As you may be aware, there are no less than five local theatre productions opening in Ottawa this coming week. In the face of overlapping media calls, concurrent opening nights, and missed meetings, somehow I’ve still managed to interview the cast and directors of three out of the five productions. Compiling those interviews… well, that’s what the weekend’s for. Let me give you a preview of what’s in store:

On Wednesday afternoon, I visited the set of sevenThirty Productions‘ A Flea in Her Ear at the Gladstone Theatre, where I chatted with director John P. Kelly and actor David Whiteley. Besides being one of the cast of fifteen, Whitely is responsible for this fresh translation of Feydeau’s classic French bedroom farce. I’ll share with you what I learned about the particular challenges of staging a production like this in a way that makes it stand out while preserving its traditional character.

The next day, as I was preparing to compile the interview, through the magic of Twitter I realised I was in danger of missing the media call for the Great Canadian Theatre Company‘s season opener, The List. Much to my delight, when I arrived, Third Wall Theatre was also holding the media call for Blackbird. Nothing like killing two birds (rather, a bird and a list?) with one dictophone.

I spoke at length with Blackbird director Mary Ellis and actors John Koensgen and Kristina Watt about this emotionally challenging play. What they had to say about it was interesting enough, but when you hear how they said it, you’ll understand why I was immediately intrigued.

If Blackbird is an emotional challenge, then The List promises to be its philosophical equal. Director Brian Quirt and solo actor Tracey Ferencz gave me an idea of the universality of the theme of the piece, and how the audience has a significant role to play in its performance.

Did I then immediately return to my desk to compile all these interviews? No, I most certainly did not. I decided instead that, after all that talk about theatre, it was time to go see some. I believe I chose wisely; the closing performance of Le Théâtre de Dehors‘ Les Guerriers was as compelling, funny, and well-put-together a piece of French theatre as I could have hoped for. My regret is not having seen it earlier, as this is something I would have eagerly encouraged everyone to see, regardless of their comprehension of the French language.

Sadly, I haven’t been able to get to Someone For Everyone or Crossing Delancey; I haven’t forgotten them, but… something’s got to give.

I hope everybody’s ready for a new season of theatre in Ottawa. Remember, if you’re aware of something theatre-related that we should be covering but aren’t, drop a line to theatre@ottawatonite.com, or slip the e-mail address to your favourite publicist.

Best,

Andrew Snowdon

It feels like I’m crashing someone else’s Prom night.

The third annual Rideau Awards—rather, Les Prix Rideau Awards, as for the first year the presentation ceremony was entirely bilingual, inspired Ottawa-Gatineau’s best and brightest theatre talent to break out the best of their wardrobe and descend upon the De La Salle auditorium en masse.

From the first leather-masked usher handing out programs at the door, to the stilt-walker slowly roaming the lobby, to the tableau vivante of costumed burlesque performers in the exquisitely-decorated Party Room, it was immediately evident that this was not your average local theatre awards night.

And why should it be? 2009 was a banner year for theatre in the Ottawa region. Of the nominated productions I’d seen only a few, but heard of most. I was present in the beer tent at the Ottawa Fringe Festival after the opening night of Countries Shaped Like Stars and Inclement Weather (although I have yet to see either, even though they have since played at the Great Canadian Theatre Company), so it was no surprise to me that MiCasa had earned nine nominations for the two productions. If there were an underground theatre award betting circuit, I’d've placed money on that horse to win. A Midwinter’s Dream Tale and The Syringa Tree were also nominated in a number of different categories; in French theatre, L’honnête homme / un one woman show was nominated in nearly every category.

In the Party Room, I spotted some familiar faces, including Louis-Philippe Roy, whose performance as Ludvig in Rappel (director: Simon Lalande) at La Nouvelle Scène was a breathtaking re-introduction to the wonder of French theatre for me. We ran into veteran journalist Mike Levin of UnFolding.ca, who commented on the wide spectrum of wardrobe choices. Looking around, it seemed that for each attendee in an evening gown or smart blazer, there was a matching one in jeans and, at the most, a sportcoat. I found myself hoping they were writers or directors.

