Fringe News
Fringe News
At SummerWorks 2013:
Sex. Booze. Facebook. Carbs… Drunk puppets?! Fess Up: what’s your guilty pleasure?
Presented by the SummerWorks Performance Festival, X premiers in Toronto after sold out shows in San Francisco and rave reviews from critics in Australia.
X melds stunning stop motion animation, drunk puppets and sharp live performance in this fast-paced one-man show. Australian Sunny Drake presents a funny, magical, and honest look at addiction, a window into the whimsical world of two best friends and two puppets searching for an escape from reality.
X is partially informed by over forty interviews with the LGBTQ community, as well as Drake’s own experiences with a drinking problem. Research shows alcohol and substance use rates may be higher for LGBTQ communities than their heterosexual counterparts, likely due to using substances to cope with experiences of oppression (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse).
WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE SAID ABOUT ‘X’
“Xtraordinary” (Scene, Australia)
"astounding multimedia and projection design... vibrant and imaginative independent theatre at its absolute best…As the audience left the theatre, everyone’s glasses were empty, our judgement purged, and our creative brains tickled. X is a show of invention and imagination" (Actors Greenroom, Australia)
“Sunny Drake is an assured performer, with wonderful comic timing and an engaging presence… multi-media in the best sense… stunningly effective stop motion animation” (Arts Hub, Australia)
" a thought-provoking piece of theatre... Sunny Drake is an engaging performer offering up a challenging and honest performance that entertains… …an accessible piece of theatre that will surely strike a chord with many audiences on its journey" (XE Entertainment, Australia)
SUNNY DRAKE - BIOGRAPHY
36 years in the making, Australian transgender & queer theatre maker Sunny Drake is a complex piece of art. He lives his creative escapades, is usually in the middle of an art in life experiment, and airs his embarrassing and tender internal world on stage. Sunny is largely self taught and has created his own unique style of multi-genre theatre, which he has been evolving since he was a teenage girl. Sunny has performed in theatres, festivals, living-rooms, streets, work places, deserts, schools, universities, basements, backyards & conferences in Australia, the USA and Canada. Festival highlights have included the San Francisco International Arts Festival (2010), three times in the USA National Queer Arts Festival (2008, 2010 & 2012), NACL Festival (New York, 2010), Metro Arts Independents (2012), the Brisbane Festivals UNDER THE RADAR (2009), and twice in each of Australians largest LGBTQ festivals: New Mardi Gras (Sydney), Midsumma (Melbourne), Feast (Adelaide) and Brisbane Pride. Sunny is touring a show to the USA and Europe later this year.
X: Sunny Drake
When: Thurs Aug 8, 4:30pm. Fri Aug 9, 9:30pm. Sun Aug 11, 7:00pm. Mon Aug 12, 2:00pm. Tues Aug 13, 9:30pm. Thurs Aug 15, 4:30pm. Sat Aug 17, 7:00pm.
Where: Scotiabank Studio Theatre, 6 Noble Street, Toronto
Tickets: $15 (Bookings, subsidised tickets & post show event info: www.sunnydrake.com)
Access Info: Wheelchair accessible. ASL Interpretation provided 8 Aug 4:30pm & 17 Aug 7pm.
Key Creative Team (all Australian):
WRITTEN, CREATED & PERFORMED BY Sunny Drake
DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG Therese Collie
LIGHTING DESIGN Andrew Meadows
COMPOSER &
SOUND DESIGN Brett Collery
SET AND PROPS DESIGN Georgina Greenhill
STOP MOTION ANIMATOR ingrid k brooker
Web: www.sunnydrake.com
SummerWorks August 8-18, 2013
SummerWorks Box Office Information: On-line sales http://summerworks.ca
By phone: 416-915-6747; Ticket cost: $15.00 (at the door); $15.00 + fees (in advance)
Photo: Sunny Drake.
2013-07-15
X: Sunny Drake