Lois Backstage: A Look at Life Behind the Scenes Rotating Header Image

The Only Animal

Fringe Onsite 2012

Jan 11th, 2012
by Lois.
No comments yet

Last year I had the privilege of helping to develop and launch a brand new program with the Vancouver International Fringe Festival and The Only Animal.  Fringe Onsite is a site-specific show development program that includes 11 weeks of development workshop time, mentorship with  TOA’s Artistic Director Kendra Fanconi, logistical support, venue coordinator, and all the other fun things that come with being a part of the fringe.

This video which highlights last summer’s program is a good hint at some of the possibilities of what the program is – but ultimatey it is what the participants make of it.

This year, the onsite program is accepting 14 participants on a first-come, first-served basis and applications go online on January 17th.  If any of you are looking for a really well supported way to be a part of the Fringe, a way to create a show with deadlines, guaranteed performance time, and no added venue costs (as compared to the BYOV program which is the same price but does not offer any mentorship, development support, or venue provisions), then I highly recommend the Onsite program.

Over the next couple of weeks myself, Kendra and David Jordan (the Fringe executive Director) will be visiting a number of the post-secondary institutions in the lower mainland to talk about the program and answer questions.  If you are a current student I really encourage you to attend. If you’re not a student and want more information about the program, please post your questions here and I’ll do my best to either answer them or find you an answer.  And hopefully I’ll see some of you in the Onsite program.

2011 in Review: Shows I Saw

Dec 29th, 2011
by Lois.
No comments yet

Last year when I wrote about all the shows I had seen, I set forth a two part goal.  I wanted to achieve balance in my hobbies and I wanted to end the year with no regrets in regards to my theatre viewing.

Now here we are at the end of the year and even though I saw more shows than ever I’d say I did do better in finding balance.  Part of the reason that makes sense is that instead of stage managing all year I spent 5 months working for the Vancouver Fringe.  For the most part it was a day job which left my evenings free to see some awesome theatre.

But I do have a handful of shows that I regret not seeing.  I missed the work of the guys at Main Street Theatre for the second year in a row.  I missed Death of a Salesman at the Playhouse. I didn’t go see Ride the Cyclone more than once. I didn’t see Wonderheads during the Fringe (but lucky for me they won an award and will be at the Cultch next year!). I missed Wicked Shorts. 

For the first time in a couple of years, my list is entirely West Coast – I didn’t make it out to Edmonton or Toronto this year, which I regret, but I’m looking forward to more travel in the coming year – including my first ever trip to Europe!

Here they are – the 155 performances I attended in 2011, in something close to chronological order.

La Marea at the PuSh Festival. Photo by Flickr user jmv

  1. Wee Tube (Theatre Replacement)
  2. La Marea (Boca Del Lupo/PuSh Festival/Mariano Pensotti)
  3. The Pavillion (Osimous Theatre/Firehall Theatre)
  4. Iqualit (Berlin/PuSh Festival)
  5. Circa (Circa/UBC/PuSh Festival)
  6. 100% Vancouver (PuSh Festival/Rimini Protokoll/Theatre Replacement)
  7. Tuesdays With Morrie (Gallery 7 Theatre)
  8. Dead Man’s Cell Phone (UBC)
  9. Floating (Hugh Hughes/Arts Club/PuSh Festival)
  10. Bonanza (Berlin/PuSh Festival)
  11. Whale (Boca del Lupo/Kyle Jesperson)
  12. Gloria’s Cause (Club PuSh/Donya Hansen)
  13. City of Dreams (Roundhouse/PuSh Festival/Peter Reder)
  14. My Name is Asher Lev (Pacific Theatre)
  15. Hard Core Logo: Live (November Theatre/Touchstone Theatre/Theatre Network/PuSh Festival)
  16. Avenue Q (Touring Broadway Production)
  17. August: Osage County (Arts Club)
  18. Peter Panties (The Cultch/PuSh Festival/Leaky Heaven/Neworld)
  19. Clemenzia di Tito (Vancouver Opera)
  20. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Blackbird/Arts Club)
  21. Nocturne (20 Something Theatre)
  22. The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Fighting Chance Productions)
  23. Swimmy, Frederick & Inch by Inch (Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia)
  24. Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Glass City Theatre)
  25. Quiet in the Land (Gallery 7)
  26. Cinderella (Vancouver Opera in Schools)
  27. Wild Honey (UBC)
  28. Cinderella (Exit 22 at Capilano University)
  29. Chairs (Itsazoo)
  30. The Philanderer (Arts Club)
  31. 1984 (Virtual Stage/Studio 58 at the Cultch)
  32. Evelyn Strange (StairCaseXI)
  33. The Last 15 Seconds (MT Space Theatre/Firehall Arts Centre)

