What is your role in this production? I am reading the roles of two very different men in Incorruptible. One is a teenage boy, the other the younger brother of the main revolutionary. So I am getting to practice doing different voices! lol
I am also the playwright of Inaccurate Conceptions, another of the plays being read. I am so excited and blessed that they chose my play to be a part of this festival! I am excited to have it read for a completely new audience! Inaccurate Conceptions started as a seven-minute movie short when I first wrote it back in 1993. In 2014 I developed it further, resulting in a 15-minute one act play, which I directed it for the Yellowhead Region Adult One Act Play Festival in 2015, where the production was named the runner up for the provincial festival.
What do you think audiences will take away from the show? Why should they come and see it?
Inaccurate Conceptions is a funny play that proves, when it comes to relationships, things are not always what they seem. I believe the other plays that are being read are much deeper than mine and have the potential to really make audiences think. In other words, the complete opposite of Inaccurate Conceptions! OK, that isn’t completely true, but I do really hope that audiences can sit back and enjoy a few laughs with Owen, Angela, Lisa and Joanne. Also, I have to add, the title of this play is such a good play on words that it might just be my favourite part of the whole thing! lol
What is your role in/on this production? I play Dr. Henry Maudsley, an eminent British psychiatrist in Victorian England. He’s a real historical character who gave his name to a psychiatric hospital in London. He genuinely believes that academic study may be harmful for women’s health and may even prevent them from bearing children.
What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? I can’t remember all of the shows I was in with Beaumont Drama Society, although the highlight was performing in The Mikado at the Winspear Centre in 2007. The first show I saw at Walterdale was A Streetcar Named Desire in 1995. The first show I appeared in at Walterdale was The Country Wife in 2001. This will be my sixth show at Walterdale as actor or director.
What brought you out for this show? Why did you want to be a part of it? I always relish an opportunity to play the villain, especially when he is a rational villain who believes that he is actually doing the right thing from the best motives. And I always have fun dressing up in period costume.But most of all, I’m loving the irony of having to tell an audience why women are unfit to receive degrees in the very same month as my own daughter sits her finals at the UofA.
What has been the most fun thing about working on the show? The biggest challenge? It’s a lot of fun to play an antagonistic character on stage, especially one who holds views diametrically opposed to my own. It’s also interesting to put myself into the mindset of someone who sees only the evidence that supports his own prejudice: what we now call confirmation bias. The biggest challenge was shouting at, and being quite so mean to, Lucy/Tess: I feel I need to apologize to her after every rehearsal!
What do you think audiences will take away from the show? Why should they come and see it?This show asks us to put ourselves back to a time when women were not allowed to vote, or graduate university, or to compete in any way with the men. Ostensibly, this was because they were considered too weak or incompetent to do these things and so needed to be protected. I think the show invites us to consider what the real reasons might have been, and so to examine our own prejudices about the relative status of men and women. But the script does this with an engaging story and even a laugh or two on the way.
This show is about the advancement of women in history… who is a woman from the past (or present) that has inspired you? Why? In 1947 Margaret Thatcher graduated from Somerville College, Oxford with a BSc in Chemistry. She was reportedly more proud of being the first science graduate to be prime minister, than the first woman. To quote Vanity Fair: “she is a symbol of what women can do, what the British character can be, what the English-speaking peoples stand for, and what conservatism is”.
What is your role in Shatter? I play one of the shadows of the townspeople of Halifax. My character is a patriot; he loves Canada through and through, and would do whatever it takes to keep her safe from whatever evil lurks in the rest of the world. His ideas may be misguided at times, but his intentions are true.
What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? I was involved in my high school theatre about six years ago, having performed two plays there. After graduation and through my undergraduate degree I wasn’t able to find time to devote to the stage, but I’ve finally carved out a place in my schedule for the theatre. I only found out about Walterdale about three months ago, and the community has been so welcoming and engaging… I’m very glad it’s become a part of my life now.
What brought you out for the show? I was looking around for some way to get back into theatre, and I came across Walterdale. The sense of community and inclusiveness immediately drew me to look into it further, and upon reading the script for Shatter I knew I wanted to be a part of this. I’ve always played a comedic role in light-hearted plays, and I wanted to try stretching my comfort zone for something more meaningful and real–and Shatter has those qualities in spades.
Why do you think people should come see the show? What do you think audiences will take away from it? Shatter strikes me as a particularly poignant commentary about the effect of fear on people’s perceptions of things. It makes an intensely important point about truth in public perception, especially in today’s world of global fear-mongering and hatred. Anyone coming to see the show that expects a quaint historical drama will likely leave the play with that perception… well… shattered.
Shatter deals with a major event in Canadian history that Canadians today might not know too much about. Are there any other major events in Canadian history that you feel we should know more about than we do?
