Director Dawn Moore tells us why we should check out

Romeo and Juliet

Written by: William Shakespeare

Directed by: Dawn Moore

Presented by: Exit 22 at Capilano University (link)

In this version of Romeo and Juliet, a young acting company opens rehearsal for the second-most-performed Shakespearean play of all time.  Excitement is high, but questions abound.  Who plays the old guys? I’m not wearing tights! How do we tell this story of two families with an ancient grudge? A younger generation who have forgotten the reason they kill each other?  A love story that becomes deadly? The Exit 22 company answers these questions with a fiercely youthful take for a generation that is more familiar with West Side Story, Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli.

“When we decided to do Romeo and Juliet, I asked myself how to approach it, to make it fresh and accessible,” says Dawn Moore, who directs the piece.  “And then I got interested in the question itself.  So I am working on presenting multiple styles to highlight others’ choices and to explore the question of what is the best way to do R+J with a young company in a manner that can be understood by our modern audience.”

Exit 22 is the production company of Capilano University’s theatre department. It allows students in either the Acting for Stage and Screen, Musical Theatre or Technical Theatre programs to put their theory into practice in a professional setting.

Romeo + Juliet previews November 19 and opens November 20 at 8 pm, and runs nightly through until November 21. It also runs November 25 to 28.

There will be four matinees, November 24 and 25 at noon; and November 22 and 28 at 2 pm. All shows take place in the Performing Arts Theatre at Capilano University, which is located in the Birch Building, 2055 Purcell Way, in North Vancouver.

Tickets are $20/$14/$8. For more information or to purchase tickets, please phone 604.990.7810, or email boxoffice@capilanou.ca

Director Stephen Drover and performers Lawrence Haegert & Genevieve Fleming tell us why we should see

Based on the classic English legend

Adapted by: Jeff Pitcher

Directed by: Stephen Drover

Starring: Ryan Beil, Ian Butcher, Genevieve Fleming, Lawrence  Haegert, Laura Jaye, Josue Laboucane, Julie McIsaac, Sean Oliver, Joshua Reynolds and Allan Zinyck

Presented by: Carousel Theatre (link)

From the playwright who brought you Carousel Theatre’s hit production Peter Pan, we are proud to present this classic folktale during the holiday season, suitable for the entire family.

Hidden deep within Sherwood Forest, he steals from the rich, gives to the poor, and leads his band of Merry Men in an adventures against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and his quest for power. Join Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck and Little John as they fight to protect King Richard’s throne!

NOVEMBER 27, 2009 – JANUARY 2, 2010
The Waterfront Theatre
1412 Cartwright Street, on Granville Island

For Ages 4 +
No babes in arms.

Public Performances:
NOVEMBER  27, 2009 – JANUARY 2, 2009

School Matinees:
NOVEMBER  25 – DECEMBER 18, 2009

Click here for ticket info

School Groups- to book tickets NOW call Jessie van Rijn, General Manager, at 604.669.3410

Illustration by Christopher Rawlins. Used with permission from the artist.

]]> http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood/feed/ 0 thenextstage robinhood http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/the-winters-tale/ http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/the-winters-tale/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:06:16 +0000 thenextstage http://vanstage.wordpress.com/?p=706 ]]>

Director Anita Rochon and performer Mike Wasko tell us why we should check out

The Winter’s Tale

Written by: William Shakespeare

Directed by: Anita Rochon

Starring: Mike Wasko as Leontes

Presented by: Studio 58 (link)

Studio 58, the nationally renowned professional theatre training program at Langara College, proudly presents one of Shakespeare’s late romances, The Winter’s Tale. The play follows the story of the emotionally volatile Leontes who accuses his faithful wife Hermione of adultery. He casts out their baby girl and his wife ‘dies’ of a broken heart. Sixteen years later the daughter Perdita, raised by shepherds, meets and falls in love with Prince Florizel. The play ends happily when Leontes is reunited with his daughter and the statue of Hermione comes back to life. Studio 58 alumnus Anita Rochon (BIOBOXES, Theatre Replacement; Patti Fedy Trilogy, The Chop Theatre) directs fellow graduate Mike Wasko (Life Savers, Ruby Slippers; The Constant Wife, Arts Club) as Leontes in this much-anticipated production.