    The Last 15 Seconds at the Firehall. Photo from http://bikesbirdsnbeasts.blogspot.com/

  34. Under The Influence Cabaret (20 Something)
  35. The Bacche (TWU)
  36. Another Home Invasion (Arts Club/Tarragon)
  37. Jake’s Gift (PT/Juno Productions)
  38. The Forbidden Phoenix (Gateway Theatre)
  39. Rosmershom (United Players)
  40. Letters from a Soldier; My Name is Aslam (Stones Throw Productions)
  41. The Trespassers (Vancouver Playhouse/Belfry)
  42. Ballet BC’s 25th Anniversary (Ballet BC)
  43. Scared Scriptless (Vancouver Theatresports League)
  44. Dress Me Up In Your Love (Theatre Replacement)
  45. The Graduate (Arts Club)
  46. The Wiz (Fighting Chance)
  47. My Funny Valentine (Zee Zee Theatre)
  48. Tape (Alley Theatre)
  49. Side Show (Pacific Theatre)
  50. Mambo Italiano (Firehall/WCT)
  51. Prodigals (20-Something Theatre)
  52. Love/Stories (Kineticism)
  53. Beautiful Problems (Radix Theatre)
  54. The Great Divorce (Pacific Theatre)

    Pacific Theatre's "The Great Divorce" Photo provided.

  55. Eurydice (Secretly Women)
  56. Macbeth: Nacht Shakespeare (Theatre Conspiracy)
  57. Hairspray (Arts Club theatre)
  58. What we leave behind (Lamondance)
  59. Community Dinner (Rumble Productions)
  60. Wicked (Broadway Across Canada)
  61. A guide to Mourning (Genus/Enlightenment Theatre)
  62. Merchant of Venice (Bard)
  63. A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Arts Club)
  64. BridgeMix (Itsazoo)
  65. Matchmaker (Gallery 7)
  66. Verona Project (Stones Throw)
  67. Bash: Latter Day Plays (Hardlines Theatre)
  68. Bye Bye Birdie (TUTS Vancouver)
  69. The Casino/The Disappearing (Stones Throw)
  70. Party This Weekend (The House Party Collective)
  71. Project X (Faust) (Leaky Heaven Circus)
  72. Other Side Through You (Cat Main)
  73. Visitors (Walking Fish 2011)
  74. At First I Thought It Was (Walking Fish 2011)
  75. Armed  (Walking Fish 2011)
  76. The Gas Heart (Gas heart Theatre)
  77. Homecoming King
  78. Chairs  (Itsazoo) (The revised version)
  79. My Pregnant Brother (Freestanding Productins)
  80. Compassion for Killers (Whirlwind Productions)
  81. Anything Goes (TUTS Vancouver)

    Anything Goes at TUTS. Photo credit unknown.

  82. Troika and The Troubles (Some of the New Bees/Resounding Scream)
  83. Flop! A one man musical (New Hands Theatre)
  84. Bare: a pop opera (Fighting Chance)
  85. When I Was (Les Petite Taquines)
  86. Richard III (Bard on the Beach)
  87. Kunst Rock (Die Roten Punkte/The Cultch)
  88. Sea of Sand (The Only Animal)
  89. As You Like It (Bard on the Beach)
  90. Cativo (Hardline Productions)
  91. Tough (20-Something Theatre)
  92. The Selkie Wife
  93. Trouble in Tahiti (VanCoCo)
  94. Archy & Mehitable
  95. Yum/Yuck
  96. Oh That Wily Snake!
  97. Jigsaw
  98. The Sparrow and the Mouse
  99. Phone Whore
  100. Screaming Silently
  101. wreckage

    Nita Bowerman's Fringe show "wreckage". Photo by Brendan Albano.

