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Posts tagged ‘Next Stage Theatre Festival’

Jan 5

“Exploring Archetypes, Storytelling & Country Music that isn’t about Football” – In Conversation with Matthew Gorman, writer of WESTERN, a play with music at NSTF

Interview by Hallie Seline

I spoke with Matthew Gorman, writer of Western, a play with music, at the Next Stage Festival, to discuss exploring the Western genre in the theatre, using music as a driving force in storytelling and the excitement of watching the NSTF grow over the years.

Hallie Seline: Tell me a bit about Western, a play with music.

Matthew Gorman: Western started as a retelling of a Johnny Cash song. It’s actually written by Sting, but Johnny’s version is the good one. It’s a song about a boy accidentally shooting a man and being hanged for it. I had initially intended it to be a solo piece and just follow along with the plot from the song but as I got going, I started to like the people around that story more and more. After trying a few versions of the script, we hit on the idea of a theatrical campfire, where a story was shared between the characters and the audience rather than having it presented in a more traditional fashion. This gave us more space to breathe and see what parts of the story needed telling and what needed showing.

HS: What drew you to explore the Western genre in a theatrical setting with this piece?

MG: I like archetypes. You know a bad guy is a bad guy because he’s the bad guy. People have expectations of characters in a western, so you don’t need to spend time explaining who everyone is. The sheriff is the sheriff. You’re playing with the form those characters take.

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HS: The show is described as being “a play with music”. What kind of role does the music play in the show and why was it important in the creation of the piece?

MG: Any good campfire has music playing. You pass around instruments and people take turns sharing a song. When we initially approached Gord (Bolan) about providing some music for an early staged reading, we thought he’d maybe play a few Hank Williams songs between scenes. When he showed up, he’d scored the whole thing and written a few originals. His presence in that reading showed us that he could be a featured part of the story, a driving force that influences the characters, rather than just accompaniment. We called it a play with music because it wasn’t a traditional musical, it’s a play where people sing sometimes.

SONY DSC

 

HS: What are you most looking forward to this Next Stage Festival? (aside from the presentation of your piece, of course.)

MG: I was a bartender at the first couple Next Stage Festivals, so I’m always looking forward to how the feel of the whole festival grows every year and things change.

HS: If your audience could listen to a song, album or playlist before coming to see Western, what would you recommend?

MG: People should listen to lots of John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Bonnie Prince Billy, Neko Case, some Gillian Welch. Any country music that isn’t about football.

Rapid Fire Question Round:

Favourite Western Film: The Proposition. Nick Cave wrote all the music, it’s great.

What are you watching these days? I’ve been on tour most of the fall, so a lot of Netflix. I watched a bunch of Penny Dreadful. It was amazing and terrible and cheesy and great and Simon Russel Beale is always delightful.

Where do you look for inspiration? Art galleries, always.

Favourite place in the city? We’ve been members at the zoo for years. We almost got married there. It’s the best.

Best advice you’ve ever gotten? Write whatever you want, let someone else worry about how to stage it.

Describe Western in 5 words: A campfire where people die.

Western, a play with music

western

Photo by Tanja Tiziana

Who:
Presented by The Harvey Dunn Campfire
Text by Matthew Gorman
Music by Gordon Bolan
Director Geoffrey Pounsett
Featuring Mairi Babb, Gordon Bolan, Brendan Murray, and Caroline Toal

What:
Part myth, part campfire song, this show is a reckless chase through an imagined western landscape. Nance wants a son, Reach wants a home, Dirt wants release, Jenet wants her brother, and Rabbit just wants to run. Join these acclaimed indie theatre artists ‘round the fire for a story about family, blood, and claiming what’s yours.

Where:
Factory Theatre Studio (125 Bathurst St.)

