Centaur's 13th season of the Wildside Festival features six plays that will warm your hearts. For two weeks each play is perform five times from January 5th to January 17th.
Ties: Odelah Creations production. A collective creation, directed by Arianna Bardesono, with Christine Aubin-Khalifah and Greg Gale. Poetic, fantastical and captivating. The powerful fantastical story carries us through the portrayal whirlwind experience of a young women's memories as she retraces the life of her deceased father and her struggle to cope with the loss. Take a voyage into your own imagination. The journey takes you from the suburbs of Montreal to the mountains of Lebanon. Scored to original live electric guitar. Ties is SPELLBINDING ORIGINAL, EMOTIONALLY MOVING, and UTTERLY BEGUILING! Brilliantly directed, Bardesono takes some risky chances thinking way out of the box. Many surprises followed by even more surprises. Great performances delivered by both actors who support each other in so many ways. A deeply personal and emotionally stirring tour de force! My personal favorite pick from the festival. WARNING: Kleenex-tissue alert! GO C IT!
Dance Animal: Directed and choreographed by Robin Henderson. With: Joseph Bembridge, Stephanie Breton, Sarah Hansen, Robin Henderson, Dan Jeannotte, Vanessa Kneale, Steph McKenna, Marc Rowland, Pascal Morrissette, and Anders Yates. A Montreal Fringe box office record breaker and winner of the 2009 Just For Laughs 'Best of Montreal'. A bilingual comedy movement piece that mixes high camp and musical theatre with sketch comedy. Henderson, who also plays 'Dance Tiger' the heroin who is responsible for recruiting all the other animals, has created a production that will have at least nine lives, if not ninety. Dance Animal is a laugh-out-loud, clap along, hum-along original comedy-movement piece that is laced with solo performances and monologues, some of which are delivered in French, from the ten appealing and sympathetic animals cast in the story. Also some 'improvisationally' influenced sketches and catchy popular interpretive group dance numbers. Expect to see many incarnations of this fresh home grown phenomenon. GO C IT!
Penumbra: Rabbit In A Hat Productions. Play by Katherine Dempsey. Directed by Paul Van Dyke. With: Catherine Bérubé, Michelle Boback, Christopher Moore, and Howard Rosenstein.
In an age of technological development and dependency, the individual has been afforded an unprecedented variety of communicative means. The story examines classical themes of love, lust and betrayal in a modern context, positing that technology has not only perverted the integrity of the modern relationship structure, but damaged the genuine connection felt between two people in love. I reviewed this play in June during the Fringe when it played at the MAI. I preferred seeing it even more the second time around due in part to an obvious tightening in a few areas in the running of the play, as well as better lighting effects which are essential to the production and the nicer more comfortable ambiance of the Centaur stage. GO SEE IT!
My Pregnant Brother: Freestanding Productions, co-production w/ Two Wheeler Productions. Written and performed by Johanna Nutter. Directed and dramaturged by Jeremy Taylor. Thomas Beatie gave birth to his second child on the same day the this play was born. Two years prior, the artists' brother got pregnant. This is that story. I reviewed this production in June, -I saw the final presentation at the Geordie Space during the Fringe. It was the official selection of the Centaur prize for Best English Play that year. I definitely preferred it the second time due in part to a few changes implemented since June and the better performance space at Centaur. The story is very interesting and truly close to home; -It is set on the Plateau Montreal, on and off the Main and B.C. A very touching and personal tale that is a very popular piece with the home base crowd. GO SEE IT!
Someone Between: Apsara Theatre Company. Written and performed by Chantria Tram. Directed by Milena Buziak. Having escaped her birthplace of Cambodia, and finding amnesty in a Thai refugee camp for three years, Chantria and her family are plunged into the Canadian mosaic. As a first generation Khmer-Canadian, she tries to find her place between two very different cultures. A very nice stage design, textured to the themes of the play. As the story unfolds we become involved with the true life story of this young girls families journey from bondage to freedom. Exotic flavors with plenty of color and spice, you'll be entranced by this well woven tale. The night I saw it there were some issues with the text, lines that were stumbled on; Also some blocking - staging issues and finally some very obvious lighting errors.
Dust: Jsquared Theatre. Written and directed by Jason Maghanoy. With Brandon Coffey and Jessica Moss. Abu Ghraib Prison. Jenny works in the office. Jonathan is a prison guard. They meet and fall in love. The story is a chilling and ultimately moving examination of torture, decency and the limits of hope. On a bare stage two actors deliver great characterizations of these two very difficulty to empathize with army prison guards. A short running time of approximately 40 minutes. You'll leave the theatre wondering if you liked what you witnessed? You'll need to allow yourself some down time following this hauntingly raw performance before making that decision.
