SummerWorks 2012 Festival Wrap-Up

SUMMERWORKS PERFORMANCE
FESTIVAL WRAPS

Award-winners Celebrated & 20,000 Attend

Toronto, ON --- SummerWorks Performance Festival concluded its 22nd year with a wrap party at the Great Hall on Queen St. West on August 19th where artists, theatre patrons, volunteers, and musical guests gathered to toast this years artistic achievements. SummerWorks saw another year of outstanding attendance with over 20,000 patrons attending the 11 days and nights of theatre, music and performance art. The closing night party awarded some of Canada’s top theatre talent a variety of awards.

“SummerWorks is one of the most if not the single most relevant theatre festival in the country. This notion has been echoed by many in the community and that’s why I proudly declare it,” says Artistic Producer of SummerWorks Performance Festival, Michael Rubenfeld.

Rubenfeld adds, “I am beyond proud of the accomplishment of the artists, the community and the state of artistic expression and work in Canada. It has been a watershed year and choosing the award winners was extremely challenging amongst such an amazing crop of works.”

All awards are adjudicated by a jury of three theatre professionals with the exception of the NOW Audience Choice Award, which is determined by ballot.

The award winners are as follows:

SummerWorks Prize for Outstanding Production
The prize is a free trip back to the festival next year. All companies presenting work were eligible.

Terminus by Outside the March, Directed by Mitchell Cushman


Contra Guys Award for Outstanding New Performance Text
Generously supported by two SummerWorks founders, Benj Gallander and Ben Stadelmann, the $1000 cash award is presented to a theatre-maker for an outstanding new work (script or performance text).

Nicolas Billon for Iceland


National Theatre School Award for Set or Costume Design

This award offers a $750 cash prize to a designer for an outstanding set or costume design.

When It Rains by 2b Theatre Company.


Buddies in Bad Times Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation
This $500 cash prize is awarded to an individual or company in recognition of an artistic choice or choices exemplifying innovation and/or artistic risk.

Cliff Cardinal for Huff

Honourable mention: Petrichor


Canadian Stage Award for Direction
Sponsored by The Canadian Stage Company, this $500 cash prize is awarded for an outstanding piece of direction at the Festival.

Tanner Harvey for Big Plans


The Spotlight Award
Awarded to a featured performer in a SummerWorks show. The winner receives a VIP pass to the festival next year.

Ron Pederson for Extinction Song, Tamsin Kelsey for Pietá and Terrence Bryant for Terre Haute


The Theatre Centre Emerging Artist Award
A $500 cash prize awarded to an artist early in their career who made an artistic impression during the festival.

Jeremy Taylor, writer of Big Plans and director of My Pregnant Brother.

RBC Arts Professional Award

This $1000 cash prize recognizes the work, craft and dedication of an emerging arts professional. This award is made possible with the support of RBC.

MotionLive in association with cric crac collective for Aneemah’s Spot

Honourable Mention: Aislinn Rose for Fierce Monsters and France, or the Niqab and Renna Reddie for Iceland

The NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award
Audience members voted by placing their ticket stub in the NOW Audience Choice box before leaving the theatre. The Winner receives $3000 in free advertising with NOW magazine. All shows were eligible for this prize.

Iceland by The Iceland Collective, directed by Ravi Jain

The Torontoist picks 10 SummerWorks shows that work...

The Torontoist has rounded up its 10 best shows this year at the festival. We have to agree with many of their choices and we are REALLY looking forward to seeing ONE tomorrow evening on the last day of the festival!

To check out which productions made their top ten please click here!

Preview: Brothers at SummerWorks

It is your last chance to see many shows at SummerWorks this weekend as the festival comes to a conclusion this weekend. One show that has its last show on Sunday is BROTHERS. The piece was created and is being performed by Jeremy James & Philip McKee

Show Description:

Longstanding member of the internationally renowned Théâtre du Soleil, Jeremy James, joins local artist Philip McKee in a work inspired by Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

Final show is Sunday August 14 at 10pm. For tickets please click the header!