  102. This is Cancer
  103. Jesus In Montana
  104. Short & Sweet
  105. The Progressive Polygamists
  106. The Animal Show
  107. Rove
  108. Stay Away from my Boat, @$$hole (ItsaZoo/Vancouver Fringe)
  109. The Razzle Tassel Tease Show
  110. Lost in Place
  111. Duck Off
  112. Fruitcake
  113. The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Hotel (Peter ‘n’ Chris/Vancouver Fringe)
  114. Smile (Awkward Stage Productions/Vancouver Fringe)
  115. Tinfoil Dinosaur
  116. The Other Side
  117. Houdini’s Last Escape (Monster Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
  118. Night of the B Movie
  119. The Devil & Billy Markham
  120. Giant Invisible Robot
  121. Sally Lives Here
  122. Mr. Kinski’s Cabaret of Bullshit (Vancouver Fringe)
  123. Acrobatic Daredevils

    The Acrobatic Daredevils at the Fringe. Photo by flickr user arianec

  124. Oh My God (Delinquent Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
  125. Fortunate Son
  126. Willow’s Walk: Ripples in Time
  127. Arnie the Carnie’s House of Fun
  128. Next To Normal (Arts Club Theatre)
  129. Tuesdays with Morrie (Gallery 7 at Pacific Theatre) (The Remount)
  130. National Ballet of Canada’s 60th Anniversary Tour (National Ballet/Ballet BC)
  131. Little Orange Man (Snafu Dance Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
  132. The Light in the Piazza (Patrick Street Productions)
  133. Circle Mirror Transformation (Arts Club Theatre)
  134. Ride the Cyclone (Atomic Vaudville)
  135. True Love Lies (Touchstone Theatre at the Cultch)
  136. A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum (Fighting Chance Productions)
  137. Visions of Vancouver (Pi Theatre)
  138. Love Lies Bleeding (Alberta Ballet)
  139. West Side Story (Vancouver Opera)
  140. Romeo and Juliet (TWU)
  141. 50 Words (Mitch & Murray  Equity Coop)
  142.  Falling in Time (Screaming Weenie)
  143. Vimy (Firehall Arts Centre)
  144. The Outsiders (Gallery 7 Theatre)
  145. Penny Plain (Ronnie Burkett)
  146. Mary’s Wedding (Gateway)
  147. Blood Brothers (Arts Club)
  148. The Patron Saint of Stanley Park (Arts Club Theatre)
  149. A Christmas Carol (Pacific Theatre)
  150. La Cage aux Folles (Playhouse Theatre)

    The wonderful Greg Armstrong Morris in La Cage aux Folles. Photo provided.

  151. Hotel Bethlehem (Ruby Slippers Theatre)
  152. Sound of Music (Gateway Theatre)
  153. Christmas Carol Project (Brass Monkey Productions at the Cultch)
  154. The Gift Horse (Caravan Farm Theatre)
  155. Christmas Presence (Pacific Theatre)

I am already excited about what is to come in 2012.  My first booking of the year is for Blackbird Theatre’s Waiting for Godot.

I’m So Proud of the Onsite Program

Sep 25th, 2011
by Lois.
No comments yet

From the Georgia Straight’s Best of Vancouver:

Best sign that Vancouver artists are busting out of the traditional theatre

“Everywhere you look this year, artists are performing under docks, in water parks, along streets, and high up the walls of buildings. Site-specific work isn’t just for special occasions anymore; it’s happening all over the city, all year long. The Vancouver International Fringe Festival just devoted an entire section of its lineup, called the Fringe Onsite, to unexpected spaces around Granville Island: among a dozen oddball offerings, wreckage played out eerily beneath the ferry dock while The Other Side took to the spray park.”

I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way the Onsite program turned out.  The feedback from artists, audiences, critics and the random people walking around Granville Island has been so fantastic.  People have commented how alive it made the Fringe feel this year.  I am so pleased with it all.

It looks like the program will be back next year, so if you’re interested in learning about creating site specific theatre and would benefit from mentorship with The Only Animal and want to have a show in the Fringe Festival next year, keep your eyes open around November and make sure you apply.  The program is first-come, first-served.

Through Different Eyes

Aug 17th, 2011
by Lois.
1 comment

Adri and I at Queen Elizabeth Park the day she arrived in town. Clearly we were enjoying each other's company.