When:
January 05 at 06:30 PM
January 06 at 05:15 PM
January 07 at 07:30 PM
January 08 at 04:15 PM
January 10 at 06:30 PM
January 12 at 07:15 PM
January 13 at 08:45 PM
January 14 at 02:15 PM
January 15 at 03:30 PM

Tickets:
fringetoronto.com

 

Jan 4

“It’s Funny. It’s Feminist. It’s a Sexy Thriller, Horror Musical!” – In Conversation with Anika Johnson & Barbara Johnston on their flagship show Blood Ties at NSTF

Interview by Hallie Seline

It’s a complete joy to connect with Anika Johnson and Barbara Johnston of Johnson & Johnston, the power duo boss ladies behind Blood Ties at the Next Stage Theatre Festival. We spoke about where the inspiration for their horror musical came from, why they keep coming back to their flagship show after 10 years, and why the Next Stage Festival is like a big community party. 

Hallie Seline: This is your flagship show as Johnson & Johnston. How did the two of you meet and start creating together?

Anika Johnson & Barbara Johnston: We met as acting students at Ryerson Theatre school and wrote the first draft of this show for a festival of student work in our fourth year.

HS: So Blood Ties is based on a true story? How did you come across it?

J&J: One time Barb was stuck on a long car-trip with her family and her mom talking about this crazy day when her uncle shot himself in his bathroom and she and her friends had to clean up the mess.

HS: And what made you think “This has to be a musical!”?

J&J: Duh.

HS: This will be the fourth time presenting Blood Ties, right? The Next Stage Festival is all about bringing the work to the next level. What are you hoping for/exploring with this run of the show?

J&J: The first draft of Blood Ties was the first thing we ever wrote together, almost 10 years ago. Since then, we’ve written a whole bunch of other things, but for some reason we keep coming back to this one. In some ways, it’s the work that most unabashedly represents our taste – it’s funny, it’s feminist, it’s a horror musical, it’s a sexy thriller – and we’re excited to revisit it now as more seasoned writers and share a work that’s had some time to develop and grow.

HS: The festival is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and it’s been growing every year! Why do you think it’s so important for the theatre community and for the city for festivals like this to exist and be supported?

J&J: New work needs an audience, both for exposure and development. It’s hard for theaters to risk programming or developing a new show, especially a new musical, which takes years to finish. In a festival like Next Stage, we get the opportunity to fully realize an idea and then try it out in front of an audience – and audiences get the opportunity to see professional work from artists who may not otherwise have a platform. Plus, a festival is an event – like a giant family reunion. It brings the city together and builds community, which is so important. It’s a party. And we love to party.

HS: If your audience could listen to a song, album or playlist before coming to see Blood Ties, what would you recommend?

J&J: Maybe the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides’? But actually.

Rapid Fire Question Round:

Favourite Horror Film: Scream and Fatal Attraction.
Favourite Musical: Sweeney Todd.
What you’re listening to right now: Current faves that made their way into Blood Ties somehow: Kimbra ‘Settle Down’, The Rolling Stones ‘Miss You’, Martha Wainwright ‘I am a Diamond’.
Where do you look for inspiration? For this show, classic 90’s sexy thrillers and the lives of ourselves and our friends.
Favourite place in the city? This month, we’re really into karaoke at the Duke on Queen East.
Best advice you’ve ever gotten? It’s not going to look the way you thought it would.
Describe Blood Ties in 5 words: The things we never mention.

Blood Ties

blood

Photo of Anika Johnson & Barbara Johnston by Tanja Tiziana

Who:
Presented by Edge of the Sky
Playwrights Johnson & Johnston
Director Ann Merriam
Featuring Anika Johnson, Barbara Johnston, Jeremy Lapalme, Carter Hayden and Kent Sheridan
Musical Director Jeffrey Newberry

What:
Sheila’s uncle shoots himself in his bathroom on the eve of her wedding, and when her three best friends arrive in town to celebrate they are instead faced with the task of cleaning up the considerable mess left behind. This flagship musical show by Dora-nominated team Anika Johnson and Barbara Johnston has previously been a hit at SummerWorks, the Edinburgh Fringe, and on BBC America’s ‘Orphan Black.’ Based on true events.

