Meg Moran and I met up in the Fringe cafe where we bonded over our mutual love for the sci fi genre and chatted about her show Here Afteras part of the Toronto Fringe.
Here After is set 150 years in the future and humanity is in a dire state. We’ve become immortal. The immortality drug is discovered close to our present day in 2014 and, as you can imagine, it didn’t take long for things to rapidly fall apart. “The problem is that even if your body can live forever, your mind just can’t keep up,” says director and writer Meg Moran. Four people are trapped in an underground bunker, having retreated there shortly after civilization began to rip at the seams, where they are forced to keep their minds constantly stimulated. Otherwise, they’ll slip into a “coma-like state” and go blank.
“If everyone is immortal, overpopulation immediately becomes an issue, resource depletion accelerates, pollution increases and then you can’t breathe,” Moran sketches the timeline for the setting of the play. The four people have been trapped in the bunker together for over a hundred years, creating a pseudo-family. Very recently to the beginning of the play one of the character’s lovers goes brain dead. Here After examines issues relevant to society today through a unique lens, “this is a story of what could be the fallout of something that happens two weeks from now. The characters are people of this time dealing with the long term consequences of problems we are currently facing as a society,” Moran says. “We look at responsibility, loss, hope and the struggle to survive. Why do we keep going under extremely difficult circumstances?”
“What we’re looking at in some ways is the shift from the Jetsons future, to the more Hunger Games future,” Moran explains, “As we become more technologically advanced, we’re starting to realize that being constantly connected can have a sinister element to it.” The idea for the play first came to Moran on a plane where she imagined four characters playing games. The play itself is written by Moran and the process has been very collaborative. “I had a clear vision of the events and the world, but we did workshop it. If they need to play games to survive, we had to figure out what that looks like. It has been a growing changing thing for a long time,” says Moran of the process. She speaks very highly of her actors, of their inspiration, sense of play and willingness to give feedback.
Moran says her greatest challenge has been “finding the point where the script is done and the directing starts.” She feels this process has taught her how to better identify that point, and how to hand it off to someone else, in this case the actors. “You have to allow room for the happy accidents,” Moran smiles.
Upstart is a relatively new company founded by Meara Tubman-Broeren and Meg Moran, who met during their undergrad at York University. The company began with their site specific adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. They’re still exploring what having a company means and what theatre they want to bring to the stage. For Moran, she’s passionate about experimenting with form, movement oriented pieces and re-telling of classic stories. “I will see anything,” she says, “You have to see things you don’t know about or understand. Otherwise you won’t grow as an artist.”
by Meg Moran, presented by Upstart Theatre as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.
Directed by Meg Moran
Featuring Owen Fawcett, Elizabeth Tanner, Chiamaka Ugwu, and Enzo Voci
Produced by Meara Tubman-Broeren
When:
Thursday July 3rd, 2014 at 7:45 p.m.
Saturday July 5th, 2014 at 3:15 p.m.
Sunday July 6th, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.
Monday July 7th, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.
Wednesday July 9th, 2014 at 10:00 p.m.
Thursday July 10th, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.
Friday July 11th, 2014 at 8:45 p.m.
Sunday July 13th, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.
Tickets: $10 at the door/$12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062, or at the door.
Intelligent, witty, political, sharp, funny and exciting—a few words I would use to describe this show after sitting in on a rehearsal with the cast of Andy Warhol Presents: Valerie by Fail Better Theatre. The name of their company comes from a Samuel Beckett quote that is one of my personal favourites, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail Better.” Director Matt White and actors (and the company’s co-artistic directors) Ben Hayward and Ali Richardson talked to me about their process.
Ask a person on the street if they know of Andy Warhol, and they probably will. But what about Valerie Solanas? Chances are slim. History forgot the woman who shot Andy Warhol, but Fail Better Theatre is bringing her story to light in a powerful new piece of theatre premiering at the Toronto Fringe Festival. This immersive, site specific piece takes place at the Influx Creative Space, an art studio, where Andy Warhol and his assistant Gerard are holding a party for Val—and you’re invited.
