthand comments were invaluable for the play’s development. Also during Paprika, they had a Russian actress come in for a night to perform almost all of her text in Russian. That night, a majority of the audience for that performance was Russian and the response from the community was warm.

Though the Russian audience had a very positive response, a few weeks later Polly ran into a Russian actor who questioned her about the backgrounds of the people involved with the project: how many members of the cast and creative team were Russian? This incident prompted the collective to address the ethics of storytelling. They took it one step further and hosted a panel discussion to explore who has a right to tell stories. Polly says, “We believe that with respect and with research, stories are ours to tell.” Mikaela adds, “We have to ask ourselves honestly, are we doing anyone harm? Are we silencing anyone? And for us, the answer is no.”

The play draws parallels between the Russia of 1939 and Russia in 2015. Polly shares a quote, that has become somewhat of a mantra for the collective, from Sergei Dovlatov: “We endlessly condemn comrade Stalin, and, it appears, with reason. Yet still I’d like to ask-who is it that wrote four million reports?” Mikaela emphasizes how this quote demands that the individual face the consequences of their silence.

“And it makes you consider, what stories are we covering up here in Canada? Who are we silencing?” Polly says, as she discusses the polarized international media response to Boris Nemtsov’s assassination—whereas in Russia the death was initially reported as a tragic accident with no political ties.

“This is not just a story about oppression,” says Mikaela “we want to offer another side to these characters’ relationship to their country—which of course is riddled with guilt and pain and terror—but there’s something really beautiful about the notion of service to something greater than yourself. There is a lot of beauty, integrity and love that these people feel for their country.”

When asked about how the characters cope with this obligation to their country, Elizabeth responded, “The characters are constantly grappling with the pull between what they want and their loyalty to their country. There’s a lot of hope and there’s a desire for something more. But the clothes they are wearing, the hours they are working and lack of food is something they have to face. They don’t have any easy way out. It’s a very intense world to exist in, especially when it’s a reality that many people are still living.”

Seams

Produced by The Seams Collective, presented as part of the 2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival

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A dying Russian woman’s frantic recollections of her youth as a seamstress in Soviet Moscow weave through the lives of costume-makers working in a theatre during the fall of 1939. A series of love and hate stories emerge from the dust as she folds together the pieces of a past she has struggled to forget.
Seams is a play for anyone with ancestors, for a country born of immigrants, and for a community made of quilted-together culture.

Connect: http://www.seamscollective.com/

Where: Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace – 16 Ryerson Avenue
Tickets: $15 Buy Now
Thursday August 6th – 5:15pm
Sunday August 9th – 7pm
Monday August 10th – 9:45pm
Tuesday August 11th – 9:30pm
Wednesday August 12th – 7pm
Friday August 14th – 9:30pm
Sunday August 16th – 4:15pm

Run Time: 90min

The Seams Collective

Directed by Mikaela Davies; Written by Polly Phokeev; Performed by Krystina Bojanowski, Clare Coulter, Sochi Fried, Jesse Lavercombe, Caitlin Robson, Elizabeth Stuart-Morris, and Ewa Wolzniczek; Dramaturged by Simone Brodie; Set and Costume Design by Shannon Lea Doyle; Assistant Set and Costume Design by Kelly Anderson, Sound Design by Nicholas Potter; Lighting Design by Steve Vargo; Stage Managed by Steve Vargo and Lisa Van Oorschot; Produced by Elizabeth Stuart-Morris; Assistant Produced by Rebecca Ballarin

Jul 6

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An Interview with Julia Nish-Lapidus & Catherine Rainville of Shakespeare BASH’d “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in the 2015 Toronto Fringe

Interview by Bailey Green

“We’ve done comedies before, but nothing like this. It’s a non-stop riot.” – Julia Nish-Lapidus, Shakespeare Bash’d.

You may not associate the words “laugh-a-minute” with Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, but Shakespeare Bash’d may change your mind—they have taken over the Victory Cafe this Fringe to bring you a comedy of epic proportions. I spoke with Julia Nish-Lapidus (playing Mistress Page) and Catherine Rainville (co-director of the production with Artistic Director James Wallis) to talk about what makes this show so “silly, fartuous, specially amazing and ridonculous.”

The show’s main plot focuses on Falstaff, Mistress Page, Mistress Ford, and their respective husbands. Falstaff decides he wants to seduce the women to gain access to their husbands’ money, but when the ladies figure it out, they decide to turn the tables on him. “They’re two smart, badass, confident, ballsy women,” says Julia.

