Busy Theatrical Week Coming...

So, before I rant (in a separate post) about the de-valuation of art through commodification of it, I want to share a couple events in the coming week.

First, my project for the past few weeks has been to direct for the Manitoba Association of Playwrights Highschool Playwriting Competition (sponsored by Scirocco Drama). This annual event provides the opportunity for 5 young playwrights - often first time writers - to have their short plays developed with a dramaturg and director, and be presented on the stage at MTC Warehouse. This year I am directing a new play by Beatrice Tuano called Intoxicated. The piece delves into the impact of loss on a young life through the eyes of two characters - the boyfriend who dies in a car accident, and his girlfriend who is left behind. I've been blessed to work with three lovely actors - Eric Rae, Ruth Rietze, and Kaeleigh Ayre. 

Tickets info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/167647053399174/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Performances are Thursday and Friday evenings - and audiences get to vote for their favourite play!


Second...my dear friends over at Theatre Incarnate have been re-working a piece they shared in the Fringe 
Festival a couple years ago called Master Orloff and Madame Clodile's Freakshow Beautifique. Using buffon 
techniques, circus freaks, and live music, the original production was highly enjoyable, and I can't wait to see what the
re-work brings to light! 

Saturday and Sunday evening they'll be hosting workshop performances, followed by a Q&A session for further development
of the piece. Info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/484180224984318/?ref=ts&fref=ts

The Audience by Peter Morgan @ Geilgud Theatre (London)

Stars do their turn in the West End and Broadway all the time. Mainly, I am disinterested, however my ultimate respect for Dame Helen Mirren's craft drew me to queue for return tickets on a chilly Spring evening in London.

The play itself is a slow, pedestrian piece with little spark in the story. The production itself, for all its West End high-value budget lacks interest visually. The supporting cast are of varying quality (Though a few stand out).

Yet I was able to set every one of these mediocre aspects aside in the wake of the sheer brilliance of Helen Mirren's performance. On stage for nearly the entire length of this full length play, Mirren transforms before our very eyes (with the help of stagehands in costume) through various points in The Queen's life. Literally moving from an older Queen counseling John Major, to a young Queen in her first meeting with Churchill, and various points in between, Mirren's physical and vocal work are breathtaking. She is utterly transformed - almost shape shifting - between these, and yet with a consistently clear sense of who this woman is and what she truly wants in life. In short, Mirren is unbelievable.

Ultimately this is not a script which will stand the test of time, nor do I expect any actor - regardless of skill - to be able to step in and make this even moderately interesting.

Narrative by Anthony Neilsen @ Royal Court (London)

This concept had such potential. Aiming to follow in the footsteps of Beckett and Ionesco, Neilsen presents a script which departs from traditional concepts of narrative with a forward trajectory, instead giving us multiple scenes, none of which propose to have an end point. Unfortunately, in my estimation he falls short. The characters and scenes do not escape a forward trajectory; actions and consequences do still have cause and effect, and by the end there is a sense of completion (albeit shaky). The path to this point is frustratingly peppered with absurd concepts; people growing horns, communicating with the dead via skype, trying to take photos of their arseholes. 

Whereas there was potential for this to say something about our inability to connect, instead it showed frustratingly selfish people, most of whom I couldn't be bothered with. 

This isn't to say it didn't have high points; a few of the scenes were strongly written and performed. The lighting design was stunning. It is just the script itself; purporting to be about nothing, but telling us that so often that it did, in fact, gain meaning. 

My Perfect Mind @ Young Vic Theatre (London)

I happened to chance a return ticket on this sold out extended run, and was immensely grateful. The play's concept has the potential to become a monument to celebrity, focussed around Edward Petherbridge's real life experience of having a stroke whilst preparing to play Lear. This brilliant two hander, however, steers well clear of this. Instead, it offers a funny, touching look at the life of a performer and a life spent pretending to be someone else. Staged on a cleverly designed open space, in which we see all of the workings, objects morph to differing purpose, and the room takes on many locales with ease. The characters, too, move smoothly from one moment in time to another - this almost spastic understanding of time clearly reflecting the concepts of identity and memory being put forth in the script.

