ACTORS TURNED PLAYMAKERS: SOLO-WORKS ONSTAGE AT GCTC
News Release: Ottawa, ON - Monday, April 14, 2008
The Great Canadian Theatre Company presents The Playmakers’ Society Works-in-Progress by Scott Florence, Annie Lefebvre, Stewart Matthews, Kel Parsons, Alix Sideris, Lisa Twardowska, Christie Watson and Beverley Wolfe on April 24, 25 and 26, 2008 in the Studio Theatre at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre as part of GCTC’s Launch Pad Series. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.
Supported by the Community Foundation of Ottawa, the series is the first of its kind in Ottawa, and features two to three solo-works per evening. On Thursday, April 24, 8 p.m., there are three solo-works: Entropy by Christie Watson; Doe by Kel Parsons; and, μ (a symbol for the Greek small ‘m’) by Alix Sideris. On Friday, April 25, 8 p.m., there are two solo-works: Silent Movie by Stewart Matthews, and Cross by Scott Florence. On Saturday, April 26, 3 p.m., there are three solo-works: I Am Here by Lisa Twardowska; The Squatter Heart by Annie Lefebvre; and, Jump by Beverley Wolfe. Dramaturge mentors were paired with each of the playmakers, theatre professionals from Ottawa: Pierre Brault, Paula Danckert, John Koensgen, Daniel Mroz, Nadia Ross, and Peter Ryan. Samira Rose is the Launch Pad Series’ Production Coordinator, while Todd Duckworth is the Playmakers’ Presentation Coordinator.
Duckworth says that the subject matter was left wide open, completely up to the playmaker. A theme or certain style does not connect the pieces: “The process was meant to encourage and, hopefully, foster differing styles of performance. The one thing that connects them all is that they are solo performances. But, then again, I believe that one of the ‘solo’ performances has 3 people in it. We don’t really know what to expect. I think a mix of many things: funny and sad, using slapstick, storytelling, dance, clown, whatever, from serious to silly.” The next step in the artistic process is up to the individual performer. This process was intended, as the name of the series states, as a “launch pad.”
When asked why the participants are called playmakers rather than playwrights, Todd Duckworth says the word “playwrights’ tends to imply a mode of creation and performance based on the written word, and, “With this process," he says, “We were encouraging the participants to explore alternative modes of creation. Even those works that might ultimately be expressed verbally, or have a large oral text component, quite possibly the creative impetus and exploration may have been, for example, physical, and not textual. Some sit in a chair and tell a story, others have very specific set requirements and/or construction needs (in fact, one is building his own key set element). One, I believe, has a sleight-of-hand costume change.
In terms of sound or lighting design elements, the playmakers discussed the various lighting effects they would wish for, and then balanced this with what was possible to accomplish in this particular situation. In the case of one of the solo-works, one of playmakers does his own lighting on stage within the show. For music elements, some have nothing, others are providing a CD to be played, perhaps continuous or broken up into cues, and one, provides his own music with a cassette player in the show.
Johnson invites Ottawa’s new works enthusiasts to catch the shows: “This project is important to the community because it exists, and because all artistic works must begin someplace. And you can pass along your thoughts of a particular piece to the creator/producer while the work is in a developmental form.”
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Media Contact: Laurie Murphy, GCTC Marketing & Communications Director
613 236 5192 ext 229; cell: 613 816 0660; publicity@gctc.ca
Lise Ann Johnson, GCTC Artistic Director
613 236 5192 ext 227; artisticdirector@gctc.ca