The two women also decide to teach Mistress Ford’s jealous husband (Andrew Joseph Richardson) a lesson. Catherine and Julia praise Suzette McCanny’s work as Mistress Ford, especially with her portrayal of her sincere love for her husband and desire to help him recover from his jealousy for his own sake. Though Master Ford is described as a “rascally knave”, through cuts and interpretation, Bash’d chose to cut some of the implied violence in the text. “In 2015, we can’t have a man who beats his wife being forgiven at the end of the play. That just doesn’t sit right,” Catherine says. “And we’re not burning Falstaff with candles… We ‘turn him, turn him’ instead of ‘burn him, burn him,” Julia follows up.

And it wouldn’t be Shakespeare without a subplot – a love story between Anne Page and Fenton (played by real-life couple Jade Douris and Drew O’Hara) whose chances are jeopardized by Anne’s mother, Mistress Page, who is anxious to marry her off to the good Doctor Caius (played by Zachary Parkhurst). Jeff Dingle plays Slender, another suitor of Anne: “Slender is so loveable but just so, so wrong for Anne,” Julia says.

Sean Sullivan plays Falstaff and Lynne Griffin plays Mistress Quickly, and Catherine and Julia can’t say enough good things about them. “Sean is such a generous scene partner who is so willing to go for it,” Julia says. “They’re honestly amazing,” says Catherine, “Every day they might bring in a new prop or piece of clothing, props or set ideas.” Sean really dove in to the role of Falstaff with exuberance. Catherine expresses gratitude for Sean’s willingness to be completely open to try new direction. Catherine also says what a privilege it’s been to watch the actors go through the extensive process of creating a character from start to finish—a process she is quite familiar with, herself.

I asked Catherine and Julia about what had challenged them over the course of the show:

Julia: Giving myself permission to truly push myself. I’ve played comedic roles in our shows before, I mean last year it was basically just cleavage and squeaking. But with this show, I’m just trusting myself and the text and our amazing company, and just going for it with gusto.

Catherine: My greatest challenge has been navigating the impossible, like when the whole cast is onstage or there’s these big changes in space or location. For example, how do you make the audience see a giant tree in their mind?

Julia: Oh no… now the audience is going to be looking for the giant tree.

Catherine: There’s no tree. It’s not literal. But sometimes you get these gifts, like there’s a chimney spoken of in the text and we just magically have a fireplace in the Victory.

Julia: This time around in the Victory Cafe, I feel like we’re really embracing the bar and making it part of our story. We are the Victory Cafe players and we are here to perform our show for our audience and the queen.

“I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.” – The Merry Wives of Windsor

Merry Wives - Poster

Join your favourite Best of Fringe winning Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare BASH’d, for the Bard’s outrageous rural comedy: The Merry Wives of Windsor. In a world of drunks and cuckolds, two witty women set out to teach a lesson of love and jealousy.
Come crush a cup at the Victory cafe with this battle of wits.
“I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.”

By: William Shakespeare
Company: Shakespeare BASH’d
Company origin: Toronto, Ontario
Director: James Wallis, Catherine Rainville
Cast: Jade Douris, Lynne Griffin, Andrew Knowlton, David Mackett, Suzette McCanny, Julia Nish-Lapidus, Drew O’Hara, Andrew Joseph Richardson, David Ross, Sean Sullivan

Connect with them:

shakespearebashd.com
@ShakesBASHd

Where: The Victory Cafe, 581 Markham Street

When:
July 07 at 07:00 PM  buy tickets
July 08 at 07:00 PM  buy tickets
July 09 at 07:00 PM  buy tickets
July 10 at 07:00 PM  buy tickets
July 11 at 07:00 PM  buy tickets
July 12 at 05:00 PM  buy tickets

Show length: 90min.

Tickets: fringetoronto.com

Jul 6

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“Loss sure is unpleasant, right?” – An Interview with Ben Hayward – director of “A Tournament of Lies” in the 2015 Toronto Fringe

by Bailey Green 

A Tournament of Lies is a play of eight monologues spoken by the former friends and lovers of Alex, the deceased. Part of the challenge of directing the show, explains director Ben Hayward, lay in how to find each character’s connections to each other and their ties to Alex, the person who has left them all behind. “There’s a sense when someone dies young that there’s this lost life that never happened,” says Hayward, “and we wanted to explore how people cope with that.”