Not necessarily an event, but an effect… I think most Canadians (myself included) don’t truly understand the far-reaching effects that Residential Schools had and continue to have on the culture of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples. It’s important to try to understand and consider these events and the effects that they have so that we can avoid making mistakes we’ve already made.
What is your role in this production?I am portraying one of the shadow characters in the play. In this particular production we have been given the opportunity to play these very eerie characters that we can really play with. Originally these shadow characters would have been played by doubling the leads however our production has taken a different road by creating a chorus ensemble that I see as more fun! We made my character into a single mother of a young baby. She lost her husband in the war and is currently trying to use her job as a schoolteacher as a way to keep her and her son afloat. After the explosion, I think she is rather tormented by the things she has gone through and she really struggles to find an outlet for her darker emotions, which I will not go into much detail about! (Cue my evil laugh)
What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? I took theatre training sporadically since I was young, starting in school clubs and eventually taking some classes at the St. Albert Children’s Theatre Company, and the Foote Theatre School. In high school I took drama classes as well and was given the amazing chances to perform in M*A*S*H and in A Christmas Carol as Dean Mercy Lodge and Belinda Cratchit, respectively. I took a year off from acting in order to focus on my studies last year but I am glad to be back onstage. This is my first time performing at the Walterdale Theatre and hopefully it will not be my last!
What brought you out for this show?Well… I blame the ‘Dear Canada’ series! I saw the advertisement for the auditions and I saw what the play was about I knew I had to take part in it. I had read this ‘Dear Canada’ book about the Halifax Explosion many times with my younger sister and it has fascinated me since. It was called No Safe Harbour if you are interested in it! That and this play is such an amazingly heart wrenching story that I really connected with on my first read.
What do you think audiences will take away from this show? Why should they come and see it?I do think they will come out with more knowledge about this really devastating tragedy in our history, and maybe learn something more. This play becomes more and more relevant to me as I watch the news. Although this story is set a hundred years ago, it is quite modern in its discussion about the way people deal with trauma. I do think that it is an important story to tell! This chapter in Canadian history has been largely forgotten when it really shouldn’t be. Prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Halifax Explosion was the largest man made explosion in history!
Shatter deals with a major event in Canadian history that Canadians today might not know too much about. Are there any other major events in Canadian history that you feel we should know more about than we do?
UNDATED — Undated archival handout photo of Viola Desmond. On April 15, 2010, the Nova Scotia legislature will grant a controversial, posthumous pardon to Desmond, whom many consider Canada’s Rosa Parks. In 1946 Viola Desmond was arrested and jailed for sitting in the whites-only section of a local cinema. The case ignited the civil rights movement in Canada. MANDATORY CREDIT: HANDOUT PHOTO: Effective Publishing Ltd. For Richard Foot (Canwest) CNS-PARDON
Oh goodness this is tough! To keep with the theme of things set in Nova Scotia I would actually think that talking about Viola Desmond would be interesting. Viola was a businesswoman who fought against racial segregation in Canada after an experience at a film theatre in Nova Scotia. She refused to leave the ‘Whites Only’ section of the theatre and was wrongly accused of tax evasion for it! Her story launched the civil rights movement in Canada, and yet I didn’t even know she existed until I read about her in my grade twelve social class last year.
Or if I was thinking in the mind of my character I would talk about the thalidomide crisis and its repercussions. I think my character, as a mother, would feel very strongly about this event if she was around for it. Thalidomide was considered to be this ‘wonder drug’ and it was often prescribed to mothers in early pregnancy to deal with morning sickness and sleeplessness. Thalidomide was not properly researched at the time and it caused between 5,000 and 7,000 children to be born with severe birth defects, many never even survived childhood. The children who did survive can now receive compensation from the Canadian government but those children whose mothers took free samples cannot receive compensation unless they get specific paperwork that oftentimes cannot be found.
Shatter runs December 6-16, 2017
Call 780.420.1757 or go to www.tixonthesquare.ca for tickets today!
Grindstone Theatre presents URINETOWN The Musical! at the 2017 Edmonton International Fringe!
Winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards, Urinetown is an hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, municipal politics and musical theatre itself! Hilariously funny and touchingly honest, Urinetown provides a fresh perspective on one of America’s greatest art forms.In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!
Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Urinetown is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.
Venue #16: The Sanctuary Stage at Holy Trinity Anglican Church
Written by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis
Directed by Byron Trevor Martin
Musical Director Vicky Berg
Stage Manager Erin Hayes
Designer Skylar Desjardins
Asst. Design Liza XenzovaFeaturing:
Bob Rasko, Natalie Czar, Ethan Snowden, Carol Chu, Rachel Matichuk, Jake Tkaczyk, Reed McColm, Tom Edwards, Kristen Finlay, Malachi Wilkins, Victoria Skorobohach, Marc Ludwig, Annette Loiselle, and Paul Morgan DonaldMusicians:
Thom Bennett, Dan Davis, Josh Mchan
Poster Design by Kelsi Kalmer
Asst. Sewer Liz Grierson
Scona Alumni Theatre Co. presents Heathers The Musical
Directed by Linette Smith Music Direction by Matt Graham
A darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass…but J.D. has another plan for that bullet.
