Stage Door News
Stage Door News
[Mississauga ON, December 2014] It’s almost time for Theatre Erindale’s annual celebration of one-act Independent Student Productions: the Beck Festival. We promise that not a single one of these adventurous plays is about a kid or a dog or Santa Claus, so you can take a break from the relentless holiday cheer to enjoy an entertaining and wildly varied evening of theatre that has nothing to do with the season! The Beck Festival runs at 7:00PM Thursday through Saturday December 11-13 at the MiST Theatre in the CCT Building on the University of Toronto Mississauga campus – so you can even park in the same building!
These productions are driven entirely by the student actors of the Sheridan-UTM Theatre and Drama Studies Program (though they do have company support and a little faculty advice), so expect the unexpected. Four short plays vary from fifteen minutes to fifty in length. Two are wild, woolly, and totally original, while the others are closer to the beaten track – there’s even a hilarious little gem by Woody Allen!
The weird and wonderful duo of Jaime Lujan and Nicholas Potter have come up with another one, this time with Jaime at the laptop and Nicholas wielding the baton over an eight-member cast that includes the author. It’s called Sundry, and it’s about four young women who’ve been eliminated from a reality TV “Talent Search”. Languishing in a luxury hotel room, they receive a surprise visit from the celebrity host. But does that mean renewed hope, or something much more sinister?
Seven women from all years of TDS star in the popular Cagebirds, by David Campton, with Paige Falardeau at the helm. The show is produced by two of its co-stars, Olivia Orton and Hannah Ehman. In this absurdist piece, six women are trapped in a locked room with their own troubles under the surveillance of their ‘Mistress’, who takes care of them. That is, until a new woman arrives and challenges them to break out and claim their freedom.
Woody Allen’s clever short comedy Death Knocks is produced and directed by Lauren Wolanski, starring Eric Gordon and Hershel Blatt. Nat Ackerman is doing some bedtime reading when Death – at least he says he’s Death – climbs through the window and the two end up in a game of Gin Rummy, played for another 24 hours on earth!
As the wacky bookend to your evening, Nathaniel Kinghan writes and produces Chekhov’s Clowns, with Larissa Crawley and Isaac Giles co-directing and Kyra Weichert and Kaitlyn White in starring roles. Two clowns clash, tumble and free-fall onstage in a charming effort to discover loss, love, and the meaning of life. But there’s a twist …
Tickets for these loony tunes are available only at the door, and the price is Pay-What-You-Can, with a suggested minimum of $5.00. Parking in the CCT Garage right downstairs (accessed through Lot 9) is just $6.00, and Mississauga Transit Routes 44 and 110 will also get you to the UTM campus. For further information, call 905-569-4369 or visit www.theatreerindale.com .
THE BECK FESTIVAL FOR 2014:
Sundry by Jaime Luhan
Cagebirds by David Hampton
Death Knocks by Woody Allen
Chekhov’s Clowns by Nathaniel Kinghan
Thurs-Sat December 11-13 2014
Starting at 7:00PM
MiST THEATRE
(CCT Building, University of Toronto Mississauga)
Tickets at the door PWYC (suggested minimum $5.00)
www.theatreerindale.com or 905-569-4369
Illustration: The Prince of Homburg. ©2013 Chloe Cushman.
2014-12-02
Mississauga: Theatre Erindale's BECK Festival runs December 11-13