When Bald Monkey Theatre decided they wanted to perform Evan Brown’s play A Tournament of Lies, they began the search for their site-specific location—the action of the play takes place at a memorial. But as you can imagine, securing a funeral home for a play is as tricky as it sounds. They’re costly to rent, and having the owners on board with the idea was another challenge altogether. “We also wanted to avoid churches,” says Hayward, “because we didn’t want the piece to have any particular religious focus,” — the piece avoids discussing afterlife or heaven in any way. They ended up choosing the Multi-Faith centre at the University of Toronto for the reverent atmosphere, plus the challenge it would prove to transform it into a theatrical space.

Ben Hayward is involved with two shows this year—working as director of A Tournament of Lies with Bald Monkey Theatre as well as co-creator and cook for The Dinner Table with Fail Better Theatre (co-created and produced by Ali Richardson). Last year, Hayward played the elusive Andy Warhol in last summer’s Fringe success Andy Warhol presents: Valerie (presented by Fail Better Theatre.)

The bereaved cast of characters, “who are wacky and wide-ranging” says Ben, include: “a guy hung up on the dead girl, two people who work at a bottle recycling plant, a hipster cab driver, a drunk dude who hates funerals and her ex-lover.” One of the characters in the show is a diary entry, “which was an interesting abstract moment, everyone else is somehow connected to the sphere of the dead girl Alex, but this one is outside of that, so we had to figure out that voice,” says Ben. The bereaved are played by Owen Fawcett, Brandon Gillespie, Hannah Jack, Iain LaCourt, Sarah Marchand, Lindsey Middleton, Sarah Robbins and Jonathan Walls.

The Multi-Faith Centre feels like it could host a memorial—it’s has a sense of decorum, it’s non-descript and to a degree, clinical. But from a theatrical standpoint, there’s no backstage area, no hidden props on a table, nor is there a lighting grid. So it was up to the cast and crew to create the magic. “One of the best parts was transforming the space, and I don’t want to give away too much,” says Ben, “but for example we have a runner of LED lights around the room so that as the show proceeds and becomes more theatrical the lights change with that. My approach to the show has been about magic – that life is about those moments of magic and it’s about the things that don’t have logical or linear explanations.” They’re hoping to surprise their audience out of their initial thoughts. They want the audience to engage, to be invested and hopefully delighted.

Ben is constantly seeking ways of pushing the boundaries of theatre creation in a way that doesn’t need the proscenium arch. “I want to avoid making ‘movies on stage’, ” laughs Ben. When I ask Ben to describe A Tournament of Lies in five words, he pauses and says “loss sure is unpleasant, right?”

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Alex’s friends and lovers gather at her funeral to make sense of her death. Once together, they compete between themselves to see who can grieve the best. How do you make sense of your life when the person who defined it is gone? A Tournament of Lies examines the unsavoury nature of grief, fragmentation of memory, and self-preservation.

By: Evan Brown
Company origin: Toronto, Ontario
Director: Ben Hayward
Cast: Owen Fawcett, Hannah Jack, Iain LaCourt, Sarah Marchand, Lindsey Middleton, Sarah Robbins, Jon Walls

Warnings: Mature Language

Where: (site-specific) Multi-Faith Centre (The Quiet Room)

Capacity: 15

When:
July 02 at 09:00 PM  sold out
July 03 at 09:00 PM  sold out
July 06 at 09:00 PM  sold out
July 07 at 09:00 PM  sold out
July 08 at 09:00 PM  sold out
July 09 at 09:00 PM  buy tickets
July 10 at 09:00 PM  sold out

Show length: 60min.

Jul 3

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Interview with Rachel Blair – Playwright & Performer of “A Man Walks Into a Bar” at the 2015 Toronto Fringe

by Bailey Green 

“A woman, with the help of a man, tells a joke: A man walks into a bar and meets a waitress. As lines between the performers and the characters blur, a tense and funny standoff about gender, power, and selling sex emerges.” – A Man Walks Into a Bar

Presented by Circle Circle and written by Rachel Blair, A Man Walks into a Bar is a stark exploration of the ways men and women interact. Inspired by current events, collected stories and her own experience, the play is a frank conversation about masculine and feminine interaction. The location— the loaded and often hyper-sexualized environment of a bar.

