Come Get BoucheWHACKED! (Vancouver)
BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective and The rEvolver Arts Festival presents:
THE TA GUEULE STAGED READING SERIES
Contemporary Francophone Plays in Translation
rEvolver Arts Festival, The Cultch ● 1895 Venables St.
Pay What You Can at the Door
Saturday, May 18th, 4:30pm – The Culture Lab
PORCUPINE (PORC-ÉPIC)
By David Paquet
Translated by Maurine Labonté
Staged by Rachel Peake*
Featuring Josette Jorge, Jesse Matyn*, France Perras*, Michael Rinaldi*, Stacie Steadman* and Jonathan Winsby*
On her birthday, Cassandra wants to be beautiful, funny and popular. So begins a desperate hunt for party guests, from the staff at the corner store to strangers on the street. Humour and poetry combine in as people clash and make love in this 2010 Governor General Award winning play. Step one – Balloons.
*Appears courtesy of Canadian Actors Equity
Saturday, May 18th, 6:30pm – The Wine Bar
ENCOUNTER/ RENCONTRE: DAVID PAQUET
Meet the new generation of francophone writers
David Paquet won a Governor General Award with his first play, Porc-épic. After productions in Mexico and Europe, it made an acclaimed appearance at L’Espace Go in Montreal in 2010. The same year, Paquet’s play for adolescents, 2 h 14 AM/FM, winner of the Le théâtre jeune publique et la relève competition, was presented at Maison Théâtre directed by Claude Poissant. David Paquet is interested in stories, whether they are told through slam, storytelling or poetry. He is a graduate in playwriting from the National Theatre School.
Sunday, May 19th, 4:30pm – The Culture Lab
REARVIEW
Written and translated by Gilles Poulin-Denis
Staged by Heidi Taylor
Featuring Dave Mott
A hard-hitting “road-play” by Vancouver playwright Gilles Poulin-Denis. Guy is on the road and on the run. But what is he running from? A petty crime? Ghosts? His own life? This Governor General Award nominee is a fascinating and lyrical journey into the night.
Mies Julie
Inspired by the by the diverse artists, aesthetics and forms of theatre production I have discovered over four seasons traveling and working across the Canadian landscape from Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and back to Vancouver I recently went back to school.
With a personal focus on world and international theatre practices, this new journey has lead to London and the Directing MFA at Joanne Litlewood’s East 15. There is a fantastic element that the city of London and the school share and it is that of diversity. In class we are working with artists from Iran, Greece, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Korea and the list goes on. In the theatre it is almost a constant PuSH Festival, with Shakespeare’s Globe hosting Shakespeare productions from Georgia and South Africa to The Barbican presenting an range of International artists.
In the spirit of “if you see a good show then tell people about it”, and in a world where theatre is returning to the horse and cart except this time it’s an airplane, I’m telling you about it…
MIES JULIE
Written and Directed by Yael Farber
Based on Miss Julie by August Strindberg
Music and Sound Design by Daniel and Matthew Pencer
Set and Lighting Design by Patrick Curtis
Featuring Hilda Cronje, Bongile Mantsai, Thoko Ntshinga, and Tandiwe Nofirst Lungisa
Assembly and Riverside Studios present the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town in association with the South African State Theatre
Playing at Riverside Studios, London
Every now and then you see a show that reminds you of not only how powerful theatre can be but what it can be. For me, these include Marry Zimmerman’s Metamorphosis (Looking Glass Theatre, NYC), Amarillo by Teatro Linea de Sombra (Mexico @ PuSH Festival) and Yellow Moon (Theatre de la Manufacture, Montreal) and now Mies Julie.
This is a visceral updating of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, adapted to contemporary struggles of South Africa. The play starts with the question of ownership of land and through that addressing the deep emotional issues that affect the country such as class, gender, race and colonial history. Set in a smoldering kitchen of a remote estate 18 years after the end of apartheid, a deadly attraction spirals out of control between John, a favorite black farm laborer, and Julie, his “master’s” daughter.
Over a single night, as the farm laborers celebrate Freedom Day outside, John and Julie are locked struggle for power, sexuality, and land inside. Described in the synopsis as haunting, violent, intimate and heartbreaking, the play is all of these things -it is also sexy. The two main characters are locked in a dance of desire and passion using all they can to hurt, wound and destroy each other. Desperate to leave the land they were raised on together and start anew and desperate to individually hold on to what is theirs by right. When they mate on the kitchen table, it is like wild animals.
What made the show so effective is the combination of emotional and political risk in both the acting and the writing. The adaptation, using Strindberg’s play as a loose spine, could have been treated as kitchen sink naturalism, (indeed the director’s script could be approached this way) but instead it was a multi-disciplinary approach embracing the theatrical potential of ritual. Framed by an ancestor stalking the stage, dance, symbolism, metaphor and imagery with all make strong impacts as both characters viewpoints are brought with equally compelling weight.
The contrast between live natural tribal instruments and throat singing and the technical created music (also done live from the stage on a laptop) heightened the experience. The use of opposites was consistent through the piece; a naturalistic text with a heightened set (a table, a stool, a stove and tree breaking through the floor); the actors’ performances were raw, risky and unclean then contained with very specific movement and dance elements. All these conflict’s reflecting the main conflict of the theme and the conflicts of South Africa. The main strength was how well all the elements came together – used when necessary and not when not.
Although the show wasn’t absolutely perfects as it could have lost about 5 to 10 minutes as the passions became a bit repetitive towards the end, it was about as close as you can get and one hell of a ride.