Brilliantly written. Brilliantly staged. Brilliantly performed.

There is a moment when Petherbridge stops the action and says "this isn't hte kind of Lear I wanted to be in". We are grateful that it was.

Oedipus Stadt @ Deutsches Theater, Berlin

This new translation which premiered with the Deutsches Theater (Berlin) in August 2012 takes the many plays comprising the Oedipus myth and combines them; we begin with Oedipus Rex, are thrust into Seven Against Thebes after his blinding, see a sprinkling of The Phonecian Women (and I am quite certain Oedipus at Kolonus, though my very dodgy German may betray me) and finally we fall into Antigone. All of this happens in just a couple short hours. The result of combining the pieces of the myth from their respective longer plays into shorter bits is that the hubris of this family, their fatal flaw, is crystal clear. Each of the characters dives into power, willful to set things "right", and each of them learns of their terrible error and the pain it causes. 

First, the staging - within a traditional theatre space, the stage has been morphed into a white bowl, with stark and visible lighting, within which rests a large unfinished wooden curve extending from the front row of the audience up the back wall. The actors enter and exit down log runways on either side of the curve stage, echoing their footsteps in loud shoes. Every movement within this space was highly specified, self-aware and yet highly emotionally connected. It is as if the concept of verfremmdungseffekt is as inherent as breathing for these performers. There were countless visual moments which caught me in the pit of my stomach, but none more so than the moment toward the end of Seven Against Thebes/beginning of Antigone in which the characters (at varying times and sometimes together) ran up the curve, then slid down, countless times, exhausting themselves yet continuing to push on in futility. The simplicity of the direction was outstanding.  

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the brilliant Susanne Wolff. The usher we spoke with in advance of the show advised that she has built a career on playing men, and in this instance was the most powerful Kreon I could have imagined. Strong and wilful, she played such an understated fiery soul, peppered with beautiful physical work. I could not take my eyes from her, and as the piece progressed into Antigone, when she assumed a key role, this feeling grew. There was a moment when Menoikus was arguing, and physically got right up into her face. A lesser performer would have done something, even minute, to indicate their displeasure. Wolff did absolutely nothing, with chilling effect. In short, she was unbelievable. 

I am extremely grateful to have happened upon this in my short time in Berlin; it has excited me to consider returning to my own grapple with the Greeks, and Antigone specifically, No More Prayers. 

Wine & Words - Fundraiser for Theatre By The River

So, there is this snappy little theatre company in Winnipeg called Theatre By The River. It was formed by some awesome folks whom I was in undergrad with at the brilliant University of Winnipeg Theatre Department (seemingly ages ago...).

They are having a fundraiser! For only $20 you can have wine and listen to actors read brand new play excerpts. This year, I am honoured to be one of the writers whose work is featured in this year's event, as a piece of my new play in development Trying will be read.

Please come out if you can to support art, local theatre, and wine.

Live Experience, Recorded Medium

I've been giving a lot of thought recently to the experience of recorded media within a live theatrical performance. How does our interaction with the recorded media shape and colour our experience of the live performance in front of us? I'm sure everyone has been in an audience when a poorly mastered sound cue took them "out" of the world of the play, reminding them of the reality of their situation seated and observing a real and live, truthful fiction. In such instances, the recorded medium which is intended to add "reality" to the scene serves exactly the opposite purpose reminding the audience of the falsity of the performance, the pretense and conventions, the audience's choice to "buy in".

Of course, there are times when particularly well-designed sound can add significantly to the experience. Most notably in my memory was the sound design for Rupert Goold's Decade (Headlong, London UK, 2011) wherein beautifully spaced siren sounds across multiple speakers in the space created an effect of ambulances surrounding the building, heigtening the potential as an audience member to be coerced in to the world of the play. These instances add colour to the theatrical experience, and for audiences seeking something like the "reality" of movies and television, offer a shade of this.