Rachel wanted to discuss inequality, for example: how from a very early age women are taught coping strategies to avoid violence and protect themselves. “In these kinds of conversations, about gender or race, someone has privilege and someone does not,” Rachel says, “and you might not realize how privileged you are until you hear how someone else isn’t.” She strove to make each character identifiable but challenging. In her own words, she describes the play as “funny, feminist, masculine, urgent and accessible.”

The play slips between two worlds, between interaction with the audience and absorption into the woman’s story. Rachel performs the role of the woman. Blue Bigwood-Mallin plays the man, and Rachel comments on his willingness to stretch as a performer, committing to the strong opinionated nature of his role. The play began as a satire on how men negatively respond to women’s stories— corrections, suggestions, interruptions, etc. Rachel did extensive research, using Reddit and message boards to examine the ways men dismantled women’s arguments. Now before I go further, let me introduce a hashtag conceived by the cast and crew:

#NotAllMenwhoWalkIntoaBar

One of Rachel’s challenges was to make the piece as balanced as possible, “I’m trying open up a discussion that happens often, and clearly sometimes blows up in our face and creates animosity—between men and women, women and women, men and men. I wanted to be very respectful to both voices without making them caricatures or demonizing them.” Rachel mentions White Ribbon for their work, men working to end violence towards women, and expresses her gratitude for the feminists in her life.

One of whom is her director, David Matheson (Artistic Director of the Dora nominated Wordsmyth Theatre) who was a mentor of Rachel’s while she studied at York. Their friendship grew from there. “David’s great about drawing out new aspects and finding moments while being very respectful of the work,” Rachel says. When Rachel was selected from the Fringe lottery, she proceeded to write the play in two months, going through multiple drafts with her dramaturg Andrew Cheng—who she has worked with for years.

After June 1st, Rachel officially switched over to acting the role as opposed to writing the show. She initially found it challenging to let go of the male character’s justifiable opinions at points in the story.“We’ve played a lot with my character’s volition and how much she needs to keep the conversation with the man amicable and light. As a playwright I’ve written this piece, and I’m outspoken and opinionated” Rachel says, “but for the character, this is a big brave thing to talk about this idea and tell this joke to a man. I think a lot of women may have huge opinions about who they are as women and where they stand but are scared to speak up for fear that they won’t ‘do it right’ or rock the boat or to encourage judgement.”

As for her intention for the audience, she hopes people hear an opinion different from their own and find themselves understanding even though they still may disagree. She hopes women find a sense of comfort in hearing any part of their experience heard. Let’s keep the dialogue going.

A Man Walks Into a Bar

A Man Walks In 3 Lo Res

A man walks into a bar and asks a waitress for a drink. A tense and funny metatheatrical look at gender dynamics.

From Rachel Blair, 2008 New Play Contest winner for Wake (NNNN, ***** Eye Weekly, Best of Fringe) and David Matheson, Artistic Director of Dora-nominated Wordsmyth Theatre and director of [sic] (Best of Fringe) and Bluebeard (Patron’s Pick).

By: Rachel Blair

Company: Circle Circle

Company origin: Toronto, Ontario

Director: David Matheson

Dramaturg: Andrew Cheng

Warnings: Mature Language

Where: Tarragon Theatre Extraspace

When:
July 01 at 06:30 PM
July 03 at 01:15 PM
July 04 at 07:00 PM
July 05 at 03:30 PM
July 06 at 08:30 PM
July 08 at 12:00 PM
July 11 at 05:15 PM

Tickets: http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/shows/a-man-walks-into-a-bar/

 

 

Jul 1

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Fringe Preview: People Suck – An Irreverent Exploration of Human Suckiness – Presented by Nutmeg Creations at the 2015 Toronto Fringe

by Bailey Green

Megan Phillips had an epiphany. She was being a complete jerk to the people she loved — she had no idea why. She sat in a hipster coffee shop in Toronto during the 2014 Fringe when it hit her. After “journaling-out” some ideas, she got in contact with Peter Cavell. Megan calls Pete, “a brilliant composer” and knew he was the right person to bring this idea to life. When Megan told Pete the title, it sealed the deal — People Suck, an irreverent exploration of human suckiness.

They were intrigued by the concept of creating a song cycle based around a theme, as opposed to a musical with a linear arc or central character. People Suck plays with musical genres and unique characters, injected with a healthy dose of comedy. “Pete and I had very similar ideas of comedy,” says Megan, “but we also knew that in order to give that comedy depth, we had to explore the emotional layers behind the songs.”