Shakespeare and Stage Combat
One of the challenges in many of Shakespeare’s plays, especially the histories, is the fighting. Too often, in any play, it will be going on smoothly until a fight moment ranging from a slap to a duel to full on war sequences and the play stops – the fight is enacted – and then the play resumes. This interrupts the narrative and as a result is jars both the audience and players within.
This is for a number of reasons, among them are the facts that a fight on stage are invariable false no matter how well choreographed due to actor safety and the theory that the audience will be pulled out of a too real fight and worry about the actors rather than the characters, the knowledge of the audience that is isn’t real and, more practically, the short amount of time usually scheduled for fight design.
For an audience that is used to the hyper real or fantasy fights of video games, movies and television this is a difficulty – we cannot present the same degree of shock, danger or fantasy. Many solutions have been attempted from various actors charging into the wings to highly stylised dance numbers. In my own work, I have substituted stylized movement (Julius Caesar) and gone the complete opposite way with martial arts and combat knife fights based on the Roman short sword in both individual and mass war scenes (Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus).
Both proved effective when kept to a minimum and allowing the individual highlights to shine on key story elements. Also in all three pieces the language on the combat was there all ready and the language of the fights had been incorporates in non-fight sequences (Julius Caesar was done with red cloth and the cloth had been passed around to each conspirator as they joined the conspiracy, it later became the dagger to kill Caesar, the blood from his wounds passed out by Anthony, etc.).
To address the very valid concern that a fight sequence may rob the import a descriptive passage, like such as in Richard the Third, a potential solution lies in the using the movement to launch the actor into their text rather than replace it. Wither stylised or not, the movement should move with the text in a dance. Move inspires text inspires move etc. There should be a tension between the two that however it is played out is unbroken.
The fights are part of the whole not separate movement dropped in. Violence on stage, like any other form of choreographed movement should be reflective of the piece and move with it. The violence of the sword is always present, however it is not revealed until the sword is drawn causing a tension. The fight design is as integral as the lights, set and costumes to creating the world we are living in and I would argue that the fight choreographer should be involved in the creation process outside the actual fights as much as possible.
Stage violence is also a way to shed light on a character and a situation (for great examples see the fight in Rob Roy between Liam Neisson and Tim Roth or Bidget Jones’ Diary between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth). How a person dances is just as informative to their character as to what books are in their bookshelves – the same is true with fights.
Additionally, in the unique real but non-real environment of the stage, this is an opportunity to address the experience of combat rather than simply a flashy fight. Veterans have described the sensation of timespace speeding up or slowing down, extra sharp focus or clarity on specifics and the reverse in blurred and unclear events. These perspectives and the rhythms inspired by them can further our presentation in given circumstance and character.
By approaching stage fighting poetically, with a combination of movement and combat, we can engage the audience’s imagination, inspire actors within the scenes and further our understanding of the environments we are imagining and the character that inhabit them.
Nuit Blanche – A beautiful short film
A beautiful short film I found on the net while avoiding work.
Nuit Blanche by Arev Manoukian
Nuit Blanche explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy. All for a kiss!
A Making Of Video:
Shakespeare and Modern Dress
In my own practice with Shakespeare, I originally embraced modern dress. This was done for several reasons including budget.
Firstly as actual “original practice”, Shakespeare’s actors wore modern dress – they happened to be Elizabethan. Shakespeare’s theatre was written for his modern audience. Julius Caesar and Titus Andronicus where presented as a Rome much like modern Elizabethan and Jacobean London complete with reference to modern technology like cannons. This was easily recognisable to his audience.
The second reason was audience clarity. In order to give the audience a direct and immediate connection or recognition to the characters, we strived to present them in a recognizable way. How would Julius Caesar and Brutus dress or behave in our world. Who would they be if we looked around us?
The third reason was artistic. If these plays are immortal, we have to prove it each time out. By modernising the wardrobe and settings, we are in a position to directly challenge the belief of Shakespeare for all ages and through this challenge find the truths he has embedded in the text.
One has to be careful in modern dress. There is a potential for limiting the play rather than supporting it. A prime example is the recent Timon of Athens at the National Theatre. Timon’s descent was wonderfully modern with him living homeless under a bridge (and a great performance!). The poet, painter, merchant and Apemantus were based strongly on modern British celebrities. Rather than helping lift the piece to us, however, this choice limited the scope. The characters became to close to Stephen Fry and J K Rowling thus taking us out of the play to our now, rather than deepening our understanding of it. The idea of Apemantus as an aging rocker is a good one and was extremly well played by the artist, but may have been more successful had it not been so precise to an individual in popular culture thereby allowing the character to exist to the plays needs him to, rather how our society needs him to, and allowing the audience make up their own minds.
In my own work, we had similar discussions around Julius Caesar done shortly after President Bush’s election and just before a provicial election. Through modern dress and power suits we were able to respond to the modern world and explore the similarities the play and us. Shakespeare’s Rome however is not my Ottawa or Victoria or my neighbours Washington. They have similarities but also differences. Putting Caesar in cowboy boots would have brought up the question of “how can the sky rain fire” in Washington rather than allowing the sky to rain fire in ancient Rome and allow the play to progress.
The worlds created in Shakespeare’s plays are not our own. They have many similarities but also many differences. In order to allow the difference such ritual murder in Titus Andronicus or the existence of fairies in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, an approach could be “this is similar to…” rather than “ This is…”.
The Stage is a magic circle
“The stage is a magic circle where only the most real things happen, a neutral territory outside the jurisdiction of Fate where stars may be crossed with impunity. A truer and more real place does not exist in all the universe.”