Ties: Odelah Creations production. A collective creation, directed by Arianna Bardesono, with Christine Aubin-Khalifah and Greg Gale. Poetic, fantastical and captivating. The powerful fantastical story carries us through the portrayal whirlwind experience of a young women's memories as she retraces the life of her deceased father and her struggle to cope with the loss. Take a voyage into your own imagination. The journey takes you from the suburbs of Montreal to the mountains of Lebanon. Scored to original live electric guitar. Ties is SPELLBINDING ORIGINAL, EMOTIONALLY MOVING, and UTTERLY BEGUILING! Brilliantly directed, Bardesono takes some risky chances thinking way out of the box. Many surprises followed by even more surprises. Great performances delivered by both actors who support each other in so many ways. A deeply personal and emotionally stirring tour de force! My personal favorite pick from the festival. WARNING: Kleenex-tissue alert! GO C IT!
Dance Animal: Directed and choreographed by Robin Henderson. With: Joseph Bembridge, Stephanie Breton, Sarah Hansen, Robin Henderson, Dan Jeannotte, Vanessa Kneale, Steph McKenna, Marc Rowland, Pascal Morrissette, and Anders Yates. A Montreal Fringe box office record breaker and winner of the 2009 Just For Laughs 'Best of Montreal'. A bilingual comedy movement piece that mixes high camp and musical theatre with sketch comedy. Henderson, who also plays 'Dance Tiger' the heroin who is responsible for recruiting all the other animals, has created a production that will have at least nine lives, if not ninety. Dance Animal is a laugh-out-loud, clap along, hum-along original comedy-movement piece that is laced with solo performances and monologues, some of which are delivered in French, from the ten appealing and sympathetic animals cast in the story. Also some 'improvisationally' influenced sketches and catchy popular interpretive group dance numbers. Expect to see many incarnations of this fresh home grown phenomenon. GO C IT!
Penumbra: Rabbit In A Hat Productions. Play by Katherine Dempsey. Directed by Paul Van Dyke. With: Catherine Bérubé, Michelle Boback, Christopher Moore, and Howard Rosenstein.
In an age of technological development and dependency, the individual has been afforded an unprecedented variety of communicative means. The story examines classical themes of love, lust and betrayal in a modern context, positing that technology has not only perverted the integrity of the modern relationship structure, but damaged the genuine connection felt between two people in love. I reviewed this play in June during the Fringe when it played at the MAI. I preferred seeing it even more the second time around due in part to an obvious tightening in a few areas in the running of the play, as well as better lighting effects which are essential to the production and the nicer more comfortable ambiance of the Centaur stage. GO SEE IT!
My Pregnant Brother: Freestanding Productions, co-production w/ Two Wheeler Productions. Written and performed by Johanna Nutter. Directed and dramaturged by Jeremy Taylor. Thomas Beatie gave birth to his second child on the same day the this play was born. Two years prior, the artists' brother got pregnant. This is that story. I reviewed this production in June, -I saw the final presentation at the Geordie Space during the Fringe. It was the official selection of the Centaur prize for Best English Play that year. I definitely preferred it the second time due in part to a few changes implemented since June and the better performance space at Centaur. The story is very interesting and truly close to home; -It is set on the Plateau Montreal, on and off the Main and B.C. A very touching and personal tale that is a very popular piece with the home base crowd. GO SEE IT!
Someone Between: Apsara Theatre Company. Written and performed by Chantria Tram. Directed by Milena Buziak. Having escaped her birthplace of Cambodia, and finding amnesty in a Thai refugee camp for three years, Chantria and her family are plunged into the Canadian mosaic. As a first generation Khmer-Canadian, she tries to find her place between two very different cultures. A very nice stage design, textured to the themes of the play. As the story unfolds we become involved with the true life story of this young girls families journey from bondage to freedom. Exotic flavors with plenty of color and spice, you'll be entranced by this well woven tale. The night I saw it there were some issues with the text, lines that were stumbled on; Also some blocking - staging issues and finally some very obvious lighting errors.
Dust: Jsquared Theatre. Written and directed by Jason Maghanoy. With Brandon Coffey and Jessica Moss. Abu Ghraib Prison. Jenny works in the office. Jonathan is a prison guard. They meet and fall in love. The story is a chilling and ultimately moving examination of torture, decency and the limits of hope. On a bare stage two actors deliver great characterizations of these two very difficulty to empathize with army prison guards. A short running time of approximately 40 minutes. You'll leave the theatre wondering if you liked what you witnessed? You'll need to allow yourself some down time following this hauntingly raw performance before making that decision.
Posts
