Praxis Theatre

Now playing: Have I None

Have I None

by Edward Bond

We’re looking for guest bloggers

It’s true
When we started this theatre blog in October of 2006, we set out to plot our own little map of Toronto’s independent theatre scene. Through this collection of interviews, surveys, roundups, announcements, questions, answers, comments, listings, Steel Diaries and theatre quotes, we feel we’re a little closer to understanding the terrain.

But here’s the thing: the deeper we look, the more we see how much there is to know and how many different methods there are for collecting and interpreting all this information. It’s like the good book says – what you see depends on where you stand.

Classism and the theatre cat
So, we’re looking for guest bloggers to help us see what we’re not seeing, and maybe to ask the questions we’re not asking. No idea is too silly (does anyone remember theatre cat?), or too serious (anyone want to do a series on theatre and class?).

Our community spends a lot of time looking for inventive ways to offset its relative lack of resources – same goes for this blog. And in a way, blogging about theatre is a lot like making theatre: You’re only as good as your last post. (Thank God Simon Michellepis gives good interview.)

Hopefully, some of you feel as we do: that this exercise in theatrical cartography is worthwhile. And that it’s worth considering – if only for a moment – what you might have to offer as a guest blogger.

So here it is:
An open invitation to guest bloggers. Got a column idea? A theatre-related top-five list? Feeling soap-boxy? Good with a camera? Could be a snappy one-off or a wordy academic series. Whatever it is, please drop us a line with your theatre-related idea and start guest blogging on Theatre is Territory today!

Thanks so much for reading this.

Now playing: The Tempest

Ariel & Prospero

Alchemy Theatre, Toronto’s urban Shakespeare company, presents The Tempest – its 10th production of Shakespeare’s works over the past four years.

The Tempest is directed by founding Artistic Director Simon Michellepis. This production remains faithful to Shakespeare’s text while at the same time integrating exciting multimedia stagecraft to evoke the aura and mystery of a magical isle under Prospero’s watchful eye. The Tempest will continue Alchemy’s goal of producing engrossing, small scale, reasonably priced productions of Shakespeare’s works in downtown Toronto.

Stephano, Trinculo & Caliban

Tonight!

Three one-act plays:

Bloody China
by Kris Elgstrand

Sheila, Herbert, Claire Danes and The Man On My Roof
by Florencia Lozano

Bed Logic
by Gavin Drummond

---

When:
Wednesday, May 2nd @ 7:30 pm
(doors open @ 7 pm)

Where:
Chino Bar
1378 Queen St. W
(Queen and O’Hara)
Click here for a map.
Toronto, Canada
416.915.8883

The players:
Leah Wahl, Jo Chim, Laura Nordin,
James Murray, Greta Papageorgiu, Tania McCartney
and Danny Waugh

Booze:
Cheap drinks and $5 Martinis

Cost:
$5.00 at the door

Hope to see you there!

Ready, set . . . opening tomorrow!

The actor’s deepest calling

“Theatre – through the actor’s technique, his art in which the living organism strives for higher motives – provides an opportunity for what could be called integration, the discarding of masks, the revealing of the real substance: a totality of physical and mental reactions.

“This opportunity must be treated in a disciplined manner, with a full awareness of the responsibilities it involves. Here we can see the theatre’s therapeutic function for people in our present day civilization. It is true that the actor accomplishes this act, but he can only do so through an encounter with the spectator – intimately, visibly, not hiding behind a cameraman, wardrobe mistress, stage designer or make-up girl – in direct confrontation with him, and somehow ‘instead of’ him.

“The actor’s act – discarding half measures, revealing, opening up, emerging from himself as opposed to closing up – is an invitation to the spectator. This act could be compared to an act of the most deeply rooted, genuine love between two human beings – this is just a comparison since we can only refer to this ‘emergence from oneself’ through analogy. This act, paradoxical and borderline, we call a total act. In our opinion it epitomizes the actor’s deepest calling.”

Greg Dunham goes Hollywood

A quick shoutout to Greg Dunham – a Praxis Theatre alumnai who made his feature film debut this past weekend in the critically acclaimed new film The Lookout.