― P.S. Baber, Cassie Draws the Universe
On Verse and Prose: Why do Shakespeare’s Characters Speak It?
As a playwright Shakespeare seems to leave little to chance. He feeds his characters with a heartbeat, a breathing pattern, and if you follow first folio work as I do, a whole series of clues and movements that allow the language too physically and internally move the actor. Shakespeare’s earlier plays may have been engaged in blank verse as the common practice, however as an actor, he would have had an immediate physical reaction and intimate knowledge of how it affects the performer and drama from the inside.
This intimate knowledge of playing and theatre coming from the practising artist perspective gives us the wonderful meta’s moments like “ O for a muse of fire…” and “We are such stuff as dreams are made on…”. These all carry a deep meaning to the people who toil in the realm of making the imaginary real. By placing words “…a pour player who struts and frets…” in Richard Burbage’s mouth, the most famous actor of his time (or as he might have wished to believe) on a stage Burbage owns, Shakespeare, like any good playwright, is playing the actor as much as the audience.
As his plays developed, the choice of who speaks in verse or prose and when becomes more and more specific. Both Coriolanus and Volumnia in Coriolanus speak in prose as well as verse, despite being an aristocratic characters, Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo all have verse in The Tempest despite being of low status and not limited to magic. Michael Pennington’s comments in Sweet William maybe of use to us here – “The more characters suffer the more articulate they become”. Does speaking in verse fall into articulation?
Additionally, Shakespeare’s genius as a story teller lies in his ability to take a common practice and break the rules in couple short strokes for dramatic effect. He does this with story, with structure and, like all great poets, with verse. As an actor and a playwright with a tremendous sense of character, it stands to reason he would also use the tensions between prose and verse, not just for the audience reception, but for character.
I have developed a theory regarding performance arts practices. This theory follows the idea of rising states in the need communication. If we imagine ourselves trying to get information about a fire across to someone who cannot understand us, there is a progression in the attempts to communicate and this equates to a performance practice. First you speak normally – this equals spoken prose; then as the stakes go up you look for ways to explain, you try and control or structure your information – this equals verse or poetry; next we start making sounds – this equals song or opera; and lastly we engage in movement, waving our hands around franticly and gesturing – this equals dance. Interestingly, as the need to communicate rises, the discipline required within the corresponding art form rises as well. At East 15, Simon Usher spoke to freedom through form in “the form is the key to the emotion”. If the key for the actor is through the form (and I agree with this), can the form be an active character choice just as a character in a musical doesn’t sing for no reason?
If Shakespeare is consciously using verse and prose, line structures and the words in them to signify differences and move actors, and the act of speaking verse automatically plays on both the actor and audience, what does the choice (whether consciously or subconsciously) to use verse of verse give us and how can it shed light on the characters given circumstance or phycology?
Jack Paterson
Why do Shakespeare?
In Defense of the Classical Text
In 2009 after Mad Duck’s Coriolanus, I put producing and directing Shakespeare aside in order to pursue other work in new practices including large theatre, new play and translation development and multi-disciplinary work. The remarkable discovery was that my work on Shakespeare had greatly prepared me for work in all these forms.
There is very little in modern playwriting that Shakespeare did not already engage in. His work embraces a gritty realism (the murderers in Richard III and Macbeth, the soldiers around the camp fires in Henry V), absurdism (Comedy of Errors), flights of fantasy and magic (The Tempest), a non –realistic approach to Time/Space (Hamlet) and real time approach to time space (The Tempest), High Drama right next to Low Comedy (The Tempest again), poetic and emotional character perspectives (Lear), meta theatrics (pretty much all of them), social commentary (Coriolanus) and character perspectives. In short, the sheer theatricality of his work engages in almost every theatrical devise with the possible exception of non-linear narrative. As the Elizabethans still lived in a world of metaphor Shakespeare’s expressions of life and living takes many forms.As a director the material is suited to wonderful blend of realistic or method work and conceptual design work. Like Opera, the poetry inspires large imagery that can be woven through the works without detracting from the text itself.
It is impossible as an artist to approach Shakespeare through any other lens but his or her own. We don’t know enough about the Elizabethan/ Jacobean’s performance practices to do anything but make educated guesses. As a result a certain amount of translation has already been done as we apply our own perspectives to the material (how far we wish to go in that direction is up to us as the artists). It is similar to Translation where a piece will invariably be of the time of its translation simply because the translator is of that “now” and will be affected in their thinking by their current society and the events surrounding them no matter how faithful they are trying to be to the source.
Simply by telling a story, I am doing so in a modern Canadian voice. I am a Canadian. I was born and raised in Canada. My perspectives, values, questions, fears, concerns, etc. are informed by the environment I was raised in and the world that surround me as are my inspirations. As a result, no matter what I do, it will be in a Canadian voice and of the time I am working on it. With Mad Duck our production of Julius Caesar was heavily influenced by the American election, Titus Andronicus by the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars and Coriolanus in an attempt to understand the right wing militaristic side of society and use of mob mentality in politics. All these issues were constantly in the media, spoken about on the bus or in coffee shops and unavoidable in daily life.
When we think of teenagers in love we will automatically apply them to our teenage experiences and those of the young ones around us. The same is true of all the relashonships. Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, lords and servants will all be understood through our own perspectives as we cannot actually see them any other way.In other words Shakespeare had his wars and politics but we have unfortunately have our inescapable own. He has character relationships of his own society and we have ours. And, as we don’t live in isolation, they will affect our perspectives as designers, actors and directors even if we are attempting the most traditional of productions.
