Stage Door News
Stage Door News
“Our purpose has been to keep a sense of humor, to remain the outlaw, to question ‘normal,’ and to work within the margins of the margins.”
- Split Britches
As part of the 11th annual Tangled Arts Festival, the renowned Split Britches will debut their new production, RUFF on May 9 and 10. Directed by Lois Weaver, RUFF is a solo performance by Peggy Shaw that illustrates her personal reflection on acquired disability.
After suffering a stroke in 2011, Shaw’s entire world had to be rebuilt from the bruised, but surprising pieces. Guided by longtime collaborator Weaver, Shaw throws off the stigma of age and embraces the joy—and necessity—of creating new work, post-stroke. Like a skillful striptease, she unashamedly exposes the emotional and technological accommodations she now requires to perform, and in so doing, offers a rare glimpse at the art in ageing and infirmity. RUFF was an instant success and recently finished a second run in New York City at La Mama Theatre.
Endlessly innovative in their creations, Split Britches’ escape the limitations of the traditional theatre space using Green Screen technology in which a person is filmed against a green background, which is then replaced by an alternate video. This original use of a green screen transports the audience through locations and decades, exposing the host of crooners, lounge singers, movie stars, rock and roll bands and eccentric family members who once effortlessly melded to form Shaw’s seductive, captivating personality.
"An impressionistic monologue that’s engaging, admirably unsentimental and often very funny indeed."
- Charles Isherwood, New York Times
“Shaw’s supremely transgressive art explodes every box which might be used in some vain attempt to contain her: language, societal norms, sex, romance, art.”
- Playwright Craig Lucas in BOMB magazine
Pioneers of the queer and feminist theatre movements, Split Britches’ Shaw and Weaver have defined a generation of performance. For 30 years, their work has challenged assumptions about femininity, sexuality, traditional theatre culture, and recently, ageing.
TICKETS
$25 General Admission
$20 Students/PWD
Buy tickets for May 9th: https://guestlistapp.com/events/223986
Buy tickets for May 10th: https://guestlistapp.com/events/225723
MAY 10: Green Screening
With Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver
Noon – 4 p.m.
Daniels Spectrum - Ada Slaight Hall, 585 Dundas St. East
Theatricality meets practicality. Join the icons of queer and feminist theatre, Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver in this workshop exploring the innovative use of green screen technology in theatrical performance.
Tangled Art + Disability is a charitable organization dedicated to developing and showcasing the work of artists with disabilities. For over ten years, Tangled has been a leader and catalyst bringing together artists with disabilities and a diverse public through a wide range of performance, media and visual arts events. Tangled uses the power of art as a transforming medium to enhance the understanding and acceptance that people with disabilities can and do make significant contributions to all aspects of society, in particular the arts and an evolving cultural sector.
2014-04-03
Toronto: Tangled Art + Disability presents "RUFF" by Split Britches May 9-10