Other art forms use recording; dance, most obviously, but also music. The work of Steve Reich has for years dabbled in the inclusion of recorded media within live performance; in the case of Reich's work, he pushes at the edge of our understanding of live performance. The recording is being played live, and also manipulated (at times by Reich himself) so what makes this any less live? Going further, modern DJ culture, even when sold as a "live" performance is still at its core a living performance of recorded media. The sounds pre-exist, unlike the cellist or drummer who creates the sound live, pushing it into the ether in that very moment. But is one necessarily better than the other? The DJ is still manipulating that recorded sound in a way that is unlike any previous manipulation; the risk factors at play mean that like the violinist who could play a squeaky note, the DJ could not mix the sounds together in a pleasurable way, could not match the beats together, etc.

All of this thought leads me to my current project; alongside my husband (DJ and Producer John Norman) I will be creating a piece of audio theatre which will correspond with a live DJ performance of his. Each of us will be working with our sounds, the materials pre-recorded. Then, the audience will be invited to experience them live from their recorded state. Furthering the experiment, we will question what occurs when the two live experiences of recorded media are experienced together; audience members will be able to listen to the play in their personal mobile devices with headphones, while around them hearing the DJ set. Our key questions are: how do these two experiences function independently, and in tandem with one another? Is there a new sort of experience this opens up to the audience members? Is either performance impacted by the correlation with the other?

More on the project soon....keep some time open in mid-August to come check it out.

Ride The Cyclone - Atomic Vaudeville @ MTC Warehouse

Any musical whose premise is that of dead children in an amusement park immediately sparks my interest. Morbid, I know, but a fact nonetheless. Atomic Vaudeville's production, now in its third incarnation and seeing interest from increasingly big name producers, lived up to its reputation for a wild, slightly silly, and ultimately touching ride.

Lets start with the good; again, the premise is joyfully dark, with six children in purgatory after dying in an amusement park accident in the town of Uranium, SK, led through a game to determine who will return to life by a puppet fairground game with a very creepy voice. Each child gets their opportunity to be showcased, singing a song about themselves, their hopes, their dreams, all the while making their case for being returned to life. The songs are of varying strength; the songs of Noel Gruber and Jane Doe are outstanding, while some others such as that for Ricky Potts seem to come from far left field, adding layers to the character that don't seem to be consistent with what we see from him in the bits of the show beforehand. The monologue given to Constance is very strong, but the subsequent song is only mediocre. Similarly, the choreography has its peaks and valleys; some songs are extremely clever, while others have a very unrefined feel, as though the choreography may have been strung together.

None of this, of course, takes away from the overall feel, which is like a firecracker. The cast are all very strong performers, with beautiful physical work carried through the show and its conventions. Most notable is Sarah Jane Pelzer as Jane Doe, who consistently has a dead look in her eyes, yet fully pulls the audience to her through engagement and physicality.

I'm told that some of the conventions were new for this tour of the show as it is undergoing development on its way to bigger and brighter stages. For me, the story could still use some work, but there is certainly a gem beneath this that deserves to be polished into recognition.

This Is War by Hannah Moscovitch @ Prairie Theatre Exchange

Toronto playwright Hannah Moscovitch's new work, This Is War, explores a seemingly regular operation of a group of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and the resulting inquiry. Moscovitch plays with time and place, splicing back and forth from the inquiry (in the present) to the actual events and memories of it (in the past), showing us the same scene but from multiple characters' lead in. This flipping of perspective, triangulating at the truth, is mirrored in the set design with its angles and low ceiling which stretches out over the audience.

This has a unique effect, challenging us in the audience to look past the surface response for what lies beneath in the fog of war. Reflecting, I do wish this had gone a little further; what if the truth we see from each perspective differs slightly? What more does this tell us about memory and trauma?

That aside, the production itself wasn't as strong as I'd have liked it to be. The performances were adequate, however none of the performers really shone. Nearly all felt stiff in their roles although the physical work by Ian Lake as Private Jonny Henderson is notable, shifting effortlessly between his able bodied past and his injured present.

