Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Ten Foot Pole Theatre is proud to announce its latest show, FIRST DAY BACK, playing at the Storefront Theatre in Toronto from June 9-27 (opening June 11).
FIRST DAY BACK is Rob Salerno's searing and heartfelt one-man show about high school, bullying, suicide, and compassion. You will enter a high school the day after a gay ninth grader, Ollie, killed himself following years of bullying and abuse. There’s an eerie hush in the halls as Ollie’s friends and tormenters gather to figure out who’s responsible. As you take your seats in the art room, be prepared to have your prejudices shaken to their core.
This new production will be making its debut at the prestigious International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in May 2015, a juried festival programmed from more than 200 international submissions, before beginning its run at the Storefront Theatre in Toronto. We are extremely excited to premiere this powerful and relevant show in Toronto, in an immersive environment and under the direction of award-winning playwright and actor Steven Gallagher.
“What I really want is for audience members to examine the role they play in perpetuating bullying and intolerance in all its forms, and to probe the sorts of solutions we typically offer teenagers who are struggling,” writer-performer Rob Salerno says. “By seating the audience in the ‘classroom’ among the other ‘students’ the audience gets implicated in the action and cannot hide behind the fourth wall.”
Salerno is best known for his award-winning hit shows with Ten Foot Pole Theatre, including Balls, Fucking Stephen Harper, Raw, and Big In Germany, which have collectively been performed at more than thirty festivals around the world. Director Steven Gallagher is known for his hit plays Stealing Sam and Craplicker, and as the director of the recent Next Stage sensation Myth of the Ostrich.
FIRST DAY BACK
Where: The Storefront Theatre (955 Bloor St W; TTC Ossington)
When: June 9-27, 2015; Previews June 9-10, Opens June 11; Thurs-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm
Audience: All ages (Warning: deals with suicide)
Tickets: $10-25. Available soon. Limited seating for each show.
More info: http://www.tenfootpole.ca
Photo: Rob Salerno. ©2015 Dahlia Katz.
2015-03-24
Toronto: Ten Foot Pole Theatre presents Rob Salerno's "First Day Back" June 11-27