Last week I had the pleasure of having the lovely Adrianna Prosser visit from Toronto.  I first met Adri a year and a half ago when I was in Toronto. One night my host had to work, so I tweeted that I was looking for a show to see and people to hang out with and Adri replied that she was going to a show and I was welcome to join. Well that show was so awful that we walked out at intermission, but we bonded over how bad it was at a Starbucks and have been friends ever since. So when she got a couple of auditions in town, it only made sense for her to stay on my futon.

The thing that I found most interesting was what it was like to see Vancouver through her eyes. I’m pretty spoiled – I grew up in the Okanagan where it’s a 25 minute drive from some of the best skiing in the country to beautiful lakes with sandy beaches.  Adri is an Ontarian through and through and there were times where I watched her react to what she was seeing and it was so fresh.  The day she arrived we walked up to the Queen Elizabeth Park and walked through the gardens before sitting down under a tree and reading and giggling.

Adri & I at Bard!

We went to Bard twice while Adri was here, seeing shows on both the studio stage and the mainstage (Richard III and As You Like It), and while I’ve always appreciated the view out the back of the tent (including the kids with kites), I feel like I saw it in a whole new way this time. And while my views of performances are colored by having seen these performers in multiple shows both at Bard and elsewhere, it was refreshing to discuss it with someone who isn’t accustomed to seeing these people on stage. This new view of the city is also why there are photos – there’s something about being on vacation that encourages people to take pictures, but I feel like I’m reaping the benefits of that by actually having photos of my summer!

In addition to Bard, I took Adri out to see The Only Animal‘s new show Sea of Sand out at Spanish Banks.  We were talking about it and she informed me that in Toronto there simply isn’t site specific theatre like that – what there is are shows in parking lots behind malls.  When the sun began to set at Spanish Banks, Adri started to cry because of the beauty of it all.  I can’t think of the last time a sunset hit me like that – it’s an every day thing to see the sun set behind a mountain and to have ocean around.  I forget the amazing things because I see them so often.

Adri taking in the view from the Sea Wall in Stanley Park

It was the same when we went to Stanley Park – we saw otters swimming as we walked the sea wall and we braved the cold water to go for a swim ourselves.  We had a picnic. We laughed in the sun. We got sunburned and dehydrated. We smushed our toes down in the hot hot sand. We read smutty passages from romance novels. It was a perfect summer day and something that I so easily take for granted.

We did all those Vancouver summer things that I never do by myself.  We even went down to Robson Square and watched The Muppet Movie on the blow up screen outside.  We shopped both main street and down town.  We people watched in English Bay.  We played Cards Against Humanity. We ate way too much. We made a podcast. 

But at the end of the day, what I have taken away from her visit (besides an awesome friend!) is that sometimes its worth looking at everything through a fresh pair of eyes.  For 10 days I saw my city and my theatre through a different set of eyes and it made me think about how I talk about both of them and how I experience both of them.  Adri left yesterday and I miss her already, but I hope that I can maintain some of the sense of newness as I approach what I see in the weeks to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three to See :: March 2010

Mar 1st, 2010
by Lois.
3 comments

The Olympics may have ended last night (or early this morning depending on which party you were at), but the Paralympics are less than two weeks away and the Cultural Olympiad is still out in full force.  Add to that, all the companies that were reluctant to run shows during the Olympics have shows opening soon.  What that leaves is one very busy month of theatre.  These are the three that top my list as “must sees” for March.

1. Hive 3  (Presented by Theatre Conspiracy, The Only Animal, Radix Theatre, The Electric Company, Boca Del Lupo, Rumble Productions, Theatre Replacement, neworld theatre, leaky heaven circus, theatre skam, pi theatre & Felix Culpa)

The Centre for Digital Media
577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver

MARCH 11-14, 17-20: 7pm-Late
Tickets available at 604-629-VTIX or www.vancouvertix.com

Hive (in all its incarnations) has been one of those events that you have to attend to really understand.  It is hard to put into words.  It is 12 plays by 12 companies in one giant warehouse.  It is a giant party.  It is concerts by bands from across the country.  It is impossible to take it all in on a single night – the 12 plays occurs simultaneously throughout the warehouse – each in a different corner for a different sized audience (usually ranging from 1 – 15).  Most of these shows are devised specifically for this event.  It’s the kind of night out that fits with the conversations that took place at the #Newplay Devised Work Convening.