“We didn’t initially know this piece would be about Valerie,” says actor and writer Ben Hayward, “We thought it would be about their relationship or the shooting, but the more we read we realized there’s tons of stuff about Andy Warhol but nothing about Valerie. She’s always just a footnote in Warhol’s biography.” The collaborators chose to focus on Valerie because of her dynamic and active voice. Through the process they discovered Warhol to be a much more passive and less dramatic character who often allows things to happen around him instead of provoking the action. “Rather than giving him an exorbitant amount of text, we make him a presence by omitting text,” director Matt White describes. “But he’s still there, this is his world that everyone is playing in.”
The idea of creating “a better play” comes from the collective process of Hayward, Richardson and White. “There can’t be an ego,” Matt White says and then chuckles, “because if there was Ben would have shot me about ten days ago.” This project has been in the works for eight months and has underwent multiple radical changes. It began with Richardson and Hayward writing together, but eventually progressed to Hayward taking over the bulk of the writing—though Richardson still contributes to the script. “It’s a delicate balance have the playwrights in the room with you,” says White. “From the top you just have to instill a non-fragile environment. At the core, we have to trust that everyone is good. So you’re good, but you can always be better.” Hayward agrees, “it’s actually nice to have it change so much. I go home and work on the script and it’s awesome. Meanwhile Ali goes home and memorizes a thousand lines and then has to forget eight hundred the next day.” The three collaborators jokingly refer any and all major cuts or changes as ‘building a better play.’ “In a different play, this scene or that scene would have been really cool,” Hayward smiles.
Richardson and Hayward got lucky when a new biography about Valerie Solanas came out this past spring. “At Christmas I looked online and the biography came up for pre-order, so I emailed Professor Breanna Fahs at the Arizona State University and asked for an advance copy,” Richardson says. “That wasn’t possible but what she [the professor] did do was verify our sources.” They had found an online PDF copy of Valerie Solanas’ play Up Your Ass, but according all sources only one copy of the play exists in a museum in Pittsburgh. “It’s in the Andy Warhol museum, in a drawer in a vault because no one knows who she [Valerie] is or cares. The ultimate irony is that Andy in fact finally did steal her work, in way,” Ben says. The PDF turned out to be Valerie’s play and became one of the many sources integrated into the text of Andy Warhol Presents. To name a few of their sources: Up Your Ass, the film “I shot Andy Warhol,” Valerie Solanas’ SCUM Manifesto, Valerie’s biography, multiple Andy Warhol books and a four hour PBS documentary about Warhol. Needless to say, they know the history of these two people inside and out.
The SCUM manifesto itself is widely available, and it began as the bulk of Valerie’s text. “We kept tweaking and tweaking the text to be more experientiel and to give it a storytelling quality,” Hayward says of the writing process. The company includes original music in the piece, with lyrics inspired by Valerie’s manifesto and the production added a chorus of five other actors a few weeks ago. “Matt suggested more people would help make the piece more interactive,” Hayward says—which is key for a show that requires a level of audience participation and engagement. “Ben and Ali wanted to include these adapted scenes from [Valerie’s play] Up Your Ass. But we had no one to play them. So we brought in a chorus to help animate the piece,” says White. The scenes were written with Valerie’s politics in mind, but are not actual extractions from Up Your Ass. However much of Warhol’s text in the play is actual quotes and adaptations of quotes, and the same goes for Valerie’s text.
The company is excited for their first production, and look forward to the new challenges that will come with an interactive audience. “If there is a call to action in the play, it is avoiding the temptation to be passive,” Richardson says. “The form of the piece speaks to that. There is no getting away from what’s happening in the room.”
