|
|
Theatrical turns Daily Arts Alert ... by Cathleen Bond Thursday, Feb. 8 Today we're going to turn you on to some hot new theatre, plus look at what's happening in the video realm of visual arts. Toronto's theatre season is rich with mainstream offerings. Tickets are selling well for Larry's Party, the musical based on a Carol Shields novel, and I suspect that the pan in The Globe by Kate Taylor may have actually helped the box office. More and more, people are telling me that if Kate gives it the thumbs down, they're bound to check it out. Nothing like a reliable critic to help make a city's theatre scene more vibrant, my new pal said. Meanwhile, off the beaten track, there are a few alternative theatre openings this week, and I mention them here in case Taylor doesn't get around to panning them:
MacEwen had an intriguing but difficult life. Her sorrows made for great poetry (and earned her a Governor-General's award at an early age). But her death at age 46 (brought on by alcoholism) continues to haunt many of her literary friends from the 1960s. Griffiths had more than enough sordid material to dramatize a highly volatile play about a larger-than-life character, but instead she chose to narrow her focus to the artist's role in society. It was a wise choice, using little of MacEwen's poetry and lots of clever staging effects. "With the clever use of simple illusions, she employs magic as metaphor by way of liquids, bubbles, scarves, manacles and fire that entertains as it enlightens," one reviewer raved. 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto (416) 504-7529 To February 25 The 23rd Annual Rhubarb Festival: It's time for the 23rd season of this curated, alternative theatre festival -- which originated long before all those other fringe fests that have popped up across Canada. Traditionally it has supported new talent and works-in-progress in an "artist-friendly, critic-free environment," and over the years has come to attract a wider audience than the usual gay-themed offerings at Buddies. There will be shows on four stages over the next few weeks, but it's still labeled by the promoters as "Everyone's favourite winter fruit festival." 12 Alexander Street, Toronto (416) 975-8555 To February 25
30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto (416) 536-5018 To March 18
Video In and Out: Vancouver's VideoIn gallery is planning to launch a festival of contemporary media to happen sometime in April, called "signal & noise." Right now, there's a call for entries from artists who are working in single channel video, video installation, audio, and new media. If you're interested, you can submit a VHS tape, CD, url, or "appropriate documentation of each entry." There's no entry form and no entry fee, thus a minimum of paperwork if you want to meet the Feb. 15 deadline. Check out details on the website or send entries to: Video In Studios 1965 Main St. Vancouver BC V5T 3C1
|
 Updated each weekday by Cathleen Bond ... bookmark this page and come back for the latest news, reviews and gossip on the Canadian arts scene. RECENT FEATURES: More from our year-end review: >> Public Art >> Film >> Digital >> Visual Art >> Literature >> Dance >> Architecture >> Music and Opera >> TV or not TV
>> Bruce Mau: Big designs in LifeStyle >> Robert Service: Musical tribute to a Canadian hero >> Circle of Trees: Art and nature come full circle >> Atwood: The critics and The Blind Assassin >> Public Art: Who decides what art will fill our civic spaces and expand our imagination? >> Digital Art: Clickable Cancon, a quick tour of the latest in digital art. >>
Cancon Quiz >> Iron Road: The Arts & Culture forum follows the creation of a new Canadian opera >> Interview: Carole McDowell tells us how she and artist Helen Lucas made the transition from gallery walls to the www gallery. >> Public Library in Peril How should libraries be transformed to meet future needs of Canadians? >> Culture
at the Crossroads >> Web
Wizard
|
Alien Creature: A Visitation From Gwendolyn MacEwan by Linda Griffiths.
This one is returning from last season, a real hit. It had a sold-out run
last season, a Chalmers Award, and three Dora Award nominations. Playwright
and performer Linda Griffiths (most famous in the Canadian cultural landscape
for Maggie & Pierre) tackles the life and mythology of the late poet
Gwendolyn MacEwen. Since her death in 1987, MacEwen's been the subject of an
NFB film, a CBC biography, and an award-winning literary biography, Shadow
Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen. Griffiths plummets MacEwen's past to
"draw together an intricate blend of poetry, humour, and slight of hand to
conjure up this tenacious and elusive icon.
Earshot: The prolific Morris Panych (the man responsible for last season's magnificent
Overcoat, which toured four Canadian cities after a successful run the year
before in his hometown of Vancouver) is back with a new work called Earshot.
His latest is a darkly comic fable about a guy called Doyle. "Doyle lives as an
anxious, paranoid recluse in his apartment, but his extraordinary,
hyper-sensitive powers of hearing allow him to keep tabs on the secret lives
of the other residents. Eventually, he reaches out in longing, beyond the
walls, to Valerie, just one apartment away." Most intriguing: The Tarragon's
website say the production is: "Sponsored by An Anonymous Sponsor."
A Canadian in Paris: Vera Frenkel's photo-video-web installation Body Missing will be on view at
the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris beginning today. This
socio-political-historical work is "is a comment on the art theft of the
National Socialists (Nazi party), and the resulting loss of objects, persons,
and histories. The six-channel installation is doubled up on three monitor
sites, private computer stations with access to the web site, a large-screen
web-projection for more public web site visits, and a series of photo murals
drawn from the video sequences."
Twenty clicks through Canadian culture: Test your memory, from Anne
of Green Gables to Shift.