B U D D I E S I N B A D T I M E S T H E AT R E P R E S E N T S
THE
MAIDS BY JEAN GENET TRANSLATED BY MARTIN CRIMP
SEPTEMBER 17 – OCTOBER 9, 2011
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THE MAIDS By Jean Genet Translated by Martin Crimp Directed by Brendan Healy Starring Diane D’Aquila*, Ron Kennell* and Maria Ricossa* Production Designer Julie Fox Lighting Designer Kimberly Purtell Music and Sound Design Richard Feren Head of Production Charissa Wilcox Technical Director Adrien Whan Stage Manager Laura Baxter Chamber Technician and Head Carpenter Katherine Smith Assistant Director Alex Johnson Associate Production Designer Kimberly Catton Lighting Design Apprentice Tanisha Taitt** Production Consultant Lindsay Anne Black Carpenter Brenden Gillholy Crew Erin Birkenbergs, Verne Good, Vanessa Janiszewski, Jazz Kamal, Allie Marshall, Doug Morum, Nick Rose, Mariko Tamaki, Jill Tomac Graphic Design Jonathan Kitchen, jakcreative.com Photography Tanja-Tiziana, doublecrossed.ca
Thank You: Andrea Surich and the Grand Theatre, Ryan McDougall, Shanna Miller, Cat Nimmo, Michelle Ramsay, Lee Kubota, Jason Byrne The Maids by Jean Genet, in a translation by Martin Crimp, was first performed at the Yong Vic Theatre on July 1, 1999. *Appears with permission from Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. **The services of Tanisha Taitt were made possible through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program, funded by the Ontario Arts Council.
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 5
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6 THE MAIDS
“IF WE BEHAVE LIKE THOSE ON THE OTHER SIDE, THEN WE ARE THE OTHER SIDE. INSTEAD OF CHANGING THE WORLD, ALL WE’LL ACHIEVE IS A REFLECTION OF THE ONE WE WANT TO DESTROY.” – JEAN GENET, FRENCH NOVELIST, POET, PLAYWRIGHT, ESSAYIST AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST It has been the fate of more than one revolutionary movement to repeat, after the revolutionaries have freed themselves from the oppressor, the very structure of oppression that led to the revolt. Revolt allows for new individuals to replace the slots of master and slave, but it does not necessarily include a new imagining of how to structure human relations. The structures of oppression that determine those relationships outlive the agents of oppression. A true queer warrior, Jean Genet’s artistic, political and personal project was the eradication of these structures. Rebellious and felonious, he fully embraced the outsider’s status that his society imposed on him and he used his art and his life to challenge the dominant moral, sexual and social norms of his time. Genet’s life and art remind us that the true potential in any moment of significant social change lies in the total reimagining of our social roles and identities. He warns us that simply reproducing dominant institutions and relationships will only lead to perpetuating oppression. In The Maids, Genet does not provide us with a specific image of what liberation should look like. Rather, he destabilizes the social roles and hierarchies that we take for granted and he exposes the fine line between fantasy and reality when it comes to our sense of self and others. He invites us to imagine new possibilities for how we choose to organize our identities and relationships. He encourages us to create a vision for what true freedom could potentially look and feel like. And it is sublime. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you into Genet’s incredible world. Thank you for coming to our first show of the 11/12 Season. Please join us again over the coming months. Enjoy the show!