Andy Warhol Presents: Valerie
by Fail Better Theatre presented as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival
Directed by Matt White
Written and Performed by Ben Hayward and Ali Richardson
With Ray Jacildo, Emily Johnston, April Leung, Nick Potter, Natasha Ramondino & Jon Walls
When: July 3rd – 13th. 8pm nightly + 2pm July 10th
Where: InfluxCreative Space (141 Spadina at Richmond)
I had heard of MUTE! The Musical by word of mouth before and now here it is as part of The Toronto Fringe Festival, spreading the word on bullying through song and dance to a brand new audience. I was also pleased to find out that many performers I know are part of this production, which in turn allowed me the wonderful opportunity to hear a bit about their process from a member of the cast, Holly Wyder, and from the show’s creator and director Alinka Angelova.
Charlotte: What is the basic premise of the show?
Holly: It’s primarily focused around the theme of anti-bullying in the form of a musical, which of course is in the title. This theme is raising awareness of the hardships that children may face when it comes down to the pressures placed upon them by society and their peers. But the show takes place at the best performing arts school in Canada and the story follows a girl who is new to this school. Everyone else has heard about how amazing her singing voice is and so the gossip begins. Just like at most theatre schools gossip is a huge part of what the students have to deal with. So there are high expectations from the other students to hear her voice. And into the story a tragic event causes this girl to become mute so she loses her will to sing. The bullies hound her for this and add to the pressure, trying to get her to prove herself and show that she can really sing. And there is a big competition at the end where the climax and excitement and empowerment really comes to the surface.
Charlotte: Would you say the characters are separated into groups to represent what school cliques are actually like?
Holly: Well, there are definitely bullies and non-bullies which are seen pretty clearly as the story unfolds. And there is the one popular girl who takes it a bit too far. But there is also a bit of a love story in there as well so there is something for everyone!
Charlotte: And who are you playing specifically?
Holly: My character is Mandy. She’s basically the preppy nerdy type of character. I personally have really liked it because she’s a smaller character. So, I’ve had a lot of opportunity to play with the role and kind of add things to the character that I have a lot of fun doing. Everyone has been very supportive and positive about each other’s creativity and what each person can bring to their respective roles.
Charlotte: And how do you feel about opening this week? Do you feel ready and excited?
Holly: Again everyone has been super positive and it’s so great because through the entire process everyone has also just been super enthusiastic about being there. Everyone wants to be there and bring this show together to deliver a message. And I think we are ready to start sending that message out to our audiences at Fringe.
After speaking with Holly I couldn’t get over how great it was to hear that a larger group of people were coming together so strongly and so passionately to orchestrate a show that has a really important message in this day and age. However, I thought, how did this show come to be what it is? Where do these messages of hope originate?
Alinka Angelova, the creator and head of this show and its process, was kind enough to answer some of questions!
Charlotte: What inspired you to write a show about bullying?
Alinka: There are a number of things that contributed to the making of MUTE. These are just a few of them: A little area of Phantom of the Opera with Christine coming out from being unknown and transforming into becoming the star of the grand show, Oprah Winfrey’s “Challenge Day” where they counselled and brought together the bullies and the Bullied.
Another contribution to MUTE was my Brazilian friend ‘Juliana’, an amazing dancer that I believe will be great one day. I named the main character after her.
Last but not least, when I was young, I had briefly experienced some bullying from one of my older brothers, Robert Chambers. The most amazing thing about that is, over the years he has helped me tremendously in composing music for my Musicals. We have partnered together to do many projects including MUTE.
Charlotte: And what lead you to make this show into a musical?
Alinka: I have always loved musicals. I especially LOVE musicals like MUTE such as, ‘Grease’, ‘Hairspray’, and ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’.
For some reason, no matter what I write, it always turns into music. Life without music for me would be like life without a heart.
Charlotte: How does the rehearsal process for the Fringe Festival differ from previous ones?
Alinka: I feel more pressured during this rehearsal process because this is first time I am taking MUTE into a professional atmosphere, so I want it to be the best it can be. I had to cut down a 3 hour show to 90 min, and we only rehearse once per week.
This time, I’m more at ease because I am working with a group that is more on a professional level. So they pick up choreography faster, they get into character easier, and they’re pretty dedicated.
Charlotte: And what are you aiming to achieve with the show at Fringe as opposed to when it was performed for schools?