Where: 
Factory Theatre Mainspace (125 Bathurst St.)

When:
January 04 at 08:15 PM
January 05 at 07:00 PM
January 07 at 04:15 PM
January 08 at 06:30 PM
January 10 at 08:45 PM
January 12 at 05:15 PM
January 13 at 10:00 PM
January 14 at 02:00 PM
January 15 at 07:00 PM

Tickets:
fringetoronto.com

Jan 3

“Two Truths and a Lie… Oh, and a Can of Spam” – In Conversation with Storyteller Graham Isador

Interview by Brittany Kay

I had the joy of sitting down with Graham Isador, one of the creators and storytellers of Two Truths and a Lie, opening this week as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival. We spoke about the fundamentals of the show, the Storytelling community in Toronto, and how sometimes what we really need is just a feel-good performance where we can sit back and laugh.

Brittany Kay: Tell me a little bit about your show Two Truths and a Lie?

Graham Isador: Rhiannon Archer, Helder Brum and myself tell three outrageous stories, one of which is completely fictional. The goal of the performance is to trick the audience into thinking that all of them are false or all of them are true and at the end somebody has to guess which one is the lie. If they guess right, they win a can of Spam.

BK: A can of Spam?

GI: A can of Spam.

BK: Alrighty! So there is audience participation?

GI: Ish. Do you hate audience participation?

BK: Some people do. It really depends on my mood that night.

GI: Well it’s very limited audience participation. We’re probably going to single someone out. They don’t have to do anything other than picking out which story is fake. It’s basically a fun storytelling show.

BK: Are there different stories each night?

GI: We are switching them up. So each one of us has a lie story and a truth story and, depending on the night, we decide before the show who’s going to tell what.

BK: Where did the idea for this show come from?

GI: Well it’s like the party game, right? It was just kind of a very easy, recognizable format to put the stories in and hopefully entertain some people. Helder, Rhiannon and I have all had pretty successful solo shows throughout the past year. Rhiannon’s Life Records sold out a complete Fringe run at the Backspace of Theatre Passe Muraille. Helder did very, very well with the show called Born with a Tale and I did a show called Situational Anarchy in this past SummerWorks Festival. We put together a proposal because we wanted to work together to do some sort of storytelling thing with the Fringe and this is what we had come up with for the Next Stage Festival.

BK: Where do these stories come from? Do we know what the stories are about?

GI: Nope. We’re not putting that out there. We’ve discussed what we’re going to use. Alternates included a story Rhiannon refers to as the Legend of Mudbutt, the time Helder ate a pepper so spicy he questioned his place on the space-time continuum, and a time that I became a pallbearer for a man I never met. But what we’ve come up with to share is a lot of fun. Or if it’s not, we lie until it is!

BK: What’s the process to craft and rehearse these stories? Do the three of you work together?

GI: I mean, we are all performers who are constantly doing shows. I perform probably once or twice a week. Rhiannon and Helder both perform more than that because they are stand-ups, so we’re always working on new material and always putting out different stuff. It’s the kind of material that we’ve sort of perfected, or are trying to perfect, at different shows through the city. It’s honing those skills down down down until we’ve got those tight 5-8 minute pieces to be able to give to the people.

BK: What’s your rehearsal process like?

GI: (whispers) There isn’t one. Hahaha…

Testing out the stories at different shows is kind of like our rehearsal process. They’ve been developed in front of a live audience to figure out what jokes are working. We said to each other, “Come up with 8 minutes, don’t go over that 8 minutes, and we’ll figure it out the night of.” We’re in the antechamber space. It’s a half hour. It’s fun, low-key and easy for the audience.

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Photo Credit: Tanja Tiziana

BK: Why is this show’s concept important right now for Toronto audiences?

GI: I think, first and foremost, this is just a show that we hope is entertaining. It’s going to be a fun half hour and a cool night out with your friends. It’s not one of those things where there are bigger through lines or emotional arcs. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy finding morals to stories and bigger truths to that stuff, but there’s also times where you want something a little dumb and hopefully people like it.