Brendan Healy, Artistic Director BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 7
WHY I CALL MYSELF A SOCIALIST: IS THE WORLD REALLY A STAGE? By Wallace Shawn Playwright and actor Wallace Shawn published this essay earlier this year. It informed much of our understanding of The Maids. Here it is, abridged, for your own enjoyment. It’s commonly noted that we all come into the world naked. And at the beginning of each day, most of us find ourselves naked once again, in that strange suspended moment before we put on our clothes. In various religions, priests put on their clothes quite solemnly, according to a ritual. Policemen, soldiers, janitors, and hotel maids get up in the morning, get dressed, go to work, go to their locker rooms, remove their clothes, and get dressed again in their respective uniforms. The actor goes to the theater, goes to his dressing room, and puts on his costume. And as he does so, he remembers the character he’s going to play -- how the character feels, how the character speaks. The actor, in costume, looks in the mirror, and it all comes back to him. When the actor steps onto the stage to begin the play, he wants to convince the audience that what they’re seeing is not a play, but reality itself. The costume that the actor wears, and the voice, the diction, the accent, the way of speaking that begin to return to the actor when he puts on the costume, are devices designed to set in motion a capacity possessed by every member of the audience, a special human capacity whose existence as part of our genetic makeup is what makes theater possible -- that is, our capacity to believe what we want and need to believe about any person who is not ourself. […] The actor on stage is living in reality. He knows that there is indeed a king inside him. But he also knows very well that Fate has made him an actor and not actually a king. The audience
8 THE MAIDS
member looking at the actor on stage steps out of reality and lives in illusion until the curtain comes down. Our capacity to fantasize about other people and to believe our own fantasies makes it possible for us to enjoy this valuable art form, theater. But unfortunately it’s a capacity that has brought incalculable harm and suffering to human beings. […] Around 400,000 babies are born on earth each day. Most of these babies are born healthy. Every one of them is ready to develop into a person whose intelligence, insight, aesthetic taste, and love of other people could help to make the world a better place. They’re born with all the genetic gifts they could possibly need. Wiggling beside their mothers, they have no idea what’s going to be done to them.[…] When babies are born, the global market makes a series of determinations . The global market selects out a tiny group of privileged babies who are born in certain parts of certain towns in certain countries, and these babies are allowed to lead privileged lives. […] As for all the other babies, the market sorts them and stamps labels onto them and hurls them violently into various pits, where an appropriate upbringing and preparation are waiting for them. […] And during the period when all the babies who are born have been sorted into their different categories and labeled, during the period when you could say that they’re being nourished in their pens until they’re ready to go to work, they’re all assigned appropriate costumes. And once they know what costume they’ll wear, each individual is given an accent, a way of speaking, some characteristic personality traits, and a matching body type, and each person’s face starts slowly to specialize in certain expressions that coordinate well with their personality, body type, and costume. And so each person comes to understand what role he will play, and so each can consistently select and reproduce, through all the decades and changes of fashion, the appropriate style and wardrobe, for the rest of his life. I happen to play a semi-prosperous fortunate bohemian, not doing too badly, nor too magnificently. And as I walk out onto the street on a sunny day, dressed in my fortunate bohemian costume, I pass, for example, the burly cop on the beat, I pass the weedy professor in his rumpled jacket, distractedly ruminating as he shambles along, I see couples in elegant suits briskly rushing to their meetings, I see the art student and the law student, and in the
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 9
10 THE MAIDS
background, sometimes looming up as they come a bit closer, the drug-store cashier in her oddly matched pink shirt and green slacks, the wacky street hustler with his crazy dialect and his crazy gestures, the wisecracking truck drivers with their round bellies and leering grins, the grim-faced domestic worker who’s slipped out from her employer’s house and now races into a shop to do an errand, and I see nothing, I think nothing, I have no reaction to what I’m seeing, because I believe it all. I simply believe it. I believe the costumes. I believe the characters. And then for one instant, as the woman runs into the shop, I suddenly see what’s happening, the way a drowning man might have one last vivid glimpse of the glittering shore, and I feel like screaming out, “Stop! Stop! This isn’t real! It’s all a fantasy! It’s all a play! The people in these costumes are not what you think! The accents are fake, the expressions are fake -- Don’t you see? It’s all --” One instant -- and then it’s gone. My mind goes blank for a moment, and then I’m back to where I was. The domestic worker runs out of the shop and hurries back toward her job, and once again I see her only as the character she plays. I see a person who works as a servant. And surely that person could never have lived, for example, the life I’ve lived, or been like me -she’s not intelligent enough. She had to be a servant. She was born that way. The hustler surely had to be a hustler, it’s all he could do, the cashier could never have worn beautiful clothes, she could never have been someone who sought out what was beautiful, she could only ever have worn that pink shirt and those green slacks. So, I put to use every second of my life, like my beating heart, this capacity to fantasize which we’ve all been granted as our dubious birthright. My belief in the performance unfolding before me allows me not to remember those dreadful moments when all of those babies were permanently maimed, and I was spared. The world hurled the infant who became the domestic worker to the bottom of a pit and crippled her for life, and I saw it happen, but I can’t remember it now. And so it seems quite wonderful to me that the world today treats the domestic worker and me with scrupulous equality.