Back To Artword Productions 2002-2003


Sherrie Johnson
and
Menno Plukker

 

At Artword Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille
January 28 to February 9, 2003

Sherrie Johnson and
Menno Plukker present

Six Stages
Festival 2003

Outstanding artists from Prague and Glasgow perform in Canada.

The Lineup


1. THE UNLIKELY BIRTH OF ISTVAN: The Old Trout Puppet Workshop (Alberta)
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
After six months of monkish isolation on a ranch in southern Alberta, the Old Trouts managed to distill the fundamental truths of the cosmos into The Unlikely Birth of Istvan. It’s an underground puppet production for adults, a grand unifying theory of explaining birth, death, and everything in between – a fantastical visual poem about the essence of being human, from the perspective of puppets. An absurdist creation myth that is equal parts Beckett and Sesame Street.

2. SHADOWS: Written and performed by William Yang (Australia)
Artword Theatre Mainspace
Award-winning photographer/performance artist William Yang returns to Toronto with his moving multi-media performance piece, Shadows. A compelling account of two peoples—the Australian Aborigines and the migrant Germans in South Australia, Yang’s Shadows is a textured pilgrimage of epic proportions. Part documentary, part personal observation, Yang’s material magically combines slides, music and text to touchingly reveal other people’s stories and lives.

3. JIMMY: Written and performed by Marie Brassard, Infrarouge Théâtre (Quebec)
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
Jimmy, a solo play created and performed by award-winning French-Canadian actress Marie Brassard, is made of the stuff of dreams – literally. A fantasy within a fantasy within a fantasy, it explores the shifting boundaries between dream and wakefulness, between real and not real, between theatre and life. This outstanding performance piece is about love, desire and the pleasure of the creative process.

4. pppeeeaaaccceee: Written and directed by Darren O’Donnell, Mammalian Diving Reflex (Ontario)
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace
pppeeeaaaccceee is a mesmerizing and hilarious glide through life after the revolution; a gently aggressive meditation which examines our being, asks us what we're doing and reminds us that there are monsters in here. Peace. Say it slow, stretch it out, make it last forever.

5. DREAM MACHINE: By Blake Brooker & David Rhymer, One Yellow Rabbit (Alberta)
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace
Everyone knows American beat poets like Ginsberg and Kerouac, but few are as familiar with their Canadian collaborator, Brion Gysin. In the strait-laced 50s, when beats were coining terms like "rat race" and "do your own thing," the Edmonton-born artist and philosopher drew the attention of William S. Burroughs. Together, they worked to build Gysin's enigmatic Dream Machine, a mechanical device designed to cause the user to see reality uncluttered by the pernicious effects of big business and advertising.

6. LAMENT: Created by Suspect Culture’s artistic team of Graham Eatough, David Greig, Nick Powell & Ian Scott, Suspect Culture (Scotland)
Artword Theatre Mainspace
Funny and touching, honest and playful, Lament examines the sadnesses and absurdities of the state we’re in today—or, at least, the state we think we’re in. This, the latest show from Scotland’s internationally acclaimed Suspect Culture company combines hi-tech visual projections, live and recorded music, and remarkable cast of six to stage this potent and emotional examination of our man-made world.

7. VENUS WITH THE RUBIC’S CUBE: Kristyná Lhotáková & Ladislav Soukup (Czech Republic), Solo dance with live music
Artword Theatre Alternative Space
The theme of ‘Venus’ is the present ideal of women as it is presented in the media. According to the media, a woman must be young, tall, slim and photogenic. Under such pressure, it is understandable that the resulting human being is naturally immature, anorexic, and strange.