BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE PRESENTS
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Each year, thousands of lives are changed by the acceptance and inspiration found here at Buddies.
Your support is our strength. Your gift ensures that Buddies remains a potent artistic and political entity for future generations who dream of exceeding their limits. Join Buddies and make your tax deductible donation today!
To donate, please visit our website at buddiesinbadtimes.com/donate or call lisaj at 416.975.9130 ext.23 Olive-or-Oliver and Meg Gennings
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“GENTRIFICATION IS A REPLACEMENT PROCESS. SO IT IS WHERE DIVERSITY IS REPLACED BY HOMOGENEITY, AND THIS, I BELIEVE, UNDERMINES URBANITY AND CHANGES THE WAY WE THINK BECAUSE WE HAVE MUCH LESS ACCESS TO A WIDE VARIETY OF POINTS OF VIEW. WE ARE DIMINISHED BY IT. SO LITERALLY, THE RANGE OF OUR MIND’S REACH IS MUCH MORE LIMITED BECAUSE OF GENTRIFICATION.” -SARAH SCHULMAN With cranes crowding the skyline, it seems like every corner of the city is undergoing some form of condominium development. These developments are changing the character of our city as the people who do not fit and cannot afford this gentrified urban lifestyle leave the downtown core in search of spaces that they can exist in. In her recent book The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, Sarah Schulman argues that gentrification is a process that not only transforms the social make-up of our cities. Gentrification literally colonizes our minds. In the gentrified mind, she suggests, consumer-identity and marketing taglines become literal truth. For example: you are bohemian because you live at The Bohemian Embassy™, not because you are actually living a life that repudiates conventional rules and practice. And since you never actually face a “real-life” bohemian in your homogeneous city, your internal sense of authenticity inside this consumer-created identity is never challenged. The result is a populace that is increasingly disconnected with reality. Acts of resistance and rebellion become confused with making a brand choice. Empathy for more vulnerable people in society disappears because they are nowhere to be seen. And the innovative intellectual and creative energy that emerges from socially, culturally and economically diverse environments flatlines. It is with these thoughts that we welcome you to Split Britches’ Lost Lounge. This piece was created in response to the startling transformation that has recently occurred in New York City’s Bowery corridor. It is an absolute honor to welcome these queer performance legends into our building. We cannot think of better people to share a space with as we reflect on what we are losing in the face of “development” and perhaps begin to imagine a different future for our city. Thank you for joining us!
Brendan Healy, Artistic Director
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LOST LOUNGE By Split Britches (NYC) Written and performed by Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver (Split Britches) Sound and music by Vivian Stoll Choreography by Stormy Brandenberger Design Jonathan Kitchen, jakcreative.com Artwork Kate Bornstein
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES PEGGY SHAW Writer / Performer
Peggy Shaw is a performer, writer, producer and teacher of writing and performance. With Lois Weaver she co-founded Split Britches and the WOW CafĂŠ in NYC. She has received three OBIE Awards, the 1995 Anderson Foundation Stonewall Award and The Foundation for Contemporary Performance Theatre Performer of the Year Award. Michigan Press has published Menopausal Gentleman, a new book edited by Jill Dolan, that includes the scripts for her four solo shows. She is currently touring Must, the Inside Story, created in collaboration with Clod Ensemble and the latest Split Britches piece, Lost Lounge created with Lois Weaver, Stormy Brandenberger and Vivian Stoll. She was the 2011 winner of the Ethyl Eichelberger Award, a PS122 Commission for which she is developing a new piece entitled, Ruff a musical tribute to the new creative space formed in the brain after a stroke that will premier January, 2013.
LOIS WEAVER Writer / Performer
Lois Weaver is Professor of Contemporary Performance Practice at Queen Mary University of London and an independent artist, director and activist. She was co-founder of Spiderwoman Theatre, WOW Theatre and Artistic Director of Gay Sweatshop Theatre in London. she has been a writer, director and performer with Peggy Shaw and Split Britches since 1980. In 2002-03 she was involved in Staging Human Rights, an initiative that used performance to explore human rights in women’s prisons in Brazil and the UK and in 2005 became Artistic Director for Performing Rights, an international festival on the themes of performance and human rights held in London, Vienna and Glasgow. Her experiments in performance as a means of public engagement include the development of the Long Table, the Library of Performing Rights, the FeMUSEm and her facilitating persona, Tammy WhyNot. 6 LOST LOUNGE
Proud to support Lost Lounge We’re working together with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre to make a difference in our communities.
M03068 (0510)
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Lois tours with What Tammy Needs To Know.. and What Tammy Found Out and the latest Split Britches collaboration, Lost Lounge.
