Pretty proud of our Pacific Theatre artists, for all the kudos this year. GRACE has been nominated not only as outstanding production and Angela Konrad for her direction, but all four members of the cast for actor Jessies! - Craig Erickson, Alexa Devine, Kerry van der Griend and Duncan Fraser. Most remarkable. Nicole Bach was nominated for her costumes for A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, and Kevin McAllister for his set design on CARIBOO MAGI - remember the boat that turned into a camel, then became a gold rush stage? (All of these in the "Small Theatre" category.)
Congratulations also to PT artists who've been honoured for their work on other stages. Craig Erickson was nominated for his performance in PEER GYNT for Blackbird Theatre (that company, a very welcome recent additon to the Vancouver theatre community, garnered a remarkable [b]11[/b] nominations for their productions this past season, which I believe is only their second in operation): Anthony Ingram was nominated in the same category for his memorable performance in THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Kerry van der Griend has another chance at a Jessie (Significant Artistic Achievement) as part of the Ensemble Chorus for the Pangaea Arts production of THE GULL. And how gratifying that the first production of Anthony Ingram's new company Tempus Theatre garnered a Jessie nomination, Teryl Rothery for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, in A DELICATE BALANCE.
You can check out all the nominees at the Jessie Richardson site: here's a rundown of the PT-related nods.
SMALL THEATRE
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role, Small Theatre
Craig Erickson, Grace, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role, Small Theatre
Alexa Devine, Grace, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Small Theatre
Duncan Fraser, Grace, Pacific Theatre
Kerry Van Der Griend, Grace, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Set Design, Small Theatre
Kevin McAllister, Cariboo Magi, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Costume Design, Small Theatre
Nicole Bach, A Bright Particular Star, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Direction, Small Theatre
Angela Konrad, Grace, Pacific Theatre
Outstanding Production, Small Theatre
Grace, Pacific Theatre
LARGE THEATRE
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role, Large Theatre
Craig Erickson, Peer Gynt, Blackbird Theatre
Anthony F. Ingram, The Birthday Party, Blackbird Theatre
Significant Artistic Achievements, Large Theatre
Richard Emmert, Ari Solomon, Michael Robinson, Kerry Van Der Griend, Minoru Yamamoto;
Ensemble Chorus, The Gull, Pangaea Arts
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
TAMING OF THE SHREW Director's Notes
When I viewed TAMING OF THE SHREW (twice, the first week of the run, I enjoyed myself that much!), I noticed there were no Director's Notes. Guess there were reasons for that: it's a lot of work mounting Shakespeare when you're the director, set designer and production manager! At any rate, the lively, raucous, and somewhat bawdy version of the play elicited some controversy apparently, and the next week, Director's Notes were forthcoming. I like them a lot, so here for your reading pleasure and edification...
The Taming of the Shrew Director’s Notes
Let’s Talk About Sexes
Someone said to me recently that they didn’t think this play has any relevance to a contemporary audience; however, I think it has a tremendous amount of relevance for those who would care to look a little closer. Firstly, it reminds us that we are, in fact, still quite hung up on the whole gender issue, even though we would like to think otherwise. For, if we were truly past the power struggle between men and women, we would not see in this play a man dominating a woman, but rather one person helping another person to discover the secret power of surrender—which leads me to my second point: this play reveals that we despise surrender. To us, surrender is weakness; we consider it tantamount to failure and defeat. But I am reminded of a certain Jewish carpenter some 2,000 years ago who unleashed the greatest power in the universe by choosing surrender. And I believe that Katharina discovers this power to some extent, as she is the only person in the play who truly transforms and is truly joyful by the end. And isn’t that what we all want? Transformation that leads to joy? Many people think that Katharina is a free spirit at the beginning of the play and in bondage at the end; however, I submit to you that it is quite the opposite. At the beginning of the play she is a slave to her own petulance; so concerned about the flawed behaviour in others that she fails to recognize her own shortcomings. At the end of the play she chooses to surrender, and reaps the delicious rewards of love, freedom and joy. So, I encourage you to give less attention to Petruchio’s boorishness and more to Katharina’s powerful transformation. In other words, have fun...and look a little closer.
Say NO to the Bawdy(?)
Bawdy: a term used to describe coarse, low, sexual humour or dialogue.
Shakespeare’s plays are rife with bawdiness; a fact which many directors in the past have, in my humble opinion, either failed to see (which is laziness) or chosen to ignore (which is artistically irresponsible). Like it or lump it, it’s a part of the text and was intended to be given no less attention than the other parts. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, I implore you to ask yourself why it’s alright for us to accept the mountain of sex and violence in the TV and movies that we watch but reject the mole hill we will see here. This question aside, let me assure you that I am not suggesting that we all start talking dirty and smacking each other around; however, I do think that, if we in Christendom weren’t quite so uptight about sex, we may in fact be less inclined to fall sexually and more inclined to talk openly about the issues, thereby leading to a healthier understanding about our sexuality. At the very least, whether you love or despise the characters in this play, I hope you will have grace for the actors and for yourself, and that instead of imbibing the icky cough-syrup of solemnity you will apply the relieving balm of laughter.
Aaron Caleb
Trinity Western University
Spring 07
*
In the face some well-meaning but I'm sure at times rather distressing controversy, I wonder if it was an encouragement to hear these words of praise I passed along from Brian Doerksen?...
"Hey, after you recommendation we went to see the TWU production of ‘Taming of the Shrew’ . . .I think my first Shakespeare piece I have seen since high school . . .it took a bit of time to ‘change gears’ due to language . .but we LOVED IT!! We laughed so much . . .a great night at the theatre . . and only 25 minutes from home!"
The Taming of the Shrew Director’s Notes
Let’s Talk About Sexes
Someone said to me recently that they didn’t think this play has any relevance to a contemporary audience; however, I think it has a tremendous amount of relevance for those who would care to look a little closer. Firstly, it reminds us that we are, in fact, still quite hung up on the whole gender issue, even though we would like to think otherwise. For, if we were truly past the power struggle between men and women, we would not see in this play a man dominating a woman, but rather one person helping another person to discover the secret power of surrender—which leads me to my second point: this play reveals that we despise surrender. To us, surrender is weakness; we consider it tantamount to failure and defeat. But I am reminded of a certain Jewish carpenter some 2,000 years ago who unleashed the greatest power in the universe by choosing surrender. And I believe that Katharina discovers this power to some extent, as she is the only person in the play who truly transforms and is truly joyful by the end. And isn’t that what we all want? Transformation that leads to joy? Many people think that Katharina is a free spirit at the beginning of the play and in bondage at the end; however, I submit to you that it is quite the opposite. At the beginning of the play she is a slave to her own petulance; so concerned about the flawed behaviour in others that she fails to recognize her own shortcomings. At the end of the play she chooses to surrender, and reaps the delicious rewards of love, freedom and joy. So, I encourage you to give less attention to Petruchio’s boorishness and more to Katharina’s powerful transformation. In other words, have fun...and look a little closer.
Say NO to the Bawdy(?)
Bawdy: a term used to describe coarse, low, sexual humour or dialogue.
Shakespeare’s plays are rife with bawdiness; a fact which many directors in the past have, in my humble opinion, either failed to see (which is laziness) or chosen to ignore (which is artistically irresponsible). Like it or lump it, it’s a part of the text and was intended to be given no less attention than the other parts. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, I implore you to ask yourself why it’s alright for us to accept the mountain of sex and violence in the TV and movies that we watch but reject the mole hill we will see here. This question aside, let me assure you that I am not suggesting that we all start talking dirty and smacking each other around; however, I do think that, if we in Christendom weren’t quite so uptight about sex, we may in fact be less inclined to fall sexually and more inclined to talk openly about the issues, thereby leading to a healthier understanding about our sexuality. At the very least, whether you love or despise the characters in this play, I hope you will have grace for the actors and for yourself, and that instead of imbibing the icky cough-syrup of solemnity you will apply the relieving balm of laughter.
Aaron Caleb
Trinity Western University
Spring 07
*
In the face some well-meaning but I'm sure at times rather distressing controversy, I wonder if it was an encouragement to hear these words of praise I passed along from Brian Doerksen?...
"Hey, after you recommendation we went to see the TWU production of ‘Taming of the Shrew’ . . .I think my first Shakespeare piece I have seen since high school . . .it took a bit of time to ‘change gears’ due to language . .but we LOVED IT!! We laughed so much . . .a great night at the theatre . . and only 25 minutes from home!"
Responses to GRACE
So many interesting responses to GRACE. Stirred up much talking, thinking, feeling - exactly what we hoped for it. I'll put up a post here and add to it over the next few days as I come across other emails that have come my way over the past month or so....
*
Well the title of this play is certainly ironic, as there seems very little "grace" ('free and unearned favour of God' - OED) in the essence of this play. O there are lots of clever ways in which grace plays peeks through in the lives of the characters, but in the end everyone dies violently at the hands of the Christian. Where is the grace in that?? Once more the most negative image of how religion works in peoples lives is given center stage. I know that there is plenty of cynicism out there about the hypocrisy and the evils of religion - 'The God Delusion' by Dawkins has been on the bestseller list for months. The acting, direction and staging of this play is excellent. But it left me sad and a bit angry, as it seems to leave the audience little hope that religious faith can be transformative.
PS (My wife) loved the play, and adamantly (and eloquently) disagrees with me. ... In the final analysis good theater makes you think and reshape your ideas, and this play certainly did that. I am glad I saw it and it will certainly provide fodder for further discussion....
*
The play was very raw and very real, and - I think you're right - that is what subdued me for the second half. I felt like the play was very explorative and really asked the question "what if?" It really bleed for me. I was almost surprised by my own reaction. I guess you noticed that I was unable to stand for the applause...the actors did such a fabulous job (as did the director!), and I greatly applauded their work, but I just couldn't "agree" with what happened. Standing, to me, felt like it would be agreeing with the deaths and the way things ended up - like it would be almost agreeing that it was "right," which I didn't feel, because it felt so WRONG to me. Ultimately, throughout the play and afterwards I found that I could not judge, though...I could not judge any of the characters, because they were so blind to their own hypocrisy...but that only spoke VOLUMES to me of the hypocrisy in our own lives. It was GOOD. I really appreciated the way the play challenged me and really made me wrestle deeper with the feelings it evoked in me. I'd love to talk to you more in person :o)
*
Hey, while I’ve got your ear I want to tell you how much I enjoyed Grace. Angela’s direction was subtle and lovely. Craig’s performance was breath-taking. The female (whose name escapes me) was luminous, vulnerable and completely in the moment. She was entrancing. The other two performances were strong too. The story is not without its snags but it provided fodder for many a discussion in the week following. It’s exactly what I envisioned many years ago when we had those discussions about what Christian theatre was supposed to be. I loved it. Bravo!
