by Jamie Dunsdon

Has anybody been following the whole Jeff Haslam thing up in Edmonton?  Normally I’m not very interested throwing kerosene on the gossip that plagues our business, but this conflict is interesting for a lot of non-Jeff-Haslam-related reasons.

If you haven’t been watching, here’s the scoop: Only Here for the Food is a food blog in Edmonton written by Sharon Yeo, and though the site seems primarily devoted reviewing Edmonton restaurants, Yeo shakes it up every now and then with a theatre review.  Yeo’s blog recently became the object of national media attention when she reviewed the Teatro la Quindincia production of Stewart Lemoine’s The Abassador’s Wives, staring, among others, Quindincia’s Artistic Director, Jeff Haslam.  This review was all kinds of positive, and though she’s been a little more critical of past productions, she seems to be a devoted fan of Jeff Haslam.  Or was.  Haslam responded to the review in the comment section:

You come across as snotty and arrogant. I absolutely despise your pretension that you are “a reviewer” in any professional way. In fact every time I read one of your posts I think “I am not smitten with this weird women like her icky friends seem to be. I wish she’d stop subscribing to my theatre company, because she seems like such a pretentious doof. I wonder if she knows that her endlessly stuck-up self-important little reviews are deeply offensive to those of us who bust our buts for next to nothing to bring a little entertainment to this distant northern city? I wonder if she knows that her crappy 19 bucks goes to less than 40% of what it costs to pay all the artists she isn’t always smitten by? Do us all a favour lady. Write about food and take your entertainment dollar elsewhere.
Sincerely
Jeff Haslam

From here, the whole thing exploded.  If your favourite soap opera is dull this week, I recommend checking this saga out.  Many responded to Haslam’s comment in shock or disgust, even going so far as to boycott all of Haslam’s future shows and recommending that the Quindincia Board consider firing Haslam for alienating the community. Others responded in support of Haslam, expressing outrage that Yeo has no right to review, that a “blog” review is inherently amateur.   These were usually anonymous.  We can assume this means they were written by artists.

What’s more interesting to me than any of the specific details about this particular battle is the controversy surrounding the theatre critic and the blogosphere.  I hadn’t heard of this until a colleague mentioned it to me over lunch last week.  She pointed out that bloggers such as J. Kelly Nestruck (Globe and Mail) have written in support of Yeo, and that this shouldn’t surprise anyone: bloggers support bloggers.  Some have suggested this is because bloggers are the only ones who READ blogs.

This is a blog.

Are you a blogger?

The cool thing about the theatrical blogosphere or theatrosphere is that it has one thing many other blogs don’t: readers.   Verb’s own blog, though only eight months old, receives hundreds of hits a day.  Some blogs read  like teenage diaries, but Canadian theatre blogs are often insightful, informative, and exciting forums for discussing the issues of our industry.   I was introduced to the theatrosphere by way of Praxis Theatre’s outstanding Toronto-based blog, which is really more of an online culture magazine, with regular contributors and editorials.  After Praxis, I became familiar with a number of other Canadian theatre blogs, several of which are listed in our Blogroll to the right.  A couple of years ago, I had no idea these sites exist, and now I check them almost daily.  If you are theatre professional in Canada, you should too.

The thing that interests me about the Jeff Haslam thing is that it demonstrates that we don’t just secretly enjoy reading theatre blogs, we need them.  It reveals that online theatre reviews have a future that print media does not share.  People want an online forum for discussion.  People want to be able to comment.

In a world of Wikipedia, in a world where we expect not just to have access to information, but also to contribute to it, to express our voices, I can’t help but wonder if theatre criticism is in for a paradigm shift.  Before the wikirevolution, we relied on experts for our information.   Want to know something about zebras?  Ask a zoologist who studies zebras.  Want to know which play to see?  Read a theatre review in your paper.  Since the information revolution, we’ve stopped asking only experts and started combing our collective knowledge together to form a databases of information that anyone can access.

What’s more, we – you and I – know how to navigate this information.  You understand that Wikipedia isn’t 100% reliable. You get that you should never quote Wikipedia if you want to be respected.  But it’s still the first place you look if you want some basic information about zebras.  Fun fact: studies show that Wikipedia is more reliable than the Encyclopedia Britannica.

In a post-modern world in which all opinions are valid, in which news organizations have stopped reporting facts and started reporting opinions, it should not shock us then that we’re moving away from experts (theatre critics) and moving toward wikis (theatre blogs and the comments posted below them).  We’ve become the borg.