The Factory Mainspace
125 Bathurst St.
416.504.7529
$15

SummerWorks Preview: Waterfront/The Blessing

Waterfront/The Blessing is the intimate, but confrontational, story of two brothers as they deal with the death of their father, and an uneven inheritance. The emotional story is written by Leah Jane Esau, and produced by Les Nouvelles Theatre. Directed by Amanda Lockitch, Waterfront/The Blessing stars William MacDonald and Robert Fulton. The smart and simple set and costume design are by Nancy Perrin. This is an emotional roller coaster, and very relatable for anyone with family struggles, or even just family.

Waterfront/The Blessing is on at The Factory Mainspace

Tonight at 5:00 pm

Friday 12th, at 10:00pm

and Saturday 13th, at 2:30pm.

Preview: The Trolley Car at Summerworks

Solo Collective Theatre is presenting a new version of THE TROLLEY CAR at SummerWorks.

Show Description:

In German-occupied Paris, impulsive Florence is drawn into a tempestuous love triangle with her husband’s cousin Inez. A boldly theatrical look at the choices we make during frightening times—and our complicity in the events that follow.

Written by Amiel Gladstone
Directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones
Starring Monica Dottor, Rosa Laborde, Matthew Tapscott
Design by Dana Osborne
Lighting by Kimberly Purtell
Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne
Stage Manager Michelle Barker
Production Manager Charissa Wilcox
Props, Design Assistant Alex Vass

Factory Theatre Studio
125 Bathurst Street

Thursday August 4th 8:00pm
Saturday August 6th 5:30pm
Sunday August 7th 10:30pm
Wednesday August 10th 5:30pm
Saturday August 1#th 12:30pm
Sunday August 14th 10:00pm

For tickets see:
www.artsboxoffice.ca
416 504 7529

For more information see:
www.solocollective.ca
www.summerworks.ca

SummerWorks Preview: Pretty Little Instincts

One of three National Series productions, in this year's SummerWorks Festival, is Pretty Little Instincts. Touted as a renegade outdoor dance, and theatre piece, Pretty Little Instincts opens with nine women at high tea. But their high society party quickly unravel to explore the rawest aspect of human emotion, and primal instinct. The show is playing at the Fort York, which is an unfamiliar venue to us here at EAP. But we are really looking forward to the rogue aspect of an outdoor dance piece. Pop up venues, or theatre in temporary spaces, has become increasingly prominent in contemporary theatre, and has made a few inroads here in Toronto. We are planning to check the show out tonight at 8:30, hope the weather holds!

Pretty Little Instincts plays at Fort York, tonight at 8:30

Wednesday at 10 pm

and Saturday the 13th at 9:30 pm.

Click the header for more info and to purchase tickets, for this and any of the SummerWorks shows. And click here for the full schedule.

SummerWorks Preview: You Should Have Stayed Home

You Should Have Stayed Home recounts the harrowing experience of Torontoian Tommy Taylor, after his G20 detention, last summer. The show was inspired by a note he posted to Facebook after his arrest, and is appearing as part of this years SummerWorks Festival.

The tile was inspired by the advice he received from many after posting his 11,000 word note to Facebook. In the fall, Taylor joined with Praxis Theatre, who we've been following for a few years, and the Original Norwegian, to transform the experience into a stage show. While the show is primarily a one man piece, there are up to 40 volunteers who appear on stage during the show.

With the show's local focus and timely run, You Should Have Stayed Home is generating a lot of buzz.

You Should Have Stayed Home plays this Wednesday at 7:30, Friday the 12th at midnight and Saturday August 13th, at 10 pm. All performances are at The Theatre Centre on Queen St west. Click the header for ticket information.

SummerWorks Preview: Still Life

My friend Indrit Kasapi is starring in a new show this year at SummerWorks. It is a piece that was partly inspired by the death of a friend of ours, Christopher Skinner. It is believed that Chris was the subject of a hate crime offense and this piece aims to shed light on those affected by hate, fear and violence because of their sexuality.

Show Information:

lemonTree creations presents

STILL LIFE

A new queer collective creation.

After an attack, four 20-somethings are confronted with their truth. The experience of the night reveals the joys and struggles of being queer in Toronto today.

Through the lens of a gay bashing, STILL LIFE explores how friends and strangers are connected by a night shared at a hospital. Time is fluid in the play with the past existing alongside the present. As Matt and Steven struggle to keep their relationship, Andrew offers Steven an escape from the norm while Sarah, the only witness to the incident, puts the puzzle pieces together. A night out turns into a search for identity as the four characters reveal honest accounts of being queer in a homophobic world.