In this Studio 58 production, the play begins in the kingdom of Sicilia, a stark land of speculation and intrigue much like Russia in the late 1950’s during the Cold War, where Leontes rules and his paranoia festers. Sixteen years later we are transported to Bohemia, a pastoral land of beauty and abundance, reminiscent of a Canadian park in the summer of 1975.

November 19 – December 13, 2009
Previews November 19 & 20; Opens November 21

At Studio 58, Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue
Shows – 8:00 pm Tuesday to Saturday;

Matinees 3:00 pm Saturday & Sunday, except November 21;

NO SHOWS Mondays

Single tickets $20.50/16.50/15.50; previews and matinees $11.
Tickets Tonight, www.ticketstonight.ca or 604.684.2787

Director Katrina Dunn and Playwright Shawn Macdonald tell us why we should see

Demon Voice

Written by: Shawn Macdonald

Directed by: Katrina Dunn

Starring: Stephanie Belding, Kevin K James, Patrick Keating, William MacDonald, Katharine Venour, Gwynyth Walsh

Presented by: Touchstone Theatre (link)

A melted woman hovers between life and death trying to remember what happened to her. Anna runs into an ex-con she sentenced harshly five years earlier. Mike meets Rachel for a one night hook-up that turns deep. Pete roams the streets looking for Darryl. Six lives stumble toward personal freedom and connection, entangling souls and exposing hidden damage. Demon Voice is a meditation on the thirst for intimacy and its inescapable consequences.

Multi-award-winning actor and playwright Shawn Macdonald has written plays and collaborated in the creation of new scripts for The Arts Club Theatre, the Vancouver Playhouse, Solo Collective, Ruby Slippers and Touchstone Theatre. He has twice won the Jessie Award for Outstanding Original Script, once for Touchstone’s 2006 hit Prodigal Son, and once for co-writing World’s Greatest Guy. Shawn is the instructor for the LEAP Playwriting Intensive for Teen Writers at the Arts Club Theatre.

WORLD PREMIERE
Performance Works
1218 Cartwright Street

November 19 – 28, 2009
Opens Nov 21
Tuesday – Saturday at 8pm

Free Preview: Thu, Nov19 at 8pm
(Tix at door, first come first served)

2 for 1 Matinee Saturday,
Nov 21 at 2pm – All tickets $13
Director’s Chat Sun, Nov 24 after show
Talkback Tue Nov 24 after show

BUY TICKETS
call: 604-684-2787

Producers/Performers Kelly Sheridan and Frano Marsic tell us why we should see

The Physicists

Written by: Friederich Dürrenmatt

Directed by: Nicole DesLauriers assisted by Ryan Swanson

Starring: Jordan Bodiguel, Duran Cruickshank, Masae Day, Simon Driver, Uriah Field, Sasha Fonarev, Micaele Johnson, Julia Kosor, Victoria Lyons, Frano Marsic, David Mott, Kathleen Pollard, Kelly Sheridan, Blake Stockford

Presented by: Genus Theatre (link)

Genus Theatre proudly announces the opening of its most thrilling, twist-turning production yet, the
cautionary tale of murder, betrayal, hidden agendas and earth-endangering secrets, Friederich Dürrenmatt’s
The Physicists!

We live in a time of confusion and uncertainty. Our leaders have betrayed us, their motivations and
decisions are suspect, and those we thought could be trusted with our well-being must now be watched with
heavy caution. Science progresses at a lightning pace, from stem cells and nuclear proliferation to
homemade child abducting weather balloons, humanity continues to grapple with questions of scientific
responsibility and ethics. These thoughts are at the forefront of the collective consciousness.
Who can be trusted? What can we do? Should we do it?

The Physicists directly tackles these issues. By presenting Dürrenmatt’s heralded script in the style of a
classic film noir, Genus Theatre invites the audience to return to the treacherous world of the stylish crime
drama and experience a master plot which, though it was written 50 years ago, seems more relevant than
ever.

