THEATRE: Sky Gilbert’s new play TOLLER, about Toller Cranston, Nov 19-22 & 26-29

Thurs to Sat Nov 19-21 & Nov 26-28, 2015, at 8 pm, tickets $15.  Matinees Sundays Nov 22 & 29 at 2 pm, PWYC at the door only.
A two-week run at Artword Artbar of Sky Gilbert‘s new play TOLLER, about figure-skater Toller Cranston. The play is written and directed by Sky Gilbert, produced by hammertheatre, and stars David Benjamin Tomlinson in the role of Toller (photo right).
Sky Gilbert’s new play TOLLER: A Performance by Toller Cranston is a fictional one-act presentation in which Toller Cranston muses on his life and times. It is inspired by Cranston’s 1997 memoir Zero Tollerance: An Intimate Memoir by The Man That Revolutionized Figure Skating.
Toller Cranston died suddenly earlier this year at a relatively young age of 65. The Olympic Bronze medalist, born in Hamilton, was always a controversial figure. Sky Gilbert considers Toller Cranston as an historical gay figure much in the ‘old school closeted’ style of Noel Coward and Liberace. Uncomfortable with gay liberation, Cranston instead preferred to position himself as a creative outsider rather than as a homosexual.
The play allows Toller Cranston himself to speak about his life and his sexuality through an artful performance of the famous figure skater’s own devising. TOLLER boldly confronts issues of sexuality, identity, and hypocrisy, ultimately painting the portrait of a fierce, frightened, heroic, and very wounded gay man.
The running time is 60 minutes. Separate concerts will follow at 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 5 pm on Sunday Nov 22.