Think that sounds ridiculous?  I’m not sure if ATP is still doing this, but they used to invite their audience members to write their opinions of the productions on pieces of paper and tack them up in the lobby.  How is that any different?  The only thing I can think of is that we’re now making it electronic.  FFWD magazine has a listing of all the shows going up in Calgary in 2010/11.  They could allow online readers to post comments below each show and I’d probably read that.  I remember a couple of years ago at the Edmonton fringe, you could visit their wireless cafe and post your personal reviews of each show you’d seen on their site.  I definitely read those.

Ironically for Sharon Yeo, perhaps the theatre reviewer will go the way of the published food critic.  Try this.  One of my new favourite restaurants in Calgary is La Viena in Kensington, and if you Google this restaurant, you’ll not only find its location, but also a list of reviews written by anonymous users.  What’s to stop the same kind of Google search from being used to rate theatre?  If that happens, the role of the theatre reviewer will have to change dramatically if it doesn’t disappear entirely (or should I say, if we don’t assimilate the reviewer into our hive).  Perhaps the blog format is the only way to keep an expert involved at all, even if the quality of said expertise is questionable.

Is this revolution a bad thing?  I guess that depends on what you value.  Is it better to have small numbers of people with a lot of knowledge, or a lot of people with a medium amount of knowledge?  Either way, the theatre industry is looking for ways to re-engage its audience base, and what better way than by allowing its audience to share their expertise?  Everyone’s opinion is as valid as the next.  ”It’s all subjective, right?”   Resistance is futile.

…Did you know zebras are actually BLACK with WHITE stripes?

Seriously, watch CNN one day.  Rick Sanchez has an entire show devoted to checking his Twitter account.

Reposted from The Toronto Star

“Physician, heal thyself,” is not a comment one usually associates with playwriting, but in Sharon Pollock’s case, it’s particularly apt.

Her play, Doc, is being revived by Soulpepper in a production that begins previews Thursday. It was originally conceived of by Pollock nearly 30 years ago as “a study of how family medicine had changed over the years.”

That was naturally something she was interested in, because her father, Everett Chalmers, was a well-known and respected New Brunswick physician.

But as Pollock started dealing with the highly troubled landscape of her actual family situation (which included infidelity, alcoholism and suicide), a totally different play emerged. It’s the one that premiered in 1984 in Calgary to great acclaim, and subsequently produced across the country.

“Sometimes you don’t know what it is you’re writing. Your brain is playing a trick on you,” says the 74-year-old author from Calgary, which she has called home since 1966. “If I knew I was going to delve so deeply…

THE READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE TORONTO STAR

Sharon Pollock: Doc a taste of playwright’s own medicine – thestar.com.

Sometimes it’s nice to be inspired.  Click the image below to check out a video of Mermaid Theatre’s awesome puppetry.

by Jamie Dunsdon

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: I don’t much care for Edmonton.

It’s actually nothing against Edmonton itself.  I actually lived there for a tiny bit, but we grew apart, you know?  Edmonton wanted children, I wanted a career.  We couldn’t decide who was going to be in control of the money.  We had this apartment north of downtown, and every night, we’d watch hookers do drugs in the parking lot on the roof of my car.  That old story.  Anyway.  In the divorce, Edmonton kept the house (and the damage deposit), and I was just happy to get the hell out.  So, it is with some discomfort that I have returned to the Big Oiley this summer as the director of an Edmonton Fringe Festival show.  I still get a bit queasy every time I pass by that IKEA.

I had visited the Fringe before as a spectator, but 2010 marks my first year as an artist in the festival.  You probably know that the Edmonton Fringe is the 2nd largest in the world, right below the Fringe in Edinburgh.  I sometimes wonder if Edmonton was just trying to capitalize on the similarity of the two cities’ names.  ”They’ll hear about the Edmontonburgh Fringe, and flock to Canada!  Then, once they’re here and have realized their mistake, we’ll make them see our art!  It’s perfect!  Mwahaha!”

Wow.  Even my voice for Edmonton is sinister.  I’ve got issues.  Onward.

