Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, Ontario…BirdLand Theatre is proud to present a bold new vision of John Herbert’s groundbreaking classic play Fortune and Men’s Eyes at Dancemakers Studio, 9 Mill Street, Studio 313, Distillery District, Toronto, for a very limited one-week run, Sept 1 - 8, 2013. Press Opening is Tuesday Sept 3 at 8:08 pm.
Originally written and produced in 1967, Fortune and Men’s Eyes explores the degradation and brutality of prison life through the eyes of Smitty, a naïve young inmate, and his three cellmates, Rocky, Queenie and Mona. It has certainly earned its place in Canadian theatre history, having been translated into over 40 languages and produced in over a hundred countries. The success of its off-Broadway production at the Actors’ Playhouse in 1967 put it at the forefront of queer theatre in North America, and pioneered a new wave of Canadian playwriting which included such works as George Ryga’s The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and Michel Tremblay’s Les Belles Soeurs. Over 40 years after it was written, Fortune and Men’s Eyes remains shockingly relevant through its brutality and honesty in portraying the journey of young souls within a criminal justice system that lacks understanding or compassion.
Directed by Stefan Dzeparoski, the exciting rock-star cast consists of four of Toronto’s finest emerging theatre artists David Coomber, Julian DeZotti, Cyrus Faird and Alex Fiddes (bios follow).
Following the tremendous success of its last production Gruesome Playground Injuries, BirdLand Theatre is again embracing the minimalist, raw and technologically developed journey in this latest Fortune and Men’s Eyes. “I am looking for the boundary separating imagination and reality, alienation and normality, which surrounds the characters of Fortune and Men’s Eyes” says director Dzeparoski. “By bringing the past, through this classic piece of Canadian theatre, into the present with a fresh modern perspective, I hope to shine a light on our troubled contemporary times, and to question anew the meaning of theatre in our lives through this tale of imprisonment and the loss of freedom.”
Fortune and Men’s Eyes is produced by Zorana Kydd and Derrick Chua. The design team for the production includes Joseph Pagnan (set & costumes) and Gareth Crew (lights). BirdLand Theatre (Artistic Director Zorana Kydd) has won numerous Dora Awards and been highly praised for its past productions including Gruesome Playground Injuries (directed by Dzeparoski), Assassins (directed by Adam Brazier) and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (directed by David Ferry).
FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES
by John Herbert
exciting contemporary staging of Canadian classic
Directed by: Stefan Dzeparoski
September 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8
at 8:08PM.
Dancemakers and Center for Creation
9 Trinity Street, M5A 3C4, Distillery District, Toronto
Tickets on sale at www.brownpapertickets.com/browse.html.
2013-08-19
Toronto: BirdLand Theatre stages “Fortune and Men’s Eyes” September 1-8