Alinka: I am aiming to achieve sold out shows in hopes that someone who knows the business will see its potential and offer to invest in MUTE and take it further. I would also like to win “The best of the Fringe award”!
Charlotte: Lastly, where do you hope to take this show once you have completed Fringe? What are your future goals for this production?
Alinka: I would like to take this show on another School Tour starting with Toronto. Ultimately, whether sooner or later, I’m taking it to Broadway.
There are definitely some big goals for this show and with good reason! I would like to thank Holly and Alinka for taking the time to discuss with me a bit about the show and I wish everyone involved a happy run. And for the folks wandering around the Fringe, be sure to stop by and check out the toe tapping anti-bullying joys of MUTE! The Musical.
MUTE! The Musical.
Presented by Infinity Arts Productions as part of The Toronto Fringe.
Written By: Alinka Angelova
Director: Alinka Angelova
Choreographer: Teisha Smith-Guthrie
Cast: Bryna Weiss
Sam Strelshik Nicole McCafferty Rochelle Robinson Kierans Jordan Freeyon Chung Roselyn Kelada-Sedra Charlene Dorland Alyssandria Messina Holly Wyder Luiz Monterei Jenifer Boyce Jackie-Rose Brown Preston Squire Robert Venton
Creative team:
Director: Alinka Angelova, Composer: Alinka Angelova and Robert Chambers, Choreographer:Teisha Smith-Guthrie, Backstage Manager: Veronica Chambers, Assistant Director: Jerome Chambers, Photographer: Leo Vicari
Where? The Randolph Theatre (736 Bathurst Street)
When? July 2-12
July 02 at 08:15 PM
July 04 at 03:30 PM
July 06 at 01:15 PM
July 07 at 08:15 PM
July 08 at 01:00 PM
July 11 at 05:15 PM
July 12 at 11:00 PM
Tickets: $10 at the door, OR you can order online: www.fringetoronto.com as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival
2014 Fringe Artist Profile: Melanie Hrymak of Licking Knives
by Brittany Kay
Melanie Hrymak is no ordinary gal when you get in a room with her.
She exhibits a fierce confidence while radiating the warmest of hearts. That is why it was my pleasure to talk about her latest show, Licking Knives, which premiers at the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival.
BK: Can you talk a little about your show? And what were your inspirations behind it?
MH: Licking Knives was inspired by the ideas of identity and self-determination. It’s loosely based on the lives of my Ukrainian family members, and it’s a story about how a young woman travels from a farm in rural Ukraine to Paris over the course of World War II. I am very interested in how we become the people that we become: are we shaped by circumstance? Do we decide our own fate? What happens when you are forced to become someone you never thought you would have to be? Maybe it has something to do with being in my mid-20s and watching friends and colleagues really start to define their lives by going back to school, getting married, having kids, or none of the above.
BK: We’ve known each other for many years and I never knew you were a playwright!? When did this start? Can you talk to me about when and why you became a playwright?
MH: I think I am a playwright by necessity. I used to do a lot of creative writing as a child. During theatre school, where we met, I started to do some writing for various projects and a little bit for fun. I just always seem to have 2 or 3 half-finished plays on my hard-drive, and this year I decided the time had come to take the plunge and put my work out there. Also, I needed an acting job.
Artistically though, I think I became a playwright because I am often so bored by the female roles out there. I have been lucky enough to play a few really awesome male roles, which put the situation into high relief for me. There are some wonderful roles out there for women, but not enough, and certainly not enough for the number of incredibly talented actresses out there.
BK: Describe your process of creating a piece?
MH: I am a percolator. I think about the questions that I want the play to ask (which is something my very first acting teacher taught me to look for), and what the spine of the play is. I think for a long time about the characters. I walk around like them for awhile and see how it changes my view of the world. I muddle obsessively over the arc of the play. I research endlessly, particularly for this play, which is set in a historical reality that most people don’t know too much about. After I have procrastinated in every possible way, I sit down and write the thing in a relatively short period of time.
BK: What have the challenges been being both playwright and actor?