On the whole, I wanted the piece to deal with the characters in a more balanced way; it came off as Tanya's story, whereas it should have been all of their story, their collective memory which pieces together a semblance of the truth. It wasn't quite muddy enough to truly evoke the feelings of confusion relating to such a moment in time.

Despite all this, I do feel it is worth seeing, even if only as a sparking point for further thought on the issue, the white elephant in every living room in Canada that is rarely discussed; our soldiers and their role in a war where Canada's role is questionable at best.

Janet Cardiff - Forty Part Motet @ WAG (to 28 April 2013)

You can hear the voices from the next room in the gallery, and are drawn in by the sound. Normally an avid reader of the gallery cards explaining the piece and its creator, I pushed past this, around the corner to the darkened room. A perimeter of speakers in an oval shape greeted me, with a group of benches in the centre. People sat, eyes closed, absorbing the sound, or moved through the space. My 8 year old daughter wanted to explore, so we circled the room, sometimes following the sound, and sometimes felt we were causing the sound to occur.

What was really remarkable was precisely what Cardiff desired the experience to be, the sensation of climbing inside sound. I've sung in a circle before, and even listened in a circle to others singing, however the sensation caused here felt different somehow. Perhaps it was just that - the sensory deprivation of a darkened room with no other objects, no colours. Looking at photographs, there have been versions of this in beautifully ornate churches, or more livened rooms, which I'm sure created another slightly unique experience.

I strongly recommend taking this in - the piece will be at the WAG until 28 April under regular admission.

For more info, check here: http://wag.ca/art/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/display,exhibition/125/janet-cardiff-forty-part-motet

Follies - Dry Cold Productions for SondheimFest 2013

Apologies, as this post is late-coming.

Dry Cold have made their name in Winnipeg for producing challenging and mature musical theatre (Read: mainly Sondheim) so when the festival was announced it was no surprise that they would opt to mount yet another production of his work. This time, the selection was for Follies - Sondheim's postcard to the glory days of New York Theatre. The show itself is not, in my opinion, Sondheim's strongest work. The piece comes through as a revue, mimicing the type of show a true follies would have been, however at the same time aims to give storyline, showing what occurs when two couples are back together with one another once again, and interested in the wrong partner. The music in Follies is memorable and challenging. Despite the play itself lacking in drive, the songs serve their purpose well. Significant pieces include Broadway Baby and Losing my Mind.

Dry Cold have assembled in this cast some of the serious heavy-hitters in Winnipeg's musical theatre elite. Donna Fletcher, Brenda Gorlick, and Carson Nattras sparkle, demonstrating their ability to commit serious emotion within a song. Patricia Hunter's cheeky rendition of Broadway Baby is the kind of "selling a song" that I only wish more performers were capable of. However unfortunately the strength of the production falls on the acting chops of the cast, and as a whole, becomes stilted. The feeing of cohesiveness one expects from a full length production is missing. Additionally, the pieces of the 2nd act which function as fantasy for the 4 lead characters were tough to distinguish from the style of the rest of the production, so this more clever piece of Sondheim's writing was lost.

Overall it was a master class in performance from some, but as a full production did not hang together the way I would want it to.

Steve Reich's Chamber Music - at WSO New Music Festival (Winnipeg)

Steve Reich is a name unknown to many, however his influence is heard in the music many of us listen to day to day. Considered to be a "father" of the minimalist movement in music, Reich's work has served as inspiration for countless numbers of the contemporary indie and dance music creators. He is, without exaggeration, one of the most exciting artists living and practicing today.

31 January the WSO New Music Festival featured 4 of his chamber pieces in concert, as part of their feature of Reich for this year's festival.

Opening with a performance of his piece, Clapping Music, the evening began with excitement. The piece, written for rhythms created only by 4 sets of hands, hearkens to folk music traditions such as flamenco or african drumming. As the rhythms depart from one another to syncopation, then intertwine seamlessly, the phasing of the same instrument making the same sound is almost trance-inducing.

