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The
Lineup
1. THE UNLIKELY BIRTH OF
ISTVAN: The Old Trout Puppet
Workshop (Alberta)
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
After six months of
monkish isolation on a ranch in southern Alberta, the Old
Trouts managed to distill the fundamental truths of the
cosmos into The Unlikely Birth of Istvan. It’s
an underground puppet production for adults, a grand
unifying theory of explaining birth, death, and everything
in between – a fantastical visual poem about the
essence of being human, from the perspective of puppets. An
absurdist creation myth that is equal parts Beckett and
Sesame Street.
2. SHADOWS: Written and
performed by William Yang (Australia)
Artword Theatre Mainspace
Award-winning
photographer/performance artist William Yang returns to
Toronto with his moving multi-media performance piece,
Shadows. A compelling account of two peoples—the
Australian Aborigines and the migrant Germans in South
Australia, Yang’s Shadows is a textured
pilgrimage of epic proportions. Part documentary, part
personal observation, Yang’s material magically
combines slides, music and text to touchingly reveal other
people’s stories and lives.
3. JIMMY: Written and performed
by Marie Brassard, Infrarouge Théâtre
(Quebec)
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
Jimmy, a solo
play created and performed by award-winning French-Canadian
actress Marie Brassard, is made of the stuff of dreams
– literally. A fantasy within a fantasy within a
fantasy, it explores the shifting boundaries between dream
and wakefulness, between real and not real, between theatre
and life. This outstanding performance piece is about love,
desire and the pleasure of the creative process.
4. pppeeeaaaccceee: Written and
directed by Darren O’Donnell, Mammalian Diving Reflex
(Ontario)
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace
pppeeeaaaccceee
is a mesmerizing and hilarious glide through life after the
revolution; a gently aggressive meditation which examines
our being, asks us what we're doing and reminds us that
there are monsters in here. Peace. Say it slow, stretch it
out, make it last forever.
5. DREAM MACHINE: By Blake
Brooker & David Rhymer, One Yellow Rabbit (Alberta)
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace
Everyone knows
American beat poets like Ginsberg and Kerouac, but few are
as familiar with their Canadian collaborator, Brion Gysin.
In the strait-laced 50s, when beats were coining terms like
"rat race" and "do your own thing," the Edmonton-born artist
and philosopher drew the attention of William S. Burroughs.
Together, they worked to build Gysin's enigmatic Dream
Machine, a mechanical device designed to cause the user to
see reality uncluttered by the pernicious effects of big
business and advertising.
6. LAMENT: Created by Suspect
Culture’s artistic team of Graham Eatough, David Greig,
Nick Powell & Ian Scott, Suspect Culture (Scotland)
Artword Theatre Mainspace
Funny and touching,
honest and playful, Lament examines the sadnesses and
absurdities of the state we’re in today—or, at
least, the state we think we’re in. This, the latest
show from Scotland’s internationally acclaimed Suspect
Culture company combines hi-tech visual projections, live
and recorded music, and remarkable cast of six to stage this
potent and emotional examination of our man-made
world.
7. VENUS WITH THE RUBIC’S
CUBE: Kristyná Lhotáková &
Ladislav Soukup (Czech Republic), Solo
dance with live music
Artword Theatre Alternative
Space
The theme of
‘Venus’ is the present ideal of women as it is
presented in the media. According to the media, a woman must
be young, tall, slim and photogenic. Under such pressure, it
is understandable that the resulting human being is
naturally immature, anorexic, and strange.
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