MAGICANA IN ASSOCIATION WITH SOULPEPPER PRESENTS:
TRICKS
DAVID BEN AND PATRICK WATSON }{
approximate running time: 85 minutes there will be no intermission
ARTIST NOTE: DAVID BEN There were two principle performing environments for magicians in the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods. Each housed a different style of performance. The first was the theatre. I explored the type of magic created for this milieu in The Conjuror. The second was much more intimate. It was the salon or private quarters where virtuoso sleightof-hand artists demonstrated their talents. For many, sleight-of-hand is the most pure form of magic as the performer must rely almost entirely on his digital dexterity rather than the secret machinations of apparatus employed by his magic brethren. The idea of the magician as a theatrical artist performing in the salon came into vogue circa 1848 with the magic of Jean-Èugene RobertHoudin and his Soirée Fantastique in Paris. Performers in the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods expanded the notion of the salon. Wealthy patrons would invite these performers into their own homes to enchant
their friends – the rich and fashionable – with wit and wizardry. Much of this wizardry, tricks if you will, would be catalogued by magic enthusiasts and become the canon of conjuring, the equivalent of the Great American Songbook. The tricks that they performed were also stories – each with a beginning, middle, and end – with twists and turns that played on the predictable. The tricks that they performed were also inherently musical, that is, each had its own rhythm and pace that aided and abetted the deception. So, our Tricks unfolds in an abstract representation of an Edwardian salon, but one that also incorporates 21st century technology to create context for each piece. The magic is timeless, performed in an environment of unparalleled intimacy by a likeable eccentric: Me. Enjoy.
DAVID BEN,
Artistic Director of Magicana S U P P ORT E D BY
ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES: TRICKS DAVID BEN – CO-WRITER, PERFORMER, DIRECTOR. David Ben
has co-written and appeared in numerous productions including The Conjuror, The Conjuror’s Suite, Tricks, Natural Magick and Card Table Artifice. His books include Advantage Play Trick, Dai Vernon: Artist, Magician, Muse, Zarrow, Slaight: Off Hand and The Experts at the Card Table. He has consulted on several stage productions including, for Soulpepper, Of Human Bondage, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Travesties. For the Shaw Festival, Ragtime and One Touch of Venus; and for Stratford, Possible Worlds. He is also the co-founder of Magicana and serves as its Artistic Director. PATRICK WATSON – CO-WRITER .As actor, author, pro-
ducer and director, Patrick Watson is one of Canada’s most celebrated broadcasters. In the 1960s he became a familiar face as the host of CBC’s ground-breaking series This Hour Has Seven Days. His work also included being the host and producer of the series Democracy, the creative director of The Heritage Minutes, and the chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His published work includes his autobiography This Hour Has Seven Decades. A devoted amateur magician, his magic touch can be found in The Conjuror, The Conjuror’s Suite, Tricks, and Natural Magick. He is a cofounder and Chairman Emeritus of Magicana. Patrick is a Companion of the Order of Canada. JOHN LANG – COMPOSER John Lang has worked
extensively in modern dance (National Ballet’s Blue Snake), theatre (Equity Theatre’s Mother’s Courage), film and television (Jackie Borrough’s provocative A Winter Tan, Paul Carriere’s Bonne Fete Maman, Roxana Spicer’s Arthur Currie, and Norflicks’ series Conversations with Jean Vanier). He works with electronic media both live and in the studio. With fellow composer Aaron Davis, he has created scores for several productions including Clement Virgo’s feature film Rude. The pair has received a Gemini Award for Richard Nielsen’s No Price Too High. A second Gemini was awarded for their work on
c ov e r : dav i d b e n . PHoto: c y l l a von t i e de m a n n
Rik Bienstock’s Ebola: Inside an Outbreak. They received their third Gemini in 2007 for their work on Daniel Zuckerbrot’s Einstein. GLENN DAVIDSON – SET DESIGNER & STAGE MANAGER. Glenn
has been designing sets and lighting for over 35 years. Recent credits include: Stuff Happens (National Arts Centre); Les Zinspirés (Théâtre franÇais de Toronto); Circle of Creation, The Galileo Project and House of Dreams (Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra); Card Table Artifice (Magicana); and The Dog and the Angel (Common Boots Theatre). His work has garnered two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award and a Harold Award. Other projects include display lighting for the Bata Shoe Museum and environment design for the Casa Loma escape game series. SIMON ROSSITER – LIGHTING DESIGNER Simon Rossiter is
a Toronto-based lighting designer. He has had the pleasure of creating more than 150 original lighting designs, including recent works for: Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie (Les Paradis Perdus; #lovesexbrahms; Elvis & the Man in Black; From the House of Mirth); Soulpepper (Frankly, Sinatra; The Dead; The Thirst of Hearts); Sudbury Theatre Centre (In Piazza San Domenico); Théâtre franÇais de Toronto (Les Précieuses Ridicules; Les Zinspirés; Le Fa Le Do); Theatre New Brunswick (Frankenstein); Toronto Dance Theatre (Burpee/Chin; Eleven Accords; Rivers); and a diversity of independent artists. Simon has received five Dora nominations for outstanding lighting design, winning the award twice, and is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada. CAMERON DAVIS – PROJECTION DESIGNER For Magicana:
