SummerWorks: The Plank Referral

Author Name:

Marjorie Malpass

Where we get members of the SummerWorks community to refer the shows they are excited to see at the Festival

“I’m going to suggest people go to see a show that hasn’t been getting the attention it deserves: The Beekeepers. Our Plank Panel have already done a great job of covering this show. It’s a well written, Beckett-like absurdist piece about a couple trying to keep a dying colony of bees alive. It features fantastic, fully committed performances by Andy Trithardt and Christine Armstrong.”

And the last referral goes to me, Marjorie Malpass, newly arrived in Toronto after a decade in Vancouver working as an actor, writer, director and award winning comic. My Referral is for the Closing Party at the Factory Theatre Courtyard, Sunday at 10pm. Awards will be given, music will play and bevvies will be had by all. Everyone in the community has worked very hard and deserves to party. Congratulations on a great festival and I will see you there!

What's your referral?

The August 16 Referral
Hanna Moscovitch is a playwright has made a dramaturgical imprint on SummerWorks. She wrote Other People's Children for the Reading Series and was the dramaturge for Jordi Mand's Stroke for the Youth Reading Series.

Hanna's referral is for If We Were Birds, playing at the Mainspace at Theatre Passe Murialle. Here’s what Hanna has to say:

"I found If We Were Birds astonishing because it's a poetic, clever, sexy adaptation of Ovid's Tereus and Philomela. And it allows the audience into the writer's reason for adapting Ovid. The play is extreme and heightened, as you would expect from an adaptation of a Greek text, and that's satisfying in itself, but it's also satisfying that a modern context for the sexual violence and revenge the play discusses is suggested. As a writer, that's what I admire about the script. The direction and acting are also (and equally) beautiful. And courageous I think."

What's your referral?

[img_assist|nid=142|title=Any Night|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=384|height=236]The August 15 Referral
Natasha MacLellan, visiting Toronto from the East Coast, co-stars in Frankie Production's Lauchie, Liza and Rory, where she plays multiple characters from Cape Breton in the 1940's. You can find the show at the Factory Studio Theatre

So what’s Natasha’s referral?

"I came here very excited to see Any Night by Dual Minds (Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn.) I have seen their Tuesdays and Sundays and want to see what else they've been doing. I love to watch work by actor/creators. Also, Any Night director Ron Jenkins also directed November Theatre's The Black Rider- which I saw at Magnetic North in St.John's-which I loved! So this seems like an irresistible show to me.

"I'm actually aiming to see everything in the National Series. What a gift the National Series is! It’s such a rarity to be able to take in shows from coast to coast on any given day, and sadly it looks like it might become even more rare, what with the cuts to travel money the Tories just announced. I guess we should take advantage of it while we can."

What's your referral?

Steve gives us his view on Ablaze, playing at the Factory Studio Theatre

"Of the 15 plays I've seen so far, you've already posted referrals for some of the best (including Fewer Emergencies & Pelee), but one that I haven't seen mentioned yet is Ablaze. It's the only play I've seen so far that had the audience break out in spontaneous applause during the show, after one particularly comic and engaging scene featuring the reunion of the two estranged sisters and their ailing Nan.

"Of the shows I haven't seen yet, the one I'm most excited for is a Music Series show, Claire Jenkins Avec Band, with The Rural Alberta Advantage. Claire's shows always have theatrical elements to them, and I'm excited to see what she and her band do with the Theatre Centre space."

What's your referral?

[img_assist|nid=172|title=2 1/2 Breaths|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=384|height=256]The August 13 Referral
Julie Devaney wrote and is staring in her biographical play My Leaky Body, exploring the muck of the medical system. It's playing at the Passe Muraille mainspace. She has turned her experience into this play, national workshops and a Masters thesis from York University. Check it out here.