*
And here's a word from the aforementioned, name-escaping female, one Alexa Devine...
By the way, Craig just told me to check out the PT Blog - and hey, what a great idea! I loved reading the discussions and comments about Grace. Reminded me of the many (and I mean many) fascinating and thought provoking conversations I had with friends and strangers after almost every performance. Never before have I been so eager to hear people's feedback and discuss questions they may have had about the play and the issues it brought up. I was amazed at how each conversation (especially the talk-back at TWU) helped me to continue to find beauty, depth, humanity and Grace within the play (and in my life actually). What a awesome treat it was!
And so I want to thank you again for the opportunity. It was a blessing and an experience I will hold close to my heart for a very long time.
Love,
Alexa
*
And for the home stretch, a thoughtful and thought-provoking interchange between one of our patrons and Dan Amos, who you've seen onstage in A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, THE QUARREL and other shows....
To whom it may concern,
Four of us attended Saturday night's showing of Grace. The play was expertly acted, and in many ways well-written. However, we drove away not sure precisely where the grace was to be found. This is not a criticism, but an admission of ignorance. Could someone help by interpretting for us the presence of grace in this story?
By His mercy...
*
Hello Roger,
I work on staff here at the theatre, and served as the sound designer for the show. I’ve been asked to respond with some thoughts as to the ultimate presence of grace in the story of Grace.
The fact that you went away a little frustrated, asking this very question, to me indicates that the show has exactly fulfilled its purpose. I think that the playwright ultimately wants us to consider what grace is, if it actually exists, and where it is found in human life, especially in tragic situations. This is a very messy story that never nicely wraps up any one issue. It is worth mentioning that the playwright was inspired to write the play after hearing about an actual, very similar, situation on the news, involving a bizarre, Christian love triangle/murder-suicide.
In direct answer to your question I believe that grace can be found, though it is tempered by tragedy, somewhere in the journey that each character makes in the story. Sam obviously comes from a place of lonely hopelessness to a state in which he can let go of his guilt and become ‘alive’ again, even opening up to the idea that God, and grace, may exist after all. The complexity lies in the fact that he finds all of this through his relationship with Sara, which ultimately turns adulterous. Very messy.
Karl’s story is filled with grace, indeed, a grace wrought with cosmic destiny, in that his little ‘friend’ Rachel encounters him and offers him forgiveness for an act that has paralyzed him with guilt and bitterness for sixty-odd years. His admission at the end that “there is something, that waits, and comes back for us” is a tremendous step of hope. However, he still ends up murdered, and is found to have unconsciously been the vehicle of Steve’s illness. Again, very messy.
Sara not only finds a renewed sense of grace and redemption for herself through her interaction with Sam, but also gets to be the instrument of grace for another. This is a powerful, positive thing. As per normal in this play, however, she becomes caught up in the messy turmoil of a deteriorating marriage and an awkward love affair.
It is sometimes difficult to remember in such a disturbing story that we are watching a tragedy, in the traditional, even ancient, sense. The ultimate purpose of tragedy is to ‘ennoble’ the viewer – to make him or her a braver, stronger, wiser or ‘better’ person. This is achieved when the audience identifies and empathizes with the tragic hero, yet is able to detach and see the mistakes that the tragic hero makes. Steve is definitely the tragic hero of the piece. It is probably easiest for those of us with Christian evangelical backgrounds to identify with him. Yet there is something that rings alarm bells in us from the start. I believe the most potent aspect of his character is the everpresent proximity of grace to him, which he foolishly ignores, misunderstands, or is unable to focus on. The entire ending predicates on his redemptive epiphany with Karl, rapidly followed by his bitter realization that Karl has been unwittingly poisoning him. If he could only see past his initial wave of resigned rage... if he could only stop and realize that he now has the means to sue the chemical company and make ALL of his money back... If he could only put aside his selfish pride for a second, a moment... perhaps it wouldn’t be a tragedy at all.
Ron Reed makes clear in his director’s notes that he did not choose this play for the things that it says, but for some of the difficult and uncomfortable questions that it asks. I thank you and your friends for engaging with these questions. Please, if you wish to dialogue further, reply to this email. We in the office are enjoying bouncing your questions around between ourselves.
Blessings...
*
Dan,
Thank you. Your response was careful, and infomative. I suppose at this point, while I remain unsatisfied from failure to see how the title fits the story, I would ask the larger question of Ron, namely, what redemptive element this story conveys.
I like messy, I live in messy, we as Christians too quickly jettison all things messy including 40% of the psalter, God's clear message that life is not immune from lament. Having said this, I resisted the impulse to share Christ with a person like Sam yesterday. I resisted it because the play twisted the enterprise of sharing Christ into something I want nothing to do with. I observed an unkind version of sharing Christ in Grace, much like I did in the movie, The Big Kahuna. This is not a style of evangelism I condone. But there were moments of great courage, and brilliance in Steve's well-intended, yet over-bearing, unsympathetic, manipulative, and disengenuine overtures. These moments, as rare as they are, remain precious. Proclaiming Christ is something to be done with great care, but we Christians need affirming examples, or, at least poor examples shown to be redemptive.
I also think I am still shell-shocked. Watching a man load a gun in a LIVE theatre context, to subsequently fire said gun, a short distance from my face is drama I have never before encountered at that level, that was intense. But I think the intensity of that show has momentarily shaken foundations such as how I share Christ. Everyone walking out of that theatre is thinking, 'God forbid I ever become the blow-hard evangelistic maniac Steve was'.
I love you guys, and am so thankful for your theatre. I desire for LIVE theatre to shake me, especially for God's glory. But I hoped by now, (nearly a week later) something good might have come of it, or, that less desireable vestiges of the story would cease to influence me. I regret to say, neither has transpired.
The question I ask as I prepare to share some vital, but, hard-to-swallow-truth about God, Scripture, or man in a sermon is, 'am I willing to destabalize the faith of some in exchange for this truth, illustration, theology, etc." If the import of that truth does not justify the exchange then it is not worth the destabilizing effects.
By His mercy...
*
And this, in July;
Where can I locate a copy of Craig Wright's Grace? I've been bugging Angela for it for months, and she said her only copy is covered in her notes. I would be willing to pay for it - I've just got to get my hands on it. This play in all sincerity changed my life, my view of theatre, my view of death and spirituality, faith and religiosity. I've spent many an hour searching the internet, I even have my friend who's a librarian at a theatre archive in New York City trying to track it down for me with no luck yet. In fact, I'm so obsessed that I've just finished watching the entire series of Six Feet Under, and read every interview and listened to every audio commentary done by Craig Wright. Please say you can help me.
*
Well the title of this play is certainly ironic, as there seems very little "grace" ('free and unearned favour of God' - OED) in the essence of this play. O there are lots of clever ways in which grace plays peeks through in the lives of the characters, but in the end everyone dies violently at the hands of the Christian. Where is the grace in that?? Once more the most negative image of how religion works in peoples lives is given center stage. I know that there is plenty of cynicism out there about the hypocrisy and the evils of religion - 'The God Delusion' by Dawkins has been on the bestseller list for months. The acting, direction and staging of this play is excellent. But it left me sad and a bit angry, as it seems to leave the audience little hope that religious faith can be transformative.
PS (My wife) loved the play, and adamantly (and eloquently) disagrees with me. ... In the final analysis good theater makes you think and reshape your ideas, and this play certainly did that. I am glad I saw it and it will certainly provide fodder for further discussion....
*
The play was very raw and very real, and - I think you're right - that is what subdued me for the second half. I felt like the play was very explorative and really asked the question "what if?" It really bleed for me. I was almost surprised by my own reaction. I guess you noticed that I was unable to stand for the applause...the actors did such a fabulous job (as did the director!), and I greatly applauded their work, but I just couldn't "agree" with what happened. Standing, to me, felt like it would be agreeing with the deaths and the way things ended up - like it would be almost agreeing that it was "right," which I didn't feel, because it felt so WRONG to me. Ultimately, throughout the play and afterwards I found that I could not judge, though...I could not judge any of the characters, because they were so blind to their own hypocrisy...but that only spoke VOLUMES to me of the hypocrisy in our own lives. It was GOOD. I really appreciated the way the play challenged me and really made me wrestle deeper with the feelings it evoked in me. I'd love to talk to you more in person :o)
*
Hey, while I’ve got your ear I want to tell you how much I enjoyed Grace. Angela’s direction was subtle and lovely. Craig’s performance was breath-taking. The female (whose name escapes me) was luminous, vulnerable and completely in the moment. She was entrancing. The other two performances were strong too. The story is not without its snags but it provided fodder for many a discussion in the week following. It’s exactly what I envisioned many years ago when we had those discussions about what Christian theatre was supposed to be. I loved it. Bravo!
*
And here's a word from the aforementioned, name-escaping female, one Alexa Devine...
By the way, Craig just told me to check out the PT Blog - and hey, what a great idea! I loved reading the discussions and comments about Grace. Reminded me of the many (and I mean many) fascinating and thought provoking conversations I had with friends and strangers after almost every performance. Never before have I been so eager to hear people's feedback and discuss questions they may have had about the play and the issues it brought up. I was amazed at how each conversation (especially the talk-back at TWU) helped me to continue to find beauty, depth, humanity and Grace within the play (and in my life actually). What a awesome treat it was!
And so I want to thank you again for the opportunity. It was a blessing and an experience I will hold close to my heart for a very long time.
Love,
Alexa
*
And for the home stretch, a thoughtful and thought-provoking interchange between one of our patrons and Dan Amos, who you've seen onstage in A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, THE QUARREL and other shows....
To whom it may concern,
Four of us attended Saturday night's showing of Grace. The play was expertly acted, and in many ways well-written. However, we drove away not sure precisely where the grace was to be found. This is not a criticism, but an admission of ignorance. Could someone help by interpretting for us the presence of grace in this story?
By His mercy...
*
Hello Roger,
I work on staff here at the theatre, and served as the sound designer for the show. I’ve been asked to respond with some thoughts as to the ultimate presence of grace in the story of Grace.
The fact that you went away a little frustrated, asking this very question, to me indicates that the show has exactly fulfilled its purpose. I think that the playwright ultimately wants us to consider what grace is, if it actually exists, and where it is found in human life, especially in tragic situations. This is a very messy story that never nicely wraps up any one issue. It is worth mentioning that the playwright was inspired to write the play after hearing about an actual, very similar, situation on the news, involving a bizarre, Christian love triangle/murder-suicide.