Pete and Megan have known each other for almost 15 years, they attended Western together, and also come from similar backgrounds of working with Second City and sketch/improv work. Pete, writer and co-music director, is a current musical director at Second City. Megan, writer and cast member, heads an all-girl sketch comedy troupe called STRAPLESS COMEDY (who you may have seen at Fringe last year!).

They wrote People Suck on and off into the winter of 2014, while Megan lived in Vancouver and Pete lived in Toronto. But when they were pulled for the Fringe, they began writing multiple times a week over the phone. “Skype is not our friend,” they say. They kept track of lyrics in Google docs to coordinate progress, but couldn’t resist chasing each other’s cursors around the screen. “Our biggest challenge was time and distance,” Megan remembers. With the time difference, there was a narrow window where they could work. “I would get home after work, put my son to bed, and have only a few hours to write with Megan,” Pete says. In May, Megan moved to Toronto and the pair began to work on production. “Pete’s like a ‘real’ person… I mean he has a job and family and 2 year old, and Adriana [Pete’s wife] has been so amazing and supportive of Pete and this project,” Megan says. “She’s the best!” Pete agrees.

After both knowing him for years, their director Kerry Griffin (current director of Second City mainstage) was the first person they thought of to bring on to the project. As for cast, they needed to find actors with a comedic background who also had strong vocal chops. They chose: Ashley Comeau (Second City mainstage) and Connor Thompson (Second City) who are “a real life couple” adds Megan; Allison Price (Second City) who “coincidentally, we grew up as kids together,” says Pete, “and went to the same piano teacher”; as well as Arthur Wright, who went to university at the same time as Pete and Megan, who they also herald is a “phenomenal singer and actor.” Pete and Megan have been deeply appreciative of the hive-mind-like comedic writer atmosphere that has brought their piece to a new level.

They also credit their producer Victoria Laberge for her excellent work. Laberge, a native Montrealler very involved with theatre and FRINGE Montreal, has allowed Pete and Megan to focus on the creativity while Vic handles deadlines, press releases and “so many emails,” Megan says.

Their co-music director Jordan Armstrong, also a music director at Second City, brings a level of fresh musical improvisation and a bevy of skill with instruments to the table. Jordan plays clarinet, flute saxophone, percussion and piano (to name a few.) “So maybe she’ll grab her sax and I’ll grab my guitar, to we’ll fill out the musical texture a little more,” Pete says.

As for what they’re most excited for with the Fringe:

Megan: “Just doing the show for an audience! This show is so special and I feel so lucky to have had Pete as a partner and then the cast and everyone else who’s been involved. It’s our gorgeous little baby and now we’re get to show the baby to the world.”

Pete: “Getting this out there. We’ve been living with it for so long. Watching it now, the actors are all doing their thing and it’s made us step back and realize – wow, that was ours and now it’s this massive thing that can actually stand on it’s own.”

As for a teaser or preview? Megan graciously sings me a preview of their opener, in a Tim Hortons. The featured character is Miss Talbot, a teacher, who tells her class to settle down for the day’s lesson — that everyone has a special talent they bring (“In the potluck of life we can’t all bring the casserole,” Megan sings) but there’s always someone who plays a specific role.

“Suppose you lend your favourite dolly to Delilah,

Cause you were taught it’s nice and kind and good to share,

But then she keeps it for five years, and when it you get it back,

It smells like pee and it’s missing all it’s hair,

Then Delilah is an asshole.”

 

People Suck

Presented by Nutmeg Creations as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festivalunnamed

By: Megan Phillips and Peter Cavell

Company: Nutmeg Creations

Company origin: Vancouver, British Columbia

Director: Kerry Griffin

Cast: Ashley Comeau, Megan Phillips, Allie Price, Connor Thompson, Arthur Wright

Creative team: Musical Direction by Jordan Armstrong and Peter Cavell. Produced by Victoria Laberge.

Warnings: Sexual Content, Mature Language

Where: Randolph Theatre

When:

July 01 at 08:15 PM
July 04 at 10:30 PM
July 06 at 12:45 PM
July 07 at 06:45 PM
July 08 at 10:30 PM
July 09 at 05:15 PM
July 11 at 11:00 PM

Connect with them: @PplSuckMusical

Connect with us: @intheGreenRoom_ & @_BaileyGreen

Tickets:

http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/shows/people-suck/

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