Author’s note: I am working with pi theatre on this project as an ASM.  But even if I weren’t taking part in it, I would still be telling you to go see it.  It’s that kind of event.

2. Spine (Presented by Realwheels)

Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU/ Woodwards.
March 10-20, 2010: 8pm
Tickets available online.

From the SFU Woodwards website:

While traveling the universe of avatars, inhabiting online realities and identities, a man discovers the intriguing possibility of reinventing his physical body through a blend of ambitious, cutting-edge technologies and ethically questionable experiments. It’s a thrilling hunt for the body that will best define us, in a world where the virtual can be more real than the real itself.

Written by Kevin Kerr (Unity:1918, Skydive, & Studies in Motion) & directed by Bob Frazer.

3. Paradise Garden (Presented by The Arts Club)

March 11–April 11, 2010 |  Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage

The Blurb:

Local boy Day, a free spirit, lives next door to worldly Layla, a career-driven intellectual. The two have nothing in common. Or do they? Over time these divergent souls come to understand each other in a way neither thought possible. A contemporary tale of romance and cultural divides so engaging it will change the way you see the girl (or boy) next door!

Written by Lucia Frangione (Holy Mo, Espresso, Cariboo Magi & more), this play is receiving its world premiere as a part of the Cultural Olympiad.  Lucia’s writing is smart, honest, funny & often heart-wrenching.  My friends and I are already planning a group outing to see this show.

Did I miss any shows that top your list for March? Let me know in the comments.

Three to See: January 2010

Jan 1st, 2010
by Lois.
2 comments

I’m changing things up a bit. I figured it’s a new year, so I might as well.  The first change is right here.  Instead of what I have done for the past year where I list all the shows I want to see in a given month I am going to list the three shows that I believe are MUST SEES in the Greater Vancouver region.

Will I be seeing all of these shows? Hopefully.

Will I be talking about shows other than these? Of course.

But if you can only see one show in Vancouver this month, allow me to recommend that it be one of these three.

1. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (presented by Blackbird Theatre Company at The Cultch.  On now through January 16)

Who’s in it: Kevin McNulty, Gabrielle Rose, Craig Erickson, &  Meg Rowe

The Buzz: First you have the script – a piece of Albee’s genius – which weaves perfectly the four characters & their story-lines. Then there is the cast – you could not ask for a better quartet of actors.  In addition, there is the company’s track record; the last two shows Blackbird presented both won best production Jessie Awards (Peer Gynt in 2007, The Truimph of Love in 2008).

Important Info:  Tickets range from $15-35 and can be purchased online through Tickets Tonight or by calling the Cultch box office at 604-251-1363.

2. Nix (presented by The Only Animal at Lost Lake in Whistler, BC.  January 22 – February 27th)

Who’s in it: Jennie Esdale & Rylan Wilkie

The Buzz: When Nix premiered in Calgary last year it received 5 stars from the Calgary Herald as well as two Betty awards (lighting & set design) and was nominated for three more (costume design, outstanding new play & outstanding production).  It’s set entirely in the snow and ice of Whistler’s lost lake & promises, among other things, a snowman death scene.

Important Info: Though the show runs until February 27th, it will be impossible to go up Whistler unless you have Olympic event tickets.  In order to make sure that Vancouver-ites have a chance to see the show, The Only Animal has provided cheaper tickets from January 22 – February 3, as well as a bus to shuttle people up & down the mountain,  making it an easy day trip for an additional $20.

3. American Buffalo (presented by Main Street Theater Co-op at Little Mountain Studios, January 13 – 23rd)

Who’s in it: Ryan Beil, Josh Drebit, & Daryl King

The Buzz: Last year Main Street Theatre Co-op presented Glengarry Glen Ross and it got glowing reviews across the board, along with Jessie nominations for Best Production & Best Supporting Actor (Alex Ferguson).  This time the cast is smaller and they are transforming Little Mountain Studios into the junk shop the characters work in and the audience will be sitting right in the shop with them.

Important Info: Tickets are pay-what-you-can (suggested donation of $12) & Main Street Studios only seat about 40, so book early to make sure you get a seat.