This is honestly a night where we are telling jokes. We want to entertain some people and send them home happy. It’s a feel-good event in the winter.

BK: How did you first start working with Rhiannon and Helder? Did you know them through the storytelling community? 

GI: I did a show with Rhiannon called Raconteurs, which is a monthly event that happens at the Tranzac Club. It’s a big storytelling event, which brings in about 100 people. We both admired each other’s work and wanted to be in each other’s shows. I run Pressgang out of the Garrison, which has become a little bigger with about 80-100 people per show. Rhiannon and Helder’s is called Fire Side, it happens at Dufferin Grove Park when the weather permits. We sit around a campfire and tell stories to each other.

BK: That’s wicked.

GI: Yeah, it’s free. People might have cheeky beers… It’s nice. It’s a good way to do things.

BK: I want to go to that.

GI: It’s awesome. We have marshmallows. People bring dogs. It’s a really fun show to do.

BK: What about director Tom Arthur Davis?

GI: Oh, we don’t need to talk about him.

BK: Hahaha. How is he as a director?

GI: Terrible. Just useless. I give him no credit for anything I’ve done.

No, no. We’ve known each other since University. We went to UofT together. We didn’t talk to each other for the first year and then eventually we started giving each other the head nod when we would see each other on campus. We became friends once when we got really drunk together at an improv jam in a basement. We lived together for a while and worked on various projects. He was the co-director for my SummerWorks show. We co-directed for a play I wrote called Served that happened at the Fringe two years ago. He’s been a part of Pressgang Storytelling on and off since its inception like 5 years ago. He’s genuinely the most talented director I know in this city and a total garbage human being.

BK: Nice. Good. He’ll like this.

GI: Yeah, no I love him like a brother. He’s excellent. He’s very, very good. So it was one of those things where we thought for the little rehearsal time that we had, we needed an outside eye to make sure we weren’t being too self-indulgent. Tom is good at being an outside eye and good at telling me when I’m being too self-indulgent, which is more or less all the time. So it’s a great fit.

BK: Haha. Love that. Anything else we should know about Two Truths and a Lie? 

GI: The goal of this show is to make people laugh. I can’t speak to my own talents but I think that Rhiannon and Helder are some of the funniest people in this city. In terms of up-and-coming comedians, they have both performed on JFL42 this year and they both have up-and-coming projects (that they’re not allowed to talk about) but are going to be very, very big deals in the spring time. It’s the recognition of talent and being able to catch them before they’re going to be a huge deal in this city and I’m really glad that a hack like me can come along for the ride.

BK: What do you hope audiences will walk away with?

GI: I hope they just go, “Wow, that was outrageous and remember when that happened?” and that they giggle at some stuff and then relay this information to their friends.

BK: What are 3-5 words that would describe your show?

GI: Just the best party.

Rapid Fire Question Round:

Favourite…
Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums
Book: Permanent Midnight.
Play: Swimming to Cambodia.
Food: Tacos
Place in Toronto: Top steps of Castle Loma.
What are you currently listening to: Jeff Rosenstock/Frank Turner/Converge.
Best advice you’ve ever gotten: Try and say as little as you can. 

Two Truths and a Lie

 

truths

Photo Credit: Tanja Tiziana

Who:
Presented by Pressgang Theatre
Created by Graham Isador, Helder Brum, and Rhiannon Archer
Director Tom Arthur Davis
Featuring Graham Isador, Helder Brum, and Rhiannon Archer

Where: Factory Theatre Antechamber

When:
Wed      January 4th – 9:40 pm
Thurs   January 5th  – 6:10pm
Fri         January 6th  – 8:40pm
Sat         January 7th  – 7:40pm
Sun       January 8th  –  5:40pm
Mon      January 9th  –  8:25pm
Tues     January 10th – 7:55pm
Wed      January 11th – 5:55pm
Thurs   January 12th  – 8:40pm
Fri         January 13th  – 6:40pm
Sat         January 14th  – 5:00pm
Sun        January 15th  – 4:25pm