The original practises of the bare stage, the still evolving language of the period and the verse and poetry are unique in lending themselves to interpretation. As a result, the director/ interpreter is potentially better able to address the issues of now immediately through the metaphor than an new work trapped in a several year development process or a play limited by specific setting, location and language that leave so many great plays as young as a few years restricted to a specific period of time.
Jack Paterson
PS: Don’t worry New Works – I will be defending you too soon!
London is Calling and The Summer in Review
As I write this missive, I am flying over the Atlantic Ocean, on my way to London. I am heading off to do an MFA in Theatre Direction at East 15. This exciting new adventure has been inspired by the diverse artists, aesthetics and forms of theatre production I have discovered over the last three seasons traveling and working across the Canadian landscape. With a personal focus on world and international theatre practices, this is a wonderful new opportunity of discovery and learning in the performing arts.
It has been an exciting summer that started in Ottawa and Calgary with The Magnetic North Theatre Festival. As the final leg of my Three Provinces, Three Mandates, Three Companies Artistic Director Residency Series , it was a perfect way to wrap up the a season dedicated to learning the different practices and models of theatre production, development and creation across the country. This has been a tremendous national journey and I owe a huge thank you to Brenda Leadlay, Ann Connors and the rest of the Magnetic North team and artists.
Back in Vancouver, the rest of July was knee deep in francophone plays in translation. France Perras and I launched BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective with a site specific installation of Governor General Award winning play The List at the Neanderthal Festival. The run was sold out and we received tremendous feedback. Also at Neanderthal, our Ta Gueule Reading Series started with an Encounter with playwright/ actor Gilles Poulin-Denis moderated by Anita Rochon. I then directed staged readings of Étienne Lepage’s outrageous Howl Red and we weere joined, from New York, by translator Chantal Bilodeau. Next I staged a site specific reading of Marc Prescott’s heart breaking Encore in the Cultch bar.
As always, the Neaderthal Festival proved to be a great way to catch up on Vancouver’s emerging young companies and artists like Hardline Productions and Delinquent Theatre.
August was spent in new play development where I participated in Screaming Weenie’s Clean Sheets workshop of A Singularity of Desire . This was shortly followed by Urban Ink and Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal’s workshop of Sal Capone by Omari Newton.
My last few days in Vancouver where spent as a reviewer for Plank Magazine as we took on the task of reviewing the entire Vancouver Fringe Festival.
A tremendous thank you to all the artists and administrators who has helped make these last three years exploring the Canadian Theatre scene such a wonderful theatrical adventure.
A la prochaine and see you soon!
Jack Paterson
2012 Summer in Review
May-July:
Artistic Director Mentorship: The Magnetic North Theatre Festival
Three Provinces, Three Mandates, Three Companies
The 2011/ 2012 season was dedicated to developing a working understanding of the diverse theatre production, presentation and development processes of Canadian Theatre both artistically and administratively. The residencies included PACT Meetings, Season Budgeting and Programing, New Play Development to Festival Production, meetings with Artists, Grant Writing and Fundraising, Board Development and Management.
- Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal, Emma Tibaldo
(Montreal, Quebec) - Theatre Conspiracy, Tim Carlson
(Vancouver, British Columbia) - The Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Brenda Leadlay
(Ottawa, Ontario & Calgary, Alberta)
This final section was dedicated to National Festival curatorship,administration and the presentation/ production of works from across the country. It was also a great opportunity to discover and meet with artists, presenters and theatre creators from other provinces.
July:
BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective
THE LIST
By Jennifer Tremblay
Translated by Shelley Tepperman
Featuring France Perras
Directed by Jack Paterson
Set and Art by Moe Curtin, Sound by Jordan Watkins
Assistant Directed by Michael Gunion
Stage Managed by Anthony Liam Kearns
“…a mesmerizing performance by Perras… Paterson is exploring smaller and smaller spaces — and for The List that tightly focused space really works.” Jo Ledingham, The Courier
Ta Gueule Reading Series
Contemporary Canadian Plays in English Translation
Encounter/ Rencontre: Gilles Poulin‐Denis
We presented Vancouver’s own multi-lingual theatre artist as he read excerpts from the English translation of his Governor General Award nominated play Rearview and a discussion about working in both of Canada’s official languages. Moderated by Anita Rochon
Howl Red
By Étienne Lepage
Translated by Chantal Bilodeau
“All you need is a hint of butter
‘Cause those like me
are best eaten raw”
Featuring Sam Dulmage, Patrick Mercado, Katherine Gauthier, Jessica Heafey, Julia Henderson, Gilles Poulin-Denis, Alexis Quednau, Damian Rumph and Troy Anthony Young. Staged by Jack Paterson
Encore
Written and translated by Marc Prescott
“It would be a poet’s kiss. Passionate. Intoxicating. Exalting…It will break the mold of all the other kisses that preceded it…”
Featuring France Perras and Art Kitching.
Staged by Jack Paterson
“Howl Red has given me added insight into how we are the way we are, how we make choices, why we make choices… Few pieces have ever made me this uncomfortable.” Kimberley Dawn, GVPTA Blog: A Collection of Voices
August:
Screaming Weenie: Clean Sheets
THE SINGULARITY OF DESIRE
By Judy M. Miles
Dramaturged by C.E. Gatchalian
Featuring Leanna Brodie, Dominique Brownes, Dawn Wendy McLeod, and Jack Paterson
When twentysomething Valerie / Vond begins hir transition journey from female to male, s/he crosses an event horizon in hir life. The Singularity of Desire explores difference and desire: differences in religion, in cultures, and in the mysterious sources and gravitational forces of sexual desire.