You might remember Greg from our Partron’s Pick-winning production The Blood of a Coward at the 2004 Toronto Fringe Festival:

He was winning raves even back then:

“Greg Dunham and Erin King do wonderful work as the aging writer and his young alter ego, as other figures (including Bukowski’s parents) stream by.”
– Alex Bozikovic, from his Eye Weekly review of The Blood of a Coward.

Here’s the poster from the new film (that’s Greg in the top-right frame):

“Scuzzball No. 2 . . . is Bone (Greg Dunham), a longhaired, trench-coated killer who looks like a Matrix character played by Sam Shepard.”
– Matt Zoller Seitz, from his New York Times review of The Lookout.

A group of us went to see the film this past weekend. Please pardon the unsolicited gushing: Dunham rocks!

Opening today: Nor The Cavaliers Who Come With Us

Nor The Cavaliers Who Come With Us
For two weeks only!

The Steel diaries

It’s a one-man show, don’t fuck it up
By James Murray

With Praxis Theatre’s one-man show Steel in the final leg of its three-week run, actor James Murray reflects on the production so far:

The day before the show starts
After a gruelling three months of rehearsals, our pre-show tech/dress rehearsal is an unmitigated disaster. This is understandable since we haven’t yet run the show with full transitions, light and sound cues. The problem is that we have to open the next evening and there is no time for another tech rehearsal. Director Mike Wheeler arranges for us to do a ‘tech-less’ run-through the next afternoon, before opening, because, he says, all of those cues have hindered my performance.

The final and imperative acting notes are: “slow it down”, “talk to the audience” and “become more intimate with them and all those imaginary characters you speak to throughout the play.”

Opening night
At 7:45 pm on opening night, I wait in the office while stage manager Meredith Scott leads the audience to their seats. My stomach is in knots. I have to urinate for the umpteenth time and I’m trying to dispel my fear through long, deep breaths.

My three main worries are formidable and intrusive:

1) Will I remember those 22 pages of dialogue? Word for word?

2) Wow, those transitions are insane! I have to remember them, too?

3) Oh God, I have no water! No access to water during the entire show. I’m going to be T.E. Lawrence crossing the Nefud Desert by the third scene.

Thankfully, opening night brings the most supportive and loving audience any actor could ask for – the show goes way better than I thought it would. There’s a nice reception at “Sparrow”, the bar next to the theatre, and I’m really looking forward to seeing my family when the come to see the show the next evening. Although we feel that tonight’s performance made a decent impact, there is a big notes session the next day. It can be better.

Director’s notes
When it comes to breaking down this show’s first performance, Wheeler pulls no punches. My eye-line was locked over the audience’s heads, he says, and I kept pacing three steps from stage right to left throughout the narratives. Distracting.

“The play looked like a series of monologues”, Mike says. “You need to play off of the audience. You need to look right at them and include them more. Think of them as very intelligent children sitting around a campfire except they don’t know you or trust you yet. You need to win them over.”

He’s right. A one-man show is a lonely stage – there isn’t anyone to play with up there so why not use the people who are sitting just seven feet

away from me? This is one of the last bolts that needs to be tightened. I don’t just need to break through the fourth wall, I need to destroy it. It brings on a whole new challenge, but it makes the build-ups and peaks more compelling. Also, I definitely needed to make the conversations with the imaginary characters more specific and engaging.

The playwright’s parents are in the audience
My most important performance was the night playwright Andrew Zadel’s parents came to see the show. Mrs. Zadel gave me a much-appreciated standing ovation. When I met them after the show, I was overwhelmed by how much this production had meant to them and how proud they were of their courageous and talented son Andrew. I could barely hold back my tears and I’ve never received such a priceless compliment.

There’s only one thing I want to say: Andrew, my friend: when the show closes this Saturday, Steel will not be buried six feet under, nor will it be swept under the bed. Steel is going to have a siesta under a golden day of blue sky and sunshine until the time is right to unleash its power again. Fire awaits.

Opening today: Two Lies and a Switchblade