[…] If we look at reality for more than an instant, if we look at the human beings passing us on the street, it’s not bearable. It’s not bearable to watch while the talents and the abilities of infants and children are crushed and destroyed. These happen to be things that I just can’t think about. And most of the time, the factory workers and domestic workers and cashiers and truck
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 11
drivers can’t think about them either. Their performances as these characters are consistent and convincing, because they actually believe about themselves just what I believe about them -- that what they are now is all that they could ever have been, they could never have been anything other than what they are. Of course, that’s what we all have to believe, so that we can bear our lives and live in peace together. But it’s the peace of death. Actors understand the infinite vastness hiding inside each human being, the characters not played, the characteristics not revealed. Schoolteachers can see every day that, given the chance, the sullen pupil in the back row can sing, dance, juggle, do mathematics, paint, and think. If the play we’re watching is an illusion, if the baby who now wears the costume of the hustler in fact had the capacity to become a biologist or a doctor, a circus performer or a poet or a scholar of ancient Greek, then the division of labor, as now practiced, is inherently immoral, and we must somehow learn a different way to share out all the work that needs to be done. The costumes are wrong. They have to be discarded. We have to start out naked again and go from there. Excerpts from the essay “Why I Call Myself a Socialist: Is the World Really a Stage?” written by Wallace Shawn, published in the book “Essays” (Haymarket Books).
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JEAN GENET, PLAYWRIGHT (December 19, 1910 – April 15, 1986) An illegitimate child abandoned by both of his parents at a young age, Genet turned to a life of crime and homosexual prostitution to survive. In 1949, after 10 criminal convictions, Genet faced the threat of life imprisonment. In an effort to save Genet, whom he believed was a promising new leader of France’s artistic community, Surrealist Jean Cocteau, with the help of fellow artists such as Jean Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso, pleaded successfully to the French President for a dismissal of Genet’s sentence. Genet avoided prison for the remainder of his life, and continued to publish several works including the novels Our Lady of the Flowers (1943), The Thief’s Journal (1949) and A Prisoner of Love (published post-humously in 1986), and plays such as The Balcony (1956), The Blacks (1958), and The Screens (1963). In addition to his creative endeavors, Genet became a political activist, affiliated with radical groups such as the Black Panthers in the United States, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. His activism, like his artistic work, critiqued the abuse of marginalized groups by the social and political elite and urged reforms regarding social inequities. The Maids, Genet’s second play, was written in 1947. It was inspired by the true story of Lea and Christine Papin, whose horrific murder of their employer and her daughter shook France in 1933. The Maids was first performed at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, directed by Louis Jouvet. The original English translation of the play was first presented in London, UK on June 5, 1956 at the New Lindsey Theatre Club. A film adaptation starring Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivien Merchant was released in 1974. Martin Crimp‘s translation of The Maids was first performed at the Yong Vic Theatre on July 1, 1999 and published by Faber and Faber, London.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES Laura Baxter, Stage Manager
Stage Management credits include: The Winter’s Tale (Canadian Stage Dream in High Park), More Fine Girls (Theatre Columbus/ Tarragon Theatre), A Sleigh Ride Christmas Carol, Everyone, The Story, Macbeth (Caravan Farm Theatre), The New Electric Ballroom (MacKenzieRo), (Soulpepper), Happy Days, All That Fall, And Up They Flew (Theatre Columbus), Reconciliation (Cabaret Company), Breakfast, Rhubarb Festival 2010, The Silicone Diaries, Hysteria Festival 2009, Neon Nightz (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), Schoolhouse (Festival Players of PE County), Toronto the Good, The Real McCoy (Factory Theatre).
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 13
Kimberly Catton, Associate Production Designer
Kimberly’s previous credits include assistant design for The Little Years, Camelot, Evita, Julius Caesar, The Trojan Women and The Odyssey (Stratford Shakespeare Festival) Hairspray (Confederation Centre of the Arts), The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion (Great Canadian Theatre Company), costume coordinator for Fidelio (Canadian Opera Company); costume design for Fever, One Hit Wonders, Shear Madness (Stage West). Kimberly has had her work showcased at Holt Renfrew and the Design Exchange. Much thanks and love to her family.
