Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, March 13, 2013 - Artistic Director Richard Rose and General Manager Gideon Arthurs are proud to announce Tarragon Theatre's 2013-14 season. Ten contemporary plays - which include world and English-language premieres, as well as remounts of acclaimed Canadian productions and imaginative new plays from the international stage - make up one of Tarragon's most ambitious seasons to date.
Love, Loss, Wine and The Gods: Tarragon's 43rd season explores stories about love's twists and turns, about overcoming loss, about the miracle that is wine, and of the forgotten gods. Tarragon is the home of the Canadian playwright, and this season features extraordinary homegrown talents, who between them hold six Governor General's Awards, two Siminovitch prizes and three Urjo Kareda Residency Grants, alongside the latest work from some of Europe's rising stars and powerful musicals by icons from here and abroad.
The lineup includes world premieres from Tarragon playwrights-in-residence Sean Dixon (A God in Need of Help) and Erin Shields (Soliciting Temptation); new works by Tarragon favourites Daniel MacIvor (The Best Brothers) and Joan MacLeod (The Valley); and remounts of exceptional productions helmed by former Kareda Residents Adam Paolozza (co-writer and director of The Double) and Ashlie Corcoran who directs a work by German playwright Marius von Mayenburg (The Ugly One). Christian Barry, another past Kareda Resident, directs Juno-winning musician Hawksley Workman in a wine-soaked rock-&-roll cabaret (The God That Comes). Tarragon also proudly continues its tradition of presenting the best that Quebec has to offer, with an English-language premiere of an Evelyne de la Chenelière play, translated by Linda Gaboriau (Flesh and Other Fragments of Love). The season is rounded out by an acclaimed Stephen Sondheim song-cycle (Marry Me a Little) and an innovative work from one of Britain's hottest playwrights, Duncan Macmillan (Lungs).
Tarragon's sweeping new season journeys from the healing circles of British Columbia to the Bacchanalian rites of mythic Greece, from the romantic west coast of Ireland to a lonely tenement in Brooklyn, from the jolt of a mother's funeral to the dangers of sex tourism, from high society 19th century Russia to 21st century European corporate culture, and from a papal inquisition in 1606 Venice to a fast-forward lifetime of love in today's world.
Tarragon Theatre's 2013-14 Season Details:
The Best Brothers
by Daniel MacIvor
directed by Dean Gabourie
September 17 - October 27, 2013 (opens September 25) Mainspace
Toronto premiere
The Best Brothers' mother dies in a freak accident at Toronto's Gay Pride Parade, crushed by a drunk drag queen. As they look to celebrate their mother, they wrestle with the most fundamental questions of love and family: namely, who did mom love more and who gets the dog?
One of Canada's best known playwrights, and currently a playwright-in-residence at Tarragon, Daniel MacIvor has written and directed numerous award-winning productions since he began creating theatre in 1986. MacIvor's previous productions at Tarragon include Was Spring (2012), Communion (2010), A Beautiful View (2009), How It Works (2007) and Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (1988). A hit last summer at the Stratford Festival where it premiered, this bittersweet comedy sees Tarragon favourite Daniel MacIvor back on stage alongside John Beale, again directed by Dean Gabourie.
The Double
Tarragon Theatre presents a TheatreRUN production
created and performed by Adam Paolozza, Arif Mirabdolbaghi and Viktor Lukawski
directed by Adam Paolozza
original music by Arif Mirabdolbaghi
October 15 - November 24, 2013 (opens October 23)
Extraspace
When are you no longer yourself? The anxious government clerk Golyadkin is plagued by a stranger who looks just like him but is more daring, romantic and brash. Inspired by Dostoevsky's novella The Double, this theatrical triangle between a neurotic, his doppelganger and a stand-up bass transports us to 19th century Russian high society and Golyadkin's labyrinthine search for his identity.