Urban Ink, Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal and Black Theatre Workshop
SAL CAPONE WORKSHOP
by Omari Newton
Directed by Diane Roberts
Dramturgy by Emma Tibaldo
The fatal police shooting of a talented but troubled young DJ irrevocably changes the lives of his three friends. The future of their once promising hip-hop group is now in jeopardy. Can these troubled poets salvage their dreams in the face of this tragedy?
Using elements of hip hop, spoken word, experimental sound & video, The Lamentable Tragedy of Sal Capone examines class struggles, racism, homophobia, and the legitimized fear/distrust of authority as only a few of the factors responsible for the nihilistic world view festering in neighbourhoods across North America.
Howl Red
BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective and The Neanderthal Arts Festival present:
The Ta Gueule Staged Reading Series
Contemporary Canadian Plays in English Translation
Neanderthal Festival, The Cultch ● 1895 Venables St.
Pay What You Can at the Door
GET BOUCHEWHACKED!
Vancouver’s top talent in an exciting selection of contemporary Francophone award winning plays in translation.
Tuesday, July 24 2012, The Cultch Culture Lab
Howl Red
By Étienne Lepage, Translated by Chantal Bilodeau
Ten characters caught on the spot, as if a door was cracked open on a moment in their lives. They talk, they scream, they say everything they mean and a few things they don’t and then the door closes again. Controversial, gritty and often beautiful.
Featuring Sam Dulmage, Patrick Mercado, Katherine Gauthier, Julia Henderson, David Mott, Gilles Poulin-Denis, Alexis Quednau, Damian Rumph and Troy Anthony Young. Staged by Jack Paterson
“Howl Red has given me added insight into how we are the way we are, how we make choices, why we make choices, if there’s anything to life that isn’t mired in muck, and what I believe about faith and hope and humanity. Few pieces have ever made me this uncomfortable.”
Kimberley Dawn, GVPTA Blog: A Collection of Voices
“Howl Red was one of the funniest plays I have ever seen (heard?). Thank you to all who brought this piece to Vancouver!”
Scott Button, Audience Member
The List Production Stills
“…a mesmerising performance by (France) Perras…”
- Jo Ledingham, The Courier
BoucheWHACKED Theatre Collective and The Neanderthal Festival present
the west coast English language premiere of the 2008 Governor General Award winning play
The List
By Jennifer Tremblay
Translated by Shelley Tepperman
Featuring France Perras
Directed by Jack Paterson
Set and Art by Moe Curtin
Sound by Jordan Watkins
Assistant Directed by Michael Gunion
Stage Managed by Anthony Liam Kearns
A woman invites us into her life of meticulous order. While she was consumed with childraising and housekeeping, her neighbour, a mother of five, lost her life. What neglected task on her never-ending to do lists could have prevented the tragedy? A riveting contemporary tale in which the crucial and the ordinary are inextricably entwined.
Tuesday to Sunday, July 19 – 26 ● Neanderthal Festival
The Cultch ● 1895 Venables St.
Limited Seating
The List Opening Night Talk Back
Opening Night Talk Back for The List with actor France Perras and a wonderfuly talkative audience.
Governor General Award winning play
The List
By Jennifer Tremblay
Translated by Shelley Tepperman
Featuring France Perras
Directed by Jack Paterson
Set and Art by Moe Curtin
Sound by Jordan Watkins
Assistant Directed by Michael Gunion
Stage Managed by Anthony Liam Kearns
“The List is special in every way…Don’t miss it”- CBC
“Deeply moving…goes straight to the heart” – La Presse
A woman invites us into her life of meticulous order. While she was consumed with childraising and housekeeping, her neighbour, a mother of five, lost her life. What neglected task on her never-ending to do lists could have prevented the tragedy? A riveting contemporary tale in which the crucial and the ordinary are inextricably entwined.
Thursday to Thursday, July 19 – 26
Tickets: 14 $
Box Office: 604-251-1363
Limited Seating
Come get BoucheWHACKED! The List, Encouter and Ta Gueule
COME GET BOUCHEWHACKED!
BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective and The Neanderthal Arts Festival presents:
The West Coast English Language premiere of the 2008 Governor General Award Winning Play
The List
By Jennifer Tremblay
Translated by Shelley Tepperman
Featuring France Perras
Directed by Jack Paterson
“Deeply moving…goes straight to the heart” – La Presse
In this site specific production, a woman rebels against her daily list of chores, only to find that she neglected to take care of the one task that may have led to her friend’s death.
Thursday to Thursday, July 19 – 26
Tickets: 14 $
Box Office: 604-251-1363
Limited Seating
The Ta Gueule Staged Reading Series: Contemporary Canadian Plays in English Translation
Vancouver’s top talent in an exciting selection of contemporary Francophone plays in translation.
Encounter/ Rencontre:
Gilles Poulin-Denis
Sunday, July 22, 5PM,
The Cultch Wine Bar
Come meet Vancouver’s own multi-lingual theatre artist, as he reads excerpts from the English translation of his Governor General Award nominated play Rearview and a discussion about working in both our official languages.
Moderated by Anita Rochon.
