WB6

Inject a little politic in your summer

One night only: Saturday August 4, 2007, 10:00pm, Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue

THE EVENT:
Lather up that sunscreen and put on your shades, it’s time to step into the harsh light of the headlines. For one night only, The Wrecking Ball swings again! A special guest to the SummerWorks Theatre Festival, the sixth edition of the Wrecking Ball takes place on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 – at the bohemian hour of 10pm, in Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace.

This Wrecking Ball features BRAND NEW, ONE-WEEK OLD EXPRESSLY POLITICAL Theatre by some of Canada’s top playwrights: Linda Griffiths (Maggie & Pierre) gives us the affable Conrad Black as he attempts to win our hearts and regain his Canadian citizenship. Richard Sanger (Two Words for Snow), with special assistance from Briony Glassco (The Sneetches) present five sketches on the theme of competition featuring, amongst others, the playwright, Mats Sundin, Larry Tannenbaum, David Radler and, because he’ll be there anyway, everyone’s favourite media mogul, Mr. Black. Finally, for the first time ever, we have a Wrecking Ball opera by composer Njo Kong Kie with book by Douglas Rodger. Together they’ll be rounding off the evening with a tonal investigation into the growing black market in the sale of human organs. And if that wasn’t enough, we have special guest Torquil Campbell, lead singer of Stars, singing Billy Bragg’s Tender Comrade.

We guarantee that WB6 will be unlike any you’ve seen before. Each of our writers will follow the two Wrecking Ball Rules:

1) PLAYS MUST BE BASED ON CURRENT WORLD EVENTS – RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
2) PLAYS MUST BE WRITTEN IN ONE WEEK. THEN REHEARSED BRIEFLY AND THROWN RAW BEFORE A HUNGRY AUDIENCE.

Once again, some of Toronto’s best directors (Eda Holmes, Michael Rubenfeld, and Ashlie Corcoran) will lead the finest actors in the city in staged readings presented before your eyes, introduced by our very own Wrecking Ball crew (Lara Azzopardi, David Jansen, Ross Manson and Andrew Soren).

ABOUT THE WRECKING BALL:
The Wrecking Ball is an attempt to bring the headlines to the theatre. We ask acclaimed Canadian and international playwrights to dramatize the world we find ourselves in today … right here … right now. There is no question that theatre exists in our news—but is the news in our theatres? Each writer has only a few days to write a short play with overtly political themes – each individual writer can decide what that means to him or her (and given these particular writers, that could mean a lot). The plays are given short rehearsals in advance of staged readings. Add music, a hoard of people hungry for meaningful theatre and, voila, you have a Wrecking Ball. Even better, proceeds from Wrecking Ball performances go to support The Actor’s Fund of Canada!

We’ve had five Wrecking Balls proper in the past and all have been great fun. Past writers have included: Jason Sherman, Judith Thompson, Karen Hines, Norm Foster, David Young, Michael Healey, Morwyn Brebner, Daniel MacIvor, Hannah Moscovitch, Andrew Moodie, Morris Panych, d’bi.young and many others. COLDAX, a series of political play readings at the Tarragon in the spring of 2004 was such a hit that The Wrecking Ball presented The Silencing of Rachel Corrie at the Tarragon’s Spring Arts Fair in 2005. And we’re just hitting our stride. Check out the website for more information about political theatre throughout the world. www.thewreckingball.ca.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS:
Playwright/actor Linda Griffiths “…is one of Canada’s ‘originals’, known not only for the quality of her work, but for the sheer range of her career”.* She is the winner of five Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a Gemini award, two Chalmer’s awards, the Quizanne International Festival Award for Jessica, and Los Angeles’ A.G.A. Award for her title performance in the John Sayles’ film Lianna. She has twice been nominated for the Governor General’s Award (The Darling Family, Alien Creature). Her plays include Chronic, Alien Creature, The Darling Family, Maggie & Pierre. She is the co-author of a unique theatre book -The Book of Jessica (with native author and activist Maria Campbell). Griffiths has created collective work (Paper Wheat, Les Maudits Anglais), published short stories, reviews books for the Globe and Mail, and continues to act in television and film. Ongoing projects include two impromptu one-person shows, Baby Finger and The Last Dog of War. Her new play, The Age of Arousal opens this November at Factory Theatre.

Richard Sanger’s poems have appeared in publications in Canada, Britain and the United States. He has won the E. J. Pratt Poetry Prize twice (in 1992 and 1993). In 1994, a chapbook of his poems was published by Tapir Press; in 1996, Vehicule Press published his first full-length collection, Shadow Cabinet, nominated that year for the Gerald Lampert Award. His play Not Spain was shortlisted for a 1995 Chalmers Award and has been published by Playwrights Canada Press in 1998. A new play, Two Words for Snow, will premiere at the 1999 PlayRites Festival in Calgary. His other plays include Wild Grapes and Unrequited Pine and have been performed at various fringe festivals. His reviews and essays have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, the The Globe and Mail, Books-in-Canada, The Canadian Forum and Poetry Review (U.K.) as well as various scholarly journals. He holds an M.A. in Spanish and a doctorate in Comparative Literature and has taught in the English Department and the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto; he has also worked as a translator (from Spanish, French and German) and an editor.In 1998-1999, he is the Writer-in-Residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

Njo Kong Kie is a musician living in Toronto. An active dance pianist, Kong Kie has been the pianist and music director of La La La Human Steps since 1996. He is currently on tour in their newest production, Amjad. He also plays classes for the National Ballet School of Canada. An alumnus of Tapestry New Opera Work’s Composer-Librettist Laboratory, Kong Kie has co-written and produced two chamber operas, knotty together (with Anna Chatterton) and Shattered Glass (with Douglas Rodger). These works have been presented at the Rhubarb and Summerworks Theatre Festivals in Toronto. Kong Kie is the founder of the chamber music band Day OFF. Their debut album, Picnic in the Cemetery, is available at various websites. Day OFF will be performing as part of Urban Contact, Toronto New Music Marathon on Sept 8 at Yonge Dundas Square. Excerpts of Kong Kie’s compositions have been played on the web site for Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, on a web video of the London International Festival of Theatre, in the soundtrack of Edouard Lock’s film Amelia and the CBC documentary series China Rises. Kong Kie recently wrote a song for Patricia O’Callaghan and was invited to write a choral piece for Forte, The Toronto Men’s Chorus, as part of the group’s 10th anniversary celebration. Kong Kie is always looking for good stories to tell. Please visit www.musicpicnic.com to get in touch and for more information, audio clips and reviews.

Douglas Rodger is a lapsed playwright who has found a new passion for writing opera and lyrics. His previous works include Donut City, a musical and How could you, Mrs. Dick? a true murder mystery. He has also written for television, radio and film. His first short opera Shattered Glass was also written with composer Njo Kong Kie and had its’ first production at the Rhubarb Festival in 2006.

Torquil Campbell is the lead singer and songwriter for the Montreal-based indie rock band Stars. He also records and performs with Broken Social Scene. In addition to singing, he also plays the trumpet and is a member of the band Memphis. He has also worked as an actor all his life, appearing on stage throughout North America, playing roles as diverse as Gary, the teenage prostitute in the original New York production of the controversial play Shopping and Fucking starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the title role in Shakespeare’s Henry V. He has directed theatre, including a production of Romeo and Juliet for The Hamptons Shakespeare Festival.

The Wrecking Ball 6 is ONE PERFORMANCE
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Box Office opens at 9:00pm
Show starts at 10:00pm
Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue
Prices: Pay what you can (No advanced sales) – proceeds will go to the Actor’s Fund of Canada

• 28 07 2007 - 18:27