Beyond Our Fourth Wall, December 7, 2011

Helen’s younger brother arrives during dinner covered in blood.

Orphelins (photo credit: Rolline Laporte)

Jan. 10-Feb. 18 La Licorne

Theatre…en français

by Estelle Rosen

Sasha, a young man trying to find his mother, who left when he was a child.

Moi, dans les ruines rouges du siècles

Jan. 10-Feb. 4

Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui

Based on author Agota  Kristof’s book about troubled Russian children who try to survive the after effects of a merciless war.

Le Grand Cahier

Jan. 12-20

Théâtre de Quat Sous

EVENT: QDF Winter Calendar Launch

After Dark, December 6, 2011

The Year That Was
The Five Stories of the Year
By Gaëtan L. Charlebois

When the year comes to an end, arts writers like to make lists. Yes, part of it is laziness, but I assure you there was nothing easy about making this list of the five most important theatre stories of the year. For one thing, you know someone is going to chime in with THE story you missed seconds after the posting goes up (feel free in the comments section at the end of this article). For another, because of the huge hole in theatre coverage in this country (or all arts coverage, actually), regional stories which would have national importance if they were reported become invisible until their impact begins to crack the foundations of our national culture.

So, brace yourself. It's personal, it's national, it's global. And it's in no particular order...

The Upstage Interview: Sidemart Theatrical Grocery

How Stupid It Can Get

Upstage Contributor  Alison Louder  spoke wiith  SideMart Theatrical Grocery about Whiteman’s Whiskey Comedy Revue.  Below is an abridged version edited by Estelle Rosen, CharPo editor-in-chief.

UPSTAGE

Tell us about Whiteman’s Whiskey Comedy Revue.

SIDEMART

The show is based on 1950s format of a lot of white performers being on TV such as Dean Martin and others. A satire on inherent racism and sexism that was prevalent in a lot of the old comedy that people took at face value.

The Sunday Read: Big Plans

BIG PLANS AT THE FREESTANDING ROOM

A Theatrical Experiment

by Jeremy Taylor and Tanner Harvey

(photos courtesy of the company)

Every experiment needs a hypothesis. 

Ours went like this. If we open a show after only six days’ rehearsal, we’ll give our audience something more raw, more alive, and more exciting than what they’re used to seeing.

It’ll be anything but the safe, over-rehearsed presentations which have so become the norm in this biz.

That’s what our hypothesis said. And we looked at one other and weren’t convinced.

The hypothesis continued. If we rehearse during the days of the run, it hypothesized, then the show will evolve over the course of the week, making for a different show each night and a unique experience for each audience.

And so we thought about that.

Theatre For Thought, December 3, 2011

FEAR ITSELF

joel fishbane

I’ve been thinking about stage fright recently, mostly because I don’t suffer from it. But I used to. I was born late and had to be ushered onto stage a few years later in my school’s Purim pageant (Purim being Carnival for Jews). Stage fright, known in the non-acting world as Performance Anxiety, is a pretty common thing, afflicting everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Elvis Presley to Brad Pitt. Most people are able to endure it, but I’ve seen my share of actors crumble in an audition and once, many years ago, an unfortunate Cordelia fell apart on the opening night of King Lear. 

EVENT: Becoming An Artist - A Montreal How-to

The Friday Five, December 2, 2011

FIVE THEATRE WORDS AND THEIR SURPRISING HISTORY 

Do you get as excited about etymology as I do? If so, read on…

by Matt G of Matt and Kyle and Matt

1. Fourth Wall. 

‘The Fourth Wall’is a term describing the unseen wall that separates the actors from the audience, but a couple of hundred years ago, many productions would literally have a fourth wall. They soon realized this fourth wall blocked much of the action from the audience and usually added a couple of windows and a doorway, but still, many successful productions were staged entirely unseen.

CharPo's Real Theatre, December 2, 2011

CharPo's Picture of the Week, December 1, 2011

ANA at Espace Go

l-r Alain Goulem, Lisa Gardner

(photo credit: Tristan Brand)