The Physicists, a 120 min show with intermission, premiers at PAL Theatre this November 13. Tickets
are $18 and may be purchased at the door, or ahead of time at www.brownpapertickets.com.
PAL Theatre
8th Floor – 581 Cardero St, Vancouver
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com or www.genustheatre.com
Thurs. Nov 12, 8:00 PM (Special 2 for 1 preview performance)
Fri. Nov 13, 8:00 PM
Sat. Nov 14, 8:00 PM
Thurs. Nov 19, 8:00 PM
Fri. Nov 20, 8:00 PM
Sat. Nov 21, 2:00 PM
Sat. Nov 21, 8:00 PM

Performers Alvin Sanders and Sarah Rodgers tell us why we should see

Written by: Aaron Bushkowsky

Directed by: Rachel Peake

Starring: Andrew McNee, Sarah Rodgers, Alvin Sanders, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, and Lindsey Angell

Presented by: Solo Collective (link)

“In a world of grey, don’t you think it’s an act of bravery to believe in absolutes?”

What happens when Hollywood North takes on starvation in Africa? A black comedy on how NOT to make a documentary. Amidst four egotistical filmmakers “making a difference,” a revolutionary African military takeover, and big-business Christian fundamentalism, this darkly hilarious story leaves us asking: Where are our stories coming from? Who is actually pulling the strings? And what is left to believe?

This not-to-be-missed comedy is the latest offering by playwright Aaron Bushkowsky whose last play, My Chernobyl, was nominated for 9 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and won the Victoria Critics’ Spotlight Award for Outstanding Production.

November 4-15

Tickets (Performance Works, Granville Island, Vancouver)
Tues-Sat at 8pm; Saturday matinees at 2pm
*Special Sunday performances: Nov 8 at 8pm, Nov 15 at 2pm ONLY*
Pay-What-You-Can Preview: Nov 4, 8pm
2-For-1: Nov 7 at 2pm & Nov 10 at 8pm
Tickets: $22/15
Ticket reservations through VancouverTix at vancouvertix.com or (604) 629-VTIX

Members of the cast tell you why you should see

High School Musical 2

Based on the 2007 Disney Channel Original Movie

After 11 sold out shows of High School Musical in 2007/2008 and a hit with audiences and critics alike at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver, and an extended run in Surrey at the Bell Centre, URP is excited to announce that they will be mounting High School Musical 2 in November 2009!  URP is celebrating their 15th season this year and their musicals always prove to be innovative and fresh.  Their high production values and impressive, energetic casts continue to thrill audiences and critics alike.

Disney Channel’s smash hit contemporary musical comedy comes to life on stage -

School’s out and summer’s here!  The East High Wildcats are gearing up for three sun and fun-filled months of … work?  Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor have scored sweet summer gigs at the Lava Springs Country Club, owned by the family of show tune singing Sharpay and Ryan Evans.  Sweet new songs and mad awesome dancing make the summer before senior year a time that the Wildcats will remember forever.

November 3, 2009 Preview at 7:30 pm – Everyone is a Child ($24)
November 4 -22, 2009
Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 pm
Saturday, Sunday & Nov. 11th 2 pm matinees
Centennial Theatre (2300 Lonsdale), North Vancouver

Tickets at Centennial Theatre Box Office – 604-984-4484 or Uncle Randy Productions Office – 604-980-7942
Tickets: $32 Adults / $28 Students, Seniors / $24 Children under 12
www.urp.ca

Performers Allan Zinyk & Amitai Marmorstein tell us why we should see

Nelly Boy

Written by: Dave Deveau

Directed by: Cameron Mackenzie

Starring: Amitai Marmorstein and Allan Zinyk

Presented by: Zee Zee Theatre (link)

Though biologically a boy, Nelly is hardly male, nor female. A tumultuous teen in a family who can’t understand gender difference, Nelly takes the audience through a haunting tale of suburban life. An interrogator, in turn, attempts to put the pieces together in order to discover how Nelly was found running naked along a highway. This is a story about a person struggling to find space to exist between the black and white of the world.

