ArtwordList

Necessary Angel Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that after an extensive workshop process, Artistic Director Daniel Brook’s critically lauded play The Eco Show is making its Toronto premiere. Hailed as a “near-perfect piece of contemporary theatre” by the Montreal Gazette, The Eco Show previews from May 13, opens May 15 and runs to June 1 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.Overpopulation, energy depletion, drought, mass extinction: these and other problems have arrived, or are on their way. People die, families die out, and entire civilizations end. Change on an enormous scale is inevitable. Described by Daniel Brooks as an elegy, The Eco Show examines how the ecology of one family is changed by the ecology of the world.
The Eco Show received its world premiere in June 2007 at Montreal’s highly esteemed Festival TransAmériques after a six-week workshop in Toronto. Le Devoir suggested the play is “as though Brooks took the essence of 20th century playwrights and distilled it into this dusky and minimalist drama: Death lurks in the corners as with Maeterlinck; the schism between the sexes and generations is absolute, just like with Strindberg; and the lacklustre of the everyday is exploited with the precision of Chekhov.”

Four of the cast members from the premiere return for the Toronto engagement: Richard Clarkin (NAT’s tour of Half Life to Melbourne, Montreal & Edmonton, Company Theatre’s A Whistle in the Dark), Joe Cobden (Factory Theatre’s Beyond Mozambique, two-time Montreal Les Masques Award winner), Fiona Highet (NAT’s Insomnia, Tarragon’s Bea’s Niece) and Jenny Young (Dora nomination for Theatre Columbus’ The Anger in Ernest & Ernestine). Necessary Angel is pleased to have seasoned actor Geza Kovacs (far-ranging credits include works for the Theatre Centre to VideoCabaret to Theatre Passe Muraille to Factory to Theatre Second Floor) join the ensemble.

The Eco Show’s design team includes Dora Award-winner Julie Fox (set and costumes); Dora Award-winner Andrea Lundy (lighting); Dora Award-winner Richard Feren (sound and music); and Ben Chaisson and Barbara Sternberg (video and projections). Tanya Greve is the Stage Manager.
Necessary Angel Theatre Company presents
The Eco Show
Written & Directed by Daniel Brooks
Featuring Richard Clarkin, Joe Cobden, Fiona Highet, Geza Kovacs & Jenny Young
Designed by Ben Chaisson, Richard Feren, Julie Fox, Andrea Lundy & Barbara Sternberg
Previews May 13 & 14, Opens May 15 and runs to June 1, 2008
at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St., Toronto
Tuesday-Saturday 8pm, Sunday 2pm
Tickets: Tuesday-Thursday $20, Friday & Saturday $25,
Sunday Pay-What-You-Can, Previews $15
Box Office: 416-975-8555 or www.totix.ca
Information: www.necessaryangel.com