Al Connors, himself nominated in the category of Outstanding Director for A Midwinter’s Dream Tale, kicked off the ceremony by introducing co-hosts Alan Neal (of CBC Radio One) and Annie Lefebvre. While Alan stood at the podium, Annie strode down the aisle bathed in a spotlight, sporting a sparkling tiara, wielding a whip, and tugging at the leashes of two silent men in full BDSM slave outfits.

In those few minutes, the Rideau Awards outdid this year’s Academy Awards by a country mile.

“Tonight, we are sharing tongues,” Ms. Lefebvre deadpanned, both underscoring the bilingual aspect of the event and setting the stage for a running theme of French translation gags throughout the presentation.

Next to be introduced were Brie Barker and the cast of Sanitas Playback Theatre (Scott Florence, Paul Gareau, Lucy Lu, Sterling Lynch, and Jen Vallance). Throughout the evening, they would be performing their unique brand of improvisational theatre, theatrically interpreting stories elicited from nominees by Mr. Barker’s gently probing questions, with Nancy Kenny providing French translation. By way of demonstration, Brie interviewed Teri Rata Loretto about her one-woman show Shirley Valentine, and then the players acted out the panic and exhaustion she described, followed by the feeling of getting something different back from the audience.

Following a video retrospective of the year in local theatre, Pierre Brault and Benjamin Gaillard presented the awards for Outstanding Performance—Female to Patricia Fagan for The Syringa Tree and for Interprétation féminine de l’année to Geneviève Couture, for L’honnête homme / un one woman show. Lise Ann Johnson, Artistic Director of the GCTC, accepted on behalf of Ms. Fagan, who was unable to attend as she was having a baby.

Next, presenters Yves Turbide and Margo MacDonald took the podium to present the awards for Outstanding Performance—Male to Paul Rainville for The Drawer Boy and for Interprétation masculine de l’année to Pierre Antoine Lafon Simard for L’illusion comique. Once again, Ms. Johnson took the stage, this time to accept on Mr. Rainville’s behalf. M. Simard was also unable to attend, as he was in France; his mother stepped forward to accept the award on his behalf.

As Annie and Alan were preparing to introduce the next presenters, the booming voice of the Stage Manager shooed them into the wings, and took over. Here the awards diverged slightly; while the English theatre had separate categories for Outstanding Lighting, Set, and Costume Design, Angéla Haché presented the single award for Conception de l’année to Guillaume Houët-Brisebois, for the lighting design for L’honnète homme / un one woman show.

Lynne Cox presented the award for Outstanding Lighting Design to Jock Munro for The Syringa Tree, for whom Lise Ann Johnson again accepted, as Mr. Munro was on his boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

In presenting the award for Outstanding Set Design, Peter Honeywell said that “good set design, like good government, is a tricky thing; it doesn’t call attention to itself… or cut arts funding.” The award went to Ivo Valentik for A Midwinter’s Dream Tale.

Steve Martin (no, not as in Shopgirl) presented the award for Outstanding Costume Design to Louise Hayden, on whose behalf Scott Florence (one of the Sanitas players) accepted.

The Stage Manager gave way to Annie and Alan again, who proceeded to introduce Marc Depatie and Kris Joseph (who was just barely visibly wearing chaps) who were to present the Emerging Artist Award to Emily Pearlman (who proceeded to thank her MiCasa colleagues, Nicolas Di Gaetano and Patrick Gauthier, also nominated in the same category) and Artiste en émergence to Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez.

James Richardson and… a red dragon marionette animated and voiced by the brilliantly talented Diane Bouchard took the stage to award the Outstanding Stage Management / Technical Award to Donna Bourgeault for A View from the Bridge, an Ottawa Chamber Theatre production, and the corresponding Prix technique / de la régie to Lindsay Tremblay for Le Projet Rideau.

They were followed on stage by Marie-Ève Chassé and Ann Connors, who presented the awards for Outstanding New Creation to Countries Shaped Like Stars and for Nouvelle création de l’année to L’honnête homme / un one woman show.

