one big umbrella

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #8

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 14:47:00 +0000

My fringe is now over - I have to work today. But this show has a performance this afternoon so I'm hoping to convince people to go.

Fringemas is truly a magical time of year. Thanks to everyone who contributed to mine.

The Healing Show: Cosmic Cures for Catastrophic Cases

It's a shame I got to this one so late because it was the one that I was most interested in on a personal level. I first met Sophia when we were both involved at Squeeze-Box Theatre. Then I didn't hear about her for many years until she showed up on the From Heartache to Joy telesummit and mentioned she was from Toronto. I was surprised to find out that we had a bunch of mutual theatre friends, and then tracked her back to Squeeze-Box.

So I wanted to see how she melded her theatre and healing worlds, something I've been thinking about for myself a lot recently. And the answer is - very well.

The show is the story of her journey to becoming a healer, using the structure of the one-woman show. She plunges us into the healing work right away but it's done with a light touch. She navigates the skepticism around energy work beautifully, being completely open about her own doubts and acknowledging that not every modality works for each person. She's very clear that she's talking about her personal experiences and what results she has personally seen with her clients. There's nothing resembling preachiness in this show, just her contrasting her experiences of injury using energy healing and not. Some of the stories are funny, and some are touching. All are lovely.

Unfortunately, I can't finish this review without talking about the two N review at Now Magazine. Two of the main criticisms was that she couldn't be heard and that the venue was very hot. Well, she's now miked and there were many fans aimed at the audience, so I felt cool throughout the performance. The other was that the director (the wonderful Chris Wilson) had to sometimes get her on track from the sidelines. The reviewer saw that as lacking rehearsal. What they don't know is that energy work takes you out of your mind and into your body and it's extremely common for healers to lose train of thought. (She's doing healing work on the audience throughout the show, using a stuffed bear as a surrogate.) That they came up with a lot of music cues to place her where she needs to be and had a system to bring her back to the show when needed is something to be commended, not condemned.

I left feeling very inspired. Those who are looking to understand energy healing, or experience a bit themselves, are well served by this show. It's a shame I don't have more time to beat the drum for it. If you can get to it at 3:30 today, you won't regret it.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #7

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 05:34:00 +0000

From left to right: David DiFrancesco, Matt Pilipiak, Victor Pokinko. Photo by Mark Brownell

Saw two shows today and both were sold out. So I gave myself a day off before tackling these reviews. Both had people I adore involved so I was really looking forward to them.

Three Men on a Bike

Back in 2000, I had the privilege of working on a workshop of a new musical with a book and lyrics by Mark Brownell. Since then, I've been a fan of him and his wife, the amazing director Sue Miner, who together make up Pea Green Theatre, who were in the very first Toronto Fringe and have been doing it on and off ever since.

This play is the sequel to the fringe smash adaptation of Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat. (In the which the play is vastly superior to the book.) I loved Three Men in a Boat so wanted to see if they could recreate the magic.

They did.

As one of my watching companions put it, Sue is the master of creating a world with a almost bare stage. Two stools and hats (and a stuffed dog) is all she needs to create all the various locations and objects that take us on this journey. The pacing is perfect. Mark makes the dialogue and the action sing. (Which was something I really appreciated when I tried to read Three Men in a Boat, which is slooooooow). And the acting is fantastic. At one point, they end up doing an original song written for the show in beautiful three-part harmony. I completely bought their friendship in all its facets.

I've heard a lot of people talk about it and only one admitted it wasn't her thing. So if you like witty banter and tales of hilarious mishaps, try and get a ticket!

Spend Your Kids' Inheritance

This show came on my radar because of the divine Charlotte Moore, whom I've known for decades and haven't seen perform in years (she's been doing stuff - I just haven't been able to see it). Then I found out Andrew Lamb directed. Then I found out Tara Baxendale, Denise Norman, and Jillian Rees-Brown, three amazing women I see so rarely on stage, were in it. Plus setting it in a retirement home? This was a show I really wanted to see.

I ran into some other lovely ladies in the audience I hadn't seen in a while and we all had the same word to describe it. Cute. It's very cute. It's also a work in need of further development, especially in regards to the songs. More than once the notes seemed out of the range of the actors, which leads me to believe that the composer didn't want to adjust to the voices he had instead of the ones in his mind. It also felt that a couple of the songs were unnecessary or too long.

Andrew does a wonderful job with what he has. Charlotte is her usual tour-de-force. Denise and Jill do some beautiful work together. Tara nails the rec directors I know at my parents' place. So I was really happy with what I saw.

Well, except with all the talk of powers of attorney. That felt like a knife in my heart as we had to do that for my mom in the way that is shown as unfair in the play. It was so hard at the time and I hated doing it so it hurt all over again. I get that the kids have to play the villain in the piece but it's not so simple. Sorry mom. We're doing our best. If you want to go on an adventure like the folks in this play, we'll make it happen.

Oh, one prop that drove me nuts. Don't give them dabbers! As my fave rec person said, WWIII will be started by old bingo ladies. At my mom's place, they don't get projectiles.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #6

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 13:01:00 +0000

Alli Harris Photo by Shawn MacDonell of Creativision

After spending a day resting and writing a mountain of reviews, I was back at it, seeing 3 more shows. A special thanks to Chloë Whitehorn (playwright of Mourning After the Night Before) for saving my butt because I had the wrong time in my calendar for one of them!

On to the shows:

High School High

This show played Ottawa fringe last year and I heard about it everywhere. Partially because Alli is part of the Lauren and Amanda late show team but also because it was constantly selling out. It walked away with a bunch of awards. I wasn't able to see it in Ottawa so I was thrilled it was coming here.

Boy did it live up to the hype. Alli sings through almost the entire show, playing a variety of characters in a high school. We are introduced to a new girl and she is our tour guide through this zany trip in the halls. She also has an overbearing mother who just can't seem to stay away.

This kind of show is tricky to pull off and she does it. The songs are good, the staging is fantastic, the characters all interesting and well drawn, even if we only get a couple of minutes with them.

This show was directed by Al Connors, who so impressed me with his solo show two years ago. He also did the lighting design which helps us clearly have a sense of who is talking.

I've seen a lot of great stuff but this currently is my favourite. This show deserves to sell out. If you love musicals or love great storytelling, you need to get yourself there.

Allegra and Serena Present: Twinsations

Real life twins present the saga of a pair of twins born in the 90s with big show biz dreams, only to find themselves blocked by those most famous of twins, the Olsens. What follows is 50 minutes of hilarity as we're told about their attempts to make it. The show is a wonderful mix of storytelling and music, with the brilliant touch of incorporating their accompanist in a delightful way which I don't want to tip off. They have wonderful presence and play off each other so well.

If you're looking for a show that is straight up fun, you want to catch this one!

Above and Beyond

This show is for those people who have found themselves in a job with uninspiring or annoying coworkers, ineffective or overbearing bosses, and at a horrific Christmas office party. A lot of the audience were having a great time, recognize themselves in the characters onstage and laugh at the situations they find themselves in.

Having not been in that situation for a very long time, I found the show to have pacing problems, the acting uneven, and not a lot of resonance. The friendship that is the core of the piece, the element on which everything hangs, didn't feel real. I didn't feel the deep connection they tell each other they have throughout the piece. Without that in place, I felt removed from it all. It feels like a series of sketches mashed together. The show didn't have anything new to say to me.

What I did enjoy was seeing the scenes set in the competition's office. They offset our main setting beautifully and with it, the strong ending. I wish the rest had been just as strong.

Also want to point out that this was one of the best land acknowledgements I have heard, with the company including links to informational resources about Indigenous issues and theatre companies in their program. I commend them for taking this time and attention.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #5

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 07:19:00 +0000

Erin Scott-Kafadar and Alexander Richardson Photo by Mark Ruddick

Slept in until 3pm and had a bunch of housekeeping things to do, so apologies for getting this up so late. Day #5 was a 5 show day (including my first trip ever to Streetcar Crowsnest) so let's get to it!

Nerves

Having been primary caregiver to my mom, I was looking forward to this one. The mother has a different disease than my mom but I certainly felt the stress the protagonist was under, having to take care of her mom while trying to balance the rest of her life. All three characters (mother, daughter, boyfriend) caring for each other while balancing feelings of helplessness felt very familiar to me. The mother railing about her father making all her choices for her also really resonated as that's something we needed to do with my mom and I've seen her frustration about it.

I could also relate to the mother trying to arrange her daughter's love life as my mom's gotten quite vocal about that too. (I laughed at the mom's efforts to set up a one night stand.) Overall, a strong script and a strong central performance. The situation rang really true without feeling like a heavy downer drama, which is an impressive feat considering the subject matter. The characters were all relatable and likeable people and I appreciated that the ending didn't wrap things up in a neat bow.

This show is a winner and worth your time, which isn't as much as it's only 45 minutes!