The show I directed by Calgary playwright Andrew Torry is called Our Last White Night.  It’s a dark little tale about trust, faith, and betrayal set agains the mass-suicide that happened in Jonestown in 1978.   I’d directed a staged reading of the play in 2009, and when Andrew invited me to direct it for this year’s Fringe, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  Some observations from a first-time fringer:

1. WRITE FOR A CAST. Since Fringe shows are generally produced by individuals rather than established theatre companies, there’s no money.  And because there’s no money, you have to cast people who are cool with being paid based on ticket sales – that is, adventurous, passionate and often young artists.  I was really very lucky to get the cast I have.  Bobbi Goddard (Carly) and Mallory Gallant (Molly) are young actors, graduates of the Mount Royal program.  Claudia Serbanescu is a former student of mine, and played Laura in the original staged reading of Our Last White Night.  All three are amazing young women who have talent and passion just spilling out all over the stage, and I feel blessed to have had the chance to work with them on this project.  However, there was also a character in an earlier draft of the script called Marliss, an older character… and we couldn’t cast her to save our lives.  Fact is, there aren’t many skilled, 40-year old actors who are available to do potentially pro bono work.  Luckily for me, Andrew’s performance draft of the script replaced the Marliss character with a 23 year-old guy  named Greg.  Frazer Andrews, an old classmate from Lethbridge, joined us to play this character.   I still am not sure how we got him.  This guy’s a very talented actor, easily one of the best I’ve worked with.  LESSON 1: don’t write middle-aged characters unless you’ve got that actor in your hand.

2. YOU NEED A HOOK.  Comedies are a lot easier to sell than tragedies, but it isn’t really the content of a fringe show that sells it in those first couple of days. We’ve had a pretty decent audience turn-out for our show, but let me show you how that happened.

Scenario:  I walk up to young woman on the street.  Let’s call her Buffy.  Buffy is holding a Fringe brochure, and looking at posters, clearly looking for a show to see.  I whip out a handbill.

Jamie: “Hi, are you looking for a show to see?”

Buffy: “Yeah, maybe.”

Jamie: “Well you should check out Our Last White Night.”

Buffy: “Um…”

Jamie: “It’s a play about Jonestown!”

Buffy: “I don’t know wh-”

Jamie: “Jonestown is that cult that killed themselves by drinking poisoned Kool-Aid.”

Buffy: “Oh yeah!  Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”

Jamie: “That’s right.”

Buffy: “Cool! When does it play?”

Nine times out of ten, Buffy then comes to the show.  The hook was the “kool-aid drinking cult.”  Seems cool, dark, and recognizable.  Had this play happened anywhere else, I’m not sure how we would have pitched the show.

For some shows, the title itself is the hook.  The first show I saw this year was called Fucking Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minster of Canada.  I admit, I bought the ticket based on the title.  It seemed fun, exciting, edgy, and political.   I was sorely let down by the performance (it wasn’t even really a play, but a book-tour), but the sold-out audience members each paid their $14 to get in to this one-man show.  I suspect they were all there for the same reasons.  And the artist made a fortune.

LESSON 2: If you want a big audience, make sure you have a strong HOOK.

LESSON 2.5: If you want that big audience to actually enjoy the show, make sure the HOOK is ACCURATE.

More Confessions of a Fringe Virgin in another post.  Thanks for reading!

Verb Theatre Presents the 2nd Annual

Pretty, Witty, and GAY!  

Celebrating Sexuality, Gender Diversity, and Equality on Stage

And we want you to be a part of it!

Verb Theatre announces its call for submissions for the 2^nd Annual Pretty, Witty, and GAY!  This fundraiser for Verb Theatre will take place at the Arrata Opera Centre on Saturday, October 2nd @ 8:00pm.

We are looking for cabaret style acts no longer than fifteen minutes (no minimum time) that in some way celebrate or explore sexual diversity, gender or equality. We are looking for actors, dancers, poets, musicians, writers, singers, visual artists and more! Want to be involved but don’t have a project ready to be submitted? Contact us anyways, we may be able to connect you with other artists or suggest a piece.

Submission Guidelines:

• Name and contact info of key applicant (e-mail and phone number is sufficient)
• Name of piece
• Length of piece
• A brief description of the piece (no more than one page)
• The number of people involved in the act
• Any technical requirements you may have

Submissions will close on Friday September 3^rd 2010 and all applicants will be notified by Monday, September 6^th, 2010.

Please send your submissions or questions by e-mail to Co-Artistic Directors Jamie Dunsdon and/or Col Cseke at jamie@verbtheatre.com or col@verbtheatre.com

Thanks so much for lending your talents to Verb Theatre for this amazing night of performance!

Col Cseke and Brent Podesky in "The Locker Room"

I promised earlier in the summer to keep you posted on any summer shows that might tickle your fancy.  This one was submitted by Meg:

The Late Late Breakfast show has a summer production going up at Motel Aug 18-21! Shows nightly at 8:00 pm with late late shows at 10:00 pm Friday and Saturday. Tix $14 at the door.