In direct answer to your question I believe that grace can be found, though it is tempered by tragedy, somewhere in the journey that each character makes in the story. Sam obviously comes from a place of lonely hopelessness to a state in which he can let go of his guilt and become ‘alive’ again, even opening up to the idea that God, and grace, may exist after all. The complexity lies in the fact that he finds all of this through his relationship with Sara, which ultimately turns adulterous. Very messy.
Karl’s story is filled with grace, indeed, a grace wrought with cosmic destiny, in that his little ‘friend’ Rachel encounters him and offers him forgiveness for an act that has paralyzed him with guilt and bitterness for sixty-odd years. His admission at the end that “there is something, that waits, and comes back for us” is a tremendous step of hope. However, he still ends up murdered, and is found to have unconsciously been the vehicle of Steve’s illness. Again, very messy.
Sara not only finds a renewed sense of grace and redemption for herself through her interaction with Sam, but also gets to be the instrument of grace for another. This is a powerful, positive thing. As per normal in this play, however, she becomes caught up in the messy turmoil of a deteriorating marriage and an awkward love affair.
It is sometimes difficult to remember in such a disturbing story that we are watching a tragedy, in the traditional, even ancient, sense. The ultimate purpose of tragedy is to ‘ennoble’ the viewer – to make him or her a braver, stronger, wiser or ‘better’ person. This is achieved when the audience identifies and empathizes with the tragic hero, yet is able to detach and see the mistakes that the tragic hero makes. Steve is definitely the tragic hero of the piece. It is probably easiest for those of us with Christian evangelical backgrounds to identify with him. Yet there is something that rings alarm bells in us from the start. I believe the most potent aspect of his character is the everpresent proximity of grace to him, which he foolishly ignores, misunderstands, or is unable to focus on. The entire ending predicates on his redemptive epiphany with Karl, rapidly followed by his bitter realization that Karl has been unwittingly poisoning him. If he could only see past his initial wave of resigned rage... if he could only stop and realize that he now has the means to sue the chemical company and make ALL of his money back... If he could only put aside his selfish pride for a second, a moment... perhaps it wouldn’t be a tragedy at all.
Ron Reed makes clear in his director’s notes that he did not choose this play for the things that it says, but for some of the difficult and uncomfortable questions that it asks. I thank you and your friends for engaging with these questions. Please, if you wish to dialogue further, reply to this email. We in the office are enjoying bouncing your questions around between ourselves.
Blessings...
*
Dan,
Thank you. Your response was careful, and infomative. I suppose at this point, while I remain unsatisfied from failure to see how the title fits the story, I would ask the larger question of Ron, namely, what redemptive element this story conveys.
I like messy, I live in messy, we as Christians too quickly jettison all things messy including 40% of the psalter, God's clear message that life is not immune from lament. Having said this, I resisted the impulse to share Christ with a person like Sam yesterday. I resisted it because the play twisted the enterprise of sharing Christ into something I want nothing to do with. I observed an unkind version of sharing Christ in Grace, much like I did in the movie, The Big Kahuna. This is not a style of evangelism I condone. But there were moments of great courage, and brilliance in Steve's well-intended, yet over-bearing, unsympathetic, manipulative, and disengenuine overtures. These moments, as rare as they are, remain precious. Proclaiming Christ is something to be done with great care, but we Christians need affirming examples, or, at least poor examples shown to be redemptive.
I also think I am still shell-shocked. Watching a man load a gun in a LIVE theatre context, to subsequently fire said gun, a short distance from my face is drama I have never before encountered at that level, that was intense. But I think the intensity of that show has momentarily shaken foundations such as how I share Christ. Everyone walking out of that theatre is thinking, 'God forbid I ever become the blow-hard evangelistic maniac Steve was'.
I love you guys, and am so thankful for your theatre. I desire for LIVE theatre to shake me, especially for God's glory. But I hoped by now, (nearly a week later) something good might have come of it, or, that less desireable vestiges of the story would cease to influence me. I regret to say, neither has transpired.
The question I ask as I prepare to share some vital, but, hard-to-swallow-truth about God, Scripture, or man in a sermon is, 'am I willing to destabalize the faith of some in exchange for this truth, illustration, theology, etc." If the import of that truth does not justify the exchange then it is not worth the destabilizing effects.
By His mercy...
*
And this, in July;
Where can I locate a copy of Craig Wright's Grace? I've been bugging Angela for it for months, and she said her only copy is covered in her notes. I would be willing to pay for it - I've just got to get my hands on it. This play in all sincerity changed my life, my view of theatre, my view of death and spirituality, faith and religiosity. I've spent many an hour searching the internet, I even have my friend who's a librarian at a theatre archive in New York City trying to track it down for me with no luck yet. In fact, I'm so obsessed that I've just finished watching the entire series of Six Feet Under, and read every interview and listened to every audio commentary done by Craig Wright. Please say you can help me.
May 5: Carolyn Arends, Chris Janz
Look what PT's "resident keyboard player" Brett Ziegler is putting together! Unfortunately I'll be at another swingin' shindig up in town, or I'd be there.
And how about that, eh? "One of the most affecting communicators in any genre" - from Billboard Magazine, no less! That's our Carolyn.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Apr 17: Laurell Hubick on Commercial Drive
from Laurell...
I've got a gig coming up THIS TUESDAY night in Vancouver! Love the hometown shows!
I am SOOO excited to be opening for Kyle Riabko, an amazing artist who I can't wait to see live.
The details...
TUESDAY, APRIL 17th, 8pm (show starts around 9, but get there early in case I start before that)
Kyle Riabko with special guest laurell @ RIME
1130 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
tix: $10
This month I am the featured artist on soulshine, so feel free to take a look and listen at www.soulshine.ca/onDemand
For those who don't know yet, I have also entered into the world of myspace, where you can stay more in touch with me and my music. There are lots of extras that you can find on there, so sign up today and become my friend on myspace! www.myspace.com/listentolaurell
Also..... I'm sure some of you have been wondering about when my new recording is going to be finished, so I just wanted to give you a very excited update that my little EP is almost done and sounding very tasty! :) I am just so pumped about getting some new material out there that I hope (fingers crossed) you will enjoy!
laurell
www.laurell.ca
(604)986-7019
laurell@laurell.ca
nectarmusicproductions
I've got a gig coming up THIS TUESDAY night in Vancouver! Love the hometown shows!
I am SOOO excited to be opening for Kyle Riabko, an amazing artist who I can't wait to see live.
The details...
TUESDAY, APRIL 17th, 8pm (show starts around 9, but get there early in case I start before that)
Kyle Riabko with special guest laurell @ RIME
1130 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
tix: $10
This month I am the featured artist on soulshine, so feel free to take a look and listen at www.soulshine.ca/onDemand
For those who don't know yet, I have also entered into the world of myspace, where you can stay more in touch with me and my music. There are lots of extras that you can find on there, so sign up today and become my friend on myspace! www.myspace.com/listentolaurell
Also..... I'm sure some of you have been wondering about when my new recording is going to be finished, so I just wanted to give you a very excited update that my little EP is almost done and sounding very tasty! :) I am just so pumped about getting some new material out there that I hope (fingers crossed) you will enjoy!
laurell
www.laurell.ca
(604)986-7019
laurell@laurell.ca
nectarmusicproductions
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Apr 8: Easter Sunday gospel singing - Tom Pickett
Tom writes...
Hey you all forgive the blanket email – But if you don’t have Easter plans you need to be at one of two places preferably both.
The Yale 12:30pm
and/or
St. Andrews Wesley (Nelson and Burrard) at 4:00pm.
Double Bill at each venue:
The Mahalia Jackson Tribute
Dalannah Bowen backed by Joe Chappell and Tom Pickett
Michael Creber piano, Rene Worst bass, Chris Norquist drums
and
The Gospel Experience
Will Sanders, Joe Chappell, Tom Pickett, Candus Churchill, Lovi Eli
Diane Lines piano, Lou Houver drums
*
You know you need to be there.
Love and Gratitude,
Tom
Friday, April 06, 2007
Apr 13-14: TOMFOOLERY - TWU Senior Art Show
Featuring work from graduating students and guest artists
Two days of painting, installation, photography and more from graduating Trinity Western University artists. Snacks, music, and tomfoolery will be had. More information
Apr 13-14
The Art Center
2nd Floor, 2060 Pine Street
Vancouver, BC
Friday 4pm-11pm (reception 8pm)
Sat 11am-6pm
Two days of painting, installation, photography and more from graduating Trinity Western University artists. Snacks, music, and tomfoolery will be had. More information
Apr 13-14
The Art Center
2nd Floor, 2060 Pine Street
Vancouver, BC
Friday 4pm-11pm (reception 8pm)
Sat 11am-6pm
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Apr 1: IMAGE Update
Gratitude to the folks at IMAGE Journal for their April 1 IMAGE Update email. Made my day.
Want them to make your day, once every two weeks? Be one of the cool kids: subscribe.
Want them to make your day, once every two weeks? Be one of the cool kids: subscribe.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Spot The Star
Recognize the poster boy for a past PT show? Our once but probably not future king, with certain affinities to Frank Sinatra? Around our office, we think of him as "The IT Boy"? Winging his way back from the front, just in time to see his buddy Craig Erickson in GRACE...
Critics are Praising GRACE!
“Grace is a powerful story powerfully told. It's completely riveting right down to the last second.”
Jo Ledingham, Vancouver Courier
“darkly hilarious, very intelligent, and always compelling”
Charles Demers, Westender
"this production of Grace makes for a stimulating ride to hell"
Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight
"Steve’s credibility is further enhanced by Craig Erickson’s total commitment to the character. Alexa Devine is equally excellent as Sara...Van der Griend is spectacularly good"
Jerry Wasserman, vancouverplays.com
Mike Mason, "Champagne For The Soul"
Break out the bubbly! Soul Food Friend Mike Mason wrote a book a few years ago about his experiment with joy, a ninety-day adventure to see if he could "break my addiction to the cheap wine of melancholy and seek champagne for the soul."
The bubbly (and paradoxically substantial) volume went out of print, but word is just out that Regent College Publishing are publishing the reprint! It's not yet available on their website, but in the meantime you can snag yourself a copy through amazon.
(Now if only somebody would get on the stick and publish Mike's masterwork, a novel, THE BLUE UMBRELLA. I'm not kidding: better than champagne, better than furniture, better even than marriage or job...)
Congrats, Mike. And a tip of the hat to Regent Publishing!