Sanitas Playback Theatre turned their spotlight to Laura Astwood of the Ottawa Stilt Union, writer/director of The Girl Who Was Eaten By The Dark, for their next theatrical interpretation. She explained how she had come up with the idea of a production involving monsters and Sara Waisvisz, over coffee, had given her the title. The players did an admirable job of capturing the spirit of her story, with appropriate stilt-like movements.

Annie and Alan returned to the podium to thank each of the major sponsors of the evening; after several slides it was clear that this wasn’t just a theatre event, it was a community event, with businesses, individuals, unions, and educational institutions involved.

When Nancy Kenny started to interview Marc Lemyre for the next Sanitas interpretation, I had to suppress a smile. I get a charge out of hearing him speak; you can follow his train of thought as he weighs and accepts or rejects premises and conclusions—if you pay very strict attention. In short, he’s fabulously indirect, and watching the look of consternation creep across the faces of the players as they concentrated on grasping his meaning was a source of glee. After they presented their theatrical interpretation, Nancy Kenny again asked if that was a correct interpretation of his story. M. Lemyre responded, warmly, “C’est exactement ça.”

Jean-Stéphane Roy and Nancy Webster were up next to present the awards for Outstanding Director and Mise en scène de l’année. Lise Ann Johnson accepted the award for Outstanding Director on her own behalf, for The Syringa Tree, and Marc Lemyre for L’honnête homme / un one woman show.

The award for Outstanding Fringe Production was presented by Kristina Watt to Emily Pearlman, Nicolas Di Gaetano, and Patrick Gauthier for Countries Shaped Like Stars. I was personally pleased to see that Samira Rose’s production We Never Clothed had been nominated for the category, as it was one of my personal favourites of the 2009 Fringe season, but not one I had expected to attract much critical attention, as a piece still in its early stages.

Natalie Joy Quesnel, who I had somehow failed to notice had been sitting just three seats to my right throughout the presentations, took the stage to present both Outstanding Adaptation and Adaptation de l’année. Not to cast aspersions on anyone else, but I found her presentation to be one of the best, most engaging and passionate performances of the evening, and a whisper or two overheard at the party afterward suggest others did too. A Midwinter’s Dream Tale took the English award, while Cyrano Tag took the corresponding French award.

Before the final pair of awards, we were treated to a Sanitas “Full Story”—the preceding Sanitas segments were short versions of the longer performances that they usually do, but as a finale Brie Barker invited Bronwyn Steinberg, whose Fringe production Pirate Jenny’s Circus had been nominated for Outstanding Adaptation, to take the “Teller’s Chair” on stage and tell the story of its conception. The story led from a study of the plays of Bertolt Brecht through coffee with Sara Waisvisz (who, apparently, is the go-to person if you want to develop a creative idea, or the title of a theatre piece), to the construction of a piece of musical theatre with multiple endings centering around a single character, Jenny (from Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera). The Sanitas players’ interpretation brought Bronwyn to the brink of tears, particularly due to Sterling’s incredibly apt choice of words to express the appreciation she said she had felt after the show met with success.

At last, Annie and Alan were prepared to present the awards for Outstanding Production and Production de l’année, which went to The Syringa Tree and L’honnête homme / un one woman show respectively, bringing the show to a close.

After we left the auditorium, my partner and I stepped outside for some fresh air with photographer Patrick Kennedy (of Andrew Alexander Photography) and GCTC Marketing & Communications Manager Kevin Falkingham.

Before returning to the Party Room, Kevin introduced me to Lise Ann Johnson, and we sat down to talk about the event and the state of theatre in Ottawa (after I gently teased her for having such a huge stack of awards to take home).

I asked about the importance of the bilingual aspect of the awards. “That’s what’s unique about Ottawa,” she said. Although she doesn’t get to see as much French theatre as she’d like to, Ms. Johnson is keenly aware of the opportunity for collaboration between two different theatrical cultures; citing examples like The Rideau Project. She also noted the number of established and emerging artists that were capable of working in either language, and therefore could cross-pollinate the two theatre communities. The Rideau Awards provide an additional point of contact between English and French theatre in the region that is growing in importance.