After a hit independent run last season that saw a Dora Award win for lighting design, Tarragon warmly welcomes this dark satire about our deepest fears of losing our identity. Adam Paolozza is currently Tarragon's Kareda Resident, Artistic Director of TheatreRUN, and co-creator with Ravi Jain of the acclaimed Spent.
The Valley
by Joan MacLeod
directed by Richard Rose
November 6 - December 15, 2013 (opens November 13)
Mainspace
Toronto premiere
Strangers collide in this expertly woven story of healing. A dramatic police encounter illuminates a son's pain; a police officer pulled away from home because of duty; two mothers searching for answers. A touching story of the unexpected shared lives of strangers.
Victoria-based, Siminovitch and Governor General's Award winner Joan McLeod brings her clear and driven signature style to this thought-provoking, fictional new work that made Another Home Invasion (Tarragon 2009) a huge hit and The Shape of A Girl (Tarragon 2002) an international success. Tarragon has been producing her plays since 1987 when it premiered Jewel.
The Ugly One
in co-production with Theatre Smash
by Marius von Mayenburg
translated by Maja Zade
directed by Ashlie Corcoran
January 8 - February 16, 2014 (opens January 14)
Extraspace
"You can't sell anything with that face." A razor-sharp satire about getting ahead in the world. With mesmerizing speed, this award-winning work by one of Germany's finest playwrights, catapults us into a narcissistic world, obsessed with beauty, image and plastic surgery.
The Ugly One was nominated for six Doras and won for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Set Design. It also made the Globe and Mail's "top 11 productions of 2011." The original Theatre Smash creative team and cast - Jesse Aaron Dwyre, David Jansen, Hardee T. Lineham and Naomi Wright - reassemble for this powerful work by Marius von Mayenburg, one of the most widely produced playwrights in Germany. A former Kareda Resident, Ashlie Corcoran was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Thousand Island Playhouse in Gananoque, ON.
Flesh and Other Fragments of Love
by Evelyne de la Chenelière
translated by Linda Gaboriau
freely inspired by the novel Une vie pour deux by Marie Cardinal
directed by Richard Rose
January 7 - February 16, 2014 (opens January 15)
Mainspace
English-language premiere
On the Irish Coast, a vacationing couple stumbles upon the body of a drowned woman. This grisly discovery acts as a catalyst to unearth the unspoken in their marriage. Part detective story, part ghost story, part dissection of fidelity and intimacy - this is a haunting ode to love by Quebecois playwright Evelyne de la Chenelière, based on Marie Cardinal's renowned semi-autobiographical novel, Une Vie Pour Deux.
Tarragon previously presented Governor General's Award winner Evelyne de la Chenelière's Bashir Lazhar in 2008, the basis for the Oscar-nominated film Monsieur Lazhar.
Lungs
by Duncan Macmillan
directed by Weyni Mengesha
February 25 - March 30, 2014 (opens March 4)
Extraspace
Toronto premiere
"Is it ethical to have a child when you're a car-driving, plastic bag-using, aerosol-spraying avocado-importing person?" What if they grow up and hate you? A bare stage, a man, a woman, a conversation and - infinite possibility. British playwright Duncan Macmillan gives us a no-holds-barred look at a lifetime of love.
Duncan Macmillan is an award-winning British writer and director whose work has been produced in the UK and abroad to critical acclaim. He was a member of Kevin Spacey's inaugural New Voices company at the Old Vic Theatre. Lungs premiered in 2011 with the Studio Theatre, Washington D.C. and Paines Plough/Sheffield Theatres and was nominated for Washington's Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical. Director Weyni Mengesha was named Best Director at the 2012 Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards for her work on Tarragon's The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs.
Marry Me A Little
music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene
directed by Adam Brazier
musical direction by Paul Sportelli
February 26 - April 6, 2014 (opens March 5)
Mainspace
Saturday night in Brooklyn and two single people come home to their empty apartments. This playful cycle of Sondheim's favourite rarities imagines a world where romance triumphs over loneliness and heartache.