*
Description
"The injunction 'Get real' usually means 'Leave your world of fantasy and return to what really is.' True Realism always and everywhere is to find out where joy resides. In the past year this magical gift got lost or mislaid in my life. Mike Mason has located it, given it voice, and helped me to recover it. Even one sip of Champagne for the Soul is a heady, exhilarating experience." -Brennan Manning, author of A Glimpse of Jesus: The Stranger to Self-Hatred If you were given the chance to be happy for the rest of your life, wouldn't you jump at it? In Champagne for the Soul, bestselling author Mike Mason explains that the Bible does make this offer. Yet most of us hang back, reluctant and skeptical. Theologically most Christians will agree that the Bible teaches and offers a life of joy; yet deep down we're not convinced that such a life is practical-for us or any ordinary person. But, says Mason, such joy truly is ours to claim and embrace. What you now hold in your hands is a call to throw off all worries and complaints and to "come and share your master's happiness" (Matthew 25:21). Is it possible to live every day in joy? You will never know if you don't try. These pages, drawn from the author's own ninety-day experiment in actively pursuing joy, will lead you on a journey that will help you-no matter what your circumstances-to escape the trap of worry, fear, and dullness and grab hold of the joy of the Lord. Mike Mason is the best-selling author of several books, including The Mystery of Marriage, The Mystery of Children, The Gospel According to Job, and Practicing the Presence of People. He and his wife, Karen, an M.D. in general practice, live in Langely, British Columbia, Canada, with their teenage daughter, Heather.
Publishers Weekly
By his own admission, Mason (The Mystery of Children) isn't a happy person by nature. A recovering alcoholic who had lived most of his life in a state of anxious, borderline depression, Mason realized that a lingering, low-grade melancholy was his last line of defense against the love of God. In this 90-day experiment, he sets out to see if he can "break my addiction to the cheap wine of melancholy... [and] seek champagne for the soul." His 90 short essays, each prefaced by a verse from Scripture about joy, chronicle his quest to find the happiness buried in the ordinary world of laundry to be done, errands to be run, meetings to attend and the general muck and mire of the human condition. Over the course of his experiment Mason discovers simple truths about joy: to find it you must discover a solid sense of identity, face crippling fears, offer thanks when you don't feel like it and try something new. Metaphors abound, and his passion is infectious as he helps demystify joy for the reader. At the end of his experiment, Mason finds that the deepest joys come out of the blue for no discernible reason, because "God Himself is all goodness and all rightness and because the depths of His joy surpass all understanding." Christians of all denominations will be inspired to sample this foamy elixir, sipping from its wisdom slowly and finding fresh ways to discover joy in everyday circumstances.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Mar 30: Ben Keyes & the Regent College gospel choir, U Chapel
Soul Foodie Ali Cumming sends this our way...
Hey all - just wanted to give you an option for this Friday. The gospel choir that I have been a part of is performing this Friday at 7:30 at University Chapel on the UBC campus (right after the golf course at the main gate of the campus 10th Ave). Ben Keyes (whose original work and arts thesis this is) is all the way from Boston - and he grew up in a gospel church, so we've been taught well. Rumor has it that it is going to be pretty packed out - so you will want to be there no later than 7pm. We are doing a live recording of it and cutting a CD. I guarentee it will be worthwhile.
If you are wanting to come in (those of you from out of town) and do din-dins in the area - I recommend Burgoos, The Wolf and Hound or Dentry's. They are all located close to UBC campus.
Let me know if you are coming and I will keep an eye open for you!
Blessings to you all,
Ali
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Sojourners Magazine on GRACE
FAITH, GOD'S WILL, AND TIME
Deryl Davis, Sojourners, February 2005
Religious themes are scattered throughout Craig Wright’s work, but if you ask the award-winning dramatist and TV writer if that’s intentional, the answer will be a resounding no. A graduate of United Theological Seminary in Minnesota and a former United Methodist pastoral intern, Wright primarily earns his living as a writer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under. While the label "Christian writer in Hollywood" doesn’t comfortably fit Wright, you wouldn’t dismiss him as non-Christian either. Like many writers in the secular domain, he is compelled to ask religious questions without having them define him or his work.
"With each play, I approach whatever is most interesting," the 39-year-old Wright says. "Quite often, the language of religion is a quick way to cut to the chase, to the most important things."
Wright’s work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and an Emmy award. His latest play, Grace, looks at questions of faith, God’s will, and time through the lives of an evangelical Christian couple transplanted from Wright’s native Minnesota to the Florida gold coast. Wright says he looked again at John Calvin’s classic Institutes of the Christian Religion as he thought about the theological arguments of the play. One of the main characters, Steve, believes he knows God’s will but is destroyed when things don’t turn out as he planned.
"When you make God into something that only serves your best interests, when you’re no longer able to see God in the things that don’t serve your interests, then you run into trouble," Wright says. "Things that serve our best interests are often destructive in the lives of others."
In the play, Steve’s business deal (to create a chain of gospel-themed motels) and his marriage both fall apart. The apparent cause is Steve’s inflexible belief that he knows exactly what God is up to. But equally disturbing is the fact that his lonely wife finds love and spiritual connection with their agnostic neighbor, Sam. In the play’s most moving scene, Sara even teaches Sam to pray. Is this, one trembles to ask, a kind of grace?
"What is ‘grace’?" Wright responds. "If the best thing that ever happened to one person is also the worst thing that happened to another, is that ‘grace’?"
One quickly recognizes that, from Wright’s point of view, grace is not a single act or event, but a series of unfoldings that reveals God’s purposes over time. What might be called a theology of time is, in fact, a major preoccupation for Wright. He experiments with it in Grace, for instance, where the ending comes before the beginning, and only after that do events move in normal chronological order toward a conclusion we already know. In an earlier draft of the play, Wright had one of the characters remark that grace is "the order in which things happen, the history of what God has allowed."
"For me, that’s one of the big questions of life," Wright says. "Why we have this linear, irreversible conception of time. It’s one of the things that makes Christianity unique - a necessary forward motion built around the moment when history changes, pre-Christ and post-Christ. But what does it mean that we’re all - Muslims, Buddhists, Christians - moving forward, and it doesn’t stop?"
Seminary helped Wright wrestle with that question, as well as find a language and point of view from which to work. Initially following his theological interests, and concerned about whether he could really make a living as a dramatist, Wright found that seminary training made him a better writer and artist. ...
By his own admission, Wright is in the far reaches of the Christian tradition. He left the organized church some years ago after a disagreement over communion practices in the Methodist church where he worked. Today, Wright practices shape-note singing and sometimes attends his wife’s Catholic church. He says people are fascinated with the fact that he is a successful playwright who went to seminary, and they are always asking about his beliefs. Of particular interest is his understanding of the resurrection.
"H. Richard Niebuhr, one of my theological touchstones, once said, ‘Most people are right about what they affirm and wrong about what they deny,’" Wright says. "I’m not in a hurry to deny the physical resurrection. What I can affirm is the amazing, miraculous power of this story in history. I’m not going to waste my time disbelieving or denying."
It’s clear that Wright doesn’t want to be pinned down to a specific set of dogma. He argues that religious belief has to change and grow, or it will die. One of the main problems in Grace is, in fact, the character Steve’s inflexible conception of God.
"You can’t make an idol out of your religious experience," Wright says. "If you have an experience of the divine and you insist upon organizing everything in life in terms of that experience, you will find yourself against a wall. My experience is that God keeps generating novelty and growing new possibilities all the time.... The essential nature of God doesn’t change. God never stops giving of God’s self, but the forms that giving takes are changing constantly." ...
"What Christianity tells us is that God is the one exacting the price, and God is the one paying the price," Wright says. "The mystery of how we participate in the crucifixion is one of the great blessings of the Christian tradition. Any system of belief that didn’t have such mysterious violence at its core couldn’t save me.... For me, the world is full of horror, and I need my religion to reflect that."
Deryl Davis, Sojourners, February 2005
Religious themes are scattered throughout Craig Wright’s work, but if you ask the award-winning dramatist and TV writer if that’s intentional, the answer will be a resounding no. A graduate of United Theological Seminary in Minnesota and a former United Methodist pastoral intern, Wright primarily earns his living as a writer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under. While the label "Christian writer in Hollywood" doesn’t comfortably fit Wright, you wouldn’t dismiss him as non-Christian either. Like many writers in the secular domain, he is compelled to ask religious questions without having them define him or his work.
"With each play, I approach whatever is most interesting," the 39-year-old Wright says. "Quite often, the language of religion is a quick way to cut to the chase, to the most important things."
Wright’s work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and an Emmy award. His latest play, Grace, looks at questions of faith, God’s will, and time through the lives of an evangelical Christian couple transplanted from Wright’s native Minnesota to the Florida gold coast. Wright says he looked again at John Calvin’s classic Institutes of the Christian Religion as he thought about the theological arguments of the play. One of the main characters, Steve, believes he knows God’s will but is destroyed when things don’t turn out as he planned.
"When you make God into something that only serves your best interests, when you’re no longer able to see God in the things that don’t serve your interests, then you run into trouble," Wright says. "Things that serve our best interests are often destructive in the lives of others."
In the play, Steve’s business deal (to create a chain of gospel-themed motels) and his marriage both fall apart. The apparent cause is Steve’s inflexible belief that he knows exactly what God is up to. But equally disturbing is the fact that his lonely wife finds love and spiritual connection with their agnostic neighbor, Sam. In the play’s most moving scene, Sara even teaches Sam to pray. Is this, one trembles to ask, a kind of grace?
"What is ‘grace’?" Wright responds. "If the best thing that ever happened to one person is also the worst thing that happened to another, is that ‘grace’?"
One quickly recognizes that, from Wright’s point of view, grace is not a single act or event, but a series of unfoldings that reveals God’s purposes over time. What might be called a theology of time is, in fact, a major preoccupation for Wright. He experiments with it in Grace, for instance, where the ending comes before the beginning, and only after that do events move in normal chronological order toward a conclusion we already know. In an earlier draft of the play, Wright had one of the characters remark that grace is "the order in which things happen, the history of what God has allowed."
"For me, that’s one of the big questions of life," Wright says. "Why we have this linear, irreversible conception of time. It’s one of the things that makes Christianity unique - a necessary forward motion built around the moment when history changes, pre-Christ and post-Christ. But what does it mean that we’re all - Muslims, Buddhists, Christians - moving forward, and it doesn’t stop?"
Seminary helped Wright wrestle with that question, as well as find a language and point of view from which to work. Initially following his theological interests, and concerned about whether he could really make a living as a dramatist, Wright found that seminary training made him a better writer and artist. ...