Created and Performed by Indrit Kasapi, Cole J Alvis, Alisha Stranges and Andrew Aquino.

Created and Directed by Jonathan Seinen

Designed by Michelle Ramsay

Dramaturged and Stage Managed by Spencer Smith

SHOWTIMES
August 5 @ 4.30pm
August 6 @ 7.00pm
August 8 @ 9.30pm
August 9 @ 7.00pm
August 11 @ 4.30pm
August 13 @ 9.30pm
August 14 @ 2.00pm

Theatre Passe Muraille back space
16 Ryerson Ave

TICKETS
$15
By phone: 416.504.7529
To purchase online please click the header!

SummerWorks Theatre Festival on Now

Last night, SummerWorks kicked off their summer theatre festival's 20th season. The opening party was held at this years festival headquarters, Art Bar, on Queen Street. The party started at 4pm and went late into the evening, with local bands, and food provided by The Lakeview, for guests to enjoy.

This year's festival features over 40 plays and 10 nights of music at the Art Bar, Thursdays through Sundays, during the festival run. The festival runs from the 4th to the 14th. Click here for the full schedule. And click here for the program guide and show descriptions. Justin and I are going to stop by the headquarters tonight to get press kits for each of the show. We will be featuring a selection of shows over the next ten days here on the blog. Please join us at this years SummerWorks Festival.

Click the header for the full guide and ticket information. See you at the theatre!

Homegrown Controversy Timeline

The Torontoist did a great job during the SummerWorks festival of covering the controversy surrounding Homegrown. EAP followed the story closely and even wrote about the issue here. Now that SummerWorks is over we here at EAP are glad to see that the Torontoist hasn't let the story die. Today they published a follow up to the controversy. Check out the article here. Because of all the attention surrounding the show I heard it did very well at the box office, which is great news. And just reinforces the adage that no press is bad press.

image courtesy of SummerWorks and the Torontoist

Homegrown - Controversy continues

The Torontoist is reporting about the backlash for Homegrown one of the plays being performed at this years SummerWorks. Homegrown tells the story of one of the infamous 18 who was arrested several summers ago in Toronto for an alleged terrorist plot. Everyone has been commenting on it from the Torontoist all the way up to the Globe and Mail. We haven't seen the show but if you have please feel free to drop us a line and tell us what you think. And click here for the link to the Torontoist article.

Ride the Cyclone at SummerWorks

EAP has been hearing a lot about this new musical at SummerWorks. J. Kelly over at The Globe and Mail thinks it is the most exciting thing to happen to Canadian musical theatre since The Drowsy Chaperone, and that is saying something. Click the header to read Nestruck's article and click here to get more information about shows at SummerWorks. And be sure to drop us a line if you have seen anything worth mentioning. We are going to try and get out to some stuff this weekend. Tonight you will find us in Trinity Bellwoods Park for The Witch of Edmonton.

image from The Globe and Mail

SummerWorks - One Reed with Paul Thompson

Holly Theatre Batman, it has been so long since I have blogged for EAP it is shameful. Justin, our Executive Director, is always great at getting theatre news up here, for everyone to read. But my role on the blog was to talk about what our company is doing, and what is happening locally. So i am going to give you what should be half a dozen blog posts all at once. To start this is the first year since I moved to Toronto that I have seen any of the festivals' plays and musicals. Justin and I saw It's Just a Phase, a new musical at Fringe, and last week Russ took me to see One Reed and Paul Thompson's (Never Underestimate) the Power. I didn't write a review for It's Just a Phase, not because it wasn't deserving, there were definitely some cast members who deserved a shout out for their performances, but overall the music was lousy and I was not inspired. The standouts were definitely the second city alums Lauren Ash (Helen) and Ashley Botting (Tonya). Richard Anthony (Papa Tony) was also strong in his role of the flaming closeted father. But only one of the musical numbers was moving, the duet between Helen and Calgary. The choreography was dismal and although there were some interesting nuances, overall the story was cliche. I did appreciate how the show referenced Toronto, far too often shows about this city don't feel genuine and they don't translate well outside of Toronto. That was not the case with It's Just a Phase, which was presented at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.