"...more beguiling than so much of what passes for contemporary musical theater." - The New York Times
This emotion-filled New York hit takes audiences on a roller-coaster ride through love in all its guises. Sondheim fans will be thrilled to hear songs cut from such works as A Little Night Music, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and more.
Soliciting Temptation
by Erin Shields
directed by Andrea Donaldson
April 1 - May 4, 2014 (opens April 9)
Extraspace
World premiere
In a sweaty and sticky hotel room, a western businessman and a young woman meet for sex. Somewhere between the reality and the fantasy, the sex becomes talk and the talk becomes dangerous. Nothing is off limits in this battle of morality, economics and desire that shines a light on the complexities of sex tourism and our preconceptions about love.
Erin Shields is an actor and a Tarragon playwright-in-residence whose Governor General's Award-winning If We Were Birds was produced by Tarragon in 2010. Her other plays include Montparnasse (Alberta Theatre Projects' 2010 Enbridge playRites Award), The Unfortunate Misadventures of Masha Galinski and The Epic of Gilgamesh. This sexually-charged new play was supported by Tarragon's WorkSpace program earlier this year, led by Assistant Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson.
A God in Need of Help
by Sean Dixon
directed by Richard Rose
April 16 - May 25, 2014 (opens April 23)
Mainspace
World premiere
1606 and Europe is at war over God. The four strongest men in Venice are charged with transporting a holy painting across the Alps to Prague. On their way, they are set upon by Protestant Zealots - their escape is attributed to a miracle and a papal inquisition ensues.
Through this mystery, novelist and Tarragon playwright-in-residence Sean Dixon challenges the role of faith at the dawn of the Age of Reason. While this is his first play for Tarragon, Dixon's plays have been produced all over Canada, the U.S., Australia and England. They include Lost Heir (Blyth 2007), The Notorious Right Robert and His Robber Bride (Caravan Farm Theatre, 2012), France or, The Niqab (SummerWorks 2012) and others.
The God That Comes
Tarragon Theatre presents a 2B theatre company production
Created by Hawksley Workman & Christian Barry
Conceived and directed by Christian Barry
June 3 - June 29, 2014 (opens June 3)
Mainspace
Toronto premiere
This is an old story, a story about a Soldier King, his mother, and a new God. The city's slaves, women and outlaws climb the mountain to drink and worship through abandon; for this new God is the God of wine, sex and ecstasy. Performed by Canadian sensation Hawksley Workman, The God That Comes is wine-soaked rock-&-roll theatre at its most Bacchanal.
Making his Tarragon debut - both writing and performing - the two-time Juno winner Hawksley Workman is a prolific singer-songwriter and actor. His 12-year career has produced as many records, all ambitiously creative and defying category. Christian Barry, a past Kareda Resident, is a director, actor and writer from Halifax where he is artistic co-director of 2b theatre company.
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Coming soon: Details of The Tarragon Village: A series of initiatives designed to give the audience the inside scoop on the artists, the art, and the invisible work at Tarragon Theatre.
Our productions are just the tip of the iceberg of what happens at Tarragon. Check www.tarragontheatre.com for details about our extensive youth programs and the country's most successful new play development process.
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2013-14 Early Bird Subscriptions (with spectacular savings of up to $179) and single tickets for the 2013-14 Season are on sale now.
A 9-play season package starts as low as $177; a 7-play Pick Any Play Package starts at $145; and a 5-play Mainstage subscription is available for as low as $105 if booked by May 31, 2013. Regular Subscription prices apply thereafter. (The God That Comes is not offered on subscription. Single tickets are $34 as part of the Earlybird campaign and $40 after May 31.)
Subscriptions and tickets may be purchased by phone at 416-531-1827 or in person at the Tarragon Theatre Box Office, at 30 Bridgman Avenue. BOX OFFICE & INFORMATION: 416-531-1827. http://www.tarragontheatre.com
2013-03-13
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre announces ten plays for it its 2013/14 season