Next Stage Theatre Fest January 5 - 16 Toronto

At this price - with a heated beer tent too! - Next Stage is a hot ticket for theatre in Toronto later this month. From a media release:

Next Stage Festival
Factory Theatre Mainspace & Studio Theatres
January 5-16

Here's a peek at the line up of plays, and if last year was any indication, it'll be hard to choose what to see.

AT THE SANS HOTEL
Created & performed by Nicola Gunn (Melbourne, Australia)
Sound Designer: Luke Paulding / Production Manager: Jason Golinsky
Original Production Design by: Nicola Gunn, Rebecca Etchell and Gwendolyna Holmberg-Gilchrist
A psychological detective story, told with delicacy and subversive humour, about a woman in a bathtub in a hotel in a desert who plunges into the case of a mysterious, disappearing German Woman. It’s about the terror of loneliness, confusion and indecision. And a French woman called Sophie who works in a community centre.

DUEL OF AGES
True Edge Productions
By Kristin Grundlack Levinson, Denis McGrath, Mike McPhaden, Michael Rubenfeld, Gregg Taylor, Rick Roberts, Daniel Levinson, Scott Leaver / Directed by: Todd Campbell
Cast: Todd Campbell, Michael Dufays, Christian Feliciano, Casey Hudecki, M. John Kennedy, Scott Leaver, Daniel Levinson, Andrew (Sandy) MacMaster, Simon Fon, Chris Sironi, Christopher Mott, Scott Moyle, Kevin Robinson, Matt Richardson, Siobhán Richardson (nee Chin), Stuart Constable
Wounds of the flesh, a surgeon’s skill may heal, But wounded honour is only cured with steel.
Duel of Ages invites you to explore the infamous legacy of personal combat through an anthology of short plays depicting various ages in the history of dueling. With choreography and performances by some of Toronto’s most talented fight directors and actor- combatants, Duel of Ages is a thrilling exploration of the cult of honour and personal combat. Rapiers for two… coffee for one.

FAIRYTALE ENDING (The Big Bad Family Musical)
Role Your Own Theatre
By Kieren MacMillan and Jeremy Hutton
Originally created for and produced by the Toronto Youth Theatre
Director: Jeremy Hutton / Music Director: Kieren MacMillan / Stage Manager: Dustyn Wales / Choreographer: Ashleigh Powell / Set and Costume Designer: Scott Penner / Lighting Designer: Joshua Koffman / Producer: Lada Darewych / Cast: Meagan Tuck, Christina Gordon, Amanda Leigh, Andrew Moyes, Jennifer Walls, J.P. Baldwin, Carl Swanson, Mike Wisniowski, Maksym Shkvorets
“Into the Woods” meets “The Usual Suspects”. Jill’s favourite fables are ending in tragedy, and she needs to figure out why. With the help of a hard-boiled detective and a trio of storybook characters, she confronts the Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks, Troll, and the infamous Jack, on her way to uncovering the truth. Fairy Tale Ending is a topsy-turvy yet touching tale of a young girl coming to grips with loss and the reality of growing up.

THE GRACE PROJECT: SICK!
The Sick! Collective
Directed and created By Judith Thompson
Co-Created/Assistant Directed by Lauren Brotman
Produced by Jack Grinhaus and Sarah Miller-Garvin
Production Design by Beth Kates / Performed by The Company
The Grace Project: SICK sets out to explore the many concepts and ideas relating to disability, illness, challenge, and what it means to be thought of as sick by the rest of the world. The Production gives voice to young people who may otherwise be disenfranchised by their experiences; showing not only the pain and isolation, but the joys and grace with which these remarkable young adults navigate and control their own destinies. The hope of the production is to seek, confront, and understand the many preconceptions about living with challenges, about otherness, and the overall concept of what it means to be labeled SICK.