Far more compelling was the show I saw last week with Russ at SummerWorks,(Never Underestimate) the Power, written and developed by One Reed, a company I don't know much about and who's website appears to be defunct, (please email me if that is incorrect). Russ's playwright friend Jordan Tannahill had recommended it to us and it didn't disappoint. One Reed worked with the legendary Canadian playwright Paul Reed who I was interested to learn about. Jordan gave me the run down on his background, and Toronto credits, while we waited for the show to begin. (I have included the Canadian encyclopedia biography for Mr. Thompson below). Set in the post-911 context (Never Underestimate) is a story about isolation and connection. The play uses the famous blackout of the Eastern seaboard in 2003 as its focus. Using the power outage to contextualize the post-911 reality is something we've seen before, most famously in James Cameron Mitchell's film Shortbus, but it worked even better in this play because of the Toronto focus. Torontonians, having not experienced the terror of September the 11th first hand, struggled with their location until the watershed moment in 2003 when all of the East Coast was plunged into darkness. Ask anyone who was here and they remember it vividly, just as any New Yorker would tell you their 911 story. And the trio of actors really carry it off, particularly the guys, Evan Webber and Frank Cox-O'Connell. Also here was a show with definite musical elements that worked and lent weight to the experience. Megan Flynn, the lone female performer and the two piece band of Michael Louis Johnson and David Stein created a soundtrack to their play that was more musical and feeling that a lot of what gets called a musical these days (ehemmm Dirty Dancing). Flynn's voice, while not strong in a typical musical theatre sense, was emotional and stirring. Why (Never Underestimate) is a play and not a musical is something I can't quite articulate, although I feel strongly that it is the former. I was reminded of that film Once, which won the Oscar for its original song last year. Similar tone and music quality, but something that had a pedestrian perspective, too grounded to call a musical. If more musicals were like (Never Underestimate) the Power, it would elevate the whole field. I also enjoyed seeing the Factory Studio, a space I had never been to for some reason. Normally any theatre that is as unbearably hot as Factory was would be a bad thing, but in this case it felt right, like they had shut off the AC on purpose to remind us all of that sticky night five years ago. Kudos to One Reed and Paul Thompson's direction. (Never Underestimate) the Power had some of the best writing I've ever heard in new work. I'd love to see that show develop into something full-scale. As it is now at 50 min it's too short to be presented on its own in a large production.
Finally I'd like to give you all an EAP update. It is really crunch time now. We have two grant deadlines in mid-September, and that has been our primary focus. Assuming we get both grants we will be working on productions for the Summer/Fall of 2009. You may have also seen the website it is up and running. Thanks to Big Bang Technology and Shaun Robinson the graphic designer for all their work. We are still waiting on the business cards, which I am so excited about. Until then we are full stream ahead. See you all in the footlights.
LM
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007973

SummerWorks Top Picks

Summer Works is approaching the end of its week and a half long run and there are some impressive shows that have been staged this year. Here are our picks of some of the most impressive emerging theatre productions seen so far this year:

If We Were Birds
Company: groundwater productions

Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace

Friday Aug 15/2008 - 04:30 PM

Sunday Aug 17/2008 - 08:30 PM

Any Night
Company: DualMinds

Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace

Friday Aug 15/2008 - 08:30 PM

Saturday Aug 16/2008 - 10:30 PM

Pelee
Company: The Pelee Project

Venue: The Theatre Centre

Saturday Aug 16/2008 - 05:00 PM

Sunday Aug 17/2008 - 01:00 PM

More picks to come tomorrow!!!

SummerWorks under way in Toronto!

The 2008 SummerWorks Independent arts festival is well under way in Toronto. The theatre portion of the fest runs from August 7th to the 17th. If you like theatre pieces that challenge mainstream ideologies than this is the event you must check out:

"SummerWorks supports work that has a clear artistic vision and explores a specific theatrical aesthetic. It encourages risk, questions, and creative exploration while insisting on accessibility, integrity and professionalism. SummerWorks is the place where dedicated, professional artists are free to explore new territory and take artistic risks. Rather than getting larger, we strive to get better. We look to introduce professional artists from diverse communities to each other and be inspired by our similarities and differences." (summerworks.ca)

For tickets go to: http://www.summerworks.ca/2008/tickets.php