Tickets:
fringetoronto.com

 

Jan 16

In Conversation with Deanne Kearney – Creator of Urban Myth at the Next Stage Theatre Festival

By Bailey Green

Deanne “Dee” Kearney studied ballet and contemporary for years but had never felt completely at home. When she discovered hip hop everything changed. “Hip hop very quickly became my whole life, and identity, as soon as I found it,” Kearney remembers. “It changed everything, even the way I look at things. I write on urban dance and I produce. Hip hop is such a lifestyle, and it’s an amazing, supportive culture.” Kearney teaches dance and is part of the Toronto B-Girl Movement, dedicated to bringing more women to the forefront of a largely male-dominated style.

Kearney set out to create Urban Myth with the goal of bringing popular styles to new audiences, “I completely fell in love [with hip hop], I wanted to show the world how amazing it is.” She chose the styles featured in the show (breaking, krump, house, waacking, to name a few) based on the current, standout styles in Toronto.

Urban Myth is a show geared towards an audience who may not be familiar with this genre. Each style is announced before the dance. When asked about the biggest difference between a theatre show as opposed to a battle, Kearney says, “The audiences are much quieter! You can take pictures and tweet. The performers love to hear the audience yell and respond so it can be odd for them to adjust to the different setting.”

Photo Credit: E.S.Cheah Photography

Photo Credit: E.S.Cheah Photography

Kearney brought in choreographers “at the top of their game” in each style and gave them free rein to create. All she asked was that they each find ways to challenge themselves to choreograph pieces with a story. No themes were given, but as the pieces took shape a variety of stories emerged. One piece, performed by Raoul “Jin” Wilke and The Moon Runners crew, is an apocalyptic future based on the film “I am Legend.” Another dance is 12 minute long krump piece, choreographed by Amadeus “Primal” Marquez, about domestic abuse choreographed. The choreographers worked with their own dancers from their crews and came together to create the opening number of the show.

The challenges of this show came from the volume of people on stage. With about 30 people involved plus Kearney’s own people, it was no small feat to organize everyone involved. “The most rewarding is just seeing the pieces, the whole cast was watching the show just entirely in awe of each other,” Kearney says. “Many of these dancers don’t do theatre shows. They just battle.”

Photo Credit: E.S.Cheah Photography

Photo Credit: E.S.Cheah Photography

When asked about her inspirations, Kearney shouts out her friend and collaborator Anthony “Illz” Put. Illz is a b-boy who travels the world to battle. “He has amazing movement qualities and is so easy to work with,” Kearney says. “He just doesn’t know how good he is yet.”

Urban Myth is a hard-hitting, intricate and visceral show. If you catch it this weekend, be sure to make some noise.

Urban Myth

Presented by BreakinGround as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival

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Who:
Creator: Deanne Kearney
Choreographers: Amadeus “Primal” Marquez, Anthony “Illz” Put, Mariano “Glizzi” Abarca, Caroline “Lady C” Fraser, Caitlin “Caddy” Superville, Deanne “Dee” Kearney
Featuring: Dancers from Northbuck, Lions of Zion, Footnotes Dance, Ground Illusions, Twisted Ankles and The WaaquettesPresented by: BreakinGround

What:

Krump. Breaking. Popping. Locking. House. Waacking. Bringing raw urban dance from the street to the stage, created by Canada’s top urban dancers and choreographers.

Where: Factory Theatre Mainspace (125 Bathurst St)

When:
January 17 09:00 PM  buy tickets

Tickets: $15.00

Connect:

@breakingroundto
www.breakinground.ca

 

Jan 14

1 Comment

In Conversation with Kaitlyn Riordan – Acting in Mockingbird at the Next Stage Theatre Festival

Interview by Hallie Seline

HS: Tell me a bit about Mockingbird at the Next Stage Theatre Festival.

