Trust Sharron Matthews to throw a wild party.
She hosted the 18th annual Harold Awards on Monday (May 2), a celebration of the rabble-rousing spirit in the indie theatre community and named for the late Harold Kandel.
One of the recipients of last year’s Harolds, Matthews warmly invited her fellow Harolders onstage for a bow and then curtly asked them to get the fuck off the stage so the new Haroldees could be honoured.
As always, the thought that ran through the minds of so many in the audience was “Did someone trick me into coming tonight?” since the recipients don’t know they’re getting an award.
This year’s trophies were a series of unique tiaras presented on a velveteen pillow and designed by Nina Okens, who received the night’s first Harold.
Others recognized for their contributions included Patty Gail Peaker, one of the driving forces behind the formation of the Performing Arts Lodge musician Kristin Mueller-Heaslip playwright and arts educator Paula Wing director Jordan Merkur designer and paramedic Michael Kruse performers Caroline Gillis and Jenni Burke playwright John Palmer arts administrators Gail Packwood and Bridget MacIntosh prop maker Karen Rodd and sound designer Lyon Smith.
The Ken MacDougall Award for promising young director, sponsored by Platform 9, Buddies in Bad Times and Theatre Passe Muraille, went to the talented Jordan Tannahill.
Matthews, who rarely stopped self-promoting in her own outrageous tongue-in-cheek style, entertained the audience with several songs, accompanied by Chris Tsujiuchi.
The multi-stoned tiaras elicited lots of quips. Most of the guys put them on right away, but Palmer, when called upon to do so by someone in the audience, replied, “Never.” The ever-ebullient Burke said, “This will never leave my weave.” Smith noted that the tiara was his for the night, but the next day he’d have to fight with his daughter for who’d wear it. And when Kruse put his on, another anonymous audience voice said, “and now take it off… slowly.”
Another hit was Kirsten Johnson’s film about Harold, compiled from interviews with dozens of indie theatre artists who remembered his frequent mid-performance comments.
Fringe’s new moves
There’s more indie theatre news from the Toronto Fringe, which is launching the Fringe Creation Lab on the fourth floor of the Centre for Social Innovation Annex (720 Bathurst).
The Lab includes over 3,000 square feet of space that will be available for rehearsals, workshops, readings, seminars and special events. Best of all, in a town where rehearsal space can be hard to find, the Lab will be highly subsidized to allow even the smallest and least funded of companies to use it, says executive director Gideon Arthurs.
“The Creation Lab is an extension of the founding principle of the Fringe movement,” adds Arthurs, “establishing an accessible space that offers artists something that’s not on the radar for most funders and granters. Its accessibility means there’s no judgment about artists’ experience, what community they come from or the style of work they do. We want to make sure the space is affordable and available for everyone.”
The location will be used during the Fringe as headquarters for the festival at other times, administration will scale back and use less space, allowing artists to work in the rest of it. Details about registration for the Creation Lab will be announced in the fall.
“By setting up a hub for a diverse community of artists,” notes the executive director, “we can improve the craft of everyone involved and share resources as well.”
This summer also marks an important reunion between the Toronto Fringe and NOW, which returns as a media sponsor for the festival.
“I see it as a coming together of the indies,” smiles Arthurs, “a way of finding strength together and aggregating our power.”
Look for the Fringe Guide pullout in the July 7 issue of NOW.
Edward’s heart
How good to have a return visit from Workman Arts’ Edward The “Crazy Man.” Emil Sher’s play looks at the relationship between 12-year-old Charlie (Olaf Sham) and Edward, a homeless man dealing with schizophrenia (John Cleland).
Adapted from the book by Marie Day, the script is again directed by Leah Cherniak and features a strong performance by Cleland in the title role. He and Sher offer a wonderfully compassionate look at Edward, including a glimpse of the person he was before he had to deal with depression.
“Sometimes,” Edward acknowledges, “it’s hard being me.”
Taunted by neighbourhood children (Charles Revored-Couto, Faeghan Williams and Sham), he soon makes a connection with Charlie, who invites him over for dinner that invitation doesn’t go over too well with Charlie’s mother (Williams). Sher’s made the activist mother a stronger figure this time around, with Williams giving the role an added element of complexity.
The play’s bittersweet ending leaves lots of room for discussion, sure to be followed up at student performances.
See listings.
Creative fest
Canadian Stage’s annual Festival of Ideas & Creation, focusing on cross-disciplinary performance and collaboration, features a whopping 30 free events during its 13-day run, which begins Monday (May 9).
Curated by festival director Natasha Mytnowych and associate director Claire Calnan, the festival includes readings, forums and workshops for the artistic community.
You can catch discussions with Atom Egoyan, d’bi.young anitafrika, hiphop artist Will Power and others, as well as new creations by Moynan King, Jordan Tannahill, Allen Cole, Greg MacArthur, Weyni Mengesha and Yvonne Ng.
The big performance day is the fest’s final one (May 21), with works by Richard Sanger, Beth Kates, Steven McCarthy, Lisa Marie DiLiberto, Liza Balkan, Jonathan Garfinkel, Christopher Morris and Jessica Moss.
See canadianstage.com/festival for details.
Hola, amigos
Want some fantastic Hispanic entertainment and at the same time to help support a great theatre company?
Alameda Theatre holds a Peña, its annual funder, on Tuesday (May 10), hosted by comedian Martha Chaves she also presents an excerpt from her one-woman show, Staying Alive. The evening features performances by Amaranta Leyva and the Samba Squad DJ El Machetero plays the dance beats.
There’ll also be a silent auction of work by local Latin American artists, nibblies with a Mexican flavour and a cash bar.
See listings.
Adventurous songs
The recently founded Theatre 20, a musical theatre company with a galaxy of star performers, takes off with a three-concert series that highlights both story and song.
The artist-led troupe has a three-pronged focus: celebration, education and development.
The concert series fits right into the mandate. First up May 9 (Monday), is The Story Begins: Celebrating Songs From Story-Driven Musicals. Among the talented artists taking part are founding artists Louise Pitre, Ma-Anne Dionisio, Tamara Bernier Evans, Eliza-Jane Scott, Colm Wilkinson and Carly Street, along with Joe Matheson, Jeff Madden, Sharron Matthews, George Masswohl and Jake Epstein. Tracey Flye directs.
Still to come are Driven To Score: Celebrating Canadian Musical Composers (June 20) and a concert version of John Grey’s Amelia, featuring Scott as Amelia Earhart (October 3).
See listings.
Lost Shakespeare
You’ve probably never heard of a play called Double Falsehood. Some argue that it’s a lost play by Shakespeare.
Here’s a chance to check out its qualities as a play and listen to some of the evidence for its inclusion in the Bard’s canon.
Classical Theatre Project presents a staged reading of the work tonight (May 5), preceded by a talk by playwright and scholar Robert Fothergill on the work’s authenticity.
Based on an episode from Don Quixote, the story focuses on a duke’s son whose love for two women has disastrous results. The play’s recently been staged in New York and London.
See listings.
Directing for Alumnae
The Alumnae Theatre seeks non-union directors for the four mainstage productions in its 2011-12 season.
They include Polly Teale’s After Mrs. Rochester, A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, Louis Nowra’s Cosi and a revival of Gwendolyn MacEwen’s translation of Euripides’ The Trojan Women, one of the company’s most successful productions.
If you’re interested, check out the auditions page at alumnaetheatre.com for guidelines and submission instructions. Deadline for submissions is May 13.
stage@nowtoronto.com
