Stage Door News
Stage Door News
[Mississauga ON, February 2015] Theatre Erindale is about to embark on a bold new experiment to bring you not one but two tales from Shakespeare, each condensed into one act and re-conceived in a modern context. And both stories are among the classic examples of the season theme, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”.
Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, Occupy Verona is set in 2011 in New York City during the protests. Romeo and Juliet are seen in the shadow of the ghosts of the twin towers. Love is depicted here in many ways: love of money, friendship, family, a movement, conflict, even love of hate. The lovers’ fate asks us: “What is the price you pay for what you love?”
Alms for O is Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida re-set in a dystopic present – a fictional World War I that never ended. The Great War rages on. A century after the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand plunged the globe into conflict, borders and nations have shifted until nobody knows which side they are on or why they fight. World War I was a horrific conflict that seemed to have no purpose, and resulted in a staggering loss of life. It was a betrayal of our humanity, where we allowed the machines that we created to slaughter us in great numbers. This play explores betrayal in love and war, in word and deed. Who and what can we trust?
Occupy Verona and Alms for O star the third-year actors of the Sheridan-UTM Theatre and Drama Studies Program, most recently seen in their hit adaptation of The Massey Murder. Set is by Peter Urbanek and lighting by Jim Smagata, with coaching from Nicole St. Martin, Daniel Levinson, and Meredith Scott. The director and adaptor is Sheridan’s David Matheson (Macbeth, A Stitch in Time). Says Matheson, “it has been a great joy watching these students grapple with these huge questions. I believe that they have risen to the challenge and grown tremendously throughout this process. We have had a deeply moving experience bringing these pieces to you.”
The show runs February 12-14 and February 29-March 1 (with a break for U of T’s Reading Week) at the Erindale Studio Theatre on the UTM campus, with evening performances Thursday through Saturday and matinees on Saturdays and on Sunday March 1. Single tickets are $12 or $18; Parking in Lot 1 or the CCT Garage is $6.00, and Mississauga Transit Routes 44 and 110 will take you to the campus. For further information, call the Box Office at 905-569-4369 or visit www.theatreerindale.com .
OCCUPY VERONA & ALMS FOR O
by Willliam Shakespeare
adapted and directed by David Matheson
One-act reconceptions of Romeo & Juliet and Troilus & Cressida
Preview Feb 12; Opening Feb13; runs Feb14 and Feb 26-Mar 1
Thurs 7:30; Fri 8:00; Sat 2:00 & 8:00; Sun 1 Mar 2:00
$12.00-$18.00
Erindale Studio Theatre
(UTM 3 lights north of Dundas off Mississauga Road)
www.theatreerindale.com or 905-569-4369
Illustration: Poster by Priscilla Chi Suen. ©2015
2015-02-04
Mississauga: Two Shakespearean tales retold at Theatre Erindale February 12-March 1