MH: Honestly, I like both roles very much. The hard part has been putting my playwright hat down and saying, okay, this is the script. I remember the first time I read the script with my actor hat on, and all I could think was “why did I do this to myself?!” Then I put on my producer hat and told everybody to get back to work.
BK: What do you want audiences walking away with after seeing your play?
MH: I hope people learn something new about this time and place. I think most people know a lot about World War II from a very Western perspective, and I hope people become interested in learning more about the other side of the war. I hope people start to wonder where women’s voices are in our history, because we don’t get to hear a lot about the female experience. But mostly, I hope people look at their own lives and question whether they are living the life they want or the one they think they have to. I think we are always growing and changing and adapting, and I think it’s really important to ask yourself if you are happy. If you’re not, no one is going to fix it but you.
Licking Knives playwright & performer: Melanie Hrymak. Photo Credit: “The Story is Mostly True” by Lauren Vanderbrook of LV Imagery
BK: What are the best aspects of this show, for yourself and for the audience?
MH: I find this show really inspiring. Yes, it deals with very dark subject matter at times, but it is a story of survival and finding your true strength. I have tried to find the humour of the situation as well, because that’s how human beings roll. We have to lift ourselves up, it’s the only way to keep going!
There is also a goat joke that I think is hilarious. I really hope someone laughs.
BK: Now about you! Where did you grow up and when did you move to the city?
MH: I am from Hamilton, Ontario. I moved to Toronto four years ago, after completing my degree at Sheridan College and the University of Toronto in Theatre and Drama.
BK: What are some of your favourite spots in the city? Places to go eat, drink, bike ride?
MH: Oh goodness. So many. I have become a true Torontonian, I am obsessed with brunch. My favourite spots are Emma’s Country Kitchen, Sadie’s, and Rose & Sons. I really love craft beer, so I tend to drink at places like Bar Hop, the Victory Cafe, and Grapefruit Moon. I am one of those people who hang out a lot in parks like St. James Park, High Park, and obviously Bellwoods. And I ride my bike everywhere. I really like biking in my neighbourhood, around St. Clair and Bathurst, but I am just so happy biking anywhere (except on Adelaide – what a deathtrap).
BK: What are you currently obsessed with? Any blogs, pod casts, films or artists?
MH: I have been so obsessed by the show that everything else has pretty much been on hold. However, I adore Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. Who ever thought some of the best TV would eventually come out of Netflix?! I love binge-listening to This American Life and I have recently realized how much I admire Tilda Swinton in every single possible way (artist, filmmaker, actor, activist, human being).
BK: Who is your role model, and why?
MH: I don’t really have one. Is that terrible? I admire so many people in so many different ways. I think my grandmother was the strongest person I know. I think my dad is the hardest working person I know. I think my mother is the kindest person I know. I think Oscar Wilde was the cleverest person of all time. I wish I could be some kind of hybrid of those people.
BK: What’s your superpower?
MH: I can usually tell when someone is lying. I have learned that people generally don’t like it when you call them on this.
BK: What is some of the best advice ever given to you?
MH: Not to be an actor. No, really. It’s the hardest thing ever, and if you are bull-headed enough to ignore it, you might be bull-headed enough to succeed in the industry.
BK: Any advice for aspiring playwrights or actors?
MH: Make stuff. Go to museums. Read books. Go to art galleries. Put your phone down and talk to people. Travel. Make friends who are not playwrights or actors. Be fearless.
RAPID FIRE QUESTION ROUND:
Favourite Play: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Favourite Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
HS: Tell us a bit about your show & where it came from
Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl: It’s a story that comes from the real life experiences myself and other twenty-something graduates had while working at various coffee shops in Toronto. I interviewed a myriad of graduates to see what their most hilarious, poignant or upsetting moments were while working behind the counter. And that is what this show is about, it examines the customer/employee relationship in the most hilarious of ways.
So come on down to the Toronto Fringe and meet Joanie Little, an “adorkable” anthropology graduate who decides to make the most out of her barista day job by ‘reporting’ about the humans of her coffee shop as though she were Jane Goodall herself, bushwhacking through the African jungle to observe the chimps. A tour-de-force that makes you laugh one minute and cry the next. Complete with live music, hurricanes, co-worker showdowns and a gorilla for a boss.
