Fringe News
Fringe News
At SummerWorks 2013:
TORONTO: Birdtown and Swanville – the company behind past festival hits 36 Little Plays about Hopeless Girls and The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination – embraces the spirit of Summerworks with a massive collaboration of visual, performance, and theatre artists for an off-site installation at Gallery 1313 in Parkdale. The company will transform the gallery space into The Milkaffer Family Museum, a collection of artifacts, pictures, and stories that encapsulate the generations-long history of the fictional Milkaffer family of Winnipeg.
Throughout the festival, the Milkaffer's last living descendant will take audiences on a guided tour of her family history – a journey through the strange situations, oddball characters, mythic beasts, and inter-generational curses that have made her the woman she is today.
Originally developed by playwright Aurora Stewart de Peña under Chuck Mee at La Mama in NYC, Family Story is a semi-autobiographical exploration of the indelible role our family and ancestry play in shaping who we are. Stylistically, it is a loving tribute to the TVO kids shows like Polka Dot Door and Size Small that many of us grew up with – combining Birdtown and Swanville's signature over-the-top theatrical style, with singing, dancing, moral lessons, and sock puppets.
Recognizing Summerworks as a venue that encourages cross-pollination between different disciplines and audiences, the company embarked on a challenging journey to create a truly multidisciplinary performance installation that drew on the many talents of its team of collaborators. The result is The Milkaffer Family Museum, an exhibit of original work by over 20 visual artists that acts as the performance environment for Stewart de Peña's script. Open to the public for general viewing during the day, at night, it transforms into an interactive exhibit, with an ensemble cast roaming throughout the space and utilizing the works of art to bring characters from the Milkaffer family history to life.
The project features performances by Cara Gee (part of the Dora-Award winning ensemble in The Penelopiad), Lindsey Clark (Lear, Post Eden), Adriano Sobretodo Jr. (Matchbox Macbeth), Daniel Pagett (recently seen in the Fringe hit We Are The Bomb), Kaleb Alexander (also performing in Summerworks as part of the cast of Delicacy), Meghan Swaby (Bullet for Adolph), Rebecca Applebaum (paper SERIES), and Nika Miztruzzi (who plays double duty as the project's visual art curator), original music by Alia O'Brien of Blood Ceremony ("Toronto's most original band" –Torontoist), puppets by Allie Marshall, and visual art by Hanna Puley, Scott Hepburn, Gustavo Cerquera Benjumea, Robert Virtu, Amy Keeler, Cara Said, Jasmyn Burke, Shayna Stevenson, Mike Stilson, Naomi Skwarna, Pete Ryan, and more.
Birdtown and Swanville present
FAMILY STORY
part of the 2013 Summerworks Festival
written & directed by Aurora Stewart de Peña | starring Kaleb Alexander, Rebecca Applebaum, Lindsey Clark, Cara Gee, Nika Miztruzzi, Daniel Pagett, Adriano Sobretodo Jr., and Meghan Swaby | visual art curator Nika Miztruzzi | music by Alia O'Brien
SHOW TIMES: Aug 8, 6:30pm; Aug 9, 7:30pm; Aug 10, 7:30pm, Aug 11, 2:30pm; Aug 12, 7:30pm; Aug 13, 7:30pm; Aug 15, 7:30pm; Aug 16, 7:30pm; Aug 17, 9:30pm; Aug 18, 2:30pm
GALLERY HOURS: Weds-Sat, 1-6pm
LOCATION: Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St W
TICKETS: $15 (free during gallery hours)
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: Cara Gee and Kaleb Alexander. ©2013 James di Donato.
2013-07-16
Family Story