Following the hugely successful inaugural production of Bryden MacDonald’s Whale Riding Weather, Zee Zee Theatre continues to strive to create theatre that explores the small stories and intimate moments in people’s lives through which limitless humanity and depth of character can be revealed.

Oct 22 – Nov 1, 2009 (opens Oct 23)
Tuesday – Sunday, 8:00 PM (except Nov 1)

PAL Vancouver Theatre
8th Floor, 581 Cardero Street (Coal Harbour)

Pay-What-You-Can preview: Thurs Oct 22 8:00 PM

2-for-1: Sun Oct 25 2:00 PM
Pay-What-You-Can: Wed Oct 28 2:00 PM
Closing Matinee: Sun Nov 1 2:00 PM
Panel discussion: Sun Oct 25 following the matinee
Tickets: $25.50/$21.50
* Single tickets and See Seven Passholder reservations available through Tickets Tonight. Call 604-684-2787 or visit www.ticketstonight.ca

Director Gerald Vanderwoude tells us why we should get out and see

The Master Builder

Written by: Henrik Ibsen, A new adaptation by Errol Durbach

Directed by: Gerald Vanderwoude

Starring: Chris Humphreys, Trish Pattenden, Nicholas Fontaine, Odesssa Cadieux-Rey, Maurice Verkaar, Fiona Mongillo, and Norman Young

Presented by: Theatre at UBC and Yorick Theatre

Halvard Solness, a brilliantly successful architect, has willed his unspoken desire into reality at every turn – but not without a price.  Now burned out and at the end of his career he lives in fear that the next generation will rise up and cast him aside. Halvard’s encounter with a fiery-hearted young woman from his past, Hilde Wangel becomes a dramatic enactment of the forces animating, inspiring or destroying the artist in the drawn-out struggle to reconcile the prerogatives of aesthetics and of life. For this new 90 minute adaptation Ibsen scholar Errol Durbach utilizes source material created by Ibsen including letters, manuscripts and poems.

TELUS STUDIO THEATRE Oct. 28 – Nov. 7, 2009

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, UBC

The Master Builder, By Henrik Ibsen, In a new adaptation by Errol Durbach, Directed by Gerald Vanderwoude

Run: Oct. 28 – Nov. 7, 2009| Mon. – Sat at 7:30 p.m. | Opening Night: Oct. 29 | Tickets: Reg. $25/Senior $20/Student $15 | | $6 Preview: Oct. 28 | Mondays $5 for UBC Alumni | Box Office: 604.822.2678

Click here for the official site

]]> http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/the-master-builder/feed/ 0 thenextstage http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/speed-the-plow/ http://vanstage.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/speed-the-plow/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:32:39 +0000 thenextstage http://vanstage.wordpress.com/?p=665 ]]>

Performers Mikal Grant and Ivan Wanis-Ruiz and Director Sarah Szloboda tell us why we should see

Written by: David Mamet

Directed by: Sarah Szloboda

Starring: Mikal Grant, Ivan Wanis-Ruiz and Alexis Kellum-Creer

Presented by: Terminal Theatre (link)

Life in the Movie Business is like the beginning of a new love affair; It’s full of new surprises, and you’re constantly getting fucked.

Terminal Theatre invites you to David Mamet’s recent broadway hit, SPEED-THE-PLOW. The play runs Nov. 3rd-14th (tues-sat) 8pm at the Havana Theatre, located in the back of the Havana restaurant, 1212 Commercial Dr. We recommend purchasing tickets in advance to secure your seat as the venue fills up quickly. Tickets are avaliable online through tickets tonight (http://www.ticketstonight.ca) or at the door, 30 mins prior to show time. We encourage you to come by early before the show and grab a drink at the bar or a bite to eat. Please note we have a special senior and student price, as well as 2 for 1 Tuesdays. Please come support local independent theatre in Vancouver and bring your friends!

November 3rd-14th Havana Theatre 1212 Commercial Dr.

Tickets at Tickets Tonight