ANCIENT HISTORY – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

aware! productions presents

ANCIENT HISTORY

By David Ives

New Toronto-based company presents the Canadian Premiere of ANCIENT HISTORY – an early gem by the comic genius, David Ives, award-winning author of VENUS IN FUR.

Ruth and Jack. Two tall, thin, witty thirty-somethings who “are the same person” – the perfect match. Two lovers who never fight, can hum the Mendelssohn Octet and quote the Marx brothers by heart. Two lovers in Paradise, celebrating Ruth’s birthday….until a marriage proposal and cultural differences threaten to drive them apart. Can their “alikeness” triumph over their differences?

Written by David Ives, the mastermind behind such hits as ALL IN THE TIMING and the Tony award-winning VENUS IN FUR, this lesser-known gem premiered on Broadway in 1989, was revised and remounted in 1996, and has never been professionally produced in Canada. A tightly-written script with endless witticisms, puns, and intellectual repartee, ANCIENT HISTORY is a hilarious, hard-hitting two-hander that leaves no holds barred in both humour and heartbreak.

Producer/actor Tiana Leonty and Director Richard Beaune came across this play while completing their MFA degrees at York University, and teamed up with York BFA grad – Assistant Director Alexandra Augustine. Rounding out the company are actor Zack Amzallag and Stage Manager Virginia Cardinal. Beaune is the Artistic Director of Keystone Theatre (The Last Man on Earth), where he directed Dora award-winning The Belle of Winnipeg, and is also directing Gold Fever at this year’s Fringe. Leonty (playing “Ruth”), is an Edmonton Fringe Festival veteran making her Toronto stage debut. Amzallag (playing “Jack”) recently appeared in Teatron Jewish Theatre’s Handle with Care and makes his Toronto Fringe debut.

aware! productions has assembled an all-star team to uncover the beauty, brutality, and finesse of this little-known masterpiece for Toronto audiences for the first time. Can Ruth and Jack continue to live in paradise? Or, in six months, will they be…ancient history?

aware! productions, in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents Ancient History, by David Ives
Directed by Richard Beaune, Assistant Director Alexandra Augustine
Featuring Zack Amzallag and Tiana Leonty

Stage managed by Virginia Cardinal

Opens July 3, 2014 and runs to July 13, 2014 at ROBERT GILL THEATRE – 214 College Street, 3rd Floor. Theatre is air conditioned.

Performances:

Thursday, July 3, 2014 – 8:15pm
Sunday, July 6, 2014 – 3:30pm
Monday, July 7, 2014 – 10:30pm
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 – 6:45pm
Thursday, July 10, 2014 – 1:45pm
Friday, July 11, 2014 – 2:15pm
Sunday, July 13, 2014 – 4:30pm
Running time: approx. 85 min. Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.

Tickets: Purchase online: fringetoronto.com.
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).

 

 

Baker’s Dozen – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

 

ADAM SQUARED PRODUCTIONS and the Toronto Fringe Festival presents…

BAKER’S DOZEN
We all know the story of Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker, right? But now, rub­a­dub­dub…the Baker has been found
dead in the tub, his husband the Butcher stands accused of murder, and no one knows what’s happened to the Candlestick Maker…
A single puppeteer transforms one puppet into twelve jury members, each struggling with our flawed judicial system, their own
personal problems, their gnat-­like attention spans, and their intolerance of other people (and of lactose). A man’s future rests in their hands in this one­-man, one-­puppet courtroom dramedy.
Baker’s Dozen is the third collaboration between actor / puppeteer ADAM FRANCIS PROULX (Avenue Q, Songs of Sinatra),
director NICOLE STAMP (TVO, Second City), and veteran puppeteer MIKE PETERSEN (Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth) after they met
working on the first Canadian production of Tony Award­ winning musical Avenue Q, in a critically­ acclaimed production:

“Adam Proulx, who inhabits the two male leads, is a big­​-voiced charmer who manages to differentiate two very different characters.” -Fab Magazine review of Avenue Q

“Delivers the goods… Proulx delivers [a] strong puppet performance.” -NOW Magazine review of Avenue Q

BAKER’S DOZEN at the TORONTO FRINGE
Written and performed by Adam Francis Proulx
Directed by Nicole Stamp
Puppet Consultation by Mike Petersen
Produced by Jennifer Walls
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
Wednesday, July 2nd, 10pm
Friday, July 4th, 4:15
Saturday, July 5th, 5pm
Monday, July 7th, Midnight
Tuesday, July 8th, 8:30pm
Wednesday, July 9th, 3pm
Friday, July 11th, 7pm
Sunday, July 13th, 4pm
WE’LL SEE YOU IN COURT!

 

Tikva’s Orchestra – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

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From Press Release

TIKVA’S ORCHESTRA

Award-winning artists create a new story of hope.

lab le jeu presents Tikva’s Orchestra: the story of a Jewish cellist who is determined to save the players in her orchestra during the Nazi attacks of Kristallnacht in WWII. Directed by Ginette Mohr (The Truth about Comets – ‘Best of Fringe’ 2013), and starring Thomas Morgan Jones (Dora Guthrie Award Winner) and Alisa Walton (TVO’s Polka Dot Shorts – GEMINI Award Winner), Tikva’s Orchestra is a new collaboration that incorporates physical theatre, aerial acrobatics and original music.