Gilles Poulin-Denis
Gilles Poulin-Denis was born and raised in Saskatoon. He pursued his acting studies at l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Over the past years he has worked with quite a few directors, among them Alain Fournier, Alexandre Marine, Antoine Laprise, Craig Holzschuh, Denis Rouleau, Daniel Cournoyer, Geneviève Pelletier, Henry Woolf, Mark Von Eschen, Marie‐Ève Gagnon and Philippe Lambert. In 2010 he was nominated for ‘Oustanding performance by an actor in a lead role’ at Vancouver’s Jessie awards for his role in Le Périmètre.
Gilles is also a playwright. His first full length play Rearview was produced in Saskatoon in 2009. It has since toured the country, making stops in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal. In 2009, Gilles received the award for ‘Outstanding achievement in new playwriting’ at the Saskatoon and area theatre awards for Rearview. The play was also nominated in 2010 for the Governor General’s literary arts award, it is published by Dramaturges Éditeurs. Gilles has also written short plays and monologues that have produced in different theatres in Montreal. He also works as a dramaturge and as a translator. Gilles is currently working on two new plays, one is in association with the National Arts Centre’s Théâtre Français, the other is a play for teenagers, commissioned by Vancouver’s Théâtre la Seizième.
Tuesday, July 24,6PM, The Culture Lab
Howl Red
By Étienne Lepage, Translated by Chantal Bilodeau
“All you need is a hint of butter
‘Cause those like me
Are best eaten raw”
Ten characters caught in the spotlight. They talk, they scream, they say everything they mean and a few things they don’t. Controversial, gritty and beautiful and funny, Howl Red features Vancouver’s top emerging and established talent.
Sam Dulmage, Patrick Mercado, Katherine Gauthier, Julia Henderson, Gilles Poulin-Denis, Alexis Quednau, Damian Rumph and Troy Anthony Young. Staged by Jack Paterson
Thursday, July 26, 7:15, The Cultch Wine Bar
Encore
Written and translated by Marc Prescott
A couple chart their 50 year relationship by reinacting their first encounter every anniversary – but time has changed the meaning of the words. Sad, funny, romantic and lovingly bittersweet.
Featuring France Perras and Art Kitching. Staged by Jack Paterson.
Where:
The Cultch
1895 Venables St.
For more info:
www.bouchewhacked.wordpress.com
or
www.thal.ca
Special Thank You to:
A Personal Mandate
I believe. I believe in theatre. I believe in the power of imagination and creation to change, to touch, to move and to inspire. I believe that the sculpture of bone and flesh, poetry and word, light and sound can reach deep down and change lives forever. I believe that theatre can change the world.
A Dispatch from the Field: Magnetic North Theatre Festival and Canadian Theatre
It’s Canada Day and I’m currently wrapping up my last week of an Artistic Directorship residency with The Magnetic North Theatre Festival. This is last leg of a personal mandate to study with three AD’s from Three Regions, Three Companies, and Three Mandates. Additionally, since doing the Shaw Festival Neil Munroe project in 2009, I have been exploring new techniques and art forms (new to me at any rate) in a journey that has included The Canadian Opera Company and Canadian Stage in Toronto, Imago Theatre, The Centaur and Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal in (you guessed it!) Montreal and Theatre Conspiracy in Vancouver. It seems fitting that this particular chapter in my life wraps up at a national festival that celebrates the diversity of Canadian Theatre practices and strives for cross pollination.
Aside from the personal pleasures of roaming the hallways of ancient black and white headshots and standing in line behind dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet to get a cup of coffee at the National Arts Centre or Calgary Poet Laureate Kris Demeanor jamming out on a guitar and discovering the existence of Punk Rock Bingo, this residency has allowed a brief exciting look into not only the Ottawa and Calgary theatre communities, but that of the nation.
The simple truth is it very difficult to make any claims about Canadian Theatre. Those two words “Canadian” and “Theatre” are at the best of times hard to define. What does that mean to be Canadian? We are a country in constant transition, a country at odds with its government and country made up of many different rich cultures, histories and ideas. We cannot be simply defined by French, English and First Nations or Left and Right Wing or Hockey. We are so much more than that. Ride a subway, trolley bus or skytrain anywhere and you will be surrounded by languages, stories and textures some foreign to your own personal background but obviously not to Canada itself. Each region, city, town and community is distinctive in its makeup.
Then how do we define “Theatre” when the work is so diverse? For any statement made about Canadian theatre in Ontario, the reverse is bound to be true in British Columbia and visa versa. Is “Theatre” referring to a venue, or can it exist in window displays, on rooftops and fire escapes. Is it defined by a script and an actor, or is it a grab bag dance, song, poetry and movement? Where do the visual and media arts come into play? Is it a result of collective creation or traditional text work or all of the above? Some of the first theatre performed in British Columbia was travelling troops performing on large tree stumps; Newfoundland has a long history of collectives.
While volunteering at The Theatre Centre in Toronto for a festival a few years ago, I was able to listen to several performance artists and modern dance makers discuss there work. The remarkable thing was discovering the same ideals and, in many case, practices that were being discussed where used in my own work with classical texts like Titus Andronicus and The Women of Troy.
Even what defines professional is in questions. The Fringe Festivals across the country are no longer simply a place of experimentation, exploration and development but a place where established artists make their livings. The major institutions are no longer simply places of traditional presentation and hiring but places that desire to expand the craft they practice. Although very different projects, Judith Thompson’s The Grace Project: SICK at Next Stage and The Shaw Festival’s The Cherry Orchard shared the same daring and exhilaration in their risk taking. In short, there is just as much fantastic quality work at the Edmonton Fringe as there is at The Stratford Festival.
