Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The 2012-2013 Actors Repertory Company season culminates with the North American premiere of BEA, by UK playwright Mick Gordon. BEA is a touching drama, by turns comedic and heart-wrenching; the story of a remarkable young woman struggling to find her voice while suffering from a debilitating illness, and the difficult choices she faces with determination, joy and humour. BEA plays May 7 – 26, 2013 (Opens May 8) at the Factory Theatre Studio. Tickets are available via the box office at 416-504-9971 or www.factorytheatre.ca.
Bahareh Yaraghi (Theatre Calgary/Citadel’s The Kite Runner; Theatre Passe Muraille’s Prisoner of Tehran; Buddies in Bad Times’ Hallaj) plays Beatrice (Bea), a young woman with a chronic condition that has left her bed-ridden for eight long years. She needs constant care: someone else has to feed her, wash her, dress her. Deborah Drakeford (ARC’s The City; Soulpepper’s A Christmas Carol and Waiting For The Parade; Studio 180’s The Laramie Project) is Bea’s mother – a prickly, protective barrister – who hires campy and verbally incontinent Ray – played by Brendan McMurtry-Howlett (Centaur/NAC’s Innocence Lost; Theatre Calgary/NAC’s Pride & Prejudice; NextStage’s Dora-nominated The Apology) - as her daughter’s new caretaker. In Ray, Bea finds a friend she can trust, who helps her as she wrestles with her illness and supports her as she grapples with an almost unimaginable decision.
BEA is a both a thoughtful and moving personal story, and a vivid dramatic lens through which to explore the human dialogue surrounding terminal illness, compassion, the right to live, and the right to die. The play redirects the conversation about assisted suicide away from policies and politics, to focus on the person at the heart of the matter: a young woman struggling with a terrible disease. We are won over by Bea’s intelligence, her spark, her refusal to be defeated. At times shocking, sensual and silly, Bea’s story is beautifully and respectfully shaped by the real choices and outcomes faced by the terminally ill and their loved ones.
Directed by internationally acclaimed former Artistic Director of the National Theater Belgrade - and six-time winner of Best Director at The Festival of Serbian Theatres - Aleksandar Lukac (ARC’s Family Stories-Belgrade; Hong Kong Idea Festival bound Unicorn Horns; Company of Sirens’ Black Magic). Set and Lighting Design by multimedia designer and six-time Dora nominee Andy Moro (Red Pepper Spectacle Arts; VideoCabaret’s The War of 1812; Native Earth’s free as injuns; Buddies in Bad Times’ AGOKWE). Costume Design by Laura Gardner (Storefront Theatre’s Wait Until Dark; Fanshawe’s Comedy of Errors). Composer, Sound Designer, and multiple Dora Nominee Christopher Stanton (TIFT’s Possible Worlds; FuGen‘s Ching Chong Chinaman; Birdland’s Gruesome Playground Injuries) completes the design team.
Actors Repertory Company presents BEA as the culmination of a curated season of exciting contemporary works from around the globe, exploring the moral grey zones of hard choices. Matters of life, love, sex, politics, and death complicate these plays - how do we live with decisions without "right" answers? Continuing this theme, Actors Repertory Company will present a panel discussion after the matinee performance on May 12, 2013 where thinkers, caregivers, and members of the community will sit down together with director Aleksandar Lukac to respond to the work and explore the ideas of the play.
Through its Give Bea a Voice contest, Actors Repertory Company is bringing Toronto's indie theatre and indie music scenes together, with submissions of original music from singer-songwriters. In the weeks ahead audiences will be able to vote on their favourite original song and help select the winning melody that will be a featured part of the performance. Check out www.arcstage.com for details.
Actors Repertory Company is one of Toronto's oldest actor-led theatre companies, committed to deepening our craft through discovering and sharing the best contemporary theatre from around the world with our audience. ARC presents an annual season of contemporary international theatre that explores relevant global conversations from diverse perspectives. We focus on works that challenge our company through an exchange of international processes, styles and innovative approaches to our work, in order to produce Toronto premieres. For more information, please visit www.arcstage.com.
Show information for BEA:
Venue:
Factory Theatre Studio, 125 Bathurst Street (at Adelaide)
Dates:
May 7-26 (Preview May 7, Opening May 8)
Tickets:
Tues-Sat (8pm) - $25 (plus HST & SC)
Wed (Noon) and Sat (2pm) Matinees - $20 (plus HST & SC)
Sun (2pm) Matinees - PWYC (suggested donation: $10)
via 416-504-9971 or www.factorytheatre.ca
Illustration: Poster for BEA. ©2013 ARC.
2013-04-10
Toronto: Actors Repertory Company presents the North American premiere of “BEA” by Mick Gordon May 7-26