By his own admission, Wright is in the far reaches of the Christian tradition. He left the organized church some years ago after a disagreement over communion practices in the Methodist church where he worked. Today, Wright practices shape-note singing and sometimes attends his wife’s Catholic church. He says people are fascinated with the fact that he is a successful playwright who went to seminary, and they are always asking about his beliefs. Of particular interest is his understanding of the resurrection.
"H. Richard Niebuhr, one of my theological touchstones, once said, ‘Most people are right about what they affirm and wrong about what they deny,’" Wright says. "I’m not in a hurry to deny the physical resurrection. What I can affirm is the amazing, miraculous power of this story in history. I’m not going to waste my time disbelieving or denying."
It’s clear that Wright doesn’t want to be pinned down to a specific set of dogma. He argues that religious belief has to change and grow, or it will die. One of the main problems in Grace is, in fact, the character Steve’s inflexible conception of God.
"You can’t make an idol out of your religious experience," Wright says. "If you have an experience of the divine and you insist upon organizing everything in life in terms of that experience, you will find yourself against a wall. My experience is that God keeps generating novelty and growing new possibilities all the time.... The essential nature of God doesn’t change. God never stops giving of God’s self, but the forms that giving takes are changing constantly." ...
"What Christianity tells us is that God is the one exacting the price, and God is the one paying the price," Wright says. "The mystery of how we participate in the crucifixion is one of the great blessings of the Christian tradition. Any system of belief that didn’t have such mysterious violence at its core couldn’t save me.... For me, the world is full of horror, and I need my religion to reflect that."
Soul Food Menu: Grace, Sinner/Saint, Shrew, Jewish Film Fest, Bigger Than Jesus, Amazing Grace, Adam's Apples...
Pacific Theatre
GRACE
Closes Apr 14
Over at the Pacific Theatre blog I’ve posted a fascinating article from Sojourners magazine about about the premiere production of our current mainstage show, GRACE. I saw the opening last Friday, and under the direction of Angela Konrad it’s an electric show: Act One is very funny indeed, something I never expected when I read the play on the page, and Act Two as powerfully provocative as ever I expected.
Colin Thomas lauds the show, celebrating all four performances and singling out Kerry van der Griend as “stellar.” He calls the show “provocative, funny, and consistently engaging… A stimulating ride to hell.”
It’s there for a shorter run than usual, so move fast.
731-5518 / www.pacifictheatre.org
*
Pacific Theatre
SINNER/SAINT: Rage Against the Extremes!
Mar 27: Free Performance, 8pm
Mar 30 & 31: After GRACE at 10:15 pm (Pay-what-you-can or free with GRACE tickets)
No reservations necessary
Another of Pacific Theatre’s terrific Apprentice Showcase projects: the world premiere of Tina Teeninga’s RIVER BOTTOM BABY, along with John Lazarus’ BABEL RAP and Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD. Directed by Spencer Capier and Tina Teeninga, starring Lori Kokotailo, Kirsty Provan and Alison Chisholm.
RIVER BOTTOM BABY is the tale of one woman’s search for true identity as impending blindness and a dark secret overwhelm her sense of self. BABEL RAP, a beloved favorite by John Lazarus, is hilariously pointed and thoughtful in the vein of absurdist theatre. Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD wraps up the night with a story of silliness and social criticism.
*
Theatre at Trinity Western
TAMING OF THE SHREW
To Mar 31
Wow! Saw this last night, and have already booked tickets for Saturday night to see it again – all the way out in Langley. I liked it that much. Director Aaron Caleb sets a comic pace that’s giddy, saturated with endlessly inventive physical comedy. The cast throws themselves at the script with heedless abandon, and it works splendidly. And oh my gosh, do they look amazing! In the best costumes ever from Jessie-winning designer Nicole Bach, whose 1950s Italian setting invokes LA DOLCE VITA, or an Ingrid Bergman / Roberto Rossellini collaboration. Wow.
*
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
STEEL TOES
Fifth Avenue Sat Mar 24, 2pm
Fifth Avenue Sun Mar 25, 9:30pm
One of my favourite theatrical experiences was a production of CHERRY DOCS Katrina Dunn directed a few years back at the Cultch, an intense two-man show about a compassionate Jewish legal aid lawyer assigned to defend an unrepentant neo-Nazi skinhead. The production I saw layered the story with scripture, a provocative exploration of hatred and the limits of forgiveness. Canadian David Gow co-directed this 2006 screen adaptation. No guarantee it’ll see a general distribution: see it now!
JUST AN ORDINARY JEW
Fifth Avenue, Fri Mar 23, 9:15pm
Fifth Avenue, Mon Mar 26, 9:15pm
Norman Rothstein Theatre, Wed Mar 28, 7pm
Looks like this one also has a stage pedigree. “A German-Jewish journalist receives a polite letter asking him to speak at a school about his daily life as a "Jewish fellow citizen" to a group of German schoolchildren. Goldfarb can’t imagine what would be of interest to kids regarding his very ordinary life and declines the invitation. His attempt to write his letter of refusal develops into a monumental settling of accounts in which he starkly confronts Germany's dark past and his German-Jewish identity. Goldfarb enters into an amazingly intense monologue on the post-1945 German-Jewish relationship. As he confronts his mask of an “ordinary” Jew, he recognizes that his life, along with his Jewish heritage, is very unordinary. Becker’s stage performance is powerful and thought-provoking.”
WAITING FOR WOODY ALLEN
Fifth Avenue, Thu Mar 29, 7:30pm (before “Fired”)
And this fifteen-minute sketch looks to be just for fun: maybe the appeal is imagining Dan Amos and Nathan Schmidt hauling that park bench out of storage and reprising their characters from THE QUARREL. “Waiting for Woody Allen, a parody of Samuel Beckett's classic “Waiting for Godot,” is a tragic comedy about two quarrelsome Hasidic men, Mendel and Yossel. Disillusioned with religion, therapy and their own friendship, they wait on a bench in Central Park for Woody Allen to come and give meaning to their lives.”
*
And don’t forget the celebrated BIGGER THAN JESUS, a bit of a Canadian theatre phenomenon, in Vancouver for a one-week run at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre: a high-concept one-man-show about Our Guy Who Art In Heaven. Looks inventive, funny, and probably (hopefully) more. Worth a gamble.
And STEEL MAGNOLIAS closes at Gallery 7 this Saturday.
*
SOUL FOOD MOVIES
AMAZING GRACE is – or ought to be – the new buzz-film among Christian movie buffs, and it opens this weekend at the Fifth Avenue and SilverCities Riverport and Coquitlam. Sure it’s got some melodrama, and the script may be over-written at one or two points, but those are quibbles: the story of William Wilberforce’s struggle to outlaw the slave trade stirred me deeply, and I recommend it. Superb companion piece to AMISTAD.
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Fifth Avenue and Cinemark Tinseltown) is next on my gotta-see list, a German film about life during the cold war. PAN’S LABYRINTH continues at the Clova and Granville 7 cinemas, the best general release film of 2006 in my opinion: visually brilliant, see it before it leaves the big screens.
The trailer for BREACH (Hollywood 3 and Granville 7) sure did catch my interest, a fact-based story about a man accused of spying against the US government that foregrounds his impassioned (fanatical?) Catholic faith. The fun-looking FIDO, lensed by Vancouver (Christian) cinematographer Jan Keisser, opened last weekend and continues at a ton of theatres; Colossus Langley, Paramount Vancouver, SilverCity Coquitlam, SilverCity Mission, SilverCity Riverport, Station Square 7, and Empire Studio 12 Guildford.
And starting this next week, a limited-run engagement of ADAM’S APPLES (Mar 30 – Apr 2, 5) at the VanCity Theatre, Vancouver International Film Centre. Utterly fascinating.
GRACE
Closes Apr 14
Over at the Pacific Theatre blog I’ve posted a fascinating article from Sojourners magazine about about the premiere production of our current mainstage show, GRACE. I saw the opening last Friday, and under the direction of Angela Konrad it’s an electric show: Act One is very funny indeed, something I never expected when I read the play on the page, and Act Two as powerfully provocative as ever I expected.
Colin Thomas lauds the show, celebrating all four performances and singling out Kerry van der Griend as “stellar.” He calls the show “provocative, funny, and consistently engaging… A stimulating ride to hell.”
It’s there for a shorter run than usual, so move fast.
731-5518 / www.pacifictheatre.org
*
Pacific Theatre
SINNER/SAINT: Rage Against the Extremes!
Mar 27: Free Performance, 8pm
Mar 30 & 31: After GRACE at 10:15 pm (Pay-what-you-can or free with GRACE tickets)
No reservations necessary
Another of Pacific Theatre’s terrific Apprentice Showcase projects: the world premiere of Tina Teeninga’s RIVER BOTTOM BABY, along with John Lazarus’ BABEL RAP and Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD. Directed by Spencer Capier and Tina Teeninga, starring Lori Kokotailo, Kirsty Provan and Alison Chisholm.
RIVER BOTTOM BABY is the tale of one woman’s search for true identity as impending blindness and a dark secret overwhelm her sense of self. BABEL RAP, a beloved favorite by John Lazarus, is hilariously pointed and thoughtful in the vein of absurdist theatre. Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD wraps up the night with a story of silliness and social criticism.
*
Theatre at Trinity Western
TAMING OF THE SHREW
To Mar 31
Wow! Saw this last night, and have already booked tickets for Saturday night to see it again – all the way out in Langley. I liked it that much. Director Aaron Caleb sets a comic pace that’s giddy, saturated with endlessly inventive physical comedy. The cast throws themselves at the script with heedless abandon, and it works splendidly. And oh my gosh, do they look amazing! In the best costumes ever from Jessie-winning designer Nicole Bach, whose 1950s Italian setting invokes LA DOLCE VITA, or an Ingrid Bergman / Roberto Rossellini collaboration. Wow.
*
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
STEEL TOES
Fifth Avenue Sat Mar 24, 2pm
Fifth Avenue Sun Mar 25, 9:30pm
One of my favourite theatrical experiences was a production of CHERRY DOCS Katrina Dunn directed a few years back at the Cultch, an intense two-man show about a compassionate Jewish legal aid lawyer assigned to defend an unrepentant neo-Nazi skinhead. The production I saw layered the story with scripture, a provocative exploration of hatred and the limits of forgiveness. Canadian David Gow co-directed this 2006 screen adaptation. No guarantee it’ll see a general distribution: see it now!