The joy of having worked consistently in three diverse regions (Ontario, Quebec and, my home province, BC) over the last 3 years is I have been able to participate in and discover what is going in both the man stages, the independent theatres and emerging artists in these different areas. It is fascinating how each region has a different set of ideals, esthetics and theatrical priorities developed due to the needs and resources (or lack of resources) surrounding the artistic communities, each with its own set of strengths and challenges.
Where the west coast has rich tradition of collective creation, site specific and experimentation (perhaps developed out of a lack of venue and money) and Ontario has a strong tradition of text driven pieces and drive towards certain perfection. Quebec has its own fascinating mix as the Francophone artists have embraced the more poetic and expressionistic theatrical forms more common in Europe in their theatre that is also inspiring the Quebecois Anglophone theatre community on both the main stages and the independent companies.
Having the opportunity to witness the work and talk to artists from across the country at one time was invigorating. And again, the diversity of Canadian work was evident, ranging from Artistic Fraud (St. John’s) and their visually and musically rich Oil and Water to Cahoots Theatre’s (Toronto) elegant Paper Series. Calgary’s The Old Trout Puppet Workshop’s Ignorance and Human Cargo’s Inuktitut and English Night had very different reasons for being, yet there they were under the same roof. Even the solo shows, BC’s Carmen Aguirre’s Blue Box, Quebec’s Mani Soleymanlou ONE/UN, Ontario’s Raoul Bhaneja and Robert Ross Parker’s Hamlet (Solo) and a multitude of companies from Berlin to Toronto’s production of Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit, Red Rabbit all embraced vastly different styles, esthetics and presentation priorities.
From the deeply personal one person shows or 4 actors and nothing else on 6 by 4 riser (In the Wake, Downstage) to the large cast musicals, from the highly stylized or technical to the low budget gritty passion project, from the text based to the movement based, from traditional narrative to the media creation project, from the political cry to the educational, from new work to classical adaption or translation and from the large red seat theatre to the Hives, Subdivisions, Motel Rooms and Freestanding Spaces, it seems as if Canadian Theatre embraces everything from venue to discipline to style to story. And that, perhaps, is what makes us unique.
JJP
Neil Gaiman on life in the arts
“…break rules, make the world more interesting for your being here, make good art!”
A fantastic speech from Neil Gaiman that address the creation of art, life in the arts, from early career to later career to a graduating 2012 class of the University Of The Arts. Everything he wishes he knew starting out and all the best advice he failed to follow.
Jack Paterson Newsletter, Spring 2012 and Magnetic North
The Magnetic North Festival
I have just landed in Ottawa as my next theatre adventure is starting up. May and June will be split between here and Calgary, as I do a residency in National Festival Production with Brenda Leadlay and The Magnetic North Festival.
This is the final phase of self created Artistic Director Mentorship program designed to understand the production, administrative and artistic needs of different theatre organizations with different mandates in different regions of the country. Over the last season, this has included time with The Centaur Theatre and Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal in Montreal and Theatre Conspiracy in Vancouver and has covered topics ranging from season planning and subscriptions, grant writing and reporting, flying squads, dramturgy and new play development, casting and production.
This a final leg along with developing practical production experience with this important national organization is also a wonderful opportunity to explore the Ottawa and Calgary theatre scenes while also taking in the exciting new work from across the country.
A special thank you to the BC Arts Council for making this part possible.
Vancouver: Jan. to April
I started 2012 by teaming up with director Richard Wolfe (PI Theatre) as we formed the Plan B Collective for the west coast premiere of Marius von Mayenburg’s international sensation The Ugly One. Plan B Collective featured David Beairsto as Lette, the man with the face, Amber Lewis, Brian J. Sutton and myself as Scheffler.
Lighting Design was by Jergus Oprsal, Sound Design by Jordan Watkins, Set & Costumes by Roxana Chapela, Stage Managed by Wren Handman, Assistant Stage Managed by Jocelynn Mortlock and Assistant Directed by Michael Gunion.
“…Jack Paterson(s) performance made the darkness and the comedy reverberate…delightfully weirdly ominous show of quirky wit and stylish production… a great cast… this unique play… hugely funny… Bravo to director Richard Wolfe” – OutTV
“…excellent production…a strong ensemble…Hats off to the designers…Directed crisply by Richard Wolfe… I really appreciate seeing Canadian productions of contemporary plays by foreign writers…” – Plank Magazine
Other Highlights included participating in GVPTA Unified General Auditions as a coach, pre-screener and Auditor. Further theatre adventures involved catching up on the many exciting new and old Vancouver theatre talent. A few stand out productions I was able to catch included Amarillo and Club PuSh (PuSh Festival), Waiting for Godot (Blackbird Theatre), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot ( Pound of Flesh with Rumble, NeWorld and The Pacific Theatre) and new works like Solo Flights (Solo Collective) and the upcoming youth playwrights of LEAP (Arts Club).
See you at the theatre.
Jack Paterson
The Ugly One: Moving into the theatre
The Ugly One moved into the the Jericho Arts Centre this week.
It’s the first time in about two and a half years that I have been a part of the load in. And I have missed it. There is a big difference between popping your head into the build on breaks and actualy haulling lamps up the A frame. In this case, as an equity co-op, director Richard Wolfe, myself (actor), Stage Manager Wren Handman the Stage Manager, ASM Jocelynn Mortlock, assistant director Michael Gunion shared in the duty with the house tech and designer Jerguš Opršal and a volunteer crew.
I don’t think I will ever get over the feeling of wonder I get when a space starts coming together. Weither it’s a found site or a more traditional venu, it’s the feeling is the same. Helping physicaly create a new enviroment – a new world that never existed before. Magic!
