WB8: Happy Valentine’s Detonation

Take a toonie. Look at the polar bear. Now rotate the toonie 45 degress to the right, and put your thumb over the polar bear’s nose. What do you see? A vicious Tyannosaurus Rex, that’s what. And that sums up the situation in the world at the moment: we’ve gone from the familiar to the exotic. Harper’s acting like a fifth-generation Xerox of a coalition leader, The US has gone all hopey and Yes-We-Can-y, David Miller is charging you 5 cents for a grocery bag. And Pinter is gone. It’s time for a what-just-happened, where-are-we-now Wrecking Ball. Call it Shoe Shine the Bovine in ’09, because for the moment, the rules are suspended and the Dadaists are running the show.

And what a show. Start with Boonaa Mohammed, spoken word poetry slammin’ musical genius – his first album “Boonaafide” was described as “atomic thought rock” (Now Magazine) – and suddenly it’s clear, this is the WTF edition of the WB.

Tara Beagan, Dora-Award winning playwright and young hothead will be assembling a reasonable, balanced look at the news of the day. And then she’ll explode it, right before your eyes. The renowned and talented Weyni Mengesha will direct the explosion.

Matt MacFadzean, actor, playwright and cultural problem, is constructing a fantasy play in which political change actually occurs in Ottawa. His piece will be directed by Michael Healey, fulfilling for Healey a long-standing fantasy of a different kind.

Anand Rajaram, actor and director, is cooking up something. He’s verrry secretive. His last acting job was in a film called Silent But Deadly. So, you know. Should be interesting.

Also, expect a tribute to Harold Pinter, US inauguration poetry, and other surprises. As usual, the event will be hosted by the Wrecking Ball Crew: Ross Manson, Weyni Mengesha, Ravi Jain, David Jansen, Lara Robinson, Michael Healey, Andrew Soren and Ruth Madoc-Jones. Or as many of them as are actually in Toronto that night.

In an unprecedented and potentially unwise move, Theatre Passe Muraille has agreed to leave the bar open during the event. Come for the political theatre, stay for the cranberry and tequila—which we’re calling an Iggy’s Sweaty Teste. You have to have two before it hits you in the face!

About The Wrecking Ball

The Wrecking Ball was founded in Toronto in November 2004 to address a nagging imbalance: too much theatre in our politics, not enough politics in our theatre. There’ve been seven Wrecking Balls cabarets to date, all of which have sold out, proving there is an undeniable appetite for politically charged work in this fine land. The most recent edition saw the WB go national – Wrecking Balls were staged semi-simultaneously in 10 cities across the country on October 6th, 2008, in advance of the federal election. An unprecedented mobilization of artists and art lovers.

Writers are instructed to wait until the last minute to come up with material that reflects the current state of affairs. They are free to write on any topic: the global, the national, the local, the very local and the very, very local, also known as the colonic. The plays are then cast and staged at the last minute, and this immediacy is what makes the Wrecking Ball the rollicking theatrical nerve ending that it is.

Past writers for the Wrecking Ball include: Jason Sherman, Judith Thompson, Karen Hines, Norm Foster, David Young, Michael Healey, Morwyn Brebner, Daniel MacIvor, Hannah Moscovitch, Andrew Moodie, Claudia Dey, Morris Panych, d’bi.young, Linda Griffiths, Teresa Pavlinek, Rick Roberts and many others. Check out the website for more information about political theatre throughout the world. www.thewreckingball.ca.

The Wrecking Ball Eight: Happy Valentine’s Detonation
is ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY

Monday, February 9, 2009
Box Office opens at 7:00pm
Show starts at 8:00pm

Theatre Passe Muraille,
16 Ryerson Ave
Toronto, ON

Prices: Pay what you can (No advanced sales) – proceeds will go to the Actor’s Fund of Canada

Media Contact: David Jansen

• 31 01 2009 - 14:42