HS: Not only are you presenting at the Toronto Fringe, but you are doing a whole Fringe tour. Tell us a bit about where you’ve been, where you’re going and, being a Fringe vet, what’s the benefit to doing a fringe tour.
RP: RCSG has toured to six other fringes throughout Canada and the US: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Victoria, New York City, Stratford & London – this year was particularly exciting because we got a lot of love from CBC and Audience Choice in New York City!
We couldn’t be happier to finally perform it in our hometown! That was one of our initial goals! And what better place to perform it then in the Annex, one of Toronto’s fantastic indie coffee hubs! We are thrilled to be performing in The Annex Theatre, one of the two theatres at the Randolph Academy of Performing Arts – just behind the infamous fringe tent!
We really hope Toronto Fringe audiences like the show! It’s something our creative team is proud of. We have dramaturged the show with the wonderful Canadian playwright and author Ron Fromstein and are excited to see where the “updated” version of the show will take us. So far this summer we are touring to Saskatoon, Victoria, Seattle and New Orleans! And we have been offered a spot in a solo festival in New York City for summer 2015!
Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl playwright & performer: Rebecca Perry as Joanie Little. Photo Credit: Bryan Zilyuk
I’d say the benefits of doing a fringe tour are endless, you develop a Fringe touring family, lifelong friendships are forged and you start to develop a relationship with each city. You get to know the fringe staff, the media, the volunteers and what makes each city and fringe festival so special and original.
HS: What is the biggest thing you’ve learned so far touring your show to various fringe festivals?
RP: Always, always show your tech team some love. Holy cow do they have a crazy job!
HS: If you could give a new fringer or someone who is considering doing a fringe tour one piece of advice, what would it be?
RP: Be as organized as possible aka: plan in advance! The biggest thing is being ready before everyone else is. Get all your posters up and postcards out, be the person to flyer the first day of lines, know where every venue is and be a social butterfly.
HS: Why do you think festivals like the Toronto Fringe, and the Fringe festivals around Canada and the world, are so important?
RP: I’ve seen some of the most ground breaking, heart-wrenching and fascinating theatre at the Fringe. It’s no wonder some filmmakers and fringe performers are finally making a documentary about it (shout outs to Nancy Kenny, Natalie, Cory and the rest of the “On The Fringe” documentary crew!) I know Fringe gets a bad rap for having “weird” or “inaccessible theatre” but honestly that just sounds like pretentious theatre-goers trying to pigeonhole the fringe into a certain category. For every “bad” show there are 15 amazing ones. I’ve seen so many mediums of theatre excel at Fringe festivals. I think that is the only way certain forms of theatre can exist what with the declining audiences of theatre these days. For some reason the Fringe just gets everyone out!
HS: If you could entice someone in 5-10 words to come see your show, what would they be?
RP: Challenge accepted! I’ll make a little 10 word equation:
Hilarious (caffeinated) situations + indie music = my love letter to Toronto.
Short & Sweet Questions:
Favourite Coffee place in Toronto: Abbott of Parkdale
Go-to Fringe drink in the tents: CIDER!!!
What inspires you as an artist? When other artists around me are so brave. It inspires me to put my heart on the table like they do.
What’s your favourite thing about the Toronto theatre scene? That the indie scene is just as alive and kicking as the established groups.