Diane D’Aquila, Solange
Diane D’Aquila has worked in every province of Canada, across the U.S. and two European tours. Over the years she has been a member of the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto Free Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Stratford Festival, Vancouver Playhouse, and Shaw Festival acting companies. Last year with the NAC acting company, she performed Harelip in St. Carmen of the Main. This September, she will be seen in Sarah Polley’s Take this Waltz at the TIFF. Ms. D’Aquila won the 2004 Actra and Gemini awards for her role as Elizabeth in Elizabeth Rex. Following The Maids, she goes to the Chicago Shakespeare Company to reprise her role in Elizabeth Rex.
Richard Feren, Composer and Sound Designer
Richard has been creating soundscores and music for Canadian theatre, dance and film since 1992. Companies include Buddies In Bad Times (Blasted; Silicone Diaries; Steel Kiss/Gulag; Live With It; Bathory); Canadian Stage (Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet; The Soldier Dreams); Crow’s Theatre (Eternal Hydra; Dali); da da kamera (This Is What Happens Next; Culde-Sac; In On It; You Are Here; Monster; Here Lies Henry); Dancemakers (The Satie Project); Modern Times (Aurash; Daughters of Sheherzad; Hamlet; August 22); Necessary Angel (Half-Life; Insomnia; The Eco Show); the Shaw Festival (When the Rain Stops Falling); Soulpepper (White Biting Dog; Fronteras Americanas; A Month in the Country; Antigone; Loot; A Raisin in the Sun; The Chairs; King Lear; Betrayal, Uncle Vanya; Endgame); Tarragon Theatre (Russell Hill; The Good Life; Faust); Theatrefront (The Mill); Theatre Passe Muraille (Possible Worlds; This Hotel); 2B Theatre (Revisited); and VideoCabaret. He has also composed music scores for shorts and feature films by Daniel MacIvor, Robert Lepage, Valerie Buhagiar, and others. Richard has won seven Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a Harold in 1995, and the 1999 Pauline McGibbon Award.
Julie Fox, Production Designer
For Buddies: Blasted, Breakfast. Elsewhere: The Little Years; For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); Cosmonaut (Canadian Stage);
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Geometry in Venice (The Segal Centre); I, Claudia (Crow’s Theatre/Tarragon); The Patient Hour, Faust, The Designated Mourner, The Cryptogram (Tarragon); The Eco Show, Insomnia (Necessary Angel); Possible Worlds (Theatre Passe Muraille); The Long Valley, Endgame,The Play’s the Thing, A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper); Frozen (Citadel Theatre), The Country (Crow’s Theatre/Theatre Junction), On the Side of the Road, Little Red River (Theatre Junction); Wit (Manitoba Theatre Centre). Dance: still here (adelheid/Factory Theatre) Shudder (Susanna Hood/Hum); Bas-Reliefs (Chartier Danse); Three Women, Small Midnight (MoonHorse Dance Theatre) Teaching: Concordia University, The National Theatre School. Graduate of the National Theatre School. Winner of three Dora awards (Insomnia, Possible Worlds, Blasted); Summerworks/NTS award (Shudder); Sterling award nomination (Frozen).
Brendan Healy, Director
Brendan Healy was appointed Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times in September 2009. Originally from Montreal, Brendan began his career as an actor, appearing most-notably in Peter Hinton’s production of Girls!Girls!Girls! presented at the 2000 TransAmériques Festival. It was at that festival that Brendan met Richard Maxwell, whose company, the New York City Players, is considered to be one of the most influential alternative theatre companies currently operating in Manhattan. That meeting led Brendan to New York where he interned under Mr. Maxwell and where he decided to dedicate himself exclusively to directing. Brendan has taught and directed at Concordia University and the National Theatre School of Canada. Brendan is a graduate of the National Theatre School’s directing program and he has trained extensively with one of the pioneers of the American avant-garde Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. Last season at Buddies, Brendan directed the Canadian English language premiere of Sarah Kane’s Blasted which won 5 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding Production and Direction. He is a recipient of the Ken McDougall Award for emerging director and was awarded the Pauline McGibbon Award for directing. Brendan was the associate artist at Crow’s Theatre before becoming the Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times.
