Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Toronto Festival of Clowns is celebrating their Tenth Anniversary Festival! From June 10 to June 14, 2015, join us as Canada’s best Clown and Physical Theatre performers take over Toronto’s Historic Factory Theatre!
Now entering into its 10th year, the Toronto Festival of Clowns continues to grow and solidify itself as a signature Toronto event – an event like no other! On this anniversary year, TFoC has had the rare good fortune to choose from applications totalling a 300% increase in submissions and select the very best of the best to showcase and highlight this year. It’s a rare opportunity to see some of the best clowns, bouffon artists and physical theatre performers, our city and country have to offer.
Highlights of this Festival include new projects from THEATRE SMITH GILMOUR, KEYSTONE THEATRE, MULLET directed by Chris Gibbs, ADAM LAZARUS, perennial Toronto favourite FOO and PEA GREEN THEATRE brings WAR OF THE CLOWNS directed by Sue Miner.
Mr. Gilmour had this to say: “The Festival of Clowns gives something to the Toronto Theatre community that no other festival does: diversity of practice and style. It has given Canadian artists a unique opportunity to practice a kind of theatre that is conceived to tour and is rare in our community. This focus on diverse practice and style is vital to the health of our community.”
“Pea Green is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to present War of the Clowns at the amazing Toronto Festival of Clowns,” said Ms. Miner. “After all, as the clowns in this play say, 'there can be no revolution without us.'
Taking over the entire historic Factory Theatre, aka the Factory Big Top, gives the Festival the opportunity to expand its programming into the Mainspace and Studio Theatres, the Courtyard and the Lounges. The use of these spaces allows for an expansion of the Red Nose District with double the performances hosted by Morro and Jasp, along with a blowout Lunacy Cabaret from Sketchy the Clown that is not to be missed!
“The festival is a focal point in the clown and theatre community calendar as it brings together all of the different forms of clowning allowing performers to watch and learn from each other’s styles and to incorporate new ideas into their performances and creations. As we grow we are also seeing more cross-over between art forms, says Artistic Director Adam Lazarus. “Because we encourage all artists to participate, including dancers, musicians and actors who perform within our “boundaries of clown,” we are finding that more and more members of these artistic communities are coming out to experience the unique infusion of their form with the world of clown,” In 2015, our 10th anniversary, we want to make our mark on the Toronto cultural calendar. We want the general public to know about us and be excited to see the unique brand of entertainment only a clown can bring. Until now, we have built a strong fan base and loyal audiences, and moving forward we want more people to see us be funny!”
The 2015 10th anniversary lineup includes:
Mainstage
Theatre Smith Gilmour - The Asshole Project (Toronto)
Savage Cream Puff Productions - Mona Monaé (Vancouver) -- Lagaffe - Arti-Chaut (Montreal)
Mi Casa Theatre - Inclement Weather (Ottawa)
Pea Green Theatre - War of the Clowns (Toronto)
Parry Riposte Productions - Much Ado About Feckin' Pirates! (Ottawa)
Micro-Plays
QuipTake - Canine (Toronto)
Foo Productions - The Reverend Foo Revival Time (Toronto)
Mark Correia - An Evening of Magic (Montreal)
The Grand Salto - Philip and Lucinda in Existentialism is Hilarious (USA)
Whetstone Productions - Blue (Toronto)
Morgan Joy - Peggy's Place (Toronto)
Virginia West - Becoming Dapper (Toronto)
Keystone Theatre - A Bit of Business (Toronto)
meMullet - Mullet's Helpline (Toronto)
The Tenth Annual Toronto Festival of Clowns (TFOC)
June 10 – 14, 2015 Ticket Prices TBD
Full schedule and ticket information will be available at www.torontofestivalofclowns.com
Founded in 2006, the Toronto Festival of Clowns provides new and established clowns and physical performers the opportunity to create and showcase their work. Producers Adam Lazarus, Dave McKay and Rachel Penny, aim to create awareness of the various forms of physical theatre under the umbrella of “clown”, such as red-nose, mime, bouffon, movement, slapstick, commedia dell’arte, vaudeville, mask and character work.
2015-06-03
Toronto: The Toronto Festival of Clowns celebrates its 10th anniversary June 10-14