JUST AN ORDINARY JEW
Fifth Avenue, Fri Mar 23, 9:15pm
Fifth Avenue, Mon Mar 26, 9:15pm
Norman Rothstein Theatre, Wed Mar 28, 7pm
Looks like this one also has a stage pedigree. “A German-Jewish journalist receives a polite letter asking him to speak at a school about his daily life as a "Jewish fellow citizen" to a group of German schoolchildren. Goldfarb can’t imagine what would be of interest to kids regarding his very ordinary life and declines the invitation. His attempt to write his letter of refusal develops into a monumental settling of accounts in which he starkly confronts Germany's dark past and his German-Jewish identity. Goldfarb enters into an amazingly intense monologue on the post-1945 German-Jewish relationship. As he confronts his mask of an “ordinary” Jew, he recognizes that his life, along with his Jewish heritage, is very unordinary. Becker’s stage performance is powerful and thought-provoking.”
WAITING FOR WOODY ALLEN
Fifth Avenue, Thu Mar 29, 7:30pm (before “Fired”)
And this fifteen-minute sketch looks to be just for fun: maybe the appeal is imagining Dan Amos and Nathan Schmidt hauling that park bench out of storage and reprising their characters from THE QUARREL. “Waiting for Woody Allen, a parody of Samuel Beckett's classic “Waiting for Godot,” is a tragic comedy about two quarrelsome Hasidic men, Mendel and Yossel. Disillusioned with religion, therapy and their own friendship, they wait on a bench in Central Park for Woody Allen to come and give meaning to their lives.”
*
And don’t forget the celebrated BIGGER THAN JESUS, a bit of a Canadian theatre phenomenon, in Vancouver for a one-week run at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre: a high-concept one-man-show about Our Guy Who Art In Heaven. Looks inventive, funny, and probably (hopefully) more. Worth a gamble.
And STEEL MAGNOLIAS closes at Gallery 7 this Saturday.
*
SOUL FOOD MOVIES
AMAZING GRACE is – or ought to be – the new buzz-film among Christian movie buffs, and it opens this weekend at the Fifth Avenue and SilverCities Riverport and Coquitlam. Sure it’s got some melodrama, and the script may be over-written at one or two points, but those are quibbles: the story of William Wilberforce’s struggle to outlaw the slave trade stirred me deeply, and I recommend it. Superb companion piece to AMISTAD.
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Fifth Avenue and Cinemark Tinseltown) is next on my gotta-see list, a German film about life during the cold war. PAN’S LABYRINTH continues at the Clova and Granville 7 cinemas, the best general release film of 2006 in my opinion: visually brilliant, see it before it leaves the big screens.
The trailer for BREACH (Hollywood 3 and Granville 7) sure did catch my interest, a fact-based story about a man accused of spying against the US government that foregrounds his impassioned (fanatical?) Catholic faith. The fun-looking FIDO, lensed by Vancouver (Christian) cinematographer Jan Keisser, opened last weekend and continues at a ton of theatres; Colossus Langley, Paramount Vancouver, SilverCity Coquitlam, SilverCity Mission, SilverCity Riverport, Station Square 7, and Empire Studio 12 Guildford.
And starting this next week, a limited-run engagement of ADAM’S APPLES (Mar 30 – Apr 2, 5) at the VanCity Theatre, Vancouver International Film Centre. Utterly fascinating.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Sinner/Saint at Pacific Theatre
NOTE: DUE TO THE ILLNESS OF ONE OF THE CAST MEMBERS, PERFORMANCES OF BABEL RAP & CABBAGE HEAD WILL BE POSTPONED. RIVER BOTTOM BABY WILL BE PRESENTED AS PLANNED
SINNER/SAINT
Rage Against the Extremes!
Vancouver, B.C. March 27th-31st
Pacific Theatre and Stone’s Throw Productions are proud to present the world premiere of Tina Teeninga’s RIVER BOTTOM BABY, along with John Lazarus’ BABEL RAP and Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD, with direction by Spencer Capier and Tina Teeninga, playing March 27th-31st at Pacific Theatre.
RIVER BOTTOM BABY is the tale of one woman’s search for true identity as impending blindness and a dark secret overwhelm her sense of self. BABEL RAP, a beloved favorite by John Lazarus, is hilariously pointed and thoughtful in the vein of absurdist theatre. Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD wraps up the night with a story of silliness and social criticism.
Dynamically directed by the proficient Spencer Capier (COTTON PATCH GOSPEL, Pacific Theatre), RIVER BOTTOM BABY stars the effervescent Lori Kokotailo (BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, Pacific Theatre). BABEL RAP and CABBAGE HEAD highlight the significant emerging talents of Kirsty Provan (NORMAL, Pacific Theatre & Stones Throw Productions) and Alison Chisholm (SISTER MARY AGNACIOUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU, Sears Drama Festival) under the direction of Tina Teeninga (NORMAL, Pacific Theatre & Stones Throw Productions).
SINNER/SAINT features the talents of three of Pacific Theatre’s apprentices, as well as some of Vancouver’s most talented emerging artists. Pacific Theatre’s apprenticeship program affords actors the chance to perform on a professional stage, and also provides artists the opportunity to produce original work from “the ground up”. Stay tuned for REMNANTS, Pacific Theatre’s mainstage emerging artist production, playing from May 16-June 8th.
Details:SINNER/SAINT: 3 one act plays
When: Free Performance, March 27 at 8pm.
After GRACE at 10:15 pm, March 30th and 31st.
Where: Pacific Theatre. 1420 W 12th Ave at Hemlock St., Vancouver, BC.
Tickets:Free, March 27th.
Pay-what-you can Mar 30-31 or free with tickets to Pacific Theatre’s GRACE.
No reservations necessary.
SINNER/SAINT
Rage Against the Extremes!
Vancouver, B.C. March 27th-31st
Pacific Theatre and Stone’s Throw Productions are proud to present the world premiere of Tina Teeninga’s RIVER BOTTOM BABY, along with John Lazarus’ BABEL RAP and Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD, with direction by Spencer Capier and Tina Teeninga, playing March 27th-31st at Pacific Theatre.
RIVER BOTTOM BABY is the tale of one woman’s search for true identity as impending blindness and a dark secret overwhelm her sense of self. BABEL RAP, a beloved favorite by John Lazarus, is hilariously pointed and thoughtful in the vein of absurdist theatre. Julie Jensen’s CABBAGE HEAD wraps up the night with a story of silliness and social criticism.
Dynamically directed by the proficient Spencer Capier (COTTON PATCH GOSPEL, Pacific Theatre), RIVER BOTTOM BABY stars the effervescent Lori Kokotailo (BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, Pacific Theatre). BABEL RAP and CABBAGE HEAD highlight the significant emerging talents of Kirsty Provan (NORMAL, Pacific Theatre & Stones Throw Productions) and Alison Chisholm (SISTER MARY AGNACIOUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU, Sears Drama Festival) under the direction of Tina Teeninga (NORMAL, Pacific Theatre & Stones Throw Productions).
SINNER/SAINT features the talents of three of Pacific Theatre’s apprentices, as well as some of Vancouver’s most talented emerging artists. Pacific Theatre’s apprenticeship program affords actors the chance to perform on a professional stage, and also provides artists the opportunity to produce original work from “the ground up”. Stay tuned for REMNANTS, Pacific Theatre’s mainstage emerging artist production, playing from May 16-June 8th.
Details:SINNER/SAINT: 3 one act plays
When: Free Performance, March 27 at 8pm.
After GRACE at 10:15 pm, March 30th and 31st.
Where: Pacific Theatre. 1420 W 12th Ave at Hemlock St., Vancouver, BC.
Tickets:Free, March 27th.
Pay-what-you can Mar 30-31 or free with tickets to Pacific Theatre’s GRACE.
No reservations necessary.
Friday, March 16, 2007
GRACE Notes from the Artistic Director
We’ve got this thing on our office wall – a mission statement, a mandate, whatever you call those. And even though I don’t know what it is, exactly, we do pay attention to it, more than you might think.
There’s one part about striving to operate with artistic, spiritual, relational and financial integrity, and you’d be surprised how often that comes up. (“Should we shaft this guy?” “I dunno, let’s see what the writing on the wall says…” That sort of thing). There’s another bit about plays that “explore the spiritual aspects of human experience,” which comes in handy when selecting (or rejecting) scripts.
But what’s been on my mind since Grace rehearsals started is the part that says we aim “to delight, provoke, entertain, stimulate and challenge” our audience. Because Grace covers more than its share of those pithy verbs. It provokes and challenges me – not to mention unsettles, annoys, surprises and worries me – at the same time as it entertains and, ultimately, moves me. (Why isn’t that one on the list? Time for some tinkering.)
This isn’t a comfortable play, or a comforting one: it doesn’t reassure, doesn’t coddle, doesn’t make nice. I don’t agree with all it has to say, I don’t think it always plays fair, sometimes it out-and-out makes me mad. But that’s what I love about it.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the theatre to be coddled. Oh, I do love the occasional piece that reassures or inspires or encourages – God knows we need all the courage we can get in these sometimes desperate days – but there’s nothing quite like the bracing, head-clearing shot of adrenaline that comes from a play that shakes things up a bit.
So, in the tradition of Learning To Live With Personal Growth and Hospitality Suite, Prodigal Son and Espresso, we offer…. Grace. Not cheap grace, nor easy, but I think when all’s said and done, real grace. In all its confounding Mystery.
Ron Reed,
Artistic Director
There’s one part about striving to operate with artistic, spiritual, relational and financial integrity, and you’d be surprised how often that comes up. (“Should we shaft this guy?” “I dunno, let’s see what the writing on the wall says…” That sort of thing). There’s another bit about plays that “explore the spiritual aspects of human experience,” which comes in handy when selecting (or rejecting) scripts.
But what’s been on my mind since Grace rehearsals started is the part that says we aim “to delight, provoke, entertain, stimulate and challenge” our audience. Because Grace covers more than its share of those pithy verbs. It provokes and challenges me – not to mention unsettles, annoys, surprises and worries me – at the same time as it entertains and, ultimately, moves me. (Why isn’t that one on the list? Time for some tinkering.)
This isn’t a comfortable play, or a comforting one: it doesn’t reassure, doesn’t coddle, doesn’t make nice. I don’t agree with all it has to say, I don’t think it always plays fair, sometimes it out-and-out makes me mad. But that’s what I love about it.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the theatre to be coddled. Oh, I do love the occasional piece that reassures or inspires or encourages – God knows we need all the courage we can get in these sometimes desperate days – but there’s nothing quite like the bracing, head-clearing shot of adrenaline that comes from a play that shakes things up a bit.
So, in the tradition of Learning To Live With Personal Growth and Hospitality Suite, Prodigal Son and Espresso, we offer…. Grace. Not cheap grace, nor easy, but I think when all’s said and done, real grace. In all its confounding Mystery.
