Emerging artists are the lifeblood of the Paprika Festival, this year celebrating its 11th anniversary with a move to a bigger venue and a series of new programs.
The fest, a celebration of the work of young artists mostly 21 and under, takes up residence in the Tarragon Extra Space beginning today (Thursday, March 1) and running through March 10, with fresh scripts, a quartet of plays by playwrights in residence and developing shows by the Paprika Creators Unit and Resident Company.
Most performances feature three or four short shows, with several evenings devoted to a cabaret series.
Look for new works by up-and-comers Sam Godfrey, Aaron Jan, Aviva Phillip-Muller, Rebecca Daunt, Hazel Lee, Sophie Michalik, Kim Korsunsky and Aaron Shelson. There’s also a collective creation called Social NOTworking, which offers some thoughts by young people who are so often defined by their connection to social media.
The Creators Unit offers I’m A Stupid ___ (And Other Stories), “inspired by the tales, symptoms and responses to being a young artist.” Julie Tepperman directs, assisted by Sara Farb. The Resident Company’s show is Evan Vipond’s Always Wear A Rubber, directed by Alyssa Bartlett it’s an exploration of gender, sexuality and what it means to be a “deviant.”
Want more? How about three Olde Spice Alumni presentations, by people who have been through the Paprika program (including Clara Pasieka, Norman Yeung, Christiaan Venter and Josh Korngut) and scripts by resident playwrights Wesley Colford, Sabrina White and Britta Johnson.
Another playwright in residence, Rosamund Small, offers Performing Occupy, part of Occupy Paprika: Celebrate The 99, inspired by the Occupy Toronto movement. The verbatim play gets a reading as part of a fundraising evening March 9 there will also be a panel on art and its ability to affect change. Among the readers of Small’s play are Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, RH Thomson, Haley McGee, Martin Julien, Andrew Kushnir and Susan Coyne the last two have mentored the young playwright in her work at Paprika.
For programming details see paprikafestival.com.
Fem funder
Seventh Stage Theatre celebrates International Women’s Day (Wednesday, March 7) with 7 Fierce Femmes, a performance and party commemorating seven pioneering women in the arts and media.
The event’s also a fundraiser for the company, which is mounting a co-production of Bryony Lavery’s Stockholm with Nightwood in the spring.
The evening’s entertainment includes dance performances by Hit and Run and La Rouge Entertainment and musical performances by Erica Peck, Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire. You can also take part in a silent auction and have a tarot card reading. DJ Lissa Monet spins the dance tunes.
Monet is also one of the seven women honoured at the event the others are Tara Beagan (see more on her latest play, free as injuns, here), Natalie Deane, Leslie Ehm, Laurie Elliot, Jennifer Podemski and Tika Simone.
See listing.
stage@nowtoronto.com