STORMY BRANDENBERGER Choreographer
Stormy Brandenberger is a professor in the Drama Dance Department at Hofstra University and a collaborative choreographer whose modern dance, multimedia collaborations and theater works have been seen in the US and abroad. She has worked with the Split Britches Company since 1984. Her choreography has been presented at American Place Theater, Cultural Project Theatre, Dixon Place, DTW, Joe’s Pub, Ohio Theater, HERE, PS122, Saint Marks Church Performance Space and Urban Stages.
VIVIAN STOLL Sound & Music Designer
Vivian Stoll is a musician, audio engineer and music producer. She has created sound and music for five of Split Britches Company’s performances. Credits include: Laurie Anderson’s Big Science, Annabelle Chvostek’s Resilience, Penny Lang’s Stone & Sand & Sea & Sky, Rosalie Sorrels’s My Last Go Round and Strangers in Another Country, nominated for a 2009 GRAMMY.
SPLIT BRITCHES Split Britches was founded 32 years ago by Peggy Shaw, Lois Weaver, and Deb Margolin in New York City. Since 1980 we have transformed the landscape of queer performance with our vaudevillian satirical gender-bending performance. Split Britches creates new forms by exploiting old conventions. It borrows from classical texts and popular myths, but its true sources are the details of everyday life. The work is personal, bordering on the private. It relies on moments rather than plot, relationships rather than story. It is about a community of outsiders, queers, eccentrics – feminist because it encourages the imaginative potential in everyone, and lesbian because it takes the presence of a lesbian on stage as a given.
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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 10 LOST LOUNGE
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
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By Split Britches (Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver, NYC) May 3 – 5, 2012 BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 11
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 Barry Higgins 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 Derek Billsman (president) Russell Mathew (treasurer) Joe Siegfried (secretary) J. Paul Halferty (past president) Ellen Ray Hennessy, Mary Breen, Tatum Wilson, Diana Khong, David Salak THE ALEXANDER STREET THEATRE PROJECT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Cathy Gordon (president) Russell Mathew (treasurer) J. Paul Halferty, Kristyn Wong-Tam 12 LOST LOUNGE
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)
SAVE THE DATE SCOTIABANK PRIDE’S 2ND ANNUAL FUNDRAISER FOR BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES Featuring SHARRON MATHEWS
THURSDAY, JUNE 7 at 7pm in Tallulah’s Cabaret
For tickets call 416-975-8555 BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE 13
THANK YOU! THE DIRECTORS CIRCLE VISIONARIES Christine Armstrong & Irfhan Rawji Jim Lawrence & David Salak Paul Hains BENEFACTORS Brendan Healy Dean Odorico Derek Billsman Ed Cabell & Roy Forrester Gavin Crawford Lawrence Bennett Jim Tennyson CHAMPIONS Andrew Johnson Jason Churchill Joe Siegfried Mat & Mitz NigE Gough Shine On Foundation Richard Bingham FRIENDS & PARTNERS Adrien Ishak Alnoor Karmali & Doug Arcand Betty Carlyle Brian McBurney Chris Rowlilnson Daniel D. Moses Darren Gobert Diana Khong Doug Kerr & Michael Went Dr Thomas H Beechy Feaz Rahim Heather Ramsay Ian Waldron & Tim Redmann
Jonas Geisen & Gregory Kim Lionel Tona lisaj lander & Ruthann Tucker Mark A Geman Michael Boyuk Russell Mathew & Scott Ferguson Safe Habour Metropolitan Church Willam Hodge & Robert Wylie LEGACY CIRCLE Ed Cabell & Roy Forrester Russell Mathew & Scott Ferguson
James J Roberston & James Scott Jeff Evans Jerry Doiron John Austin Jon Kaplan Jonathan Heppner Joseph Mulder Karen LeBlanc Katherine Smith Ken Aucoin & Gerald Crowell Mallory Gilbert Marc Michell Mary Breen Michel Beauvais Mitsuko Sada Naomi Campbell Paul Halferty Paul Hartwick Paul Klein Raymond Helkio Richard McLellan Steven Lico Val K Lem Ken Popert
Warren Sorensen William C. Weckesser MONTHLY Brendan Healy Cathy Gordon Chris Rowlilnson David Salak Derek Billsman Diana Khong Ed Cabell & Roy Forrester Jerry Doiron Joe Siegfried Ken Aucoin & Gerald Crowell lisaj lander & Ruthann Tucker Mary Breen Michel Beauvais Mitsuko Sada Paul Halferty Richard Bingham Richard McLellan Sarah Hunter Willam Hodge & Robert Wylie
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. 14 LOST LOUNGE
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 15