Palabra Flamenco: Fox Woman

I've always loved flamenco. I do a bastardized version of it sometimes on the dance floor. I love working with percussive feet. Combine this in with the time I spent with Storytelling Toronto and it was right up my alley. It's a musical interpretation of the Siberian folk tale of the Hunter and the Fox Woman, using flamenco guitar music and dance.

The show starts with the entire tale being told then beginning again using the music and dance to illustrate various sections. I appreciated that we knew the whole story up front so that we could truly appreciate the various styles we were seeing and hearing. The guitar weaved its spell (and I have to get one of those adjustable foot rests) and the footwork and hand gestures of the dance brought us into the characters and their emotions. It was just an exquisite immersive treat.

The shame is that the venue doesn't have raked seating or a raised stage so for half of the audience it's hard to see the dance because so much of flamenco is about the feet. I'm not sure if this was mentioned in the tech questionnaire but this is something the fringe really needs to consider with its dance shows.

Into the Tango

From flamenco to tango, as I moved on to the Randolph to see Pointe Tango. We shared a venue with them in the Hamilton Fringe last year and I hung out with them on the closing night. While in Hamilton, I saw their Para Dos show and it utterly blew me away. I nearly went to London to see them until I discovered they were coming here, so I was really excited to see this one.

What makes them unique is that Erin dances the tango in pointe shoes. They both have classical ballet training but became fascinated by Argentine Tango, so they moved to Buenos Aires to study it. Alexander now choreographs their work and he's brilliant. This show really highlights his sense of staging. Using 6 standing LED light stands to light the space, there's a distinct mood set for every number. He's also taking bigger risks in this show than in the last one - the first two numbers incorporate ideas of masking oneself to better highlight the shapes being created on the stage, a nod to their ballet training. (Last year, the show started with tango and ended with a contemporary number. The order has been flipped this year and the work is better for it.)

And Erin? Holy crap. She does a couple of numbers wearing one high heel and one pointe shoe. How that doesn't drive her insane I don't know but it's a really interesting choice that highlights the difference in stylings between the two forms, using the pointe shoe to execute ballet spins and using the heel to emphasize the lines of the sensual tango. She actually changes into the one shoe on the stage, which is a brave choice as she has to finish in timing with the music and we can see if she's having a challenge getting it on.

In fact, the first half of the show features costume changes partially done on the stage, which makes the transitions from one piece to another a lot more interesting. Another time, it's Alexander lip-syncing to a poem. They are committing to spreading not just the music of Argentina but of their writers as well. All told, this is as strong a dance piece as you would see by any of the resident companies in town. If you have any interest in dance, you owe it to yourself to see it.

(I also want to point out that Erin needs a new pair of pointe shoes for every performance so they fund-raise for them by selling calendars after the show. The images are wonderful and if you can have $20 on you to buy one after the show they will be a reminder of the beauty of dance all through 2020.)

A note to the fringe: Alexander told me after the show they don't have a place to do a proper warm up. They risk injury having to rush with setting up the stage, changing into costume, and trying to warm up within the time usually allotted between shows. Again, if you want dance shows to be a true part of the fringe, this also needs to be taken into consideration. Maybe a dedicated venue like KidsFringe, where there's a warm-up room, proper seating, and a sprung stage?

Blooms from Molly Bloom

Molly Bloom

Not being a fan of James Joyce, this isn't a show I would have initially put on my list. However, I did hear great things about both the show and the performers so I went in hoping that Joyce wouldn't annoy me that much. As the title indicates, this is an adaptation of the final chapter of Ulysses, the famous Molly Bloom soliloquy.

We have 4 Mollys on the stage, the soliloquy broken up between these voices to illustrate various sides to Molly's personality. They sometimes speak in unison, or sing in gorgeous 4-part harmony, which gives this text much needed variety and visual interest. The production is stunning in all aspects - the adaptation, the colour-coded costumes, the movement, the musicality, the acting.

I'm still not a fan of the text but I thoroughly enjoyed this. If you like the text, you're gong to love the show. Fourth Gorgon Theatre really hit it out of the park.

Leaving the show, one of the Mollys offered flowers to people so they could bloom. I haven't received flowers for a bit so it was a lovely touch from the company. Thank you so much!

Dandelion

My final show of the night, where I didn't know what to expect. I've known Aaron Malkin for a few years because of his James & Jamesy work. (I met them in London before they ever made it to Toronto.) They are the rare clown show that I actually like, probably because it's more physical theatre than clown in my books. This is a departure for Aaron as this is a one-man storytelling show.

This is also a work-in-progress, a daring thing for a touring show to do in Toronto. Fringe audiences are usually quite happy to help local shows develop but are not willing to take a risk on a touring show unless they hear raves about it. Aaron told me afterwards it's a product of his schedule and a desire to not want to take any more time away from home than he already is.

This ties directly into this show itself, which is about parenthood. Specifically his relationship with his son. The dandelion motif runs through the show and is introduced at the beginning in true one-man show fashion. What follows are dad jokes, stories about moments with his kid (which I found not that interesting but I'm sure everyone who is a parent was nodding along in recognition), and the part that I found compelling - his struggles to be a parent in authenticity.

I found it uneven, with the strongest sections talking about his relationship with his father and how he is seeing it play out now, and a physical bit about his son and food that brings in the familiar aspect he's know for. It was only its second performance so bits are still being moved in and out. Most of the material is strong. Pacing is the big problem. I am curious to see how it's all going to end up.

In the meantime, if you're a parent, you're going to love it. If you're not, you may still really enjoy watching a great artist stretching himself. I'm glad I saw it.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #4

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 15:58:00 +0000

Charlin McIsaac and Greg Solomon. Photo by Graham Isador

I ended up taking the day to write and spend some time with myself, which I needed. I certainly felt more grounded when I hit the tent in the evening to see Amanda Logan and Lauren Cauchy bring their Ottawa fringe late-night talk show to Toronto. Their show was one of my favourite things about doing Ottawa and I was happy to see them again. They were such troupers as it rained through most of their hour.

I came up on the stage to help them with a competition. I ended up winning a pair of handcuffs. Bemused a little by that, as one of the cards I pulled during my contemplation had to do with stepping into my sensuality and sexuality more. They're not padded so I doubt they're really useful in that context but hey, I have a conversation piece!

I went back to the tent later to participate in Silent Disco. I had wanted to do it last year but felt too tire and skipped it, only to see raves about it from my friends on social media. What I really loved about it is that you had three channels to choose from, so if you didn't like the song, you could switch. The Main Ingredient had great DJs, but I especially appreciated Fly Lady Di. Anyone who spins Chaka Khan's I Feel For You is aces with me.

So I only ended up seeing one show.

News Play

It was bound to happen at some point, that I'd find a play that didn't work for me. That's not on the folks involved in the show. It has everything to do with absurdism, a form I really don't enjoy.

If that's the sort of thing you like, then you'll love this show. The show makes a strong statement about how far we'll go, and the lies we tell ourselves in the process, to make an impact. The basic premise has a brother and sister coming back to their home town after hitting a professional block to help their pyromaniac cousin, who was the impetuous for them starting in the first place. I was on board with that and the thing that I really loved about the work was the dynamics and realizations among the three of them. Running through it is a question about whether we need heroes anymore, which is a great question to ask.

What happened after just drove me a little nuts, which I'm sure is the point. There's no doubt that the staging is strong, the actors committed to the story, and that the play has its own internal logic. Certainly the almost sold-out audience just loved it. It's a really good production with some very cool elements, like the use of headbands for audience information, and a really unique way to portray a bus. Objectively, I don't see any problems with the script. All the characters are damaged in some way and are true to that. There's also some biting commentary on what we consider news. And I really liked the brother character.

I just didn't feel satisfied at the end. That may very well have been what I was meant to feel. After all, the idea of manipulating our worst instincts to create news is a discomforting thing. Yet the play does end on a note of hope, which is something that I like. So why didn't I love it? I honestly don't know. I keep turning this over with no answer. Again, this is no commentary on the quality of the show. It's good, and you'll probably enjoy it, and it's definitely worth seeing.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #3

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 17:45:00 +0000

Alex Dallas

My first true multi-show day. No time for tenting, sadly. Everything I've seen so far has been great, which is a fantastic batting average for the fringe. So on with the shows!

Horseface

I've known Alex Dallas a long time. I know she is incredible. And yet, I don't believe I have ever seen one of her one-person shows. This time, she's talking about a topic near and dear to my heart. So I was really excited for this one.

She didn't disappoint. Stories from various periods of her life, stories that every woman in the audience nodded in recognition. Stories about the indignities from a young age. Stories about secrets. Yet the show doesn't feel heavy as she infuses her take with humour and insightful commentary. She's such a strong storyteller and presence that you're just taken along with her as she invites you into her world.

I'm not going to lie. The Annex Theatre was hot last night. But it was worth sweating through it for this show. Come see a master at work.