Card Table Artifice, Natural Magick. Other credits include: Projection Designer: Domesticated (Company Theatre); Sweet Charity, You Never Can Tell (Shaw Festival); Life, Death, and the Blues (Theatre Passe Muraille); Watching Glory Die (Canadian Rep Theatre); Six Essential Questions, Every Letter Counts (Factory Theatre);
BACKGROUND NOTES The Gay Heritage Project (Buddies in Bad Times); Yukonstyle, Cruel and Tender (Canadian Stage); CRASH (Theatre Passe Muraille); Beyond the Farm Show, The Book of Esther (Blyth Festival); Feng Yi Ting (Spoleto Festival USA/Lincoln Center Festival/Luminato Festival); Rock ’n’ Roll (Canadian Stage/Citadel); Dance Marathon (bluemouth inc); Cameron also teaches and mentors projection design at the National Theatre School of Canada. LAURA WARREN – PROJECTION ASSISTANT Laura is a
projection, lighting, and set designer. Select credits include: projection design Love’s Labour’s Lost (Nightwood Theatre); Production Design Stroke (Barlizo Productions); Assistant Projection Design Niagara: A Pan-American Story (Panamania/ Propeller Arts Projects); Squawk and Sidewalk Chalk (Geordie Theatre); Technical Director They Say He Fell (Pandemic Theatre/Cahoots); Collaborator/Designer Mars One (Ghost River Theatre’s Devised Production Intensive). Laura is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s production program. JULIE ENG – PERFORMER Julie has appeared with
David Ben in The Conjuror, Natural Magick, and Tricks. Julie has also performed magic across Canada and the United States, and developed her own show, Piff Paff Poof, for young audiences. Julie is also the Executive Director of Magicana, and is responsible for, among other things, its outreach programs including My Magic Hands and Senior Sorcery. She is also a photographer and book designer, her most recent work being The Experts at the Card Table (Magicana, 2015). SULEYMAN FATTAH – MYSTERIOUS FIGURE Suleyman
has assisted David Ben on stage – The Conjuror – and off for 25 years. When he is not doing secret stuff for various shows, Suleyman acts as the Program Co-ordinator for Magicana. He prefers to remain a mysterious figure – even to those who know him.
At the age of 98, magician Dai Vernon was asked how long he’d been performing magic. “91 years,” he replied. “I wasted the first 7 years of my life.” It’s a sentiment David Ben can appreciate. A passionately curious man whose energies are poured into magic and performance, he always has multiple projects on the go, challenging himself to explore “this and other worlds” through wizardry. Magic for him is akin to music, like rhythm and flow for the eyes. Last year, Mr. Ben’s The Conjuror dazzled audiences at our Family Festival. Now he introduces us to another facet of his magical genius: his sleight-of-hand. This year’s setting is more intimate, the magician more exposed. A deliberately simple set accentuates Mr. Ben’s only tools: his hands. Around this singular focus, he weaves a rich feast of sensual, theatrical elements, creating a multilayered experience for his audience. It’s a virtuoso demonstration of physical, psychological and performative skill that no other magician in the world could pull off. Don’t be fooled. More than 20 years of practice have gone into the creation of this show. Every word and action is scripted, each sound, light and music cue meticulously rehearsed. And yet. It’s a measure of Ben’s confidence that he includes an element of improvisation. He’s courageous enough (and skilled enough) to allow for the danger and thrill of the unknown. Something unexpected occurs in every performance. We guarantee that you will see something today that no other audience will see. It is said that the Cups and Balls – one of the show’s central tricks – employs all the principles of magic: things penetrate other things, they vanish, reappear, and transform before your very eyes! David Ben is so sure of his ability to amaze, he projects images that reveal how the trick is done before the show. Figure it out if you can. Better yet, surrender to the enchantment. You’re in the hands of a master.
Backgrou n d Not es by 2015 r esi den t a rt ist Pau la W i ng
Soulpepper is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper are represented by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. •
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agicana is an arts organization and registered charity dedicated to the exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art. It publishes books, a quarterly journal on magic history, and develops online exhibitions related to this venerable art. It has produced, among other productions, 15 shows over five years for the Master of Magic Series for the Luminato Festival. It currently administers the Allan Slaight Awards In pursuit of the impossible – where $50,000 is awarded to artists creating innovative work in magic. For more information visit magicana.com.
Soulpepper at the St. Lawrence Centre is supported by the Young/Schultz Venture Fund. special thanks: the slaight family. family festival presented by
family festival supported by