Next, a quartet of string musicians from the WSO performed Reich's moving Different Trains. Reich is one of (if not the) first to begin experimenting with recorded sound and live sound in a musical setting, allowing the two to converse. Different trains begins with recorded sounds of America Before the War - train destinations, and a rhythmic chugging created when the recorded and live violins work together. Seamlessly, though, the trains and voice overs grow ominous, and the recordings are no longer happy destinations, but statements of fear. My 8 year old daughter attended the concert with me, and was moved to tears over the feelings of uneasiness induced by the second movement. The third movement's sounds reflect what we heard in the first, but our experience of them differs after having heard the second movement and its danger. Reich spoke in the subsequent Q & A about the desire to have rhythms change out of nowhere, and thus the role of the recorded strings. Their impact elicits a strange feeling of the impetus for change existing outside our own control, in my mind.

Next came New York Counterpoint, a clever and cheeky clarinet piece which counterpoints against several recorded saxaphones. Again here, the impact of phasing, the live mix of recorded and live sound causes an uncanny sensation of confusion in the ear, which is very satisfying.

Finally, In Tandem, which paired Reich's Double Sextet with choreography from Peter Quanz and outstanding dancers from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. With the musicians on stage, surrounding the dancers, the 3 movements of the piece truly felt like an experience of the dance and music working together. Both could exist independently, however experiencing them together brought forward a heightened experience of the two. (more on this idea from me later...things are brewing). Quanz' choreography with its broken shapes and complex detail fit impeccably with Reich's music. To be honest, I have trouble finding sufficient vocabulary to express how outstanding this piece truly was.

Some more thoughts on the performance here: Winnipeg Free Press - Review

And a bit more about Different Trains here: CBC Scene - Different Trains

A non-review

Well...I was in Chicago earlier this week, and had hoped to see the Steppenwolf theatre production of Pinter's The Birthday Party. Sadly, United Airlines had other ideas. So rather than getting to see what I hoped would be a solid production of a fabulous play, I got to spend 5 hours in airport limbo, then 4 hours in a car, then 3 hours of actual airport check in and travel.

Ugh.


I've also managed to see 0 Sondheimfest plays. You should go see things and tell me about them!

I'm hoping I'll get to Steve Reich's Chamber Music at the WSO New Music Festival tomorrow though. It isn't often that such an amazing opportunity to expose my young one to minimalism presents itself.

The Day After

Months of writing, then rehearsing, and finally performing...now over. The first run of my new play, Dear Mama, has come to an end.

It has been an absolutely fabulous, terrifying, exhilirating and rewarding experience. I knew going in that it would be risky to create a piece of theatre so close to myself. On top of that, opting to perform it myself placed me in a position even more vulnerable as an artist. Any failure really could be pinned to me. How thrilling!

What has been truly amazing is the response the little show has received. Each performance was followed by a talkback, each of which had its own flavour and was filled with thought provoking discussion. What can we do for little girls to help avoid them becoming hyper-sexualized? What is it that drives parents to push their children to perform? And is it possible for your child's skill to be developed and nurtured in a way that pushes them, but still lets them be a child? Just some of the amazing points of debate that arose.

What has been even beyond my wildest expectations has been the way the piece is continuing to resonate with people days after the fact. CBC reviewer Joff Schmidt offered his praise (http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/theatre/2013/01/19/sondheimfest-review ) and many other audience members have written me or blogged about the show and how it has them thinking. It is extremely humbling to know that at least some bit of what I'd hoped to achieve artistically - pushing audiences out of their comfort zone, and forcing them to think - has succeeded. 

None of this would have been possible without the support of our creative team - Megan Andres, my fabulous director and dramaturg, along with Leah Borchert and John Norman.

Below are some production photos by Leif Norman taken at the dress rehearsal for the original production. More are available here: http://www.leifnorman.net/dear-mama-impel-theatre-jan-16-2013/

Press Releases...