Mourning After the Night Before

Chloë Whitehorn. Gah! Her writing is so damn good. I fell in love with her talent when I saw her play Love, Virtually at the 2011 Fringe (OMG, has it been that long?) I love how she uses language and how she paints the struggles we have to communicate. So I was absolutely thrilled to get to see this show after missing it in New Ideas last year.

I find myself wrestling with what to say because they play unfolds beautifully with surprises and secrets revealed that I want people who see it to discover it on their own terms. I'd love to see it again now knowing how it ends to follow the bread crumbs. What I can talk about is the use of water as the theme, as both a physical place and as representing emotions. Drowning is the key here - drowning in loss, drowning in confusion, drowning in questions of value, drowning in the roles of parenting and growing up. The play has a lyrical quality to it, much like bobbing on a tranquil lake while everything happens underneath where you can't see. The image is referred to frequently but it never feels like you're beaten over the head with it. Well done, Chloë!

Mad River Theatre does the script justice. The cast is strong and handle the shifts beautifully. The play is built on brief moments and the staging (especially the lighting) starkly show the disconnection. I did find it a little disconcerting as one of the actors is a voice actor and his voice was so familiar to me that every time he spoke it pulled me out but that's on me, not him. I also appreciate how the company has a list of resources on their site about mental health for anyone who finds themselves triggered by the show, and that they made a point to mention it at the curtain call.

Overall, this is just a beautiful play wonderfully done. It's definitely worth seeing.

Personal Demon Hunter

First, I want to say what this show is not. It's not a parody of personal transformation workshops. Which frankly, was a relief to me as I believe in the power of storytelling as healing. So too does The Velvet Duke. He's more interested in breaking down the idea of workshop leader as enlightened guru, something the people I've been working with in my own life have been emphasizing as well. (Take a bow, Matt Andrews!)

The show is a brief workshop, infused with music. I was surprised to find out that he doesn't actually lead workshops in the area of worthiness because this is exactly how I would run one - personal stories infused with humour and songs encouraging the audience to sing along in the chorus to loosen them up, creating a structure that is a welcome space for vulnerability and sharing. And that is the beauty of this show, the reminder that we are not alone, that we all struggle with feeling good enough. It does become the workshop it purports to be and it's a beautiful thing to see at the fringe. Don't let that put you off though. It also stands strongly in the tradition of one-person shows and that is how it feels (albeit not as polished - his improv roots shine through). It's a wonderful mix.

Combined with The Healing Show (which I am seeing next week), for the first time in my memory at the fringe I'm seeing my spiritual and theatre worlds collide in an authentic way. (In the past I've seen shows by mediums and healers but they haven't felt like theatre shows. In the fringe, they don't have to be.) Just like this blog in fact. The prevailing wisdom is to pick a topic and stick to it to be successful but I want this blog to reflect all sides of my life. I have been looking for a way to combine things and I'm grateful to have seen this show to point the way for me to move forward using all my various gifts and be authentically myself. I've shied away from integrating the two because most people I know are incredibly skeptical, considering this kind of healing work scams that prey on desperate people. Yet this kind of work has been incredibly transformative to me and I know it can be to others.

I have always believed in the power of theatre to change lives. So let's do it.

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #2

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:58:00 +0000

Chris Coculuzzi and Alexandra Milne. Photo by Kathy Plamondon

Only one fringe show but spent a lot of time today checking out events at the fringe tent.

I had The Icon Experience but since I signed an NDA, all I can say is:

I don't know who it was, even with the clues. Doesn't really matter as I wasn't there for the brush of fame. I've met many famous people in my life. No biggie. If I'm meant to know, I'll find out at some point.
The video made available to us later in the evening really helped me understand the performance I saw. It wouldn't have had such an impact on me without it.
I'm really glad I did it. It was a unique experience.

Congrats to Lisa Anita Wegner and Workman Arts for pulling this off. A lot of care has been taken and it shows.

In a completely different vein, I ended my evening with the men of Boylesque TO. I had the opportunity to work with Dew Lily on a show and James and the Giant Pasty is one of my favourite people so it was a thrill to get to see them strut their stuff again. Especially loved Dew representing my team in vintage 70s boys wear, including the satin shorts! I've kept it under wraps for fear of trolls but I am the founder of Jays in The House (JITH), so I loved these worlds colliding.

Ok, on to the one actual fringe show I saw last night.

The Taming of the Shrew

I was really looking forward to this one for a few reasons - I love the courtyard at St George the Martyr; I'm a big fan of director Nicole Arends' work; and I have worked with Chris Coculuzzi & Scott Moore on shows a lifetime ago and love them both. So I felt going in that they would do their best to mitigate the truly horrible main plot of the play. (For those who don't know it, it's about breaking a headstrong woman by abusing her.)

Sadly, the production didn't redeem the play. I really felt for Alexandra Milne having to try to make the mental leaps of her character's journey. (In the beginning, her character Katherine is violent, true, but that doesn't justify starving her and keeping her awake for days on end all in the name of love. It's the hallmark of a classic abuser.) She does a great job on the subtext, showing us a woman barely containing her rage at being considered less than her sister. I felt like I was watching an actual woman rather than the stereotype that Shakespeare wrote. (Dude wrote some great roles for women, so this play is a real head-shaker.)

She also has great chemistry with her Petruchio, the aforementioned Chris Coculuzzi. He puts in a lot of effort to show that he is really taken with her and struggles with what he's doing, which is the best you can do with what is on the page. He's charismatic and caring when his attention is on her, which becomes a head-scratcher with the rest of his behaviour but again, that's on the script, not this production. His diction is the clearest of anyone on the stage and he commands your attention, which is what his character needs to do to have this make any sense. Together, they create a soft space that has a separate feel that the rest of the play, or how they behave to anyone else.

One decision I really appreciated and want to make note of is that in spite of the script having Petruchio forcing a kiss on Kate when they first meet, the production has her stopping it and him being ok with that. We only see them actually kiss when they've both softened towards each other, which makes it an earned moment. Great choice. I also appreciated tying in Petruchio's behaviour in with the image of a falconer training his bird, including Petruchio wearing a falconer's glove in the "taming" section. He removes it just before they enter her father's house for the finale, signaling that he's done treating her badly. That visual reminder of Petruchio using a training technique doesn't get his behaviour off the hook but does give a bit of helpful context.

So if the script is so problematic, why take it on? For starters, the initial meeting between Katherine and Petruchio is a classic bit of sophisticated wordplay and a ton of fun. They nailed it. I also suspect it has to do with the fun of the secondary plot, which has to do with Katherine's sister Bianca and her suitors. All the actors acquit themselves well here. I especially enjoyed Paige Madsen's Tranio, the "fixer" character of the play. She never let us forget that Tranio is playing a role and making it up as they go along but appears confident enough that everyone else is fooled. I really felt that they were having a blast juggling all the balls.

The cast is strong all around and Nicole makes wonderful use of the space. You get to move around to various sections, so be prepared. In some of the outer areas, there is park noise to contend with but the diction is strong enough that very little dialogue was lost. (Of course, this was a Thursday evening so it may be more problematic on other days.) As I expected, it's well done Shakespeare and a very pleasant night out. If you're a person who enjoys the play, or someone who is able to look past its problematic aspects if it's a great production, get out to see it. You won't regret it!

Toronto Fringe 2019 - Day #1

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 18:41:00 +0000

Left to right: Rahul Gandhi, Adrian MacDonald, Conor Tomalty, Lisa Drupsteen Photographer: Cindy Lopez

Merry Fringemas!

Scott White posted a poem on Facebook yesterday in tribute and I'd like to share a part of it here:

Though I'm sure that your show
Is truly sublime
I'm just a mere mortal
With limited time.

So know in your heart
If I miss your show
That I'm cheering you on
With my heart all aglow

I love the fringe and unlike last year I have the stability to enjoy it. So I'm back to reviewing! (You can see my previous fringe writing here.) I especially encourage you to see shows from out of town artists. Last year I finally did a fringe tour. It was so demoralizing to have such small houses because no one knows who you are, so while I know a lot of you know a million people who are in shows, try to fit someone you don't know into it.

See you at the tent! (Yeah, I know it's not a tent but it's never been a tent. It was first a club, then a parking lot, and now it's a hockey rink. It's still tenting.)

Without further ado, the first show I have seen this year. Click on the title to get to the show's fringe page.

The Peers

As someone who has loved Shakespeare's plays most of her life, I was really jazzed for this show from Montreal. The setup is 5 aspiring actors of various types have been abandoned by the rest of the production and are contractually obligated to perform all of Shakespeare's plays in an hour. What ensures is a lot of mayhem and misunderstandings that is really clever and funny. The plays that are focused on are gender-swapped and deconstructed but you don't need to know that to enjoy the set pieces.

