Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON (January 23, 2013) - Hart House Theatre is proud to present Martin Sherman's ground-breaking play, Bent. This bold, intimate, harrowing and searing look at the forgotten victims of the Nazi regime opens at Hart House Theatre on Friday, March 1, 2013 for a limited two week run.
Bent follows the life of Max, a promiscuous gay man enjoying the decadence of 1930s Berlin. When a one night stand goes terribly wrong, Max finds himself running from the S.S. and eventually imprisoned in the inhumane Dachau Concentration Camp. Told with honesty, tenderness and touches of humour, Bent illuminates the treatment of homosexuals during the Holocaust who were arrested, interned in camps and labeled as deviants with what is now a universal symbol for gay pride - the pink triangle. Nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, this play created awareness at a time when there was little historical knowledge of the treatment of homosexuals in World War II and the history and significance of the pink triangle. To this day, Bent remains one of the finest pieces of theatre about tolerance, the endurance of love and the necessity of human dignity.
Director Carter West is thrilled to be part of the team bringing Bent to Hart House Theatre. He began directing in 2006 with his play On the Way Down, which premiered at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. As the founder of ATIC Productions, he has written and directed a number of shows throughout British Columbia and California including: Play (YouthWrite Award) and A Flawless Sense of Dramatic Rhythm (Saltspring). Carter's Toronto credits include Mannequin Ensemble (Director, Hart House Players - Robert Gill Award), Boeing-Boeing (Assistant Director, Rogue Theatre), The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (Director, ATIC Productions), Astride of a Grave (Director, UC Follies) and The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Director, VCDS). Carter is currently a full-time student at the University of Toronto.
Helping bring Bent to life is Set and Lighting Designer Dominic Manca and Costume Designer Ming Wong. Dominic made is Hart House Theatre debut last season as the Lighting Designer for The Night of the Iguana. Favourite credits include: Les Zinspires L'Emmerdeur (set design, Theatre Francais de Toronto); Zone (set design, Theatre Francais de Toronto & Theatre la Catapulte); L'Ecole des Femmes and Le diner de cons (set & lighting design, Theatre Francais de Toronto); Les Medecins de Moliere (Theatre Francais de Toronto & Theatre la Catapulte); Encore (set & lighting design, L'Unitheatre). Ming, a Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee, has worked on many Hart House Theatre productions, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Macbeth, Yellowface, Jerry Springer the Opera and Reefer Madness, to name few. Other credits include Hamlet (Resurgence Theatre Company); The Children's Crusade (SoundStreams Canada/Luminato Festival); The Cosmonaut's Last Letter..., A Winter's Tale, Cruel & Tender and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Canadian Stage Company); Ruined and Late/Black Medea (Obsidian Theatre); Gorey Story (Thistle Project - Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee for Outstanding Costume Design).
U of T's Performing Arts Leader Since 1919 - Hart House Theatre is not only a cultural hub for the University of Toronto but a cultural destination for the city. Under the direction of Artsitic Director Jeremy Hutton, the Theatre is dedicated to developing dynamic productions for a diverse and discerning modern audience with a roster full of the best emerging theatrical talent this country has to offer. The Art Deco theatre has cultivated and featured some of the country's finest actors, directors, playwrights and designers, including Raymond Massey, Dora Mavor Moore, William Hutt, Donald Sutherland, Norman Jewison, Lorne Michaels, and more recently Andre Sills and Tyrone Savage. Recent productions include Robin Hood: The Legendary Musical Comedy, Romeo and Juliet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, My Name is Rachel Corrie, The Night of the Iguana, Cabaret, Equus, Jerry Springer: The Opera and Macbeth.
Bent
Written by: Martin Sherman
Directed by: Carter West
Set and Lighting Design by: Dominic Manca
Costume Design by: Ming Wong
Sound Design by: Jeremy Hutton
March 1 - 9, 2013
at Hart House Theatre (7 Hart House Circle)
Performances:
Week 1: Friday & Saturday at 8PM
Week 2: Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM + Saturday at 2PM
Ticket Prices:
Adults $25; Student & Seniors $15
$10 Student Tickets every Wednesday
$15 Alumni Tickets every Thursday
Tickets can be purchased at UofTtix Box Office by phone, 416-978-8849, online at www.uofttix.ca or in person.
Talk Back and Discussions:
Postshow Talk Back:
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2013
Preshow Artist Chat:
Date: Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 1:00PM
Ticket Prices:
Free and open to the public
For more information please visit www.harthousetheatre.ca.
2013-01-23
Toronto: Hart House Theatre presents Martin Sherman’s play “Bent” March 1-9