Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO, ON—lemonTree creations, in association with Spiderbones Performing Arts, present the World Premiere of MSM [men seeking men], the critically acclaimed dance/theatre piece inspired by transcripts of online conversations. MSM is a world of electronic beats where music is the omnipotent power. Choreography, movement, and text deconstruct online male personas and their personal exchanges with other men. Toronto's finest queer dancers and performers, including 4-time Dora nominee Louis Laberge-Côté ("Toronto's dance most valuable player" - NOW Magazine), Ryan G. Hinds (“Torontoʼs most fabulous and hardest-working queer artist” - Fab Magazine), Rhubarb Festival Associate Director Cole Alvis, Andrew Hartley, Corrado Cerruto, Austin Fagan, Aldrin Bundoc, and Nico Racicot, dance to a unique sonic landscape spun by DJ John Caffery (creator and resident of Mighty Real Party, featured at Cub Camp, Trade etc) at each performance, with scenographer Joe Pagnan (Gruesome Playground Injuries) providing set/ lighting design and dramaturgy by Jonathan Seinen (Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show).
MSM originally opened during the 2013 Fringe Festival. The critical response was enthusiastic and helped make the show one of the top grossers for Fringe’s largest venue: The Toronto Star’s Michael Crabb described MSM’s physicality as “rough, tender, and everything in between” and noted performances of “convincing intensity”, while NOW’s Jon Kaplan praised the blend of text and dance: “the movement is sometimes more telling - and often hotter- than the words”
Xtra, Canadaʼs largest LGBTQ publication, says MSM is “dark, dirty, violent, and sexy” and Michael Lyons praised the “frenetic, explosive feel”: “MSM is craigslist personals in the abstract; itʼs dirty chat rooms discussed philosophically, artfully. Itʼs what it would look like if Klimt did a painting of Grindr, as the shapes and bodies meld together: at times frightening and at times simply divine, very sexy, and sensuous.”
Calling MSM “a dark, funny, sexy, and fascinating examination of gay online hookup culture”, Mooney on Theatre’s Wayne Leung says: “The significance of the representation of beautiful men of all sizes shapes and colours in the cast is not lost. This is not your typical boring lineup of pretty white gay boys and itʼs so satisfying to see a representation of a wider swath of the glorious diversity of gay men in our community. The creators chose to address race and made it a subtext of the show.”
MSM [men seeking men]
Conceived and Directed by INDRIT KASAPI
Preview June 23 at 9.30pm
Opening June 24 at 9.30pm
Run June 25th-June 29th with two shows daily at 7.30pm and 9.30pm
Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street
TICKETS Preview $10, General $20, $5 Youth hipTix via ToTIX. Buy TICKETS AT www.lemontreecreations.ca OR CALL1 800 838 3006
lemonTree creations is a Toronto-based theatre company that seeds new work, brings productions to fruition, and challenges artists to grow. Established in 2007, our core artistic team consists of Indrit Kasapi, Cole Alvis and Jonathan Seinen. lemonTree creations develops innovative Canadian performance by investing in artists and bringing non- conventional stories to the stage.
Spiderbones Performing Arts is a Toronto-based theatre company, founded in 2013, that makes audiences think, laugh or cry by producing works that combine art with some form of science, medicine or technology.
Photo: Scene from MSM. ©2013 Alejandro Santiago.
2014-05-28
Toronto: Fringe hit "MSM [men seeking men]" plays at World Pride 2014