Now, if I had written this right after the show ended, I would have said that the last fourth of the show comes out of nowhere and is an absolute mess. In the cold light of day, I see that is the whole point, a commentary on how Shakespeare tends to wrap up his plays. It swings from tragedy to comedy to some serious wtf. Which leaves me pondering - am I just slow or is this a structural problem with the play? I wanted more focus, but is that because I'm a big fan of the well-made play and therefore I'm imposing expectations on it that are unfair?

Go and decide for yourself. Get there when the doors open to enjoy the kickass pre-show music. It's a play worth seeing.

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #6

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 04:36:00 +0000

James & Jamesy In The Dark. Photo by Thaddeus Hink

It was Toronto Fringe Day 10, and my final day of fringing. I did a ton of not only walking but standing and my body hates me today for good reason.

The first two shows are Patron's Pick so you can still catch them. Click the title to get the link. The last one has closed but is going on to Winnipeg so I'm linking to that fringe (the website doesn't give me a direct link to the show). Pass along to your Winnipeg friends!

James & Jamesy in the Dark

I'm a huge fan of these guys and I thought I wouldn't get a chance to see this. If you've seen either of their previous shows, Tea for 2 or High Tea, be warned that this is a little different. Which is great because I love seeing artists stretch their wings and move out of their comfort zone.

The show revolves around two characters who have working lampshades on their heads and are thus restricted in what they see. There's a lot of comedy in it, engaging enough to capture the attention of the pre-teens in the audience. The first half, establishing the world, does feel slow. But just as you get to "is that all there is?', they discover the audience and what happens from there is pure delight.

If you like something that's off-beat, or something that is physical comedy-based in an intelligent way, then check this show out.

Magical Mystery Detour

My reaction to this show is an example of me being jaded in having seen too many fringe shows. (I've never counted but I know it falls in the hundreds.) I've heard about this artist for years as she's made the rounds of the fringe circuit but had never seen her. I walked out disappointed. I just couldn't help but make comparisons to Nicola Gunn's fringe shows which worked with similar themes and found it wanting.

Now that I've got that out of the way, let me tell you why everyone else raves about this show. :)

We meet a woman who is dealing with a lot of stuff - trying to write a tag line for Marmite, a break up, and her mother's death. When she gets a letter from beyond the grave, it sets her on an unforgettable road trip. Gemma Wilcox not only gives us all the people she meets along the way, but voices animals, coins, and my personal favourite, a car. You won't find any stereotypes in the characters, which given how quick a glance we get of most of them, could have been very easy to do. The show has a great mix of drama and comedy - it's a very enjoyable journey.

My friend who saw the show with me felt the audience interaction portions of the show unnecessary. After thinking on it, I tend to agree. It pulls us out of the narrative. However, that's the only problem I found with it.

It truly is a tour-de-force and an interesting story. If you love watching those things, this show is for you.

The Life Henri

The show that has already closed (although I won't be surprised if there's a Toronto remount at some point). It was the perfect way to end my fringe.

Ostensibly the show is about the life of Henri Rousseau but Adam Bailey uses it as a jumping off point to talk about being an outsider in other contexts. After the show I found out there's another layer I didn't even see which talked about the fringe circuit itself. I really wish I could go back and see it again with this knowledge. Maybe Winnipeg audiences will be more astute than I.

Doesn't really matter, I enjoyed it immensely. Adam is an engaging and funny storyteller and the life of Rousseau is a fascinating subject in its own right. Using slides to show us the work of Rousseau and his contemporaries, we get a rollicking tour of the Parisian art world of the late 19th and early 20th century. The time flies by as we hear about Rousseau artistic development, his naivety, and the most epic house party ever.

Want to have fun spending an hour hearing a story about an ordinary man who becomes an icon? You'll want to see this.

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #5

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 07:36:00 +0000

Vanessa Quesnelle and Martin Dockery in Moonlight After Midnight. Photo by Will O’Hare

This was my day 5, officially the fringe's day 8. Saw two shows by friends who kindly made it possible for me to come. Happily, I loved them both.

As always, title links to the fringe box office.

Letters to Annabelle

From the moment you walk into the venue, a bar on Dundas St, you're immersed in the world of the show. You're welcomed into the space by a man dressed like a maitre d. Burlesque dancers mingle with the audience and with each other. You get to order drinks and food if you wish.

We're in a bar just after The War to End All Wars. A young soldier has returned, searching out the woman who gave him reason to survive. In the process of looking for her, he gets immersed in the protection racket of the owner of the bar and reconnects with a girl from his hometown working there.

What ensues is a story about illusion, loss, and the hope of love. It actually reminded me a lot of a show I worked on a lifetime ago, Andrew Woolner's Dearest Companion. The immersive experience brings a poignancy to the piece that I think a conventional staging would have lost. With the action all around us, we can feel the characters hopes, dreams, and pain. The letters that we hear have a beautiful poetry mixed in with the horrors of war, giving us a understanding of the nightmares our protagonist has on a nightly basis. From the get-go there's a strong sense of where the story will end up but I kept hoping for a happy ending anyway.

The show has a few things that needs to be ironed out. I was never quite sure where we were. I thought we were in Quebec, as the story seemed to indicate that it was a last stop before shipping out and the Canadian forces trained at Valcartier, Quebec. Yet there's a reference in the show to doing a run to Albany, which is nowhere near there. That would place us in Kingston or Cornwall. Also, the scene changes were very slow. Live piano playing and burlesque were used to cover these and while they were entertaining diversions, it made things feel very dragged out. The voice-overs of the letters got lost quite a bit.

These are all minor things though. If you want to experience something different and dramatic, this is where you want to be.

Moonlight After Midnight

I've heard about this show for a long time as Martin and Vanessa have toured it to many fringes and will be taking it to Edinburgh next. So happy to have finally seen it. It has a twist ending that I saw coming only because of a comment Martin made to me before I saw it. The audience had no idea.

I hesitate to say any more beyond the initial set up of a man and a woman in a hotel room because the joy of this piece lies in the discovery, how it always keeps you guessing as to what is going on. Every time you have a handle on it, it shifts the ground under your feet.

It touches upon the ways we play roles in order to dance around our truths, especially around love. The writing is very strong and the performances actually play with levels of competence to help guide you along the way.

If you love an intriguing story and don't mind being challenged as an audience member, then make sure you catch this show.

Ottawa Fringe 2017

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 18:06:00 +0000

Yesterday being #WorldFringeDay reminds me that I still have an outstanding review to write.

I went to the Ottawa Fringe last month to see Keith Brown's new show, which didn't get into Toronto. After I saw it, I promised to write up a review but things got crazy and I didn't get around to it. With the show now heading to Winnipeg and Edmonton, it's a good time to keep that promise. I'll even throw in the other show I saw there, which I really liked.

Hotter than Potter

(Winnipeg link Edmonton link)
I can't even pretend to be objective with this review as I worked with Keith on his last show and was a sounding board for this one. So I will tell you about the show through the eyes of my cousin and her daughter, who came with me.

My cousin was very concern about the age appropriateness of the show, since her daughter is 12. Never fear! Keith is all-ages friendly. He discovered magic as a boy and loves to share that wonder with children of all ages.

And wonder is the theme of this show. I know some people were disappointed because there wasn't more Harry Potter references, not knowing that the title of the show came from a preview piece the CBC did for his last show, Absolute Magic (the one I worked on). He liked it so much he was running off buttons at the end of our Toronto run and decided to use it for his show title this year. But why do people love the Harry Potter books so much? I'd suggest it's the idea of magic existing in the everyday mixed with a dash of adventure. And that's what you get with this show.

Halfway through the show, my cousin and her daughter were leaning forward in their chairs, hanging on every word and action. They were mystified by the magic and charmed by the man. Which is the quintessential Keith Brown experience.

So if you want a break from the everyday, a dash of wonder and charm in your life, you owe it to yourself to see Hotter Than Potter. You'll be glad you did.

AL Connors: DJ Detective

This was the local show I wanted to see and thanks to my plans falling through I was able to hightail it over and see it. I wanted insight into how a DJ works. I certainly got that. What surprised me was how polished the show was. His tales were engaging, he used the stage well, he led us through a journey which culminated in letting us experience what he does. I got to laugh, I got to dance, maybe I even cried a little. It was everything I had hoped for as a fringe experience..Glad I got stood up!

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #4

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 06:46:00 +0000

Amo Gulinello in Fastcar: Man of Action. Photo by: Valerie Michele Graper

I saw 2 evening shows after getting some sleep. And more sleep afterwards, which is why this is late. (Again, the link in the title takes you to the show page so you can buy tickets.)

Fastcar: Man of Action

This was another show I didn't know much about going in. I already had it in my schedule when I ran into the artist, who was hanging out with someone I know from my vocal studio. They had worked together in Singapore. Small world.

It also turns out that this wasn't the first time I had seen him perform. I checked out his online bio and he was with De La Guarda. (I've spent the last couple of hours trying to retrieve the post I know I wrote about seeing that show in October 2001 and how I was moved by the scene about the tower falling. It's sadly trapped in WP backup hell.) The man has solid physical theatre chops.