Alex Johnson, Assistant Director
Alex is thrilled and honored to be a part of Buddies this season. A Toronto-based actor, director, and producer, she most recently directed William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for Written on Water Theatre – a production that enjoyed a sold-out run and back-by-popular demand remount. Selected credits: Guildenstern/ Player Queen (Hamlet, Resurgence Theatre), Grace/Weatherman/5 (Edge, Ottawa Fringe Festival), co-director and Woman (Laughing Wild, Imagine That Productions), teacher/creator/ensemble (Balancing Points Productions’ inaugural Toronto tour). Alex has trained extensively with members of Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and Shakespeare Link Canada. She is the recipient of the University of Windsor’s Women’s Auxiliary Performance Award. Alex is a very, very proud co-founder of Written on Water Theatre.Upcoming: Assistant director for Alex McCooeye’s new adaption of The Pit and the Pendulum at the Wildside Festival in Montreal.
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 15
Ron Kennell, Claire
When Ron last appeared at Buddies he played the role of Monsieur D’Eon in the Pea Green Production of Monsieur D’eon is a Woman (Dora nomination - best actor). Buddies audiences may also remember Ron’s performances in Medea (Golden Fleece), Coyote Ugly (DVxT) and Macbeth (Modern Times). Ron also took a bow with Steve Martin at the opening of Picasso at The Lapin Agile (Canadian Stage - Dora nomination - actor in a featured role). He fell in love with Tehran, Iran, when he travelled to the Fadjr International Theatre Festival with the Modern Times productions of Aurash and Macbeth in 2001 and 2002. From 2003 to 2008 Ron was a company member at The Stratford Festival of Canada, where he first worked with Diane D’Aquila in Peter Hinton’s The Swanne, and with Maria Ricossa as Gertrude in the 2008 production of Hamlet. In the summer of 2010 he played the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet in High Park and the year before, Caliban in The Tempest. He can also be seen in Theatre Gargantua’s production of Imprints this November, and makes appearances in the upcoming TV series Against The Wall, and a yet untitled Conspiracy Theory movie. TV and film credits include such shows as Mutant X, Puppets Who Kill, Bait, Crime Spree, and Tracker. With love to my sister, and my sisters everywhere.
Kimberly Purtell, Lighting Designer
Kimberly is a Toronto based lighting designer for theatre, opera, and dance. Her designs have been critically acclaimed both on the national and international stage having been seen across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Prague, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Russia. Most recently she designed The Little Years (Stratford), Svadba (Queen of Puddings), Forests (Tarragon), This Is What Happens Next (Necessary Angel Magnetic North), Our Class (Studio 180), The Drowsy Chaperone (MTC/Theatre Calgary), The Middle Place (Project Humanity/Canadian Stage/ Theatre Passe Muraille) and Blasted (Buddies). She has been nominated for 12 Dora Awards winning twice and is a recipient of the Pauline McGibbon Award.
Maria Ricossa, Madame
Maria has appeared in theatres across Canada and the U.S. including four Seasons at the Stratford Festival playing roles in King Lear, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry IV, pt.1, Streetcar Named Desire and Hamlet. Other credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Sisters Rosensweig and Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune (Manitoba Theatre Centre), The Heidi Chronicles (MTC & The Royal Alex), The Taming of the Shrew (Skylight Theatre), House of Blue Leaves (Theatre Aquarius), Beau Jeste and Beautiful Deeds (Pleiades Theatre), Poor Superman (Canadian Stage), Tamara (Necessary Angel for The World Stage), The Cryptogram, Bea’s Niece, The Misanthrope (Tarragon Theatre), Crave (Nightwood), The Arab Israeli Cookbook (Studio 180). Film and T.V. credits
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include recurring roles on Missing, Da Kink in My Hair, Degrassi and Riverdale and roles in Flashpoint, Warehouse 13, Unnatural History as well as the feature films The In-laws, Some Things That Stay and The Cry of the Owl. Upcoming: Clybourne Park with Studio 180.