As a performer or director, particpating in the physical creating of that is infinitly rewarding. Not only is this something I helped built with my own two hands, through sweat, labor, hard work and sevral people explaining how to use a screwgun(look Mom!), it truly helps understand the playing space. I know how this light works or the potential of this level or that audience aisle simply because I put it there.
Additonaly there is something truly company building about the experience. The bonding that happens between the individuals while creating, the conversations that start up between crew, design and performers all seem to lead toward a stonger team that involved everybody. The artists from performance craft, design craft and build craft physicaly working together strengthens the ties between the creative camps and as an extention - the passion. We don’t serve different camps of the production instead we all own a piece of it together.
2011 in Review
Whew. It’s been a busy one. 2011 was for me another year of travel, exploring new art forms such as dance, opera, new dramaturgy and translation practices, meeting new artists and, in truth, another year full of artistic highlights.
Jan. to April (Toronto):
The Magic Flute and Nixon in China, Canadian Opera Company, Auditing Director
A huge thanks to conductors Johannes Debus and Pablo Heras-Casado and directors Diane Paulus and James Robinson and the rest of the C.O.C. (www.COC.ca)
Unstuck, Foundry Theatre, Dramaturg and Director
The staged reading of Unstuck by Evan Tsitsias. Featuring: Kawa Ada, Roger Bainsbridge and Alex Williams
Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, Opera Hamilton, Auditing Director
A huge thank you to Director Graham Cozzubbo, Conductor Cal Stewart Kellogg and the rest of the gang for their openness and generosity.
May to August (Vancouver…mostly)
Macbeth: nach Shakespeare, Theatre Conspiracy/ Gasheart, Production and Editorial Dramaturg
The first English language translation of Heiner Muller’s Macbeth: nach Shakespeare with Theatre Conspiracy and GasHeart. I had the privilege of working with the internationally renowned translator and theatre artist Carl Weber as he put the final touches on his text for publication. A huge thank you to Director Quinn Harris, Artistic Director Tim Carlson and, of course, Carl Weber. http://conspiracy.ca
“Bloody brilliant.” – Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight
Henry 5 by 5 Lab, MD Theatre Collective/ Firehall Arts Centre, Director
As part of the Firehall Arts Centre BC Buds Festival, Collective members performer/ choreographer Nita Bowerman and performers Lisa Oppenheim, Keith Martin Gordey, Mike Wasko and Art Kitching joined me as we workshoped and explored a 5 person cross disciplinary production of William Shakespeare’s Henry V. The lab was to explore the relationship between the Shakespeare’s spoken word, dance and movement. www.mdtheatre.wordpress.com
Director’s Lab North (Toronto):
Over 20 directors from across the country (and some from across the world!) ranging from emerging to established gathered for a 3 day intensive at Tarragon Theatre. Panels and master classes included Daniel Brooks, Judith Thompson, Nina Lee Aquino, Andrea Romaldi and Anne Cattaneo, Soheil Parsa, Michael Wheeler, Micheline Chevrier, Linda Griffiths and Richard Rose and Shared Sessions on viewpoints, heightened text, American classics, creation and multi media. Their next deadline is coming up! www.directorslabnorth.com.
Molino Rouge, Karen Flamenco Studio, Text and Stage Director
Created and choreographed Karen Michelle Pitkethly with additional text by Peter Anderson and Gerardo Avila, the story of Moulin Rouge was flipped on its head and transformed into a Spanish cuadro.
Wreckage, Created by Nita Bowerman, Contributing Director
August began under the pier by Bridges Restaurant on Granville Island joining Nita Bowerman as she created her new multi disciplinary piece for the Vancouver Fringe. The work included early development and dramaturgy conversations, dance on a four foot by four foot raft and work with a scuba diver!
General Audition Workshop
Putting the research done for the BizBooks.net on General Auditions last season and further research from attending generals around the country this season, I held the first of a ongoing series of Pay What You Can Seminars and Discussions.
Two Part Invention Workshop, by Dorothy Dittrich, Dramaturg
Sept. to December (Montreal):
Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal, Artistic Director Mentorship, Associate on Dramaturgy, Translation and New Play Development
Working with Emma Tibaldo, Lois Brown and June Park, I was able to huge strides in both my dramaturgical and production practices. I joined in as an associate on the new play and translation workshops, readings, residencies and discussions covering translation and new works from large mainstage shows to exciting new indie creations. www.playwrights.ca
Also a huge thank you to Roy Surette, Chuck Childs and the Centaur Theatre for their ongoing support. www.centaurtheatre.com
Sanctuaire Workshop, by Lucia Frangione, Dramaturg (Toronto)
Other highlights include helping connect Evan Tsitsias and Unstuck from Toronto with Vancouver’s Screaming Weenies(www.screamingweenie.com) and Montreal’s Johanna Nutter’s My Pregnant Brother (www.twowheelerproductions.com/mypregnantbrother) with The Neanderthal Festival (http://thal.ca), participating in Le Centre des Auteurs Dramatique’s International Translation Syposium (www.cead.qc.ca), Montreal’s Les Journees de la Culture and all the wonderful theatre seen across the country from the indie scene like The Next Stage Festival (a ballerina twelve feet away from you!!) and Theatre Smash(www.theatresmash.com/) in Toronto to the Mainstage like Equus at the Segal Centre(www.segalcentre.org/equus-2/) (Montreal) and Blackbird’s Waiting for Godot (http://blackbirdtheatre.ca)(Vancouver).