And that's what you get with this show - tons of physical comedy in a mime style. And it's done very well. Like any good clown, he takes the mundane and raises the stakes ever higher, pushing it in the realm of the absurd. I'm finding it really difficult to describe what happens in the show, which may very well be the point. The artist in his synopsis talks about three sections - the phone call, the date, the mission - but that really doesn't do justice to what you see. This show is really accessible, a product of his years of being a lead clown for Cirque du Soleil. He told me the final bit is directly lifted from his work there.

This show is a lot of fun but be prepared, members of the audience will be involved in the antics. Having said that, he got my friend Heather onstage and she never does audience participation. He's that good. So if you want a shorter show (it runs 45 minutes) where you'll be doing a ton of laughing performed by a master of physical comedy, this is the show you'll want to see. He's an out-of-towner who doesn't have a large network of contacts here and needs all the support he can get.

Odd One Out

This show is very different from everything else I've seen. It's the one pure drama on my list.

It concerns two women who fall in love while in university in the 50s. Setting it in the 50's gave it a power and resonance that separated it out from most stories I've seen about lesbian romance. While the romance is the center of the plot, the play is really about shattered dreams and the long arm of guilt. The play shifts two time frames - the time when the women and the "steady" of one of them were together, and 8 years later when two of them come together to discover the story of what happened to the third, who had disappeared.

The acting is stellar and the script is lush (helps having a character who loves writing that kind of prose). The relationships are very well drawn and we have a strong sense of who each character is. It's a simple set that uses 3 flats on wheels to define spaces and I found that the moving of the panels was distracting instead of enlightening. But that's the only quibble I have with this production. It moves at a good pace and is fully engrossing.

I do have to give a shout out to Siobhan Richardson's intimacy direction. She learned the craft from the Intimacy on Stage workshop that I wrote about last year (she was the one who made it happen) and you can see the difference on the stage. I felt the attraction between the two female characters from the moment they met in a way I can't remember experiencing ever before in a show. There was such a comfort level between that actors that has to have been Siobhan's work.

The description sells it as a mystery but I'd consider that a little misleading because it's never solved. Instead, we get a powerful story that is told well by engaging actors. If that's your thing, you need to see this show.

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #3

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 22:50:00 +0000

Joylyn Secunda in The Moaning Yoni. Photo by Emily Cooper

Got gloriously wet in the fringe tent and did a little dancing. My one day of having serious hangout time - thanks rain! (The links in the titles takes you to their fringe page.)

The Moaning Yoni

This show is about a subject near and dear to my heart - women's sexuality.

It opens and closes with a chant to mother earth, creating a space for the sacred feminine. From there we're taken to a tantra class to connect women with their yonis, not unlike a class I watched online last week. The teacher talks to Zoe, and it's her Yoni that is the title of the show. And the Yoni talks like a Jewish mother.

Throughout the next hour, we meet a parade of men that have passed through Zoe's life (the live-person Tinder is a highlight of the show), discover all the awful ways that men kiss, and get a window into how hard it is to express your sexuality as a young woman. (I'll spare you the rant about how internet porn has ruined sex. I'll just say I'm glad my sexual initiations were done by men who were interested in making me feel good instead of copying moves they've seen in porn.)

However, this show is not a downer by any means. It's really funny. It mocks all the various ways that we tell women to connect to their sexuality and how we pressure them to be sexual, even if they're not interested. The movement in the show is gorgeous and the writing is really good. While this show speaks to the feminine experience, it's not exclusive. There was only one man in the audience and he was enjoying it almost as much as the rest of us. It was a beautiful hour of communion between the performer and the audience.

I wish everyone under 30 could see this show. There'd be hope for better sex for everyone.

Pineapple Club

I had no idea walking into it what this show was about. I didn't know that the creator of Dance Animal (which I sadly missed in both its incarnations) was involved. I didn't know that I would have so much fun. I loved the soundtrack, music from artists we've lost since the beginning of 2016. I loved the dance - oh, how I loved the dance. (I've been feeling very stuck in my dancing right now and have decided that I need some Jazz in my life.)

I wasn't sold on the blackouts between scenes, prefering a movement-based transition, but the use of the blackout becomes really important in a scene later on - a beautiful set of tableaus lit only by flashlight. What ties the scenes together is the theme of loss. (The program states that it's loosely based on the five stages of grief.) At times it's hilarious, poignant, and absurd.

A couple of things really struck me. I loved seeing a male dancer who looks like someone you'd run into in a biker bar - and boy can he sing! I also need to shout out Paul Barnes' accent work - he had me convinced he was Canadian-born with a really good English accent.

If you like a mix of dance, comedy, and a soupçon of angst, this is the show for you.

A personal note: in the program there's a thank you to Tom King. Wonder if that's the same Tom King I used to swing dance with?

Real Actors, Not People

Or, real life cleverly disguised as a play.

I saw this with a friend and before the play she asked me if I knew what it was about. I didn't really. But early on in the play I saw spaces being mentioned that I knew about. Turns out the performers are the proprietors of Brick and Mortar, a company I found out about when the Attic and The Box merged last year and asked Keith Brown to perform at their launch party. In fact, if you go to the online program after the show, they answer which parts of the show actually happened and which ones were the product of their imagination.

The two meet at an audition, eventually discover they both run an art space, and decide to join forces. In a series of vignettes we see the trials and tribulations of being an arts administrator who runs a physical space. I was reminded of my first outing as a producer. I plunged toilets and had lighting short out my board. There's no glamour in it, just a desire to serve the theatre community.

And it's exhausting. The show does a very good job showing what the cost is to providing the spaces we use with barely a second thought. This is not a downer show, though. It's done in a breezy way, with a funny set piece that runs throughout the show tracking the development of one space they're working on jointly while they're trying to carve out time to be artists.

The bit that really hit home for me is the discussion around compensating administrators. It's done in a very humourous way in the show but it highlights a real problem in the arts - acknowledging that our work should be financially compensated.

(I'll hop on my soap box here and point out that we do ourselves no favours if we force people to work extra jobs so as to keep costs to productions low. That extra $5/hr for a rental space means that the person who made that space happen and is taking care of it can buy groceries and pay rent. We need to become better at creating money for all of us as a whole rather than insist that we keep ourselves in sustenance living for the sake of our art. And the first step is compensating everyone involved in our productions in some way that makes their day to day lives easier, whether that's money or transit or bartering services. We can be more proactive in helping our sponsors find clients so that they'll want to invest more in our art. Collectively, we have the ability to figure out ways to raise the financial situation of the entire community. We just need the commitment to do it.)

If you're involved in theatre in any capacity, this is a must see. If you're a theatre goer, this is more than the usual "the trials and tribulations of an actor" that crops up at fringe. It's a door into a world that isn't much talked about but needs more light shine on it. The end reaffirms faith in theatre and why we do it. And you'll have had a good time along the way.

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #2

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:20:00 +0000

Martin Dockery, photo by Bill Kennedy

(Link takes you to their fringe page to buy tickets.

Weirder Thou Art

I walked out of this show thinking, "what the hell did I just see?"

Which I suspect is not a bad thing when watching bouffon.

We start out by meeting the witches from Macbeth, who have written a first draft of the play and have kidnapped William Shakespeare to polish it up and bring it to our world. Turns out they're on God's bad side and they hope by showing God that they now understand humanity things will get better for them.

From there, the show goes into sexual innuendo, fart jokes, repeated mentions of a desire for gore (grateful that we didn't have to see it) and a lot of pawing over young William - who shows he has acting chops when they actually leave him alone to do a scene. We run through the story while they witches fight amongst each other, Will tries to escape, and the audience laughs - a lot.

Two of the witches are performed by men and the woman is portraying the crone. I'm sure there's a solid liturgical reason for that and it does add a bit of power when a man dressed with prominent boobs and ass talks about how women are viewed for their attractiveness but it did bother me that this show centering female characters has only one woman in the cast.

This show was a ton of fun. I just would have liked a little more cohesion. The program talks about how bouffons like "themes that involve the very essence of society in its social complexity." I experienced very little of that. I do know that this show had to do some drastic cuts the last couple of days for time so I bet the stuff I was looking for is on the cutting room floor.

If you like bouffon, this show's for you. If you like bizarre takes on Shakespeare, this show is also for you. If you like raunchy weirdness, this show is definitely for you.

Delirium

I have to state up front that I'm extremely biased when it comes to Martin Dockery. When Martin first did the Toronto Fringe with his show Wanderlust (2009!), I was smitten. I have memories of a late night discussion outside Central Tech, lending an ear walking him to his billet in London, having lunch with him and his lovely (now) wife on a long gone restaurant on Baldwin St, and many nights in the beer tent.

I unashamedly love this man.

He's a master storyteller who has always done great work but this piece tops them all. The writing is stronger, something I didn't even know was possible. He's always been good at the large stories but this time he throws in a couple short offshoots that change the rhythm and allows the audience to catch their breath.