Tanisha Taitt, Lighting Design Apprentice
Presenting Sponsor:
12th Annual
FILM + MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL
October 19 - 23, 2011
www.imagineNATIVE.org
In addition to harboring a mad love for lighting design, Tanisha is an actor/director/writer and Resident Artist Educator with Young People’s Theatre. Known for marrying altruism with art, she spent five years as Producer of V-Day Toronto (www.vday.org) and for her commitment to social justice was twice nominated for a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award. Tanisha has directed for several Fringe festivals, was the 2009/10 Apprentice Director for Obsidian Theatre, and served as Assistant Director for LKTYP’s The Princess & The Handmaiden and Soulpepper’s Faith Healer. Most recently she appeared in Morning Glory at SummerWorks. Also a singersongwriter, Tanisha has penned 700 original compositions and is a recipient of the Canadian Music Publishers Association Songwriters’ Award. She knew that lighting was yet another artsy passion when sitting in her PJs writing LX cues at 3:00 a.m. made her strangely euphoric. Tanisha is grateful to Theatre Ontario, the OAC, Brendan and beautiful Kim for this incredible opportunity. Next on the horizon -co-directing the production Nggrfg for YPT. She will not be hiring any maids.
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 17
RESIDENCY PROGRAM SPONSOR
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE RESIDENCY PROGRAM Buddies in Bad Times Theatre recognizes that a solid, committed and extensive new work development program is essential to support the creation of new queer work. Buddies Residency Program was created to support artists and companies who follow creation methods that fall outside the traditional writer-centered process. Through the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Residency Program, Buddies commissions and develops queer work over a one- to three-year period. Resident artists are offered space and time in the theatre along with dramaturgical, technical, production and administrative support. Buddies’ Residency Program is: •
Artist-centred - designed to allow for a multitude of dramaturgical approaches (literary, as well as non-traditional) to support new work in development
•
Committed to the development of work “that challenges the boundaries of theatrical and social convention” and that “celebrates difference and questions assumptions” (from Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Mission Statement)
•
Committed to artistic standards of rigour, innovation and excellence.
•
Committed to engaging our audience in the work as it develops
•
Committed to creating connections and facilitating collaborations and partnerships for future productions of work in development
Current Artists in residence include: •
Independent Aunties Theatre
•
Ecce Homo
•
The Gay Heritage Project (Damien Atkins, Paul Dunn and Andrew Kushnir)
•
Birdtown and Swanville
18 THE MAIDS
New Production
RIGOLETTO VERDI
Sept. 29 – Oct. 22, 2011 Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™
dark and raw 19th-century gothic tale of seduction, revenge, rich with passionate and heartbreaking music. A
betrayal and
Conductor: Johannes
Debus Alden Designer: Michael Levine
ALSO ON SALE
Director: Christopher
IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS Sept. 22 – Oct. 15
Tickets from $45
coc.ca 416-363-8231 Presenting Sponsor of SURTITLES™
Official Automotive Sponsor
Official Media Sponsors
Rigoletto Radio Sponsor
Preliminary sketch of The Duke by set and costume designer Michael Levine, 2000
COC10498_BudsBadTimes_prgm_FNL.indd 1 Process CyanProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess Black
Broadcast Sponsor
Creative: Endeavour
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 19 9/9/11 4:42:14 PM
Date: S
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS OAC THEATRE CREATORS’ RESERVE DEADLINE: Friday, November 25, 2011 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is accepting submissions for Theatre Creators’ Reserve grants through the Ontario Arts Council. Buddies in Bad Times wishes to support the variety of needs and approaches individual creators or collectives may have in creating original work. We are interested in projects that are in all stages of development. We will support theatre creators who are working on new play texts and performance creation-based models. To apply please visit the OAC website for information on eligibility and application guidelines, as well as the application form: http://www.arts.on.ca/Page86.aspx.