Featuring Amos Altman, Meaghan Sholdice, Thom Demkey, Dan Perry and special guest Patrick Quinn. If you’re interested in wacky sketch comedy come on down and check it out!

Click here to visit the Facebook event

Verb Theatre is seeking two actors for its upcoming production of John and Beatrice by Carole Frechette.

Beatrice (age 25-35): well-to-do, narcoleptic heiress

John (age 30-40): Bounty hunter

Please send your headshot and resume to Director Jamie Dunsdon at jamie@verbtheatre.com, with the subject heading “Auditions.”    Successful applicants will be contacted for an audition, which will consist of cold-reads.  If the director is unfamiliar with your work, you may be asked to prepare a monologue.

Note: both roles are paid positions, though not on an Equity contract.  Please contact the director for more information.

John and Beatrice

By Carole Frechette

An imaginative and subversive comedy from the writer of Helen’s Necklace, Governor General Award winner Carole Frechette.

Directed by Jamie Dunsdon

October 19 – 30, 2010

Motel in the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts

Beatrice has locked herself in a small room on the 33rd floor of an high-rise tower, waiting for the man who will answer her challenge: Well to do heiress seeks “a man who will interest, move, and seduce her.”  Bounty Hunter John will do anything for a reward, so the games begin… but what reward does Beatrice really offer?  A hilarious and twisted comedy about the hazards of romantic delusion.

VERB THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2ND SEASON AND CHANGE TO ARTISTIC TEAM

Following Verb’s spectacularly successful inaugural season, we’re back!  In addition to another full season of theatre in action, we are excited to announce our company is growing and evolving once more.  Verb Theatre Artistic Associate Col Cseke will be stepping into the role of Co-Artistic Director at the start of the season.  ”This has been a long time coming,” says current Artistic Director Jamie Dunsdon. “Col and I do our best work as a team, so I couldn’t be happier that we can finally make that partnership official.  It’s exactly what Verb needs at this point in our company’s development.” “I’m constantly astounded at how quickly Verb Theatre is growing,” says Cseke, “and Jamie and I have a pretty great vision for where we’ll take the company over the next few years. I’m just excited for the season to start and for us to start showing everyone what we’ve been building towards.”

VERB THEATRE, SEASON TWO

Season Two is all about hearts, pulsing and dripping.  We can’t wait to spend the year reaching into your chest, ripping out your heart, and serving it back to you in a buffet of theatrical dishes!  Bon appetit!

2nd Annual Pretty, Witty, And GAY!

Celebrating Sexuality, Gender Diversity, and Equality on Stage.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

The Arrata Opera Centre, 1315 7^th St SW

Following last year’s overwhelming success, we are thrilled to announce Pretty, Witty, and Gay! is now an annual event. This fundraiser cabaret is filled with theatre, music, comedy, dancing, drag, drinks, a silent auction, and much more, all followed by one of the hottest parties of the year.

“Last year’s event sold out in minutes, so we’re very excited to bring this event back in 2010 to a bigger venue.  It’s one of the most positive and affirming nights of performance you can experience.  Just a huge celebration of voice.”  ~AD, Jamie Dunsdon

If you are interested in performing in this one night only cabaret, please contact jamie@verbtheatre.com for more details.  Whether you are gay, straight, bi-sexual, transsexual, transgendered, two-spirited, or anything in-between, Verb invites you to celebrate the stories of these communities.

John and Beatrice

By Carole Frechette

An imaginative and subversive comedy from the writer of Helen’s Necklace, Governor General Award winner Carole Frechette.

Directed by Jamie Dunsdon

October 19 – 30, 2010

Motel in the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts

Beatrice has locked herself in a small room on the 33rd floor of an high-rise tower, waiting for the man who will answer her challenge: Well to do heiress seeks “a man who will interest, move, and seduce her.”  Bounty Hunter John will do anything for a reward, so the games begin… but what reward does Beatrice really offer?  A hilarious and twisted comedy about the hazards of romantic delusion.

” This is one of Carole Frechette’s most adventurous and relevant comedies, and we feel very lucky to be the first company to bring this play to Alberta.  I’ve been looking forward to directing this play for years, and I can’t wait for Calgary audiences to share in the obscure reality that Beatrice has created for herself and for all women.  She’s a kind of urban Rapunzel…with narcolepsy.”  ~AD, Jamie Dunsdon

Verb Theatre and The PBC present

The Opposite of Dismal, a Show and Tell

Devised by Col Cseke and Aviva Zimmerman

Homeless Calgarians present photos of all the best things past, present, and future.