Martin's trademark is fast-talking performance and that hasn't changed. However, this a calmer, more grounded, more open performer. I really noticed him making direct eye contact with as much of the audience as he can see and coming down to the audience level a few times, creating an intimacy I haven't seen from him before. This suits the stories he tells, two of which are intensely personal while the third gives perspective. The third story gave me particular resonance, especially considering my personal history with the venue.

If the rest of this run doesn't sell out, it will be a crime. It's not often you get to see someone at the top of his game the way this show showcases Martin. I don't want to say much more because I would like you to discover the stories on their own terms, so I'll leave you with the program description:

Dockery tells the true story of looking for meaning in the mysterious connection between love and death. Equally comical and heartbreaking, Delirium takes us from a Toronto airport to the Nevada desert, and from a Brooklyn apartment to the Mexican redoubt of the Monarch Butterfly, telling a story of both falling in love and falling apart.

Toronto Fringe 2017 Day #1

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 06:42:00 +0000

From left to right: Kira Renee, Catherine Wylee, Grace Thompson and Isabel Kanaan in Nourishment. Photo by Hashmita Alimchandani

So here I am back at blogging. I had every intention of blogging through the fringe last year but I just ended up utter exhausted. I haven't done anything theatre related since then. Until now.

This year, I put out an open call for word of mouth (WOM) tickets. The way they work is that you get a ticket to a performance early in the run (usually a performance they anticipate may be slower selling tickets) in the hopes that you'll spread the word to your social circles to get them excited enough to go. Family circumstances mean that my fringing will have to be limited so writing reviews of them on the blog seems a good way for me to hold up my end of the bargain.

So on day #1, I saw two shows (link takes you to their fringe page where you can buy tickets):

Nourishment

I loved this show. It presents us with various aspects of being a woman in 2017, told through four women in one family - Gram, her daughter-in-law Ginger, and her grand-daughters Brie and Olive. (The scenes with Ginger taking care of Gram particularly hit home.)

The central conceit is that the kitchen, at times used as a tool of oppression for women, can also be a sacred space where women can gather. From there the women, all with very different perspectives, share stories and incidents of their lives.

Near the end, one of the characters asks, "why do we lie to our daughters and tell them they can be anything they want to be?"

It's a damn good question. I'd never thought about it until the show posed it to me. I saw how so many of the stories had to do with societal expectations of women. It was a very engaging way of addressing so many of the issues we face going about the world as women.

For women, this show will be full of familiarity. I found myself nodding quite a bit as the various characters talked about issues that affect them. Men will find some scenes unrecognizable but I hope they will be willing to take a look into the lives of women. Only in truly understanding how our roles have been laid out by society, how we're all battling with those expectations, will we be able to free.

Magic to the future

One of the hardest things to do well in theatre is a show about being unprepared to do the show. It's a fine line between authenticity and appearing professional. Unfortunately, this show doesn't walk it. Which is a shame as the performer is engaging and the show is very strong on the comedy side. The magic is simple, and is meant to be. (I'll cop to being a tough audience on the magic front as I've recently seen most of those tricks at Tricks in the Six and the other one has been a higher-stakes staple of Keith Brown's shows for years.)

It's not like our host doesn't have it in him. The pre-show is a projection of his showreel, the material sent to bookers to show why they should be hired. So here lies my problem. I spent most of the show feeling bad for him, wondering if he missed his tech rehearsal, instead of fully engaging with the show. He told me after the show that it was all intentional so it's possible that's the reaction he wanted. (And maybe that's why he's showing us his showreel pre-show.) But that's not why I go to theatre. I wanted to revel in the absurd parallels to Back to the Future and be amazed by feats of magic. I wanted to walk out being impressed by how the show was put together.

I fully admit that my experience is born from my background as a theatre professional and that other audience members will have a very different experience. However, there's a high bar for quality in Toronto and I suspect regular fringe goers will have a similar response to mine.

I really wanted to be able to recommend this show unreservedly since not only is Tim Hoffman an out-of-town performer (and I like to support those) but his stage manager Lindsay Taylor produced Absolute Magic last year. And I'll repeat, the show is fun if you're able to give yourself over to it. I hope it finds its audience.

ETA: Wayne Leung also saw the show last night and had a different impression. So maybe it is just me.

OMG! We open in 5 days!

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 23:19:00 +0000

This is my favourite photo of Keith. In it, I see the performer he's becoming. The lighting creates a feeling of mystery, a theatricality, a raising of the ordinary. He's reaching out to take a card from an audience member, his eyes focused, highlighting his personal connection to the audience. The moment captures the face of the man - which is rare as like me, he has the challenge of looking much younger than he actually is. (It's great once you reach thirty but until then it's a huge pain in the butt.)

It's this photo that I'm using as the image of what I want Absolute Magic to be. (I hope you'll be coming to see it.)

It's an interesting process in that it's a collaboration. Like working with Rusa on Harper Girl, I don't get the final say. My job is to guide the artist into becoming the best expression of themselves. I have ideas - some of which Keith has been completely on board with while others just didn't feel authentic to him. Which is fine. His authenticity is what makes him stand out as a magician and a speaker and that quality is the thing I most want to preserve. I hold the space for him to be more vulnerable. I hold the vision of what the show can be. He puts the pieces in place.

I was remarking to Kent (remember him? The founder of Umbrella Talks and co-writer here?) today that this way of working suits me.

Doing theatre is always a growth process for everyone involved but this show is a nexus for both of us. He has talked about wanting to open doors of opportunity. This is one of those for him. For me, working with him has given me the catalyst to take the next step. I've been in preparation mode for a long time and this show has brought this new way of being from concept to reality.

And we open in 5 days!

Thomas Ulsrud, 2P4H, and the pursuit of excellence.

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 01:16:00 +0000

I was very torn about the Olympics. I have huge issues about how LGBT people are being treated in Russia, yet I also wanted Thomas Ulsrud (I've written about him here) to win a gold medal and watch him do it. So I made a deal with myself. I would only watch curling. I do love the spectacle of the opening and closing ceremonies but I refused to watch China's and I had no problem missing these as well.

Most of the matches I wanted were only available by internet stream anyway so I wasn't feeding the corporate machine - too much.

It was a rough go. There were times I didn't understand why he was calling the shots he did, but this happens when you're in love with a high-risk, high-reward player. I watched him lose some tough matches, nothing more heartbreaking then watching him lose the the tie-breaker to get the final playoff spot on the final rock. He slumped against the boards in shock after congratulating the victors. You could tell the team was devastated.

Later on in the day he did this interview. I don't expect you to speak Norwegian, so I'll give you the highlights.He is thinking about quitting as his competitors now get to curl full time while his team has to balance practicing with working full-time. The funding for their international competitions the last few years has been coming out of his own pocket.Without sponsorship to allow them to devote their time to the game, they will no longer be able to compete.

This didn't surprise me. You could see the decline in their results since the last Olympics and the rise of dedicated curlers after Canada was so successful in turning a men's curling team professional in advance of the Vancouver Olympics. How hard must it be to watch others surpass you, when you know you can match them if you had the same resources.

I'm reminded of 2 Pianos 4 Hands. The play (one of the most successful ever produced in Canada) concerns two boys who have dreams of being concert pianists. We see their trials and tribulations as they grow up. One of the boys is told by his father early on he's only allowed to rehearse an hour a day because the father wishes to see him live a normal boyhood. Near the end of the play, the boy auditions to get into a conservatory program. He is reamed out by the examiner for not having put in nearly enough work as the people he's competing against. This was heartbreaking to watch and has stayed with me. To have the desire and not the resources is something I'm familiar with.

I now see this with Thomas and his team. For four years the dream had been to return to the Olympics and claim the medal that they came so close to having. And now that dream is drifting away because they don't have the opportunity to be the best they can be. It saddens me, the thought they could retire, because I love to watch them play and they've done so much to popularize the sport.

But I totally understand and respect the choice.

The most fabulous twitter list in the world

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Is the one featuring our fabulous interviewees! You can find them here.

Umbrella Talk with Alix Sobler

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 11:17:00 +0000

Something very cool is going on in Winnipeg. (Besides the weather.) Their theatre season will see premiers by 7 women playwrights, which as a percentage of total premiers may be the highest in a Canadian city theatre season. (I'm just guessing but sadly, either way it's pretty remarkable.) They're being referred to as the Group of 7 and have done some joint publicity. I'm trying to get as many of them here at Umbrella Talks as possible. Here's the first.

A Little More about Alix Sobler

Born and raised in New York, Alix Sobler is currently a proud resident of Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a writer and performer whose solo work and plays have been seen all over North America. A Fringe Festival veteran, she has toured Canada many times and she was a regular on CBC's DNTO from 2006- 2010. She is serious about her love of pets and homemade crafts. Her new play The Secret Annex will premiere at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in February 2014. Find out more about her at alixsobler.com.

