Fringe News
Fringe News
2,500 years ago, Greek playwright Aeschylus imagined the ultimate nightmare wedding with The Suppliants, which was radically reconstructed by historian-turned-playwright Charles L Mee into the play Big Love. Once described as "a collagist who's gone crazy with the scissors", Mee exhorts producing companies to do the same any works he creates (charlesmee.org)-a suggestion which Dora-nominated director Zachary Russell (rihannaboi95) has taken to heart with his upcoming work on the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts' production of Big Love at the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival.
Russell promises "the most radical retelling since the play's 2001 premiere with his gender-bending, trans-positive spectacle featuring significant changes to the text, a new character inspired by Canadian poet Anne Carson, an eclectic electro-pop-soul-classical soundtrack and twist ending.
Adapted from Aeschylus' tragicomedy The Suppliants, Big Love centres around 50 brides who are fleeing to seek refuge in Italy with their 50 grooms in hot pursuit. Mayhem ensues in a riotous explosion of love, blood, and wedding cake.
Says Russell, "Big Love is an enormous, messy spectacle about moments of desire, intimacy, and commitment. In ways epic and subtle, it aims to problematize and complicate everything we project onto the word LOVE."
The cast features a troupe of emerging artists who are all in their final year of training at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts' Triple Threat® College Program-a singular benefit to the project. As Russell says, "It's the perfect challenge for a group of young actors finishing their Triple Threat training because many roles require an athlete, dancer, singer and actor all rolled into one."
Randolph Academy in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents:
Big Love
Written by Charles L. Mee
Directed by Zachary Russell
Featuring: Brittany Banks, Delaney Barth, Rayna Burchell, Rosie Callaghan, Rashaana Cumberbatch, Elodie Dorsel, Kayla Gerber, Cindy Goh, Ryota Kaneko, Matt Lacas, Jaemoon Lee, Emily Nash, Tala Nazzal, Danielle Oswald, Sofia Rodrigues, Greg Rola, Danielle Sparrow, Andrew Stuetz, Shannon Tosic-McNally.
Randolph Centre for the Arts -- Annex Theatre, 730 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Performances:
Wed., July 1 at 8:15 p.m.
Fri., July 3 at 3 p.m.
Mon., July 6 at 10:15 p.m.
Tue., July 7 at 4 p.m.
Wed., July 8 at 1:45 p.m.
Fri., July 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sun., July 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Please note:
That there is absolutely no latecomer seating.
Big Love contains strobe light, smoking, fog machine, sexual content, graphic violence, and mature language.
Tickets:
At-the-door tickets: $10
If available, at-the-door tickets will be sold at the Annex Theatre starting one hour prior to show time, cash sales only, limit of 4/person
Advance tickets: $10 + $2 service charge
Advance tickets go on sale June 11, 2015
Purchase online: fringetoronto.com.
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed's (581 Bloor St W).
2015-06-02
Big Love