Stage Door News
Stage Door News
“When we wake up in the morning,
Wet from birth,
Should not that be a rejuvenation?
When we look at the water,
Or the mountains,
Or the trees,
Should not that be awe-inspiring?
Why are we so tired?
Why do we need to drink so much coffee?
Why have we become jaded?”
Thus begins Something Is Wrong, written and directed by William Rasitsan-Powell, designed by Beata Rasitsan-Powell, and produced by fledgling Naught, A Theatre Company. We begin with difficult questions that stare us in the face and refuse to move. These are the questions that lie underneath, that hide in the shadows, that flit around our heads in the night.
“We have always felt that something is wrong:
What is it?
What is wrong?
What is something?
What is is?”
As in the ancient Greek Tragedies, these questions are asked by a Chorus of men and women who are possessed and infected by these questions with no answers. They search for answers, but to no avail. The Chorus realizes that they must have been mistaken: that nothing is wrong. They all agree that the best thing to do would be to go home and stop worrying. All of them except one, that is: Thespis (played by the fiery Josh Johnston), who refuses to admit that nothing is wrong. It is Thespis' determination to continue searching for answers that propels the play.
Thespis runs into trouble when he meets Daemon (Christian Martel), the perfect antagonist, who has come to protect the Chorus from Thespis’ pesky questions. Daemon is a being of immense power, wit, and cunning, and is more than Thespis can handle on his own. Luckily, we meet Iris (Margaret Hild), a magnetic spirit who is intrigued and mystified by the whole situation. She accompanies Thespis on his difficult and terrible journey through a dark and mystical setting in the search for what is wrong.
Writer/Director William Rasitsan-Powell studied Acting at Ryerson University, where he put up his first production To Be Free at the Ryerson New Voices Festival. To Be Free is about a philosophy teacher who tries to help his friends live more enlightened lives. Something Is Wrong takes a sharp turn away from everyday reality, swapping bars and bedrooms for the all-consuming void, a homey cottage in the woods, a brutal and maddening desert, and a Chinese tea-house. The language of the play hearkens back to the definition of the playwright as poet, and references and rewrites Shakespeare left and right. It is inspired by Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre, and the Absurdist Theatre of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett. It is intensely philosophical while remaining character driven, and continuously probes themes of passion, hate, and cannibalism (yes, cannibalism).
“Theatre is, in its most basic definition, the manipulation of space by human beings,” says Rasitsan-Powell. “I am interested in exploring what that means, what can be done with space, how it can be used to really effect people, to give the audience an experience that moves them in a way that is beyond catharsis, in a way that might actually change them.”
The production pushes its performers to incredible places, both vocally and physically. The play begins with a soundscape of voices, where text and screams and animal noises come together to bring us into the world of the play. The Chorus chants and speaks at the same time, Hild goes to incredible places with her voice, and Johnston and Martel engage wholeheartedly in delightfully witty repartee. Working with a cast of 9, and with the help of choreographer Kelly Shaw, a schoolmate from Ryerson, Rasitsan-Powell has incorporated both tightly choreographed dance and improvised movement throughout the piece, for the appearance of a living, breathing set, capable of who-knows-what at the next turn.
Naught, A Theatre Company is a new company dedicated to putting up theatre that is cutting and cutting-edge. We want to explore the boundaries of what theatre can do and its ability to affect change in the world through challenging our audience to leave their comfort zone and bear witness to extraordinary, terrible, and beautiful things. Founded by husband and wife duo William and Beata Rasitsan-Powell, the company is a labour of love in its truest sense: “We love each other, we love this world and this city, and we believe that theatre is a place from which love can seep into the world and change it for the better.”
The play runs from July 31st to August 3rd at the Pia Bouman Theatre, 6 Noble St., just west of Queen and Dufferin. Tickets are $15, $12 with valid student ID.
Showtimes are as follows:
July 31st, 8PM
August 1st, 8PM
August 2nd, 8PM
August 3rd, 2PM
August 3rd, 8PM
Tickets can be purchased at the door, or online at:
http://somethingiswrongplay.blogspot.ca/
facebook.com/NaughtTheatre
2013-07-24
Toronto: Naught, A Theatre Company presents “Something Is Wrong” by William Rasitsan-Powell July 31-August 3