Ron Reed,
Artistic Director
March 23 - April 21 Canadian Show in Seattle, Produced by Taproot Theatre
Contact: Marie Frederickson
(206) 529-3666
marie@taproottheatre.org
For Immediate Release
Kill Date: April 22, 2007
TAPROOT THEATRE PRODUCES NORTHWEST PREMIERE OF MARY’S WEDDING
An Award-Winning New Work by Canadian playwright, Stephen Massicotte
This heartfelt, critically acclaimed new work explores the beauty of love and the call of duty against the backdrop of World War I. On the eve of her wedding, Mary dreams of the first time she met Charlie. Memories of young love weave together through letters of their long distance courtship between the farmlands of Canada and the battlefields of France. Mary’s Wedding runs March 23 through April 21. All performances are held at Taproot Theatre at 204 N. 85th Street in Seattle. Mary’s Wedding is sponsored in part by 4Culture. Taproot Theatre’s 2007 Season partners include ArtsFund, The Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, City of Seattle Office of Economic Development, KUOW, and PONCHO.
About the Production
“So, tomorrow is Mary’s wedding, tonight is just a dream. I ask you to remember that. It begins at the end and ends at the beginning.” – Charlie, Mary’s Wedding Act 1
Mary’s Wedding takes place in a dream, traveling between the farmlands of Canada and the trenches of France during World War I. Taproot Theatre’s production dramatizes the simplicity and complexity of a dream world. Relying on the aesthetic of lighting and a constant soundscape to establish location, Mary (played by Jesse Notehelfer) and Charlie (Sam Wilson) move between a barn, tea party, shipyard and warfare trenches, maneuvering in and out of natural time and space. World War I images project against a pallid set as a constant reminder of the backdrop to the intimate love story. Blending stylized and natural movement
(choreographed by Bob Borwick and Kelly Balch), Charlie and Mary go in and out of authentic reality and Mary’s dream reality, including moments when she embodies Charlie’s officer, Sergeant Flowerdew.
“Mary’s Wedding is highly theatrical. In many ways this play has stretched us artistically,” says director Karen Lund. “There are scenic, sound and lighting elements we have never tried before on our stage. I am delighted to share this new work with our audience.”
Taproot Theatre’s production is staged under the direction of Associate Artistic Director, Karen Lund. Her production team includes scenic and sound designer Mark Lund, costume designer Sarah Burch Gordon, and lighting designer Andy Duff. Rebecca Patterson serves as stage manager and Judy Naegeli as dramaturg.
Performance Dates & Tickets
Mary’s Wedding opens March 23 and runs Wednesday through Saturday through April 21. Midweek performances begin at 7:30 PM, Saturday matinees at 2:00 PM and Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM. Low cost previews are offered Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 at 7:30 PM. There is a special pay-what-you-can performance on Wednesday, March 28. Tickets for that performance go on sale at noon the day of performance at Taproot Theatre’s box office. A dessert reception with the cast and director follows the opening night performance on Friday, March 23. Post-play discussions follow all Wednesday evening performances. A senior matinee performance is offered on Wednesday April 18 at 2:00 PM.
Tickets for Mary’s Wedding are $25 - $27 for midweek performances and Saturday matinees, and $29 - $32 for Friday and Saturday night performances. Preview performances are $19 - $21. Full-time students and seniors receive a $2 discount off all general tickets. Half-price student/senior rush tickets are available fifteen minutes prior to performance, subject to availability. Group discounts are available for parties of eight or more. Tickets may be ordered by phone by calling Ticketmaster at (206) 292-ARTS.
About the Playwright
Stephen Massicotte initially set out to write an anti-war play using World War I as a setting. As the writing progressed, his personal experience of love and relationship found its way into the interactions between Mary and Charlie. The result was a critically acclaimed play with a prominent love story set against the backdrop of
World War I. Mary’s Wedding was Stephen Massicotte’s first full-length play, and has proven to be a success. Since its premiere at the 2002 playRites Festival at Alberta Theatre Projects, Mary’s Wedding has won the 2002 Betty Mitchell Award for Best New Play and the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for outstanding new publication. Mary’s Wedding has been produced in at least ten Canadian Regional Theatres, including Victoria’s Belfry, Regina’s Globe, Thunder Bay’s Magnus Theatre, the Brome Theatre in Eastern Townships, Theatre New Brunswick, and the Eastern Front Theatre, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It has been produced in Washington D.C., San Jose, CA, England, and Scotland. His other award-winning plays include The Emperor of Atlantis, A Farewell to Kings and the one act plays Hombres and One Hard Pull. His plays, My Life of Crime and Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook series, have been Fringe Festival and Calgary Edmonton cult favorites.
Stephen is a member of the Alberta Playwrights Network, the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers and the Playwrights Guild. He is a member of the Alberta Union of Canada. Stephen is the playwright in Residence at Theatre Calgary and a frequent collaborator with Ground Zero Theatre. He has a degree in Drama from the University of Calgary.
Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, non-profit theatre company with a multi-faceted production program. Founded in 1976, Taproot Theatre serves the Pacific Northwest with Mainstage Productions, Touring Productions and Acting Studio. Taproot exists to create theatre that explores the beauty and questions of life while bringing hope to our search for meaning. Taproot Theatre Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Theatre Puget Sound (TPS), and the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce.
###
MARY’S WEDDING FACT SHEET
WHAT: Mary’s Wedding, by Stephen Massicotte. Directed by Karen Lund.
WHEN: Previews March 21 and March 22. Opens March 23 and runs Wednesday through Saturday through April 21. Pay What You Can Performance March 28. Senior Matinee performance April 18.
WHERE: Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th Street in Seattle
TICKETS: Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday matinees, $25 and $27; Friday and Saturday evenings, $29 and $32; Wednesday and Thursday previews, $19 and $21; Student/Senior discount of $2 off per ticket. Group rates are available. For tickets contact Taproot Theatre’s box office at (206) 781-9707, box@taproottheatre.org or Ticketmaster at (206) 292-ARTS.
SCHEDULE: Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 PM, Friday and Saturday 8:00 PM, Saturday Matinee 2:00 PM
CALENDAR:
Wed. March 21 7:30 PM Preview
Thurs. March 22 7:30 PM Preview
Fri. March 23 8:00 PM Opening Night with Reception
Sat. March 24 2:00 PM
Sat. March 24 8:00 PM
Wed. March 28 7:30 PM PWYC Performance, Post Play Discussion
Thurs. March 29 7:30 PM
Fri. March 30 8:00 PM
Sat. March 31 2:00 PM
Sat. March 31 8:00 PM
Wed. April 4 7:30 PM Post Play Discussion
Thurs. April 5 7:30 PM
Fri. April 6 8:00 PM
Sat. April 7 2:00 PM
Sat. April 7 8:00 PM
Wed. April 11 7:30 PM Post Play Discussion
Thurs. April 12 7:30 PM
Fri. April 13 8:00 PM
Sat. April 14 2:00 PM
Sat. April 14 8:00 PM
Wed. April 18 7:30 PM Post Play Discussion
Thurs. April 19 7:30 PM
Fri. April 20 8:00 PM
Sat. April 21 2:00 PM
Sat. April 21 8:00 PM Closing Night
###
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Mar 1-18: "A Delicate Balance," Anthony Ingram
Anthony Ingram's involvement with Pacific Theatre goes right back to 1984, when "Tony" auditioned for the Pacific Salt Company! A billion shows later at PT (ELEPHANT MAN, BEGGARS AT THE WATERS OF IMMORTALITY, HALO, PRIVATE EYES, RON'S FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY PARTY, etc, etc) and everywhere else, Anthony's in the director's chair for Eddy Albee's seventy-ninth birthday party...
Tempus Theatre presents…
Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winning play
A Delicate Balance
Directed by Anthony F. Ingram
Starring: Anna Hagan, Terence Kelly, Teryl Rothery, Bert Steinmanis, Valerie Sing Turner, and T Weir
March 1 - 18
Tuesday to Sunday 8pm
Jericho Arts Centre
1675 Discovery Street (at NW Marine Drive)
Pay-What-You-Will: Tuesday March 6 and 13
For Tickets: ticketstonight or 604.231.7538
Join us after the show on March 11, and celebrate Edward Albee’s 79th Birthday!
On an autumn weekend, Agnes and Tobias find their stately home invaded by her alcoholic sister, their daughter who has just left her fourth marriage, and their best friends seeking refuge from a mysterious terror. As the powerful ties between family, friends and each other begin to pull in opposing directions, Agnes and Tobias discover that more is at stake than just who gets the spare room.
"[A Delicate Balance] is basically about these people who have accommodated to their own weaknesses and compromises, the adjustments they've made. When the time comes that there is a demand put on them, they have to figure out whether or not they are strong enough anymore to do what should normally be done; the Christian way, to take you in. The [delicate balance] is between what we should be doing and what we ultimately decide we need to do to protect ourselves."
-Edward Albee
Who - or what - is Tempus Theatre?
In 2005, five actors - Anna Hagan, Anthony F. Ingram, Bert Steinmanis, Valerie Sing Turner and T Weir - were brought together as part of the cast of Caryl Churchill’s groundbreaking work, Cloud 9, which became both an audience and critical success. Challenged by the complexity of the play and inspired by each other’s talent, ideas and passions, they sought a way to continue working together on scripts that challenged actor and audience both artistically and intellectually. Thus, Tempus Theatre was born. Celebrating the ephemeral essence of theatre – the unrepeatable moment of performance – Tempus Theatre is committed to producing strong, text-based work that provokes consideration of the past that has shaped us, the present we live in and the possible futures we may encounter. For more information about Tempus Theatre, visit us on the web
Mar 28 - Apr 7: Bigger Than Jesus, Cultch
I tried to see this one in other cities - Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton - thinking to maybe bring it out to Pacific Theatre. Actually got a Canada Council grant to check it out at one point, but the timing was off. And then found out the show would be coming here anyway. So that's good. (Probably wouldn't have fit in my little room anyhow. "Bigger Than Jesus Bigger Than PT!"...)
Pretty sure it won't be exactly orthodox, but pretty sure it will be stimulating, entertaining, and very, very theatrical. I don't know about you, but I often get the most spiritual nourishment from artists who may not be "believers," but who encounter this this stuff with fresh eyes, surprisable hearts and new language. Let yourself be distracted by what they get wrong and you'll probably miss out on what they get right - sometimes, something nobody else got quite right, or at least not in quite the same way, ever before.
When it comes down to it, though, I'm just a Jesus junkie. If it's got that guy in it, I've got to check it out. For good or ill, I'm there.
