A Madhouse Dramedy – Toronto Fringe 2012 Press Release

From press release

A group therapy session has gone awry and now the therapist is dead. The patients try to go about their everyday routine, but that pesky dead therapist is complicating things. And wouldn’t you know it, now she’s up and vanished! Join Dorian, Joanna and Taylor as they hunt for the deceased Mildred; as well as any semblance of sanity.

Rearranging the English Language and bordering between reality and fantasy, this play challenges social norms of normal behavior with bold, creative storytelling by a group of young artists from across the country.

This piece plays with the idea of using words to not speak what we feel. The characters live in a self created sociological world, wherein unique wordplay makes up their daily conversation. This is meant to distract themselves from the madness of it all, but the roots of their malady is far from treated. Band‐aid solutions are temporary after all and the evidence of their own lack of stability is literally lying dead on their living room floor.

Conceived and inspired during a rehearsal for a production of Sweeney Todd, A Madhouse Dramedy underwent a brief work shopping process while the playwright was in attendance at the University of Alberta. This culminated in a public read at the 2010 NextFest Next Generation Arts Festival. What originally began as wordplay, quickly became so much more. So join us at the 2012 Fringe Festival for a fantastical and often surreal therapy session sure to boggle the mind as these three maniacs attempt to deal with one very dead therapist.

Stage Mages

In association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents

A Madhouse Dramedy

Written & Directed by Scott Garland

Featuring: Alexander Offord, Nicole Wilson, Geneviève Trottier, Graeme Black Robinson

July 4 – July 14, 2012

St. Vladimir’s Theatre

620 Spadina Avenue

 

Performances:

July 4, 7:00pm

July 8, 11:00pm

July 9, 4:45pm

July 11, 9:30pm

July 12, 12:00pm

July 13, 8:00pm

July 14, 1:45pm

 

Tickets: $11 in advance, $10 at the door

Tickets can be purchased online at www.fringetoronto.com or via phone at  (416)‐966‐1062 x1 or in person at the Festival Box Office 581 Bloor Street West