Stage Door News
Stage Door News
(Toronto)—Nightwood Theatre kicks off its 2013/14 season with the North American premiere of the Royal Court hit, Free Outgoing by Anupama Chandraskhar at the Factory Theatre Mainspace from January 28 to February 16, 2014. “A gripping and insightful play” (Time Out), Free Outgoing tracks the fall-out of a text messaging scandal. With gut-wrenching intensity and a sharp wit, Chandrasekhar brilliantly dissects the clash of tradition and modernity in her culture and confronts the timely issues of sexuality and safety in the digital age.
The play centres around Deepa, a high-achieving 15 year old from a middle-class Tamil family in Chennai, India. When her boyfriend records them having sex on his cell phone and sends the clip to a friend, the videospreads like a virus. She becomes the “most watched teenager in India,” and is expelled along with her brother from their private school. Malini, their widowed mother, is besieged by media and crowds, and a national crisis of sexual and technological values ensues.
Chandrasekhar, a Chennai-based journalist turned playwright, states “Free Outgoing is an exploration through fiction into my society’s hypocrisy with regard to female sexuality. In setting Free Outgoing in Chennai, a rather conservative Indian city, I have attempted to understand my own world better.”
Developed through the Royal Court Theatre’s International Residency Program, Free Outgoing opened in London to rave reviews in 2007 and was shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Award, the John Whiting Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Nightwood Theatre’s production of Free Outgoing is directed by Artistic Director Kelly Thornton, who says, “Anupama’s play feeds a pertinent global discussion about young adults navigating their sexuality in the world of social media and the often devastating affects they and their families experience when charting this new frontier.” Free Outgoing features a stellar cast led by Anusree Roy as Malini and Sanjay Talwar as Ramesh.
Free Outgoing
By Anupama Chandrasekhar
Previews January 28-29, Opening (Media) Night January 30, 2014
Regular performances January 31-February 16
Factory Theatre Mainstage, 125 Bathurst St
Directed by Kelly Thornton
Featuring Anusree Roy, Sanjay Talwar, Ash Knight, Andrew Lawrie, Ellora Patnaik, Asha Vijayasingham
Set Design: Anna Treusch
Costumes Design: Joanna Yu
Lighting Design: Bonnie Beecher
Sound Design: Debashis Sinha
Performance times:
Tuesday to Saturday at 8:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm
Preview tickets are $25-$39
Regular tickets are $25-$45
All tickets are available through the Factory Theatre Box Office at 416-504-9971 or online at nightwoodtheatre.net.
Please note that the performance on Friday, January 31 is a fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and includes a reception, silent auction, talkback and dessert. Tickets for this performance are $75.
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Photo: Anusree Roy on poster for Free Outgoing. ©2013 Nightwood Theatre.
2013-12-11
Toronto: Nightwood Theatre presents the North American premiere of "Free Outgoing" January 28-February 16