See you - and Jesus, I hope - at the Cultch.
*
BIGGER THAN JESUS
Created by Rick Miller and Daniel Brooks
Performed by Rick Miller
Directed by Daniel Brooks
Designed by Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson
Mar 28 - Apr 7, 8pm
Mar 31 & Apr 7, 4pm matinees
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
Who was Jesus? Was he the Son of God or just another prophet? Bigger than Jesus begins with a 33-year-old man coming face to face with the Roman Catholicism ingrained in his youth. He leads us on a quest to understand the tremendous impact that a Jewish peasant from Galilee has had on the world. Through twelve interlocking character portraits (mirroring the 12 stages of the Passion), we confront varying interpretations of Christ and Christianity, and the often cavernous gulf between them.
This challenging new one-man show features the trademark humour and intelligence of actor/playwright Rick Miller. Live video projections show off Miller’s facial expressions, Daniel Brooks’ clever staging, and the play’s innovative design. Bigger than Jesus has wowed audiences across Canada, the US, Germany and Italy. Christians and non-Christians alike will find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy. Visit the show's website to learn more.
TOP 10 SHOWS of 2004—Toronto Star
TOP 10 SHOWS of 2004—NOW Magazine
BEST of 2004—EYE Magazine
WINNER: Dora Award for Production, Actor and Lighting
*
ABOUT THE SHOW
"Religion is the best defense against a religious experience." Carl Jung
"An exciting piece of multimedia theater with a challenging point of view, Bigger Than Jesus could have a big future... a fast-paced, thought-provoking ride." Variety
Two thousand years after his death, Jesus continues to be a potent and controversial figure, inspiring both devout worship and incalculable violence. Who was Jesus? Was he the Son of God or just another prophet? A politically correct social worker or the Messiah? Bigger than Jesus grapples with the thorny crown of Christianity through conflicting viewpoints, each embodied by a character obsessed with Jesus. A challenging new one-man show featuring the trademark humour and intelligence of Rick Miller.
"Miller and Brooks divide the piece into several substantial units. In each of them, Miller plays a different character: a Jewish academic, a revivalist preacher, an obsequious flight attendant, and, finally, Jesus himself. One of the show's strengths is the way miller takes each of these portraits right to the edge, making them zestily theatrical, but without ever slipping into caricature.
"The best sequence is the Last Supper, which Miller begins by staging with a series of tiny plastic dolls - everyone from Jesus through the Tin Man, Darth Vader and George W. Bush. He then launches into a sharp and accurate parody of "Gesthemene" from Jesus Christ Superstar, which shows off his excellent singing voice and scores some telling satirical points.
"One of the show's greatest strengths is the use of a live video camera that allows Miller's facial expressions and Brooks' clever staging to be seen to best advantage. The camera flies, twists and changes focus to create a series of striking, always apt visual images, sometimes projecting onto the screen, sometimes onto Miller himself.
"Non-Christian viewers may not grasp all the subtleties of the piece's parallel structure with the Catholic Mass but will still find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy." Variety
*
Weaving together the Catholic liturgy, the gospels and some good old-fashioned bible-thumpin’, Bigger than Jesus is a funny and poignant multi-media mass that questions the mysteries of life and the thorny crown of Christianity.
This challenging new one-man show features the trademark humour and intelligence of actor/playwright Rick Miller. Live video projections show off Miller’s facial expressions, Daniel Brooks’ clever staging, and the play’s innovative design. Bigger than Jesus has wowed audiences across Canada, the US, Germany and Italy. Christians and non-Christians alike will find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy.
Pretty sure it won't be exactly orthodox, but pretty sure it will be stimulating, entertaining, and very, very theatrical. I don't know about you, but I often get the most spiritual nourishment from artists who may not be "believers," but who encounter this this stuff with fresh eyes, surprisable hearts and new language. Let yourself be distracted by what they get wrong and you'll probably miss out on what they get right - sometimes, something nobody else got quite right, or at least not in quite the same way, ever before.
When it comes down to it, though, I'm just a Jesus junkie. If it's got that guy in it, I've got to check it out. For good or ill, I'm there.
See you - and Jesus, I hope - at the Cultch.
*
BIGGER THAN JESUS
Created by Rick Miller and Daniel Brooks
Performed by Rick Miller
Directed by Daniel Brooks
Designed by Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson
Mar 28 - Apr 7, 8pm
Mar 31 & Apr 7, 4pm matinees
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
Who was Jesus? Was he the Son of God or just another prophet? Bigger than Jesus begins with a 33-year-old man coming face to face with the Roman Catholicism ingrained in his youth. He leads us on a quest to understand the tremendous impact that a Jewish peasant from Galilee has had on the world. Through twelve interlocking character portraits (mirroring the 12 stages of the Passion), we confront varying interpretations of Christ and Christianity, and the often cavernous gulf between them.
This challenging new one-man show features the trademark humour and intelligence of actor/playwright Rick Miller. Live video projections show off Miller’s facial expressions, Daniel Brooks’ clever staging, and the play’s innovative design. Bigger than Jesus has wowed audiences across Canada, the US, Germany and Italy. Christians and non-Christians alike will find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy. Visit the show's website to learn more.
TOP 10 SHOWS of 2004—Toronto Star
TOP 10 SHOWS of 2004—NOW Magazine
BEST of 2004—EYE Magazine
WINNER: Dora Award for Production, Actor and Lighting
*
ABOUT THE SHOW
"Religion is the best defense against a religious experience." Carl Jung
"An exciting piece of multimedia theater with a challenging point of view, Bigger Than Jesus could have a big future... a fast-paced, thought-provoking ride." Variety
Two thousand years after his death, Jesus continues to be a potent and controversial figure, inspiring both devout worship and incalculable violence. Who was Jesus? Was he the Son of God or just another prophet? A politically correct social worker or the Messiah? Bigger than Jesus grapples with the thorny crown of Christianity through conflicting viewpoints, each embodied by a character obsessed with Jesus. A challenging new one-man show featuring the trademark humour and intelligence of Rick Miller.
"Miller and Brooks divide the piece into several substantial units. In each of them, Miller plays a different character: a Jewish academic, a revivalist preacher, an obsequious flight attendant, and, finally, Jesus himself. One of the show's strengths is the way miller takes each of these portraits right to the edge, making them zestily theatrical, but without ever slipping into caricature.
"The best sequence is the Last Supper, which Miller begins by staging with a series of tiny plastic dolls - everyone from Jesus through the Tin Man, Darth Vader and George W. Bush. He then launches into a sharp and accurate parody of "Gesthemene" from Jesus Christ Superstar, which shows off his excellent singing voice and scores some telling satirical points.
"One of the show's greatest strengths is the use of a live video camera that allows Miller's facial expressions and Brooks' clever staging to be seen to best advantage. The camera flies, twists and changes focus to create a series of striking, always apt visual images, sometimes projecting onto the screen, sometimes onto Miller himself.
"Non-Christian viewers may not grasp all the subtleties of the piece's parallel structure with the Catholic Mass but will still find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy." Variety
*
Weaving together the Catholic liturgy, the gospels and some good old-fashioned bible-thumpin’, Bigger than Jesus is a funny and poignant multi-media mass that questions the mysteries of life and the thorny crown of Christianity.
This challenging new one-man show features the trademark humour and intelligence of actor/playwright Rick Miller. Live video projections show off Miller’s facial expressions, Daniel Brooks’ clever staging, and the play’s innovative design. Bigger than Jesus has wowed audiences across Canada, the US, Germany and Italy. Christians and non-Christians alike will find plenty of philosophical points to chew over, as well as virtuoso performing and staging to enjoy.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Mar 21-31: The Taming Of The Shrew, TWU
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
By William Shakespeare
March 21 -31
Wed-Sat
Evenings: 8pm
Saturday matinees: 2pm
Freedom Hall, Trinity Western University
Tickets:
Adults: $12
Students & seniors: $10
*Opening night and matinees: 2 for 1
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 and FRIDAY, MARCH 23 PERFORMANCES ALREADY SOLD OUT! BOOK YOUR TICKETS SOON!
For more info or to purchase tickets online, visit our website:
www.twu.ca/theatre
For directions to campus, visit:
http://www.twu.ca/campus/directions/
For directions to Freedom Hall once you arrive on campus, visit:
http://www.twu.ca/campus/map/
For details on the show, see below:
THEATRE AT TWU TRAVELS TO 1950’S ITALY FOR
The Taming of the Shrew
LANGLEY, B.C.
1950’s Italy. Sun in your eyes… Love in the air…. Cross-dressing in the piazza??!! Trinity Western University presents William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in a production that rethinks this classic battle of the sexes as a meeting of the minds.
“Traditionally, this play focuses on gender conflict and many people see the “taming” of Kate as anti-feminist” says director Aaron Caleb. “Our production really messes with the usual gender stereotyping because I think the story is ultimately about people connecting. The personalities are what give the play its spark and its humour.”
Caleb has blurred the gender distinctions to rework the script for his mostly female cast. This production has: female characters that were originally male, females playing males who disguise themselves as females, females who play both male and female roles, and males portraying male characters who masquerade as females. Confused yet? That’s all right, since Caleb believes the play is all about confusion and connection.
Two Abbotsford natives are among the women who play men in this production. Fourth year theatre major Laura Van Dyke plays the male servant Grumio (who disguises himself as a woman in one scene) and second year student Jenni Fischer plays both a young boy and an old woman.
“In order to play the role, I found I had to completely transform my body,” Van Dyke says. “My walk became much more grounded and solid, my voice changed. I even feel stronger!” Fischer agrees, “Playing both a boy and a woman makes you very aware of your physical choices,” she says. “It has been fun to explore the different ways age and gender affect movement and to try to incorporate that in these characters.”
Fast-paced, fun and full of physical comedy, The Taming of the Shrew features stunning 1950s fashions by award-winning costume designer Nicole Bach. The range of styles in that decade provided ample opportunity for Bach to create a distinctive look for each character that displays her obvious love for the period.
The Taming of the Shrew features Jackie Faulkner as Katherina, John Voth as Petruchio, Rebecca Branscom as Bianca, Thomas Gage as Lucentio and Laura Van Dyke as Grumio. Completing the cast are Daniel Cloake, Jenni Fischer, Amanda Hart, Matthew Nauta, Holly Pillsbury, Laura Taylor, and Robert Steinkamp. The design team is Nicole Bach (costumes), Lora-Lynne Frewing, (lighting) and Aaron Caleb, who furthered his directorial vision by designing a sun-drenched Italian piazza for the set. The Stage Manager is Victoria Thompson, assisted by Carrie Waterton and Erin Mahoney.
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