November 24^th-27^th, 7:30

Motel in the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts

Part of Downstage’s Uprising Festival of New Political Work

For tickets contact EPCOR Centre’s ticket office 403-294-9494 or epcorcentre.org

After last seasons sold out run of Oedipus Evolving, an adaptation of the classic tragedy remimagined with members of the Mustard Seed drama club, artists Col Cseke and Aviva Zimmerman reunite with homeless Calgarians for The Opposite of Dismal. Cseke and Zimmerman will spend the fall months working with members of the homeless community to explore the question “what is the best part about…” This show and tell is a chance for an audience to get a glimpse of the humor, love, and humanity that exists in the homeless community.

“Working with these folks has changed who I am as a Calgarian and we’re going to keep sharing that with Calgary audiences. Last year I think every audience member left Oedipus Evolving feeling like they met a pretty amazing group of people, and I think anyone who sees Opposite of Dismal will leave feeling the same way. We had to cram people into the aisles and along the floors last year for Oedipus Evolving, so if you want a seat this time around book your tickets early.” ~AD, Col Cseke

Marg Szkaluba (Pissy’s Wife)

By Ron Chambers with music by Paul Morgan Donald

One of Canada’s theatre legends tells one hell of a story.

Starring Sharon Pollock*

March 3rd-13th, 2011

Ironwood Stage and Grill

While playing a country blues set at a local honky tonk, Marg tells the crowd her vivid and wryly funny story. This self-proclaimed “hard woman” tells of her abusive marriage to “Pissy” and her eventual escape through a surprising new career as a country blues singer. A bitterly funny night of songs and stories told by one of Calgary’s most loved and respected theatre.

“When I moved to Calgary the very first show I did was a Sharon Pollock play, and one of the best nights of my first year in town was sitting in a pub with the cast, listening to Sharon tell these outlandish and hilrious stories. I’m thrilled that with Marg Szkaluba (Pissy’s Wife) we’re giving our audience that same experience, a chance to sit in a pub, have a pint, and watch Sharon tell a story with stunning wit and candor.” ~AD, Col Cseke

*Appears with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, pending confirmation.

With pride and sadness, Verb wishes our current Board President, Kristen Nixon, the very best as she embarks on a new adventure in higher learning in Toronto, and in doing so, leaves Calgary and Verb Theatre this summer.  Kristen has been the President of Verb Theatre Society since its inception, and has provided great leadership and support during its growth.   On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of Verb Theatre, I am happy to wish Kristen a safe and happy transition into her new academic adventure!

In the meantime, our rock-awesome VP, Kirsten Varsek, will serve as Acting President.  Our AGM is coming up shortly, so if you are interested in becoming involved with Verb’s Board of Directors, please contact us at: jamie@verbtheatre.com

~Jamie Dunsdon

Artistic Director

Sorry for the absence recently.  Fact is, it’s summer!  And as we all know, theatre people disappear in summer.   Fear of the sun?

Seriously, Calgary theatre is dead in July in August.

’tis the season for drama camps, I suppose.  It seems that half of the artistic community makes a living from the pockets of Calgary parents.   Summer drama camps are cheaper than daycare, so everybody is teaching for Artstrek, CYPT, Pumphouse, etc.

But where are the shows?  I’m teaching a Drama 1000 class this summer, and struggled to find a couple of productions for the students to see.

If you’ve got a show on this summer, Calgary or not, send us an email or comment below!   Hell, send us your poster image, and we’ll post it!  Here are a couple of suggestions of my own:

If you heading south at all this summer, be sure to check out The Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod.  It’s amazing.  Oldest theatre in Alberta, old vaudeville-style stage, antique wood floors, the works!  Oh!  It’s haunted!  I can verify.  Plus they have a couple of shows on right now:  The world premiere of The Worry Wart by Calgary’s Alice Nelson (and designed by yours truly), and Dickens of the Mounted (which isn’t a fantastic title, but is hilarious), starring Calgary’s Justin Michael Carriere as Charles Dickens’ inebriated son.

If you’re heading north, of course you should check out the Edmonton Fringe, but specifically you should check out Our Last White Night by Calgary playwright Andrew Torry.  I’m sure I’ll post showtimes again later in the summer!

What else?  Tell me!