From Press Release
TORONTO, ON… Interim Artistic Team members Nina Lee Aquino and Nigel Shawn Williams today announced Factory Theatre’s revitalized 2012-13 season, sponsored by BMO Financial Group.
“We are excited to present programming that honours the company’s long-standing mandate of producing powerful Canadian theatre. This season’s wide theatrical spectrum embraces two world premieres of plays developed in-house, Stopheart by Amy Lee Lavoie and Every Letter Counts by Nina Lee Aquino, and two exciting projects – SummerWorks Festival (Toronto) stand-out Iceland by Nicolas Billon and, in the Studio Theatre, PuSh Festival (Vancouver) hit Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata by Bill Richardson and Veda Hille, a co-production with Acting Up Stage Company. We want to extend a warm welcome to all of this season’s artists and audiences, old and new. This is a challenging and fruitful time to build new relationships and cement old ones and, together with you, we hope to build a strong future for Factory.”
Launching the season is the world premiere of Every Letter Counts by Nina Lee Aquino, January 26 – February 24, 2013. Directed by Nigel Shawn Williams, the play stars Nina Lee Aquino, Jon de Leon, Anthony Malarky and Earl Pastko. Commemorating an important part of Filipino history from a perspective that blends the political and the personal, Bunny looks back at the legacy of her uncle, Filipino political and cultural icon Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and discovers he has given her more than the power of words. He has given her the power to shape her own destiny.
Nina is a multiple award-winning Filipina-Canadian playwright, director, dramaturge, actor and an artistic director – founding member/AD of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company and current Cahoots Theatre Company AD. For three years, Aquino was an Associate Artist of Factory and her new play, Every Letter Counts, was developed at Factory Theatre during Nina’s Canada Council Playwright Residency. Previews are January 26, 27, 29 and 30 and the opening is on January 31. Classical 96.3 FM is the radio sponsor of Every Letter Counts.
Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata, by Bill Richardson and Veda Hille, plays January 30 – March 3 in Factory’s Studio Theatre. Directed by Amiel Gladstone, the musical features Dmitry Chepovetsky, Bree Greig, Daren A. Herbert, Veda Hille, Selina Martin and Barry Mirochnick. The Toronto premiere is co-produced by Acting Up Stage Company and Factory Theatre. “Both hilarious and surprisingly poignant,” says Acting Up Stage Company’s Artistic Director Mitchell Marcus, “Do You Want What I Have Got? explores contemporary humanity through the lens of Craigslist – an online classified site with over 50 million ads posted each month.”
Bill Richardson is an award-winning writer and broadcaster with CBC Radio since 1984 and currently host of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and In Concert. Veda Hille has been writing songs, making records, and playing shows since 1992. She has released 13 albums, the latest being Young Saint Marie. Previews are on January 30, 31 and February 1, 2, 3 and 5, the industry opening is on February 6 and the opening is on February 7 in the Studio.(http://actingupstage.com).
Iceland, by Nicolas Billon and directed by Ravi Jain, recent winner of the Pauline McGibbon Award for Emerging Director, plays March 2 -24 in Factory’s Mainspace Theatre. Set against the backdrop of the banking crisis, a confrontation between a real estate agent and a tenant takes an unexpected turn. Original cast members Kawa Ada, Claire Calnan and Christine Horne star in the Factory premiere of the SummerWorks 2012 sold-out hit –Iceland won the Contra Guys Award for Outstanding New Performance Text and Now Magazine’s Audience Choice Award.
Nicolas Billon’s plays and translations have been produced at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Canadian Stage, and the Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. He is best known for The Elephant Song, Greenland and Iceland. Voted one of the Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2009 by NOW Magazine, Nicolas also works in film and has three feature screenplays in development. Iceland previews on March 2, 3, 5 and 6 and opens on March 7 in the Mainspace.
Factory’s 2012-13 season concludes with the world premiere of Amy Lee Lavoie’s Stopheart, helmed by Edmonton-based director Ron Jenkins, May 4 – 26. Growing up in a small town is hard. Growing up different in a small town in Northern Ontario town called South Porcupine is even harder. Stopheart is a heart-wrenching side-splitting dark comedy.
Amy Lee Lavoie is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, and was a Canada Council Playwright-in-Residence at Factory Theatre during 2011-12, a member of Factory’s Natural Resources creation group, a member of the Playwriting Forum at Citadel Theatre and a member of Cahoots Theatre’s Playwrights’ Hothouse. Stopheart previews on May 4, 5, 7 and 8 and opens May 9 in the Mainspace.
Four-play and three-play sampler subscriptions range from $105 to $135. 2012-13 single tickets range from $32 to $47. Call the box office at (416) 504-9971, visit in person during box office hours at 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, or visit online 24/7 at www.factorytheatre.ca.
Mainspace show times are Tuesday to Saturday, 8pm, and Sunday, 2 p.m. (preview, 7 p.m.); preview tickets are $22 with regular single tickets are $32 Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday (advance), $36 Friday and $42 Saturday.
Studio show times for Craigslist run Tuesday to Saturday, 8 p.m., plus two Saturday 2 p.m. matinee shows – February 9 and 23, and two shows on Sunday, 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; preview tickets are $22 with regular single tickets for Craigslist are $35 Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday (advance), $40 on Friday and $47 on Saturday. Sunday Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) tickets and savings for students, seniors, arts workers, and groups (10+) are available.
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