What do you drink on opening night?

Come on, really? Champagne! What else?

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?

Aside from my current director, Heidi Malazdrewich who is amazing, brilliant and kind? There are many wonderful directors I would love to work with both in Canada and the US. At the moment I am super interested in the work of Nicole Holofcener.

What scares you? What can't you write about?

Israel and Palestine. The idea of the research alone scares me.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?

It's not so much what I want to write ABOUT for me, but what genre I want to write in. I would really like to write a musical. Also I would love to write for television. I love the idea of crafting a whole season, even a whole series. It gives you so much time to develop character and relationships.

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)

It would be a comedy with tragic elements. You know, like life itself.

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?

I love it all! You can't take every single thing you hear to heart, everyone brings their own baggage when watching or reading a play. But it is valuable to hear what moved people and left people confused or wanting more. It's an art form that is very audience focused. If you are not interested in praise and criticism, why do it?

Where would you like your work to be produced?

I am very excited to have my work produced at the RMTC, that is a bit of a dream come true. But I would love to see my work done at Soulpepper, Tarragon, the Arts Club, the Guthrie. As a born and raised New Yorker, there is a special place in my heart for the Public, Playwright's Horizons and many others. Broadway would also be nice.

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?

A bit of both.

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?

"Alix Sobler had much to say about the human condition, but if one must take a simple lesson away from her work it is this: love is awesome and life is worth it."

What inspires you?

Memories. History. Images. Dreams. These days I can find the seed of a story just about anywhere.

Umbrella Talk with Daniel Karasik

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:49:00 +0000

It seems like I've known Daniel forever. You name an event in the Toronto independent theatre landscape and he's there. I get amazed when I see all he has accomplished at such a young age. Not a surprise since he's so damn talented. You can find him on twitter @TangoCo

A Little More About Daniel Karasik

Daniel Karasik is a writer, director, and actor. Most active as a playwright, he has developed and presented new drama at many of Canada’s leading theatres, including Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre, the Canadian Stage Company, Touchstone Theatre, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. His plays have been seen in Toronto, New York, Vancouver, North Carolina, and regularly in translation in Germany. A recent grand prize winner of the CBC Literary Award for Fiction and Canadian Jewish Playwriting Award, he is the author of a new poetry collection, Hungry (Cormorant Books), and two books of plays: The Remarkable Flight of Marnie McPhee and The Crossing Guard and In Full Light (Playwrights Canada Press). He also helms the Toronto-based theatre company Tango Co., through which he has developed many of his plays, including The Biographer, running from May 2-19. See thebiographerplay.com for more info.

What do you drink on opening night?
Nothing at all before the show, since I’m terrified that once the show starts I’ll have to pee. After I’m allowed to pee again, I’ll usually have a beer.

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?
Alan Dilworth, who’s directing a breathtakingly cool production of my play The Biographer right now. Think Bergman fused with Fellini fused with the best of German theatre’s formal adventurousness and English theatre’s sensitivity to language. May 2-19! www.thebiographerplay.com.

What scares you? What can't you write about?
What doesn’t scare me! I do it all anyway, though. As far as writing goes, I prefer the terror of vulnerability to the tedium of concealing vulnerability. I guess that’s a way of saying I like to write about the stuff I think I couldn’t possibly write about. Lately I do, anyway.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?
I want to write about love and sex like Mary Gaitskill writes about love and sex. With that kind of insight, subtlety, surprise. This probably won’t and shouldn’t happen, since I’m not Mary Gaitskill. Still, it’s something to almost though not quite aspire to.

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)
Is “Woody Allen” a genre?

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?
Gratefully and skeptically. In both cases.

Where would you like your work to be produced?
The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, the Royal Court Theatre and Bush Theatre in London, and the Atlantic Theatre Company and Public Theatre in New York.

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?
I write in a corner of my bachelor apartment, sometimes in the corner of a coffee shop near my place, very occasionally in the corner of a more distant coffee shop. My main requirement, obviously, is a corner. Keyboard for narrative, usually. Sometimes pen for poetry.

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?
I gather that Harold Bloom has called Beckett the most authentic writer of the last century. I like that a lot and don’t really know what it means. It’d be cool if critics many years from now would say the same of my work. I still wouldn’t know what it means, but I’m sure I’d enjoy it.

What inspires you?
Uncertainty. Craving.

#theatrekegger

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:56:00 +0000

#Theatrekegger is a terribly deceiving trending topic, wtf Toronto. I was so stoked to do a kegstand on stage.
— Julian D'Souza (@juliandsouza) January 29, 2013

You may have seen this hashtag trending last night. Theatre kegger was an invite to Tina Rasmussen's house to meet other "social media influencers" (nice to still be considered one) and talk about this season of World Stage.

She talked about audience engagement, active participation and the importance of seeing the art we create in Toronto in a world context. She has always believed that it's important to import the best of the world to inform our work, as well as export the work we are creating here.

The season is very exciting. I like that there's also a piece that looks at the similarities between sports and art, a passion of mine. Also nice to see Tina continuing her connection with Australia. Honestly, who else would have come up with this?

But the biggest takeaway from last night? I covet her apartment, especially the toilet.

Umbrella Talk with Chloë Whitehorn

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I first found out about Chloë by falling in love with her play Love Virtually at the Toronto Fringe. Lucky for her, I was on the best of fringe jury and convinced my fellow jurors to see it. Then we met up at the fringe tent and it turns out she's a lot of fun to hang out with. I'm so happy to have her here. You can find her on twitter @fishbowlmuse.

A Little More about Chloë Whitehorn

Chloë Whitehorn is a playwright, actor, and underwater photographer. Her plays include Love, Virtually (Best of Fringe, Toronto 2011), The Frank Diary of Anne, Verona Heights, AEON: an evolution of sin, and The List, and have played in San Francisco, London, Kingston, Selby, and Toronto. Chloë’s work often examines taboo moralities, tragic love, and the licentious desires and imaginative reasoning of human beings.

Her latest play The Deepest Trench will be presented as part of the Alumnae Theatre's New Ideas Festival in March. For more information on Chloe, visit her website: www.chloewhitehorn.com

What do you drink on opening night?
White wine. I'm pretty animated and white wine tends not to stain.

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?
Franco Dragone, Diane Paulus, Dominic Champagne.
The Cirque seems to find the most outrageously creative minds for their shows.

What scares you? What can't you write about?
Lost love. There's something about the intensity of that emotion and how viscerally we feel it's absence when it's gone. I think that's why so much of my work involves someone finding the one person they want to be with and then for some reason not being able to be with them. Whether it's because the person is dead, or their brother... I imagine the hardest thing is loving someone you're not supposed to love.

I don't think I've been at this long enough to say there's something I "can't write about". Perhaps something that I feel isn't my story to tell? Although even then, I'd have a different perspective to offer. It might suck, but I could try. I mean, I'm an only child but that didn't keep me from writing about sibling incest.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?
My mom. The mothers in my plays tend to be portrayed in a negative light but my mother was the most incredible person I've ever known, and I really want to write something that reflects that. One of the last things my mom said to me was to "write her well". That is a lot of pressure.

I've recently started working on something though that I think will honor her memory appropriately. It's called Clarissa on her Deathbed and it's about an eleven year old girl dealing with the recent death of her mother. It's been difficult to work on, especially since I tend to write in public spaces and generally people get concerned when they see someone crying in the corner of a coffee shop.

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)
It probably wouldn't be a play. Quirky characters who have interesting moments but without real purpose don't make a play. Or so people keep telling me.

It'd probably be an interpretive dance. Or a silent film. Or a silent interpretive dance film.

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?
Not well, with either I think. I'm still learning. I tend to brush off praise without really taking it in, and anything negative seems to stay with me for a really long time. I'd like to be able to learn from both, but I think that's just going to take more exposure to it all.

Where would you like your work to be produced?
I love the idea that something I write could be seen and heard by someone halfway across the world and affect them/move them/make them angry/make them think.

In the foreseeable future though I'd just love to have my work produced across Canada in theatres run by people who haven't been to my house for board game night. Although by the time the show goes up I'll definitely have invited them over to play.

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?
Coffee shops. I like the constant flow of people around me. I start with pen until I have enough that I think I'll start to forget what I meant to say when I can't read my handwriting, then I switch to typing.

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?
Well, in theory I'll still be alive in 50 years, so hopefully nothing that'll make me cry.

Things that sound pompus coming from me, but not when written by academics: "Chloë Whitehorn's work captured the essence of her generation while appealing to a wide-array of audiences and challenging them to think beyond society's boundaries."

Also, that it was the most lucrative intimate theatre of all time. That'd be awesome.

What inspires you?
People inspire me. We're so messed up. And the more messed up we are, the more interesting our stories. We learn really early on that we're supposed to present to the world this mask of this put-together package, a santitized view of who we are and who we should be. I like to peer behind that mask. My characters are like the juice concentrate of what's behind all those masks. Add 3 cups of water and you get a real person. Add instead a cup and a half and give them a megaphone and you get someone who gives an audience a perspective on a piece of a world they think they know in a way they've never seen it before.

