Mad Miss Just Jazz at Artword Theatre

BackTo Artword 2004-2005 season list

Artword Alternative Theatre, 75 Portland St, Toronto
May 25 to June 12, 2005
Theatre Archipelago present
Mad Miss / Just Jazz
a double bill of solo performances by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith
directed by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith
producer Sharifa T. Wright
set/costume design Claudia Kada
lighting design Marie Gravelle
music composition Jeremy Ledbetter
sound design Gavin Bradley

previews May 25, 26 8:30 pm $10
Tues-Thurs at 8:30 pm $20 / stds sens $17
Fri-Sat at 8:30 pm, Sunday at 4:30 pm $25, stds sens $17
Reservations 416-366-7723 ext 290 or book online

Theatre Archipelago's first ever mainstage production - Mad Miss / Just Jazz - a double bill of solo performances by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith, adapted from stories written by internationally acclaimed Caribbean women writers, Olive Senior and the late Jean Rhys.
Mad Miss is a dramatic adaptation of Olive Senior's short story You Think I Mad Miss? Performed by Rhoma Spencer, it is the story of Isabella Francina Myrtella Jones' fall from respectability. Seeking redemption and losing grip, Isabella is left alone, enlisting the sympathy of drivers and pedestrians, whoever will hear her story. Mad Miss is alternately hilarious and deeply moving. Directed by Honor Ford-Smith.
Just Jazz, written by Honor Ford-Smith and performed by Rebecca Fisseha (May 26-June 5) and Honor Ford-Smith (June 7-12), is inspired by Jean Rhys short story Let Them Call It Jazz. The play dramatizes a woman's loss and search for voice. Selena, who loves to sing, has her voice and dreams ripped away when she is imprisoned. A song she hears in prison becomes a source of salvation and haunting for the rest of her years. Directed by Rhoma Spencer.

Rhoma Spencer is an actor, director, storyteller, and broadcast journalist from Trinidad and Tobago. She has performed on stages throughout the Caribbean and North America, and has received numerous commendations for her work, including a Dora award.
Honor Ford-Smith is a performer writer and lecturer. She has directed and acted widely and has held fellowships from Radcliffe/Harvard University, and numerous other institutions.
Theatre Archipelago is a Toronto-based theatre company established with a mission to present, promote, and develop a Caribbean (and diasporic) worldview of theatre arts. Theatre Archipelago is devoted to the public staging of Caribbean dramas from the English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese theatrical canon.
Please visit www.theatrearchipelago.ca for more information.

		Artword Alternative Theatre, 75 Portland St, Toronto May 25 to June 12, 2005 Theatre Archipelago present *Mad Miss / Just Jazz* a double bill of solo performances by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith directed by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith producer Sharifa T. Wright set/costume design Claudia Kada lighting design Marie Gravelle music composition Jeremy Ledbetter sound design Gavin Bradley
	previews May 25, 26 8:30 pm $10 Tues-Thurs at 8:30 pm $20 / stds sens $17 Fri-Sat at 8:30 pm, Sunday at 4:30 pm $25, stds sens $17 Reservations 416-366-7723 ext 290 or book online
	Theatre Archipelago's first ever mainstage production - *Mad Miss / Just Jazz* - a double bill of solo performances by Rhoma Spencer and Honor Ford-Smith, adapted from stories written by internationally acclaimed Caribbean women writers, Olive Senior and the late Jean Rhys. *Mad Miss* is a dramatic adaptation of Olive Senior's short story You Think I Mad Miss? Performed by Rhoma Spencer, it is the story of Isabella Francina Myrtella Jones' fall from respectability. Seeking redemption and losing grip, Isabella is left alone, enlisting the sympathy of drivers and pedestrians, whoever will hear her story. Mad Miss is alternately hilarious and deeply moving. Directed by Honor Ford-Smith. *Just Jazz, written by Honor Ford-Smith and performed by Rebecca Fisseha (May 26-June 5) and Honor Ford-Smith (June 7-12), is inspired by Jean Rhys short story Let Them Call It Jazz*. The play dramatizes a woman's loss and search for voice. Selena, who loves to sing, has her voice and dreams ripped away when she is imprisoned. A song she hears in prison becomes a source of salvation and haunting for the rest of her years. Directed by Rhoma Spencer. Rhoma Spencer is an actor, director, storyteller, and broadcast journalist from Trinidad and Tobago. She has performed on stages throughout the Caribbean and North America, and has received numerous commendations for her work, including a Dora award. Honor Ford-Smith is a performer writer and lecturer. She has directed and acted widely and has held fellowships from Radcliffe/Harvard University, and numerous other institutions. Theatre Archipelago is a Toronto-based theatre company established with a mission to present, promote, and develop a Caribbean (and diasporic) worldview of theatre arts. Theatre Archipelago is devoted to the public staging of Caribbean dramas from the English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese theatrical canon. Please visit www.theatrearchipelago.ca for more information.