YOUNG CREATORS’ UNIT 2011/12 Programme Director Evalyn Parry DEADLINE: Friday, September 23, 2011 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Young Creators’ Unit (YCU) provides a supportive and artistically rigorous space for four queer-identified artists (age 25 and under) to develop and perform their own original, 25-minute, solo performance piece. Under the creative mentorship of YCU Director Evalyn Parry, members of the YCU workshop their material through the weekly Unit meetings, and present their final works at the 33rd Rhubarb Festival in February 2012. Visit our website for guidelines and to download an application form: www.buddiesinbadtimes.com Questions? Please contact: Evalyn Parry evalyn@buddiesinbadtimes.com
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Dinner menu features organic locally-raised meats and vegetables Accommodating gluten-free and special dietary needs Gourmet pizzas Delivery available 7 days a week 4:30 - 11pm Sunday Brunch from 11am – 3pm Caroline Murphy is proud to support Buddies’ 2011/2012 season. 554 Parliament Street (just South of Wellesley) 416-927-1593 restaurant 416-927-7777 delivery carolinesdininglounge.com
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% OFF
We appreciate your business! Bring in this coupon and receive 10% off your next meal!
This coupon cannot be combined with any other offers and has no cash value. The discount applies to the food portion of the bill only and is not applicable to liquor, taxes or gratuity.
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 21
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES 11/12 FOR TICKETS AND PASSES
CALL THE BOX OFFICE AT 416-975-8555 OR CHECK US OUT ONLINE AT BUDDIESINBADTIMES.COM Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
THE MAIDS
By Jean Genet Translated by Martin Crimp Directed by Brendan Healy September 17 – October 9, 2011 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly welcomes a Studio 180 Theatre production
THE NORMAL HEART By Larry Kramer Directed by Joel Greenberg
October 14 – November 6, 2011 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly welcomes a Modern Times Stage Company production
HALLAJ
By Peter Farbridge and Soheil Parsa November 18 – December 4, 2011 22 THE MAIDS
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly welcomes a Nightwood Theatre production
THE PENELOPIAD By Margaret Atwood Directed by Kelly Thornton January 10 – 29, 2012
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
THE RHUBARB FESTIVAL
Toronto’s 33rd annual convergence of contemporary performance Festival Director Laura Nanni February 8 – 19, 2012 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly welcomes a Native Earth Performing Arts production
FREE AS INJUNS
By Tara Beagan Directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones February 28 – March 18, 2012 Candles are for Burning in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
BLISS
By Olivier Choiniere ´ Translated by Caryl Churchill Directed by Steven McCarthy March 27 – April 8, 2012 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre proudly welcomes A Cabaret Company production
DANCING QUEEN
Written and Directed by Sky Gilbert Choreographed by Keith Cole April 18 – 29, 2012 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
LOST LOUNGE
By Split Britches (Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver, NYC) May 3 – 5, 2012 BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 23
ESTABLISHED 1979. “THE STRUGGLE... AGAINST POWER IS THE STRUGGLE OF MEMORY AGAINST FORGETTING.”
— Milan Kundera (1929- ), Czech novelist THE COMPANY Artistic Director Brendan Healy General Manager Shawn Daudlin Head of Production Charissa Wilcox Producer Erika Hennebury (on maternity leave) Director of Development lisaj lander Manager of Marketing and Communications Mark Aikman Rhubarb Festival Director Laura Nanni Young Creators’ Unit Director Evalyn Parry Youth Programme Coordinator Chy Ryan Spain Technical Director Adrien Whan Chamber Technician Katherine Smith Cabaret Technician Jazz Kamal Finance Manager Cynthia Murdy Box Office/FOH Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Chrystal Donbrath-Zinga Asst. Box Office Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Jenna Harris Bar Manager Paul Hill Assistant Bar Manager Patricia Wilson Box Office Personnel Thom Bryce, Evelyn Shaller-Auslander, Aaron Rothermund, Katherine Belyea Bar Personnel Victoria Gargarella, Michael Mackid, Glenn Dwyer, Christopher Mitchell Special Event Assistant Morgan Norwich Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), is a participating member of the Creative Trust, and engages under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement (CTA), professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA). BOARD OF DIRECTORS J. Paul Halferty (president) Russell Mathew (treasurer) Derek Billsman, Ellen Ray Hennessy, Joe Siegfried, Diana Khong, Tatum Wilson, Mary Breen THE ALEXANDER STREET THEATRE PROJECT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Cathy Gordon (president) Russell Mathew (treasurer) J. Paul Halferty, Kristyn Wong-Tam 24 THE MAIDS