Brought to you by the award-winning creative team of Kevin Murphy (Reefer Madness, “Desperate Housewives”), Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy, Legally Blonde) and Andy Fickman (Reefer Madness, She’s the Man). Heathers The Musical is a hilarious, heartfelt, and homicidal new show based on the greatest teen comedy of all time. With its moving love story, laugh-out-loud comedy, and unflinching look at the joys and anguish of high school,. Are you in, or are you out?
Tickets available through the Fringe Box Office as of August 9 at noon.
Show 9:00 PM nightly except for Monday August 21/17
This summer (August 17-27) Foote in the Door is excited to present the Edmonton premiere of the all female musical Disenchanted! at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival – the hilarious hit show that pokes fun at our favorite Disney princesses.
What is DISENCHANTED!?
Poisoned apples. Glass slippers. Who needs ’em?! Not Snow White and her posse of disenchanted princesses in the hilarious hit musical that’s anything but Grimm. Forget the princesses you think you know – the original storybook heroines have come back to life to set the record straight. After multiple sold-out runs nationwide, these royal renegades tossed off thei…r tiaras to bring their hilariously subversive, not-for-the-kiddies musical to you – and what you thought about princesses will never be the same!
Tickets are $13.00 and will be on sale online or from the Fringe Box office starting at noon on August 9.
Show length: 80 minutes
Venue is licensed, come and enjoy a beverage on the patio outside before the show!
Show Dates and Times:
August 18 7:00pm
August 19: 8:00pm
August 20 4:00pm
August 21 7:00pm
August 22 7:00pm
August 23 7:00pm
August 25 7:00pm
August 26 2:00pm, 8:00pm
August 27 4:00pm
Disenchanted! Cast & Crew
Snow White: Ruth Wong-Miller
Cinderella: Kathleen Sera
Sleeping Beauty: Larissa Pohoreski
Belle/Ariel/Rapunzel: Trish Van Doornum
Mulan/Princess Badroulbadour: Lynn Sutankayo
The Princess Who Kissed the Frog: Jameela McNeil
Director: Joy van de Ligt
Music Director: Erin Craig
Costume Designer: Kathleen Sera
Choreographer: Larissa Pohoreski
Emily watched her husband of 60 years fight a battle with dementia and its related complications. A few years after his passing, she too is diagnosed with dementia. As Emily struggles with difficult decisions about her future, she reflects on important moments from her past.
—–
Director: Catherine Wenschlag
Asst Director: Rebecca Bissonnette
Stage Manager: Kevin Heaman
Cast: Grace Chapman, Shelby Colling, Kohl Littlechild, Andy Northrup, Rosanna Sargent, and Peg Young as Emily
—–
Tickets: $13 Adult/$11 Seniorhttps://www.fringetheatre.ca/festival/box-office-information/
Show times:
Fri Aug 18 – 7:00pm
Sat Aug 19 – 12:00noon
Sun Aug 20 – 3:30pm
Mon Aug 21 – 5:15pm
Wed Aug 23 – 5:15pm
Thu Aug 24 – 8:45pm
Fri Aug 25 – 1:45pm
Sat Aug 26 – 10:30pm
Sun Aug 27 – 12:00noon
All performances at:
Campus St. Jean Auditorium
8406 Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury NW
Edmonton, AB T6C 4G9
Music by Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt
Book and Lyrics by George Reinblatt
August 17-27, 2017 as a part of Edmonton International Fringe Festival
All performances will be held at La Cite Francophone – 8627 91 St, Edmonton, AB T6C 4S8
Based on the cult-hit Horror franchise, five college students spend the weekend in an abandoned cabin in the woods, accidentally unleashing an evil terror… that dances and sings!!. From the folks who brought you the Sterling nominated 2016 Fringe hit, Bat Boy, come witness the horror and musical mayhem!
Director – Amanda Neufeld
Musical Director – Daniel Belland
Stage Manager – Bethany Hughes
Ash: Matthew Lindholm
Cheryl: Jaimi Reese
Annie – Amanda Neufeld
Shelly/Jake: Josh Travnik
Scott: Stephen Allred
Linda/Ed/Moose: Nadine Veroba
Show times:
F Aug 18 @ 6:45pm
S Aug 19 @ 4:45pm
S Aug 20 @ 2:45pm
M Aug 21 @ 9:00pm
T Aug 22 @ 2:00pm
W Aug 23 @ 9:15pm
T Aug 24 @ 4:30pm
F Aug 25 @ 11:00pm
S Aug 26 @ 4:30pm
What is your role in this production? I am reading the roles of two very different men in Incorruptible. One is a teenage boy, the other the younger brother of the main revolutionary. So I am getting to practice doing different voices! lol