As it’s a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed more and more frequently recently, I ask if she too believes that this is an exciting time for theatre in Ottawa. Her face lights up. “Ten years ago, University of Ottawa theatre students graduated and left the city; now people are staying, and coming back. Countries Shaped Like Stars couldn’t have been created anywhere else.” Ottawa is coming into its own as a city where theatre and the arts are viable, vibrant, and vital.

But isn’t Ottawa economically and politically hostile to the arts? Ms. Johnson doesn’t think so. “I’m not sure that’s true,” she says, shaking her head emphatically, “City council gets the value of the arts to the city. In the wake of all this new creation, within the next five years, Ms. Johnson would like to see touring productions of locally-conceived works.

If the people packed into the Party Room were anything to go by, her optimistic vision is well-founded.

Before leaving the party, I decided to try to get close enough to Emily Pearlman to congratulate her in person. She was surrounded by camera flashes and a constant procession of friends and well-wishers. Soon enough, an opportunity presented itself; a masked server offered her a tray of hors d’oeuvres. With her hand to her mouth, the cameras were stayed, the conversations paused, and I stepped forward… at the exact same moment as Nadine Thornhill. So we congratulated her together. The excitement was still brimming over in her voice and gestures as Ms. Pearlman described to us the feeling of accepting her first award, being barely able to get five words out, and rushing away as quickly as she came.

What stayed with me most about the awards was the strong sense of solidarity between everyone in the English and French theatre communities; there was no sense of a clique culture, no shadow of isolationism, no selfishness, but a mutually supportive network of theatre professionals of every stripe, encouraging and challenging each other to excel.

It is, indeed, an exciting time for theatre in Ottawa. And I can’t wait for next year’s party.

I just hope I can find the right dress.

Andrew Snowdon is a theatregoer, concert attendee, and writer living in Lowertown, Ottawa, sandwiched between a MacBook and a typewriter, with a cup of coffee.

Photography by Jes Lacasse.

Special thanks to Nancy Kenny and the rest of the Rideau Awards promotional team.

MEDIA RELEASE: The Great Canadian Theatre Company is excited to present BASH’d! A Gay Rap Opera written and performed by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow with music by Aaron Macri, at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, 1233 Wellington St. West (at Holland Ave.).

Following two preview performances on January 12 and 13, 2010, BASH’d! A Gay Rap Opera officially opens on January 14, 2010 and runs until January 31, 2010.

This high-energy, humourous and fast-paced musical is loosely based on the real-life spike in hate crimes in Alberta during the gay marriage debate of 2005. BASH’d! explores the effects of homophobic violence on a gay couple and on society as a whole, through the hip hop music sung by two gay rapping angels, T-Bag and Feminem. Jack and Dillon, one from the big city and the other who escapes the small town, meet and fall in love in their own Romeo and Romeo fairytale. But their “happily ever after” is destroyed by a brutal gay-bashing and one of the lovers vows revenge.

Originally conceived as a satire of the notoriously-homophobic hip hop genre, BASH’d! debuted as a fringe production and toured fringe festivals throughout Canada and the USA. The production earned the Outstanding Musical award at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival; and NOW Magazine’s “Pick of the Fringe” and the “Patron’s Pick” awards at the 2007 Toronto Fringe Festival. BASH’d! also earned the 2007 Sterling Award for Outstanding Independent Production, as well as three other Sterling Award nominations.  BASH’d also received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding NY Theatre

In 2008, BASH’d! premiered Off-Broadway, in a three-month run that was acclaimed by critics, including New York’s “The Village Voice” Top 10 list for the 2008/2009 theatre season. The GCTC run is the show’s second stop on its 2009/2010 Canadian tour, after a nearly sold out run at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. After the GCTC run, BASH’d! will be seen in Vancouver at The Cultch, in partnership with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

BASH’d! A Gay Rap Opera is written and performed by Edmonton-based Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow. The music is by Aaron Macri and the director is Ron Jenkins. Lighting design is by Kerem Çetinel and the stage manager is Jenn Best.

To purchase tickets, please visit www.gctc.ca or call the Box Office at 613-236-5196

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kevin Falkingham

Marketing and Communications Manager

Great Canadian Theatre Company

613-236-5192 ext 229

publicity@gctc.ca