What’s your artistic mantra?/Best advice you’ve ever gotten. “You won’t know until you try”
Written and Performed by Rebecca Perry as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival
Where – The Annex Theatre
When – July 3rd-13th, 2014
Thursday, July 3 – 7:00pm
Saturday, July 5 – 11:00pm
Monday, July 7 – 1:30pm
Wednesday, July 9 – 7:30pm
Friday, July 11 – 5:45pm
Saturday, July 12 – 12:30pm
Sunday, July 13 – 4:00pm
Sex, violence and theatre create a wicked combination. Rarely Pure Theatre presents Valkyrie, a new work by Thomas McKechnie that promises to “walk a fine line between agony and ecstasy” (says stage manager and RPT member Christina Bryson). In Norse mythology, Valkyries were immortal female warriors that chose who lived and died on the battlefield. These Valkyries are on a different mission, in a different time and sans immortality. Bradley and Erin (played by Monique Renaud and Tara Koehler) have both undergone very scarring experiences with men. They take it upon themselves to begin a Valkyrie quest to deliver justice to other men who have caused trauma to women. But this night is different. They bring a victim back to their lair. To find out what happens after that, you’ll have to see the show.
Artistic director (and the third member of the Valkyrie cast) Spencer Robson explains more about what is at the core of the piece, “it deals with spousal abuse and with sexism in multiple ways. The most interesting part about this piece, for me, is that the characters are far from heroic. You want to be able to root for them but, though every character might be justified in their actions, they are still bad people. It will be jarring for the audience. There’s justice but it isn’t what you want or expect.”
Valkyrie was born back in February of this year when the members of Rarely Pure (Spencer, Monique and Christina) met with Soulpepper Academy playwright Thomas McKechnie. “We really wanted to do an original piece at Fringe this year. Thomas saw our production of As You Like It and we had a meeting after. We asked if he would be interested in writing for us and he was,” Spencer says. “After that we bounced some ideas off him. He asked us what sort of play we would be interested in, what the traits of the actors were. Eight days later he had the first draft.” What followed were months of workshops and readings. The show’s veteran director Bruce Gooch is also a playwright, so his professional eye helped search the script for adjustments. “Bruce, and Tara who is also a playwright, aren’t afraid to stop and ask questions about the script, which is very new for me. I’m used to working with a more “finished” product,” says Spencer.
Planning has been key to finding balance in this process, especially for Robson as he juggles the roles of co-producer, artistic director and actor. “It sounds like a nightmare every time I say it out loud,” Spencer laughs, “but working with my friends who I trust and respect has really made this show possible.” He also says that taking on different roles on the production side has helped him as a working actor in the industry. “Now when I’m working for someone else, whether a theatre company or on a film set, I understand how difficult the production side is. So now I know that while I may not always understand what is going on or why a decision is made, I know that it isn’t my job to. They [the producers] spent time mulling over that decision, I just wasn’t part of their process.” Spencer continues, “I can better understand where people are coming from. It’s helped me lower my stress levels and just be immediately more comfortable.”
Rarely Pure Theatre was founded in the winter of 2012/2013 with its inaugural production “Until Our Paths Cross Again,” which was written, produced and directed by Monique Renaud. “The fact that Mo did that all on her own just really made me want to jump on board,” Spencer says of the company’s beginnings. Robson, Monique Renaud and Christina Bryson formed the company. The name comes from an Oscar Wilde quote, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Now almost two years later, the company has several productions under their belt including, The Pillowman and As You Like It. As a new company their mandate isn’t yet set in stone. They are still open to experimenting as the company collaborates with new artists, like National Theatre School graduate Tara Koehler. The company is passionate about theatre and exploring work that excites them as artists. Spencer says that the commitment to each project comes naturally, “we get to choose what we want to do, the people we want to work with, the plays and themes we want to work on.” The company has sights for the future as well, determining what show, or show(s), they want to do in the fall. Another priority is the re-definition of roles within the company and investing in a better website.
But for now they’re immersed in Valkyrie, facing the powerful and dark piece head-on as opening night approaches.
Valkyrie
by Thomas McKechnie, presented by Rarely Pure Theatre as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival
Where: Tarragon Extra Space (30 Bridgeman Ave, Toronto)
When: July 2-13th, 2014
July 2nd: 10:30pm
July 5th: 8:45pm
July 8th: 7pm
July 9th: 5:15pm
July 10th: 12:00pm
July 12th: 3:30pm
July 13th: 12:00pm
Tickets: $10 at the door, OR you can order online: www.fringetoronto.com as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival
inthegreenroom 