Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto - Alumnae Theatre Company proudly announces its new season, featuring the WORLD PREMIERE of Lisa Moore’s February; The Drowning Girls by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson & Daniela Vlaskalic; A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde; the 25th annual New Ideas Festival; and The Killdeer by James Reaney.
~ Countdown to 100 ~
2012/13 is a season of anniversaries and “firsts”. It’s our 40th year in this historic building at 70 Berkeley Street. It’s the 25th anniversary of the New Ideas Festival. And for those keeping track, we are closing in on Alumnae’s 100th birthday – February 2013 will mark # 95! We’ll officially celebrate our 100th season in 2019/2020, and present Molière’s Les Femmes Savantes, which was Alumnae Theatre’s very first production, in February 1918.
We are very proud to launch this season with the world premiere of Newfoundland writer Lisa Moore’s February (Sept. 21 – Oct. 6, 2012). Based on Moore’s acclaimed 2010 novel, this adaptation is the story of Helen, left a young widow with four children when her husband is killed in the Ocean Ranger oil rig disaster in 1982. Twenty-seven years later, Helen still struggles to escape the memories and move forward with her life, while her son John deals with a crisis of his own.
Climb up to the haunted Studio for a trip to Edwardian England with The Drowning Girls (Nov. 16 – Dec. 1, 2012), written by Canadians Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic, and based on a real Scotland Yard murder case. Between 1908 and 1914, George Joseph Smith seduced and married seven women, stole from them, and drowned them in bathtubs. The Drowning Girls is told from the perspective of three of his unfortunate brides, who reflect on the misconceptions of love and married life of the period. “Not-so-happily-ever-after”, indeed.
Although Oscar Wilde’s delightful comedy A Woman of No Importance (Jan. 25 – Feb. 9, 2013) is not the official Retrospective Choice of the season, it has actually been staged at Alumnae before: in 1954 (an adaptation by British screenwriter Paul Dehn), and in the 1981/82 season (directed by Cicely Thomson). Set in late 1890s England, A Woman of No Importance is classic Wilde – a social commentary masquerading as satirical comedy – replete with witty lines, scandalous affairs and mistaken identities.
The New Ideas Festival (March 6 – 24, 2013) marks its 25th anniversary this year! New Ideas is one of the few juried theatre festivals in Canada in which submissions are read “blind” – the selection committee does not learn the writers’ identities until a script is chosen. Writers from all over Canada and beyond submit original short plays which have never before been produced, so every play in the Festival is a world premiere. New Ideas features a different lineup each week, plus talkback sessions that encourage audiences to provide immediate feedback to writers and directors.
We close the season (April 12 – 27, 2013) with our "Countdown to 100" Retrospective Choice that is also another “first”: respected Canadian poet James Reaney’s first play, The Killdeer. It premiered for Alumnae Theatre (then located in the Coach House on Bedford Road) in 1960, and was directed by Pamela Terry. This tightly-plotted macabre comedy about murder, mystery and social mores in a small Ontario town has also been described as “poetic and magical”, and earned Reaney the Governor General’s Award for Drama.
Events Calendar: 2012 – 2013 Season
The media & public are invited to attend a reception following each opening night performance, including each week of New Ideas.
September 21, 2012 Opening Night: February
Playwright to attend Talkback session following the first Sunday matinee (Sept 23)
October 6Closing Night: February
November 16, 2012Opening Night: The Drowning Girls
Talkback session following the second Sunday matinee performance (November 25)
December 1 Closing Night: The Drowning Girls
January 25, 2013Opening Night: A Woman of No Importance
Talkback session following the second Sunday matinee performance (February 3)
February 9Closing Night: A Woman of No Importance
March 6 - 10, 201325th annual New Ideas Festival: Week One
March 13 - 1725thannual New Ideas Festival: Week Two
March 20 - 24 25h annual New Ideas Festival: Week Three
Talkback sessions for New Ideas are held following each Saturday matinee.
April 12Opening Night: The Killdeer
Talkback session following the second Sunday matinee performance (April 21)
April 27Closing Night: The Killdeer
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Showtimes: Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm.
Tickets: Wed. 2-for-1; Thurs., Fri. & Sat. $20; Sun. PWYC.
NEW IDEAS showtimes: Wed. – Sat. at 8:00 pm; Sat. readings at noon; Sat & Sun matinee 2:30 pm.
Tickets: $35 Festival Pass; or $15/week + PWYC readings.
Check our website at www.alumnaetheatre.com for press releases, production photographs,
and a retrospective on how Alumnae Theatre has shaped Toronto’s theatre scene since 1918.
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2012-08-23
Toronto: Alumnae Theatre Company announces its 2012/13 season