 

Tikva’s Orchestra speaks to personal and universal truths about the human spirit and perseverance in the face of unimaginable difficulties. Moreover, the play includes phenomenal acrobatics, elegant physical theatre, a newly composed orchestral work by composer David Mesiha (Jesse Award Winner) and lighting design by Jason Hand (Siminovitch Prize in Theatre) for an engaging and enthralling performance.

Through long hours and a sense of adventure, we have been devising the play and bravely delving into new territory to create imagery with bungee and rope apparatus. We are investigating the artist’s relationship to their art as a source of sustenance and perseverance, and how and where humans draw strength in the face of extreme discrimination.

 

Lab le jeu inc.

in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival proudly presents

Tikva’s Orchestra

Written by Alisa Walton, Ginette Mohr and Thomas Morgan Jones

Directed by Ginette Mohr

Performed by Alisa Walton and Thomas Morgan Jones

Stage Managed by Tamara Protic

Music Composition/Sound Design by David Mesiha

Lighting Design by Jason Hand

Wardrobe and Prop Design by Ellen Roach

 

001 Alisa Walton in  Tikvas Orchestra . photo by Ginette Mohr

Alisa Walton in ‘Tikva’s Orchestra’, photo by Ginette Mohr

 

Opens JULY 2nd and runs to JULY 11th

The Annex Theatre – 730 Bathurst Street, Toronto

 

Performances:

 

Wednesday, July 2 @ 10:30pm

Saturday, July 5 @ 5:15pm

Sunday, July 6 @ 12:30pm

Monday, July 7 @ 6:45pm

Wednesday, July 9 @ 4:00pm

Thursday, July 10 @ 9:15pm

Friday, July 11 @ 12:00pm

 

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.

 

Tickets:

 

At-the-door tickets are $10 and available at The Annex Theatre one hour prior to show time – cash sales only.

Advance tickets are $12 and go on sale June 12th, 2014.

 

Purchase online: fringetoronto.com

By Phone: 416-966-1062

In Person: At the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).

 

For interviews and high resolution images, contact Ginette Mohr media@tikvasorchestra.com 647-386-2428

 

Visit www.tikvasorchestra.com

 

lab le jeu’s mandate is to create new work and pioneer apparatus and the ensuing movement vocabulary to elevate theatrical imagery in unexpected ways. Bravery and strong imaginations are at the heart of this company, and the people who work with us show a dedication to pushing physical and emotional limits.

 

The Elephant in the Room – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

FASTER Presents:

The Elephant in the Room

After winning the FREEBIE Award at the 2013 St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival for The Elephant in the Room, FASTER extended the show to a full hour production. Through an all original eclectic music score and contemporary dance performance bordering on clown, this trio expresses that truest of statements, “Life is a circus and then you die”. The full-length production was presented at Montréal’s Espace Freestanding Room in December of 2013. Next up, the show will be presented at the Toronto Fringe Festival in July of 2014!

FASTER presents a modern day, musical fairy-tale about a girl questioning human behavior, adult responsibilities, and why the hell the human race feels the need to march ever onward in the first place. Where the happily ever after ending is running away with carnies… or maybe death? The whole drama is played out through a solo dance performance and FASTER’s unique and engaging set, featuring nihilistic cabaret music mixed with abrasive punk rock, off-kilter drunken lounge jazz, demented circus music, and a bit of 20th century atonal improvisation.

Exciting and surprising, the hour tends to leave the audience with an odd and unexpected peace with their own mortality!

“Kayla Milmine (soprano sax, vocals) and Brian Abbott (guitar, electronic effects, junk percussion) are accomplished players, moving skillfully from jazz to teasingly brief rock mash-ups to assertive free improvisation. Dancer Allison Burns flows effortlessly from mood to mood, bringing a heavy dose of mischief and levity to the work.” – Sue Snyder, BloodyUnderrated

“The chemistry between the musicians is tight. The dancer is a wonderful mover. Full of fun little moments and surprises.” – 2013 Montréal Fringe NetBuzz

Music composed and performed by: Brian Abbott and Kayla Milmine (FASTER)

 

Choreographed and performed by: Allison Burns (From past Toronto Fringe shows, The Duck Wife in 2010 and Dancing in my Unbirthday Suit in 2009)

 

Run Time: 60 min. 12 yrs +

 

Venue: St. Valdimir’s Theatre, 620 Spadina Ave. Toronto, ON.

 

July 2014

Thu, 3rd @10pm

Fri, 4th @3:30pm

Sun, 6th @1:45pm

Tues, 8th @2:45pm

Thu, 10th @5:15pm

Fri, 11th @9:45pm

Sat, 12th @7pm

 

Tickets go on sale June 12th

Advance tickets: $12

At-the-door tickets: $10

Order tickets online: www.fringetoronto.com

Order by phone: (416) 966-1062

From Press Release

 

*No latecomers allowed

Review: Walk When You Walk (The Theatre Centre)

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An interactive story exploring a journey to Shikoku, Japan, Walk When You Walk played at Toronto’s Theatre Centre

A two-hour contemplative walk, a sharing of perspectives and koans, making and eating rice balls and learning about the self was one part of the Tracy Wright Global Archive project. Beginning at The Theatre Centre, we stepped into the mind of well-known Butoh artist Denise Fujiwara, as she took us back into her own journey of travelling to the 88 Temples Pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku, Japan.

Continue reading Review: Walk When You Walk (The Theatre Centre) →