THE APOLOGY
Rabiayshna Productions
By Darrah Teitel / Directed by Audrey Dwyer / Lighting Designer: Kimberly Purtell
Sound Designer: Thomas Ryder Payne / Set Designer: Jung-Hye Kim /
Cast: Sascha Cole, Jake Epstein, Brendan McMurtry-Howlett, Kaitlyn Riordan
A quartet of radically minded teenagers set out on an adventure of creating high art, sexual becoming and new philosophies that challenge the modern mind. The Apology features Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord George Byron and Clare Clairemont. As they challenge each other’s intellect, they expose their passions, betray one another and create some of time’s masterpieces.

EATING WITH LOLA
Sulong Theatre Company
Written and performed by Catherine Hernandez
Directed by Ann Powell (Puppetmongers Theatre)
Lola (“Grandmother” in Filipino) is so old and sick she has to be spoon fed by her granddaughter, Grace. But it wasn’t always like this. Over the course of her final meal on earth, Lola explains how it was always her job to find food—even if that meant stealing it. Part confession, part revelation, Lola’s epic tale unravels the entire modern history of Manila from the time of the Thomasites to the second wave of Filipino migration to the United States— one spoonful at a time.

SWAN SONG OF MARIA (A Tragic Fairy Tale)
El Destino Productions & Threshold Theatre
By Carol Cece Anderson
Directed by Mark Cassidy / Dramaturg: Paula Danckert / Ballet Choreographer: Roberto Campanella / Ballet Consultant: Evelyn Hart / Tap Choreographer: Debbie Wilson / Cast: Lili Francks, John Blackwood, and Hilario Duran
In Carol Cece Anderson’s Swan Song of Maria, a radical re-imagining of Swan Lake, tap dancer Jillian and playwright Joe, an aging interracial couple, confront Jillian’s Alzheimer’s and Joe’s ever present muse Maria, a beautiful ballerina. Joe met Maria in the early 1960’s, on a Caribbean island, whose revolution, like his and Jillian’s forty year relationship, has outgrown its idealism. An elegant and powerful fusion of theatre, Cuban jazz, classical ballet, and tap, Swan Song of Maria explores the searing depths of love’s beauty and frailty.

TOM’S A-COLD
Starving Artists
By David Egan / Directed by Daryl Cloran & Ashlie Corcoran
Set & Costume Designer: Joanna Yu / Lighting Designer: Jason Hand / Stage Manager: Isabelle Ly /
Cast: Shane Carty & Matthew MacFadzean
“Through hope we became monsters. Hope will make a man say or do anything…” In 1845, HMS Terror and Erebus set sail from England seeking the Northwest Passage through the Arctic. Neither ship was ever seen again. Three years later, two men sit in a lifeboat. Ravaged by hunger, and haunted by their memories, they must confront truths they can no longer hide.
Winner of the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Competition (Canada) and the Cameron Mackintosh New Play Award (UK)

Tickets
• $15 – Evening Performances (7pm and after start time) $12 – Afternoon Performance (6:59pm or before start time)
Passes
• $48 – Four Play Pass: – Good for 4 tickets, redeemable in advance by phone or at the door. – Maximum of one ticket per play/pass. – Non-transferable.
• $88 – Eight Play Pass: – Good for 8 tickets, redeemable in advance by phone or at the door. – Maximum of two tickets per play/pass. – This pass can be used by two patrons.
• ID must be shown whenever using a pass. There are no refunds for any unused portion of a pass.

HOW TO PURCHASE:
• By phone: 416-966-1062
• Toll Free:1-866-515-7799
• 10am - 5pm, Monday - Friday (excluding Dec 24 & 31)
Online: Click Here - Visa & Mastercard only
• In Person at the McAuslan Beer Tent
• Factory Theatre Courtyard, 125 Bathurst St.
• Jan 5 - 16, 2011, starting 1 hour before the first show of the day
• Cash, Visa & Mastercard (NO Debit or AmEx)

Comments