Praxis Theatre

Taking it to the Streets with Litmus Theatre

by Claire Wynveen

Matchbox Macbeth – which opens at a secret, site specific location on October 13^th – was born when three friends, frustrated with their lack of resources, brought a bottle of wine into a shed and said: “Hey – let’s make a play in here.”

From our very first moments in the space, it was apparent to us that the shed needed to be more than just a roof above our show – it needed to be a character in whatever story we decided to re-imagine.  The creative potential of the space was so palpable, so obvious, that the show we built around it was unadorned, magical and deeply rooted in its surroundings.

So deeply rooted, that this four actor, hour long re-telling of Macbeth simply couldn’t work anywhere else.  And we sort of loved this.  It forced us to work with what we had, to simplify, to problem-solve, to look closely at who and what was in our immediate vicinity.  It was, in essence, purely Local theatre.  And it all started with the shed.

Or maybe it started before the shed.  Because we were in the shed for good reason – we didn’t have access to affordable rehearsal space elsewhere. It’s a terrible irony that the more theatre schools teach their students to incubate and collaborate over long rehearsal periods, the more a premium is placed on rehearsal spaces in the city.  And this became an immediate roadblock to us. But soon enough we began to find the merits of a highly urban, site specific, character-based venue too good to resist.

The conversation about space for indie artists seems to be evolving and gaining momentum in the city. The Fringe of course just launched its Creation Lab, which provides subsidized rehearsal space to indie artists and grew out of a series of roundtable discussions that identified and articulated this very issue.  And companies are also getting creative: this month alone there are at least four site specific shows happening in the downtown core at historic houses, in laneways and in sheds. Ours opens in less than a week.

So let’s think outside the theatre this fall.  See you in the shed!

______________________________________________________________________

Claire Wynveen is founding member of Litmus Theatre, a producer of Matchbox Macbeth and also works for the Fringe Creation Lab.

Litmus Theatre’s remount of Matchbox Macbeth opens on October 13^th and runs until October 30^th.  Thursdays to Sundays.  7pm and 9pm.

Click here for tickets.

Tickets will not be sold at the door.  We have no door.