Next Stage Festival Shows - Click Image for Info
The 2011 Next Stage Theatre Festival Line-Up has been announced!
Check back for updates on casts, photos and schedules.
The Festival Schedule will be announced in November, and tickets go on sale by November 15!
Next Stage in the Factory Theatre Mainspace:
At The Sans Hotel **North American Premiere**
Created & performed by Nicola Gunn
Designed by Nicola Gunn with Rebecca Etchell, Gwendolyna Holmberg-Gilchrist and Luke Paulding
Australian creator and Fringe favourite Nicola Gunn makes her long anticipated return to Toronto after
three years. This new work brings Gunn’s trademark solo performance style to new levels and received
rave reviews after premiering in Australia in 2010. At The Sans Hotel is a story that moves humour to
sadness, tenderness to cruelty, daylight to twilight. In a deserted Hotel strewn with familiar remnants, a
woman is marooned in a bathtub. She suggests something terrible has happened or is about to happen...
― The theatre event thus far of 2010... Unique and groundbreaking.‖ Tony McMahon, Inpress (Australia)
― One of the finest pieces of theatre put on in Melbourne for years.‖ Samantha Wilson, ArtsHub
― A gift to its audience... A bracing, bewitching investigation.‖ John Bailey, Realtime Arts (Australia)
― A stunning level of performance, a rare thrill in theatre... Different, really funny, authentic and astute, and
honestly, honestly, marvellous.‖ Liza Dezfouli, Australian Stage
―A breathtaking blend of satire and surrealism, as if a Magritte painting had shuddered to life...
Unforgettable theatre." Times Colonist
Duel of Ages **Reworked from Fringe 2007**
by True Edge Productions
After astonishing audiences in 2007, Duel of Ages returns with new jaw dropping fights and choreography. This spectacular anthology of duelling scenes begins in the 16th century with the famous Duel de Jarnac and tracks the Code Duello throughout the ages, from the Renaissance to the absurd ―rules‖ of pistol duelling, all the way to its impact on the modern psyche in the age of cinema.
Duel of Ages combines the talents of five writers, four directors, five fight directors and 21 highly trained actor combatants to create a truly unique evening of theatre executed with comic timing and deadly precision.
―Unlike anything you’re likely to see at this or any other Fringe, Duel Of Ages collects six scenes featuring various kinds of duelling: via rapiers, guns or even martial arts... the huge cast kicks major ass in the thrills department.‖ NNNN Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine (2007)
―This kinetic, beautifully choreographed show by True Edge Production is one truly dazzling spectacle.‖ Tatiana Kachira, BlogTO (2007)
Fairy Tale Ending: The Big Bad Family Musical **Fringe ’10 Special Selection**
Presented by Role Your Own Theatre from Toronto
Music and Lyrics by Kieren MacMillan & Jeremy Hutton
Something is wrong in fairy tale land! All of Jill’s favourite stories are ending in tragedy, and she needs to figure out why. With the help of a hard-boiled detective and a cast of storybook characters, Jill confronts three villains (The Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks, and Troll) — and the ―infamous Jack‖ — on her way to discovering the truth. Fairy Tale Ending is a topsy-turvy yet touching tale of a young girl coming to grips with loss and the reality of growing up. NSTF’s first family show for kids and grown-ups - matinees and kids pricing to be announced.
Patron’s Pick Toronto Fringe 2010 (Top Selling FringeKids! show of all time)
Best of the Fringe: Berkeley Street (Canadian Stage Company)
Best of Fringe: Uptown (Toronto Centre for the Arts)
―Young or old, you won’t go wrong with this musical... the music is catchy, the lyrics clever and the performances, under Hutton’s direction, strong.‖ NNNNN – Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
―It’s fantastic. Everything from the choreographed group numbers to the joke-a-minute dialogue to the costume changes is perfectly executed. The ensemble cast brings a level of polish and professionalism that I have never before seen on a Fringe stage.‖ ***** - EYE WEEKLY
The Grace Project **World Premiere**
by Judith Thompson & the ensemble
A unique theatrical experience, The Grace Project features courageous young adults sharing their true, life-shaping experiences living with chronic illness. The teenage years are tough enough to manoeuvre without having to face the differences and insecurities that health issues create. The Grace Project gives voice to youth who may otherwise be disenfranchised by their experiences, showing not only the pain and isolation of their illnesses but the joys and grace with which these remarkable people navigate and control their own destinies.
In Judith's words "I have a personal connection to the play, as I had my first grand mal or tonic clonic seizure when I was eleven years old. I was told not to tell anyone, but I lived in terror of the ―vampires under the floor‖ for many, many years."