Umbrella Talk with Jonathan Fournier

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 20:19:00 +0000

A big thank you to Jonathan, who gave me this over a month ago and has patiently waited for me to post it. You can find him in the twitterverse at @JonFour

A Little More About Jonathan Fournier

Jonathan Fournier is a Montreal-based writer, director, actor and sound designer. He is a communication studies graduate from Concordia University (class of 2010) and he continues to take classes with ASM Performing Arts, Montreal Improv and the QDF. He has written/directed/produced the plays The Boy and the Wrapper and Miner Inconvenience. As an actor and "collaborative creator", he has worked with Chip Chuipka and Chad Dempski. Jonathan has several other scripts in various stages of development. As a sound designer, Jonathan has done recording and editing work for his own productions, as well as for promotional material used by Tableau D’Hote theatre.

Jonathan has no specific show to plug right now, but he is aiming to have a production ready for the 2013 Montreal Fringe Festival.

What do you drink on opening night?
My celebratory drink is a chocolate milkshake! Not much a fan of alcohol.

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?
Mike Nichols

What scares you? What can't you write about?
Poverty. That's a subject I don't know how to approach in my work... not yet, at least.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?
Outer space, supermen, gods...

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)
Black comedy

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?
I think I take them well. I don't seek out praise, but it's great when I get it. I try to remember things I've been praised on in the past and see how I can apply them to my new work. With criticism, my number 1 rule is "If you get a specific critique from one person, they might be wrong. If multiple people critique the same thing, you should probably listen to them".

Where would you like your work to be produced?
Hmmm... I don't have any one particular venue on my "to-do" list. I guess the Centaur Theatre (in Montreal) would be fun. I think the work should dictate where you produce it. Some plays are better suited to intimate spaces than giant halls.

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?
I do brief notes or writing exercises with pens, but mostly I'm a computer guy. I write outlines on my phone (good for when I'm on the bus) and then write the actual script on my laptop (where I use stageplay template on my Final Draft software).

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?
That it was interesting. That it was fun. The in 2010-2020 Montreal, I was producing work the likes of which no one else in Montreal was producing.

What inspires you?
People, the news, movies, music, friends, solitude. You need to be open. Inspiration can hit you in the strangest places, at the strangest times. When I have trouble being inspired by myself, I take a writing, acting or improv class. Those environments are always good inspiration kickstarters.

Umbrella Talk with Joel Fishbane

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:41:00 +0000

First off, apologies for taking so long between drinks. I had major surgery recently and haven't had as much energy as I've hoped. I have 3 interviews for you that need to be formatted and posted. Hopefully I'll be in a rhythm soon.

But I finally have one today! I first heard about Joel Fishbane through his interaction in the theatrosphere. An intellegent and thoughtful voice, I'm excited to have him here at Umbrella Talks.

A Little More About Joel Fishbane

Joel Fishbane is an author of theatre, fiction and non-fiction whose work has been produced and / or published in Canada, the United States and overseas. Most recently, his play A Place in the Country was named a runner-up in Infinitheatre's Write-On-Q Contest (2012). His plays Short Story Long won the 2010 Toronto Fringe New Play Contest and has gone to have readings in Ohio, England, and New York. Published work is available for Signature Editions and Eldridge Editions. He writes a weekly column for the Charlebois Post and his non-fiction has been or will be seen in Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Journal, the Antigonish Review and CBC's Wiretap. New fiction will appear in future issues of Witness and Per Contra. He has a diabetic cat and sometimes plays the clarinet. For more information, please visit www.joelfishbane.com

What do you drink on opening night?
If it's someone's else's show, then I drink beer. If it's a show I wrote, then I drink Jack Daniels, usually starting around noon.

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?
If it's a musical: Harold Prince. Anything else: Andrew Shaver, AD of Sidemart Theatrical Grocery.

What scares you? What can't you write about?
The thing that scares me most is creating theatre that's neither good or bad, theatre that's simply ordinary. If someone leaves one of my shows having neither particularly liked or hated it - if I haven't provoked any reaction at all - then that, for me, means I've failed. As for things I can't write about....I can't write about things I don't have any interest in. Which is to say I don't know anything about ancient Rome - but if I had a compelling idea that forced me to explore that world, I'd be all for it. I also can't write about anyone who is happy and content. Happy, content people make for boring theatre. The unhappier a character is, the more interested I am in writing about them because unhappy people always have something concrete to fight for.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?
War. Not necessarily a play set during a war, but something the deals with war and its function in society. But I'd also like to write something that explores the horrors of the battlefield, mostly because it's a place I'll never be. Like Woody Allen, in the event of war I'd definitely be a hostage. And the kidnappers would probably try to give me back.

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)
Musical. No question. If anyone ever does a biography on me and it ISN'T a musical, then they aren't doing me any justice.

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?
Praise is great when it's unasked for and comes from a complete stranger. Case in point: I recently got an email from someone who had read a short story I published two years ago. The letter came entirely out of a desire to share his gratitude with me for writing the piece. Which is not to say it isn't great when my friends and family appreciate my work - but it's the sort of praise which is always tinged with the suspicion that they aren't being as honest as they might otherwise be.

As for criticism, I adore it, especially when it's been well-thought out. Some criticism is useless - "I hated it", "It was boring" - but anytime I get a remark that has some sort of reasoning behind it, I'm all ears. A lot of criticism has been invaluable in the development of most of my plays and fiction - if I think a comment has merit, I will almost always see how I can use it to make the piece stronger.

Where would you like your work to be produced?
Broadway and the West End. Even if it fails, at least I can say I was there.

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?
Keyboard. I can`t write as fast as I think, which is apparently 65 words a minute.

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?
First of all, if academics are writing about my work in 50 years, then I don`t really care what they`re saying. The fact that they`re writing about it is good enough. But it would be great if someone coined the word `Fishbanian`and if it was used to describe other plays. As in "You know, I just saw that new play and I could really see the Fishbanian influence." That would rock.

What inspires you?
Good writing. And pretty much every girlfriend I've ever had.

Umbrella Talk with Alistair Beaton

noreply@blogger.com (MK Piatkowski) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 06:32:00 +0000

This is a first for our blog, a UK playwright! We've decided to open up the series to writers from the UK and the US, so feel free to contact us.

Alistair Beaton is the translator for the current Canadian Stage production of The Arsonists, playing at the Bluma Appel Theatre at the St Lawrence Centre for the Arts to rave reviews. Canadians don't know that he is one of the UK's top satirists and we're deeply honoured to have him on our blog.

A Little More About Alistair Beaton

Alistair Beaton is a political satirist whose work spans theatre, television, radio and publishing. Select theatre credits include Caledonia (Edinburgh International Festival 2010); King of Hearts (Hampstead Theatre 2007); and Feelgood (winner the Evening Standard Best Comedy Award in 2001). Beaton is fluent in German, Russian, French and English. He translated and adapted The Government Inspector from Russian for the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005, which was remounted at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco in 2008. He has also written new English versions of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Jacques Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne. In 2007 Beaton translated Max Frisch’s The Arsonists, which premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre. Beaton’s work for television has earned him honours such as a Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Best Single Drama and nomination for a BAFTA in 2007. Additionally, Beaton has done work for radio and is a best-selling author.

What do you drink on opening night?
A glass of white wine while hiding during the interval - the interval being the most excruciating moment for the playwright. On occasion I have considered swapping the white wine for hemlock.

Who would direct the coolest production of one of your plays?
Morris Panych, of course. Should he be unavailable, I would have to fall back on Barack Obama, who must be longing for a change of job.

What scares you? What can't you write about?
Hmmm, how much time do you have? I find it hard creating positive characters, much prefer monsters of one kind or another, or at the very least, gravely flawed characters. I also find love hard to write about. God knows what that says about me.

What do you want to write about that you haven't yet?
The fucking bankers.

If someone was to write a play about your life, what genre would it be? (eg. comedy, tragedy, melodrama, horror)
Comedy tinged with horror.

How do you deal with praise? With criticism?
Praise? Can't get enough of the stuff. As for criticism, it's fine if a) it comes from soemone who knows what they're talking about and b) if it comes in time for me to do some fixing of the script.

Where would you like your work to be produced?
Well, just about everywhere. (I feel the person who framed these questions doesn't quite grasp the enormous size of the authorial ego).

Where do you write? Pen or keyboard?
Keyboard, except when writing lyrics, when I like to scrawl over multiple sheets of paper, covering the floor with first drafts.

What would you like academics to write about your work in 50 years?
Torn between saying 'anything at all would be fine' and 'God almighty, please let me not be written about by academics, what a fate.'

What inspires you?
I'm assuming I'm allowed at least one pompous answer, so here it is: the outrage I feel when I witness injustice and abuse of power.