The CharPoll results, December 15

We asked you how you would rate this last year's English-language works as a whole. 17 of you answered the call with 8 saying "shaken not stirred," 6 offering the slightly more enthusiastic "tweet-worthy" and three saying the year was a good one. No one said they wanted to kill themselves over it nor called it Nirvana.


What does this mean?


That it was a generally satisfying year with the memory of no one show polluting the year or making you hum through the crap.


This week's CharPoll is considerably more serious. Please take the time to tell us where you get your news about English-language theatre in Montreal.

Discussion: THEATRE IN THE ROUND - why very little opportunity in Canada?

by Kevin Kibbey (special to The Charlebois Post)


A small Independent theatre company in Montreal regards ‘in the round’ theatre as the preferred method of staging plays whenever possible - even when there is a stage at the venue.

I was doing some research on 'theatre-in-the -round' because our latest play was written specifically for this form of theatre. 

Review: The Silicone Diaries

The Art of Artificiality

by David Allan King

It hurts to be beautiful. And in Nina Arsenault's one-woman show The Silicone Diaries, that's both literal and figurative.

After a successful run at Toronto's Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, Arsenault takes the Montreal stage this week for a performance that has captivated critics and earned itself a run in Ottawa's upcoming Magnetic North Theatre Festival (celebrating the cream of the crop in contemporary creation). All rightly so: The Silicone Diaries, written and performed by a transgendered beauty well beyond 'passable', takes on that last bastion of queer theatre we still haven't fully explored: trans, post-op life and culture. And as Arsenault nails it, the notion of a 'woman 'trapped in a man's body' barely scratches the surface of the transgendered experience.

The French-language Press: Urban Tales, Centaur

"...Yes, the stories anger, disturb, perturb. But they also occasionally make one smile and even burst out laughing. Bottom line, what is important, is they don't leave us indifferent. So it's mission accomplished, for Centaur. And we cross our fingers they will repeat the exercise for many years."

Geneviève Germain (Translated by GLC)

montheatre.qc.ca

News: Fiona Reid to be honoured by ACTRA

Fiona Reid, who has played in this city several times (notably at the Segal Centre in Soulpepper's Streetcar Named Desire) will be honoured by ACTRA.

Read the CBC story here.

One-act play writing competition (theme: the Irish diaspora)

Byron Toben has launched a one-act play-writing competition. The theme for play entries is the Irish diaspora. Full details here.

Sunday Feature: Come Blow Your (Own) Horn

By Gaëtan L. Charlebois (with Barbara Ford and Estelle Rosen)


As small, indie and young companies get ready for Centaur's Wildside Festival and, soon after that, the Fringe—I remember, a few years ago when I was toiling at Hour, being asked for advice about how these kinds of companies should go about getting the word out.

I remember a few things I suggested (some of which sound puerile but which are, nevertheless, reflecting sad facts):

Discussion: Is Raisin the best?

Rover Arts's Anna Fuerstenberg said Raisin in The Sun is the best written American play ever. I was nodding as I read until I remembered Death of a Salesman and Angels in America. (Both awaiting decent new productions here.) What say you?


Read Anna's review.

First Person: Keir Cutler on The Solo

Why Solo?

by Keir Cutler

Rant Demon, which will be remounted at the 2011 Wildside Festival at Centaur Theatre in January, is my eighth original solo show.

I have performed my monologues so often, in so many places, it seems that one-man shows is all I ever intended to do.  But in reality, I started out wanting to be a playwright of traditional plays, to be performed by multiple actors.  I even got a diploma in playwriting from the National Theatre School.  For years I sent out my writings throughout the English-speaking world.  Occasionally, I would receive back a nice letter of encouragement, or someone would arrange a reading. Nothing ever got fully staged, but I do have a nice collection of letters from artistic directors asking me to be sure to send them my next play. 

News: Cirque du Soleil / James Cameron go the extra dimension

It's official: Cirque du Soleil and maker of all things blockbuster, James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) are in bed together to work on 3D projects.

Read the CBC article.