It is a very strange phenomenon to write a press release for a show you have written, produced, and are performing in. I've certainly written my fair share of press releases, but somehow this was different. I'm simultaneously thrilled and terrified to be putting myself out there as an artist. Our RADA tutors provided excellent advice on this subject in our final days of the MA, and I'm aiming to live by it. You aren't really an artist if you aren't regularly putting yourself out there and laying it on the line.

Well, since i've just successfully blogged about a press release....here it is. Come see my show!

ps. thanks to miss Pamela Roz for her help with the press release :)

______________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

IMPEL THEATRE’S DEAR MAMA TO PREMIERE AT

RMTC SONDHEIMFEST

 

Dear Mama, Impel Theatre's new one-act play, will premiere as part of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's SondheimFest in Winnipeg. The show, which was created by the exciting young company for the festival, marks Impel Theatre's first production in their hometown with writer Kendra Jones playing the lead role of Ruby.

 

Dear Mama is a work which pays homage to the classic stage mother in Gypsywhile making reference to contemporary child performers. Also inspired by Sondheim's lyrics in Gypsy, this new piece delves into the mind and body of a girl obsessed with fame, beauty and attention teaching that words have the power to build you up or tear you down.

  

"Not everyone is capable of being loved, Ruby. They are too selfish. They aren't willing to give themselves to the people who want to love them," reads a line from the show. "Beautiful. I'm beautiful. Look, Mama, I'm beautiful. Mama will be proud.”

 

Kendra Jones has performed, devised, directed and choreographed work with Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's Master Playwright Festival, Prairie Theatre Exchange Carol Shields Festival, Sarasvati FemFest, Theatre Incarnate, Winnipeg Fringe, and more. She has performed in the hit You Me Bum Bum Train in London's West End (2012) and directed/devised work at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as well as for King's College, London. Dear Mama is Kendra's first play in production.

 

“The process of researching this piece has been very rewarding" says Jones. "I look forward to sharing the piece with audiences, and also the talkback sessions following each performance. I'm excited to see what sorts of discussions are sparked by the play."

 

Tickets can be reserved now by emailing kendra[at]impelartists.com or by phone at 204.475.8747. Note that capacity for each performance is limited to 35. The production is suitable for ages 15 years +.​

 

The production is directed by Megan Andres, design and dramaturgy by Megan Andres, movement by Kendra Jones, stage management by Leah Borchert and sound by John Norman.  

 

Public information

Dates: ​​​​​January 17^th  – January 20^th 

Address:​​​​ Studio 320, 70 Albert Street

Performances: January 17^th-19^th at 8pm, January 20^th  at 2pm

Ticket prices: $10 or SondheimPass

Website:​ www.impeltheatre.blogspot.com

Twitter:​​​​ impeltheatre

Dear Mama - 17-20 January

Can I just say how strange it is to move from the academic world back to a world where you need to promote your show?

Anyway, please see below for details. Come to the show!

Impel Theatre proudly present Dear Mama, a new one-act play in response to Sondheim, Gypsy, lost childhood, and stage mothers around the world.

"Not everyone is capable of being loved, Ruby. They are too selfish. They aren't willing to give themselves to the people who want to love them."

Inspired by Sondheim's lyrics in Gypsy, this new piece delves into the mind and body of a girl obsessed with fame, beauty and attention. Words have the power to build you up or tear you down. "Beautiful. I'm beautiful. Look, Mama, I'm beautiful." Mama will be proud.

No wheelchair access | Capacity 35 | 40 mins
Warning: Language, mature themes

Each performance will be followed by a 30-minute Q & A session with the creative team.

Written and Performed by Kendra Jones
Direction and Dramaturgy by Megan Andres
Stage Managed by Leah Borchert

Thursday 17 January - 8:00pm
Friday 18 January - 8:00pm
Saturday 19 January - 8:00pm
Sunday 20 January - 2:00pm

This production is part of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's SondheimFest - 2013 Master Playwright Festival

**To Reserve Tickets**
email: kendra@impelartists.com

>or<

call: 204.475.8747

Note that seating is limited to 35 per performance.