Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Canada’s longest-running new works festival returns for a 36th year. For two weeks, Buddies is transformed into a hotbed of experimentation, with artists bringing over 30 original works that explore new possibilities in theatre, dance, music, and performance art. Rhubarb is the place to see the most adventurous ideas in performance and to catch your favourite artists venture into uncharted territory.
This marks Mel Hague’s first year as Festival Director. Speaking to this year’s programme, she remarks,
“In its 36th year, Rhubarb continues to provide space for artists who are in the thick of creation and experimentation with their forms. This year, we looked at work which is transgressive in the largest sense of the word. These are artists who are pushing – against form, against society, against themselves, and towards a new expression of their artistic practice.”
An experienced theatre artist and current Play Development Coordinator at Obsidian Theatre, Hague holds an MFA in Playwriting and New Play Dramaturgy from York University. In addition to her work as Festival Director, Hague has recently taken on the role of Company Dramaturg at Buddies. Hague is an exciting new voice in Toronto’s theatre scene and she brings a wealth of experience in new work development to the Festival. She is joined by Associate Festival Director Cole Alvis, an Artistic Producer at lemonTree creations and the Executive Director of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance.
For a complete schedule and line-up, visit buddiesinbadtimes.com/rhubarb
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL
· A special presentation of Full Dark, the latest from cabaret sensation and Buddies Artist in Residence Sharron Matthews.
· What’s Left of Us, an exciting collaboration between queer Indigenous artists Justin Many Fingers and Brian Soloman.
· A radical exploration of Frank Wedekind’s iconic femme fatale Lulu by resident artists the red light district, Lulu V.2 // Because Bad Things Happen To Bad Girls, featuring writing from a prolific group of writers that includes Margaret Atwood, Kat Sandler, Jordan Tannahill, Sky Gilbert, and dozens more.
· Cabaret Artist in Residence Ryan G Hinds’ Macarthur Park Suite: A Disco Ballet, an unmistakably queer dance experiment inspired by Donna Summers’ classic 17-minute song.
· Toronto’s best-known clowns and Fringe favourites Morro and Jasp bring their signature style to Rhubarb with Anything Goes, a new performance designed for one audience member at a time.
· Partnerships with three amazing local queer organizations – Oasis Aqualounge, Videofag, and The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
· A special presentation of Polish artist Janek Turkowski’s Margarete, in collaboration with the first year of the international performance art festival Progress.
DISCOVER UNEXPECTED PLACES THROUGH ART
In the rich Rhubarb tradition of stretching theatrical boundaries, artists invite you to enter places that are private, personal, and extremely intimate. This year’s Festival features a collection of new works set in places that you aren’t often allowed to go and animates them in new and exciting ways.
· At local upscale spa and sex club Oasis Aqualounge, audience members gather around a rooftop pool for Gein Wong’s Ocean Carving performed entirely in the water by Catherine Hernandez.
· The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives opens its doors for a multi-performance experience featuring work from Olive-Or-Oliver, Vince Ha, Melissa Koziebrocki, Heather Hermant, Alvis Parsley, Rob Kempson, and Darryl Tracy. Their performances take audiences on a tour through the building’s back hallways, offices, and stairwells as they explore Toronto’s queer history.
· The Buddies bathrooms become a queer-Shakespearian stomping ground in Hamlet in a Hot Tub, featuring Toronto drag sensation Donnarama.
· Other unexpected corners of Buddies are animated by a one-on-one performance by Morro and Jasp, a build-your-own ID station by Trevor Campbell, and pop-up dance performances from choreographer Marie-Lambin Gagnon.
NEW INVESTIGATIONS IN DRAG
In a society becoming increasingly engaged in issues of gender identity and representation, many artists are using their time at Rhubarb to investigate and upend the way we see our gender. Most notably, the queer tradition of Drag Queens is being used to investigate these ideas, while also breathing new perspectives and approaches to drag.
· Vancouver artist Joel Klein brings a distinctly high-brow take on drag to the stage in Cocktales with Maria – a new opera based on verbatim transcripts of gay male sexual experiences.
· Local drag queen Donnarama collaborates with queer artists David Bateman and Paul Bellini on Hamlet in a Hot Tub a gender-bending adaptation of Hamlet, re-imagined as taking place in a gay bathhouse.
· The Montreal trio behind The Femmetopian Adventures places the over-the-top femininity of drag onto an all female cast for an intergalactic, post-apocalyptic extravaganza.
SHOWCASING THE BEST OF CANADA’S THEATRE COMMUNITY
This year also hosts a stellar collection of acclaimed theatre artists and rising stars as they test the boundaries of their work. Look for new works by Susanna Fournier, Bruce Dow, Rob Kempson, David Bateman, Shaista Latif, Andrew Robinson, and Anand Rajaram. Also look for new work from Buddies’ Artist Residency Program, with performances by Sharron Matthews, Gein Wong, Ted Witzel, and Ryan G. Hinds.
A STAGE FOR QUEER ARTISTS
As always, Rhubarb is the go-to venue for exciting new work by queer artists. Queer names to watch at this year’s fest include Ted Witzel, Catherine Hernandez, Bruce Dow, Donnarama, Johnny Forever, Joel Klein, Heather Hermant, Alvis Parsley, Justin Many Fingers, Brian Solomon, Ryan G Hinds, Robert Kingsbury, and Vivek Shraya. The festival will also feature new work being developed through its Queer Youth Arts Program with four original solo shows from members of the Young Creators Unit as well as new work from past YCU participants Shaista Latif, Olive-or-Oliver, and Andrew Robinson.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
THE 36TH RHUBARB FESTIVAL
festival director Mel Hague
February 11 - 22, 2015
TICKETS: Evening Passes $20 / Offsite Events & Young Creators Unit PWYC
Box Office 416-975-8555 or buddiesinbadtimes.com/rhubarb
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto ON
Photo: Olive-or-Oliver. ©2015 Tanja-Tiziana
2015-01-07
Toronto: The 36th Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre runs February 11-22