Next Stage in the Factory Studio Theatre:
The Apology **Toronto Premiere**
By Darrah Teitel
Directed by Audrey Dwyer
Featuring some of Toronto’s hottest young talent, The Apology is an anachronistic romp through the sexual affairs of Mary and Percy Shelley, Lord George Byron and Mary’s half sister Claire Claremont in the first quarter of the 19th century. Teenage sexuality coupled with inspired political ideology fan the flames of this brave work that discusses the tensions between maternity and feminism, ideology and love in an original story of sexual revelation.
Praise for the playwright:
For You Like It: ―...a script that's impressively cohesive for its multitude of voices. Genuine, heartfelt and undeniably human, this moving work should be seen by everyone, everywhere.‖ 5/5 Dave Jaffer, The Hour Magazine
For CORPUS (Winner Calgary Peace Play Contest): ―Corpus was written by the brilliant young playwright Darrah Teitel [who] has crafted a sensitive and challenging piece. A play for our time, Corpus aspires to illuminate the ethical ambiguity that engulfs people living through devastating times - and it asks its audience to question their own relentless fascination with dark history.‖ Dawn Mari McCaugherty, The Calgary Herald
Eating with Lola **Full Production Debut**
Presented by Sulong Theatre
Written and performed by Catherine Hernandez
Directed by Ann Powell (Puppetmongers Theatre)
Sulong Theatre Collective joins forces with the legendary Puppetmongers to bring you the story of Lola, so old and sick she has to be spoon fed by her granddaughter Grace. It wasn’t always like this. Over the course of her final meal on earth, Lola explains how it was always her job to find food – even if that meant stealing it. Part confession, part revelation, Lola’s epic tale unravels the entire modern history of Manila from the time of the Thomasites to the second wave of Filipino migration to the United States – one spoonful at a time. A one woman (and one puppet) tour-de-force.
About Sulong Theatre’s production of Future Folk at Theatre Passe Muraille:
―Kudos to The Sulong Theatre Collective for bringing these stories to the stage so eloquently.‖ Lynn Slotkin, CBC, Here & Now
―The show unfolds with delicacy, considerable virtuosity and a passion that's more effective for being understated.‖ Robert Cushman, National Post
About Puppetmongers Theatre:
At the forefront of puppetry arts in Canada, the Puppetmongers have won numerous awards including four UNIMA-USA Citations for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry, the inaugural Award for Artistic Excellence from the Puppeteers of America (North East region) and many Dora and Chalmers nominations.
Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale) **Toronto Premiere**
By Carol Cece Anderson
Directed by Mark Cassidy
Featuring Lili Francks, John Blackwood, Bridgett Zehr
Music Performed by Hilario Duran
Ballet Choreography by Roberto Campanella
Tap Choreography by Debbie Wilson
Ballet Consultant Evelyn Hart
Dora nominee Mark Cassidy leads an all-star team in this multi-disciplinary and beautiful work. Inspired by Swan Lake, the piece combines Afro-Cuban-Latin-Jazz, various dance styles and story to navigate through the forty year relationship of Jillian, a black woman, a former tap dancer, and Joe, a white man, a poet/playwright. Throughout the piece we discover a relationship rooted in the 1960's, when they were young, and the world was a radical, idealistic place. Jillian and Joe fell in love, married, and planned to start a family. Then life happened.
"A poetic blend of word and image…Beautifully done, melancholy ballad of a play… The play's intermingling of art forms creates an unforgettable ambiance that leaves the audience spellbound. When all elements fuse, it's a bittersweet joy…A gem… Anderson doesn't preach, she weaves…" The Montreal Gazette
Tom’s a-cold **North American Premiere**
By David Egan
Directed by Daryl Cloran (Theatrefront, National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, Soulpepper)
Featuring Shane Carty (Stratford, Neptune, NAC) & Brendan Gall (Tarragon, The Grand, Resurgence, Next Stage)
A North American Premiere for a truly Canadian story brought to you by three of Toronto’s most daring emerging artists. In 1845, HMS Terror and Erebus set sail from England seeking the Northwest Passage through the Arctic. Neither ship was ever seen again. Three years later, two men sit in a lifeboat. Ravaged by hunger, and haunted by their memories, they must confront truths they can no longer hide.
Tom’s a-cold confronts the bleakness of the Canadian north in a complex, often very comic way, and asks - how do we, as urban theatre-attending audiences make sense of this vast northern wilderness
that shares our nation’s mythology?
** Winner of the Cameron Mackintosh New Play Award (UK) **
** First prize in Herman Voaden National Play Writing Competition (Canada)**