MISSION STATEMENT – Buddies in Bad Times Theatre strives to fulfill the role of the leading alternative facility-based theatre in Toronto. We are committed to work that challenges the boundaries of theatrical and social convention. As a company we celebrate difference and question assumptions. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is committed to theatrical excellence which it strives for through its play development programs, strong volunteer base, youth-mentorship initiatives and ever increasing wealth of Canadian Queer Talent. MANDATE – Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to the promotion of Queer Canadian Culture. We are dedicated to producing, developing, and supporting queer theatrical works that speak to one, or both, of the following criteria: 1. QUEER, referring to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered identity, encapsulates the core of our organization. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a queer-run organization committed to representing the LGBT community by supporting its artists, and by telling its stories. 2. QUEER, referring to anything different or outside of the norm, represents the nature of artistic work presented at 12 Alexander Street. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is dedicated to work that is different, outside the mainstream, challenging in both content and form. (This second definition of Queer is not LGBT-specific)
give make your tax-deductible donation to Buddies today MAIL Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto ON M4Y 1B4 PHONE Box Office 416.975.8555 (Tue-Sat 12-5pm) Admin Office 416.975.9130 (Mon-Fri 10-5) ONLINE www.buddiesinbadtimes.com/donate
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 25
THANK YOU! Your support allows Buddies to fulfill its mission of developing and presenting queer theatre that elevates the often marginalized voices of our community to a level of theatrical excellence on par with the best in the world. Donors like you ensure that our doors stay open, the lights burn bright, and the show goes on. Please know that every cent you give makes a difference - thank you.
THE DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE VISIONARIES Jim Lawrence & David Salak BENEFACTORS Adrian Ishak Brendan Healy Dean Odorico Derek Billsman Ed Cabell & Roy Forrester Gavin Crawford Jason Churchill Jim Tennyson Joe Siegfried Ken Moffat lisaj lander Leslie Bell Mark German Michael Boyuk Paul Hains Russell Mathew & Scott Ferguson Singing Strong Robert Wylie & William Hodge LEGACY CIRCLE Ed Cabell & Roy Forrester Russell Mathew & Scott Ferguson Buddies’ Board of Directors would like to extend a special thanks to Mark A. German & Michael Boyuk, who raised over $3,000, hosting the Homo Night In Canada fundraising event! 26 THE MAIDS
CHAMPIONS Andrew Johnston Joe Siegfried Mathew Noel Brooks Howard & Daniel Mitsuru Delisle NigE Gough Shine On Foundation Richard Bingham William Hodge & Robert Wylie PARTNERS & FRIENDS Betty Carlyle Chris Rowlinson Daniel David Moses Gerald Crowell Jerry Doiron Ken Aucoin Ken King Matsuko Sada Michele Beauvais Naomi Campbell Paul Halferty Richard McLellan Steven Lico
MONTHLY DONORS Brendan Healy Chris Rowlinson Derek Billsman Gerald Crowell Jerry Doiron Joe Siegfried Ken Aucoin lisaj lander Matsuko Sada Michele Beauvais Paul Halferty Richard Bingham Richard McLellan William Hodge & Robert Wylie The ongoing support of monthly donors helps ensure essential stable revenue for Buddies. For more information on how to become an monthly donor, contact our Director of Development at 416.975.9130 x23.
Thank you to all the SUPPORTERS and VOLUNTEERS who give so generously to Buddies each season. We couldn’t do it without you. To find out about becoming a member of our family of donors, please go to: www.buddiesinbadtimes.com/donate. Charitable Registration Number: 11882 0778 RR0001
Buddies in Bad Times gratefully acknowledges the following supporters for their commitment to the development of contemporary Canadian queer culture at Buddies LEAD CORPORATE SPONSOR
CORPORATE SPONSORS FESTIVAL SPONSOR QUEER MEDIA PARTNER
MAINSTAGE MEDIA SPONSOR
PUBLIC AGENCIES
FOUNDATIONS
The Lawrence Family Foundation BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 27