KR: “January is the new July” is the motto of the Next Stage Festival this year and that could not be more true; both for good and environmentally dubious reasons… But to focus on the positive, Mockingbird is a World Premiere of Rob Kempson’s second ‘high school’ play where we’re dropped into the secret and mysterious world of an English teacher’s office at a high school. We meet a varied cast of teachers, all with their particular roles to play in the claustrophobic room they retreat to for some respite from the teenagers they’re teaching. We soon discover that everyone’s favourite colleague, Jon Foster, is having a relationship with a student, and the delicate balance of harmony is quickly disrupted.

HS: Can you speak to me a bit about your character in the show?

KR: Alexandra Lee is a young woman with a very clear sense of right and wrong. She is ambitious and dedicated to her chosen profession in a way which she does not extend to her personal life. Jon Foster, her delightful gay best friend of 10 years, provides her with all the companionship she needs and working at the same school has been a dream come true. An aspiring novelist, Alex is searching for something, which when the show begins, is out of her grasp.

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HS: It’s so wonderful to see such a large cast on our Canadian stage. What has been your favourite aspect about working with such a large, diverse cast, which features a rich range of talent in experience, background and age?

KR: Having so many rich personalities in the same room creates a dynamism which is electric. Previous to the first day, I knew a few of the cast members to say hello, but I didn’t really know anyone very well. Starting rehearsals almost felt like that first day in September when you go back to school and meet your new class mates, but the beauty of the theatre is that we then got to play together. I laughed harder in these rehearsals than in any I recently recall and not always at the appropriate time.

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HS: Why do you think this story needs to be shared with audiences now?

KR: We live in a very progressive community here in Toronto and in the past few decades I think that the value of ‘rules’ has eroded. Very few professions carry an unbreakable code of conduct; doctors, lawyers, and many would argue teachers. How do those two concepts coexist? How do we marry our progressive society with an unbreakable code? How do we navigate those grey areas of life? That seems to be the crux of where so much of life exists, so we need to ask ourselves those questions.

HS: It’s just the beginning of a brand new year, which always feels like it opens up the potential for new possibilities. What do you hope to see this year in the Toronto/Canadian theatre community?

KR: Before moving to Toronto, I lived in London and New York. What struck me when I moved here was the lack of Canadian stories on our stages, in contrast to the prominence of British or American stories I witnessed in those cities. In Toronto I think that varies year to year, but that is always my hope as I go into a theatre; show me something about the world I live in, and the country if possible. Sorry to be a bother. Thanks 😉

Short Answer Questions:

What are you listen to lately? Alabama Shakes. I’m obsessed.

Where do you look for inspiration? In the theatre, in books, in friends, and in nature. I live near High Park and it never ceases to amaze me.

What is your favourite place in the city? Withrow Park, the AGO, or the Islands. That’s a tough one.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten? “Follow your passion, because you’re lucky to have one.”

Describe Mockingbird in 5 to 10 words: Drawing lines means picking sides.

Mockingbird

Presented by timeshare as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival

mockingbirdWho:
Playwright/Director: Rob Kempson
Featuring: Tess Degenstein, Beau Dixon, Margaret Evans, James Graham, Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Esther Jun, Andrew Moodie, Rahnuma Panthaky, Andrew Pimento, Kaitlyn Riordan, Paula Wing
Producer: Lisa Li
Set/Costume Designer: Brandon Kleiman
Lighting Designer: Michelle Ramsay
Sound Designer: Lyon Smith

What: When we first meet the English department at Finch Park Collegiate, rumours are flying about a teacher-student relationship. Two days later, Mr. Foster has been removed from the school and everyone is trying to make sense of what has happened. An exploration of what happens when innocence meets authority, and the grey area between right and wrong.

Where: Factory Theatre Mainspace (125 Bathurst St)

When:
January 14 07:45 PM  buy tickets
January 15 05:00 PM  buy tickets
January 16 03:45 PM  buy tickets
January 17 04:15 PM  buy tickets

Tickets: $15.00

Connect:

#MockingbirdNSTF
mockingbirdtheplay.com
www.robkempson.com
@Rob_Kempson

 

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