Her referral is On A Wire's 2 1/2 Breaths at the Pass Muraille Backstage. Julie says "Last night I saw 2 1/2 Breaths, and it's been spinning through my head all day. Natasha Greenblatt and Christine Aubin Khalifah tell two truly amazing tales of grief, weaving the real with the imaginary and drawing us into their authentic experiences, while performing in a way that's still very accessible and at times really light."

What's your referral?

The August 12 Referral
Evalyn Parry is all over SummerWorks. She's directing The Emergency Monologues, a storytelling-style show from theatre-guy-turned-Paramedic Morgan Jones Phillips who brings us hilarious stories from the inside of the ambulance. She's acting in the Pastor Phelps Project at the Cameron House, playing Shirley Phelps, and is even performing in the Music Series on Friday August 15, at the Theatre Centre with Rock Plaza Central also on the bill.

What does this multi-talented artist recommend?

"I'm really excited about seeing Fewer Emergencies (at the Factory Studio Theatre),” says Evalyn, “because director Brendan Healy always makes smart, bold and exciting choices when it comes to both scripts and staging, plus I ran into Bob Wiseman yesterday who said it was the best thing he'd seen at the festival so far, which just increased my anticipation."

Our first repeat referral!

What's your referral?

Her Referral is Rumble Productions/Theatre Melee's collective creation Cosy Catastrophe, at the Factory Studio Theatre.

Here's what Jenny says "some of the most hilarious and creative people from the West Coast are here and I think everyone should see Cosy Catastrophe. I think that sometimes Toronto theatre can get a little too heady and Vancouver theatre represents a real playful side that we can lose track of in this community".

What's your referral?

The August 10 Referral
Geoffrey Pounsett is an actor in If We Were Birds (at the Passe Muraille Mainspace), which he describes as "a harrowing re-conception of an epic Greek myth".

His referral is Fewer Emergencies, MITCH's production at the Factory Studio Theatre.

Why?

"Two reasons", says Geoff, "First, Brendan Healey, a creative and original director and Second, Martin Crimp, who really is his own writer, he writes like nobody else, his work is interesting and compelling and rarely seen outside of Europe where they are premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre.”

Here's what Craig thinks:

"This show is a multi disciplinary work in the truest sense. It includes a live, original score from Andrew Penner from The Sun Parlor Players (one of my favourite Toronto bands) and original experimental instruments created by sculptor Iner Souster (check him out here, very cool). There is also some great talent in the cast and Director Lauren Taylor is one smart cookie with a reputation for high style."

What's your referral?

The August 8 Referral
No Toronto festival is complete without the presence of indie impresario Derrick Chua. This man sees an almost impossible number of plays and although he is not directly involved in any production at SummerWorks, we at Plank value his opinion.

Derrick Chua's Plank Referral is for Rabiayshna's Marla's Party, playing at the Factory Studio Theatre. Derrick says:

"The show that might not get as much attention but which i'm really looking forward to as a breath of fresh air is Marla’s Party, which is a dark comedy (my favourite kind) set in a Muskoka cottage with matriarch Marla believing the world is coming to an end and therefore lures her sexually confused daughters to join her in a last sacrificial supper. Sometimes I just feel like I want to go to a show to laugh, and this is the one that looks like it could do that at SummerWorks."

What's your referral?

The August 7 Referral
Meagan O'Shea is Artistic Director of Stand Up Dance. Their SummerWorks show, Dance Like No One Is Watching, is mobile clubbing meets contemporary dance. Her Plank Referral is for Theatre Theatrical's Khalida, which is happening backstage at Pass Murialle.

Meagan gives her reason:

"Khalida is a contemporary look at choices people make about home, what to fight for, what to run from in the age of war and immigration and how identities between here and there change. It's a super demanding one-man show and it is fantastic, with special attention to lighting and set design."

What's your referral?

All these shows are part of the 2008 SummerWorks Festival. For more information on the shows, including show times we refer you to this site.

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SummerWorks: The Plank Referral

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