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Jessica a Ceremony is a reimagined reworking of Jessica by Maria Campbell and Linda Griffiths. The book of Jessica: A Theatrical Transformation documents the collaboration between Maria Campbell, Metis writer, playwright, filmmaker, scholar, teacher, community organizer, activist and elder and Linda Griffiths (1953-2014), a Canadian actress, producer, writer and one of Canada's most lauded modern theatre voices as together they created the award winning play Jessica . To honour the 45th anniversary of Maria Campbells's memoir Halfbreed (1973), regarded as a foundational work of Indigenous literature in Canada, the E.D. Feehan Theatre Guild brings you the story of a young Metis girl struggling to find her voice.  A story that resonates even more today. The cast diligently sourced the original script by improvising around scenes to develop their own path which they wish to share with you. We welcome you to join us on our journey. Elder Vitaline conjures up the spir...

The Drama 10 Class finished the Term with three powerful performances of a Brainerd Duffield adaptation of Shirley Jackson's short story  The Lottery . Their presentation stimulated much discussion and many thanks to all the classes who came. View Gallery - See: Plays Teens :: note :: ... the 2010 version fit the group like a glove challenging each student ... thanks for your work ...

Alison Croggon in her brilliantly informative blog : theatre notes - independent theatre reviews and commentary writes on Four Larks original adaptation of Ibsen's Peer Gynt ... maybe the strongest aspect of this company's theatre is its design..." I was reminded of Greystone Theatre's own adaptation in March '10 ... here are Jim Guedo's directors notes ... This is a contemporary take on the Norwegian classic. Before writing the prose plays for which he would be universally acclaimed as the father of modern drama, Ibsen wrote one of the last great verse epics of the nineteenth century. Based in part on Norwegian folk traditions, Peer Gynt is by turns comic, tragic, lyrical and fantastic. The play has been adapted to speak to contemporary audiences by replacing the 'folk tales' underpinnings [which spoke to audiences of his day] with modern pop culture references, which are ingrained in much the same manner in our minds. The original fluctuated ...

LaerTes (Peter) fights Hamlet (Pat) with King (Andrew) looking on & valley girl Rose (Lyndsie) peers on from backstage. Picture taken by Erich. Rehearsals are over ... cast is ready to perform ... see you at the show Friday & Saturday @ 7 pm. Tickets at the door: children & seniors free, students $3 & adults $5.

The director writes in Directors Notes, "London-born playwright Martin McDonagh is the current enfant terrible of the theatre world." That he is a child of the theatre is undeniable - in all senses. Persephone Theatre's production A Skull in Connemara despite solid acting performances and exquisite production values reveals a playwright revelling in theatrical hijinks and linguistic fireworks leaving me the hope that 'enfant' McDonagh will develop his skills beyond the mid-90's great burst of drafts of seven plays in nine months and eventually grow up. Apparently he agrees: "I just need some quiet time to write, hang out and grow up." ( Time ) Dark, droll, comic dialogue and blood crafted to turn cartoonish violence into art while taking a realistic approach to farcical situations cannot disguise the lack of substance. Entertaining it may be but ultimately the characters who argue endlessly fail to overcome their isolation. Their humanness is mis...

Rehearsals have begun. The Fall production is a project based on the Marowitz Hamlet. HAMLET COLLAGE poses the question how we, who may not even have read Shakespeare's Hamlet, view the everyman Hamlet - the person, the play and the myth. Imagine watching an episode of the Simpsons (the one which contains a parody of Hamlet) and suddenly the Ghost (it is speculated Shakespeare played the ghost) snatches you and drags you into the mind of Hamlet, only you hardly know what is happening. HAMLET COLLAGE cuts & pastes traditional readings, modern interpretations, rewritings and foolish misconceptions into a theatrical collage something close to a subconscious mash-up. Have you been transported into the mind of Hamlet or is Hamlet all in your mind? - See: plays :: note :: ... a complex process ...

Acts of Indivisibility ( half sisters sitting on the edge of an empty theatre ) Libby:    Are we the angels? Fanny:   (Sewing wings for the swan)              Only if you trust that which you don't know. Libby:    But we humans hate ourselves. Fanny:   Only the very few trustworthy who dare to wholeheartedly               be in love will . . . Libby:     (interrupting) I just want to be happy Fanny:   Ah happiness ... I have heard, meditate on the difference              between the Important and the Essential,              you will learn something secret. Libby:     I feel I carry the rhythms in my face and hands. Fanny:   Hold here tight....

Ain't that the truth (A clearing on the way to the dump. Two cars lay upturned at either side of the road like wrecked sentinels.) Lester: What say ... Cormac: Mornin. Lester: Mornin you aST? Cormac: Down yonder the day is cheatin. Lester: Let me see that there rifle. Cormac: Hold on. What can I do for ye? Lester: You ain't got nothin cept the rifle. Cormac: It's a known fact we's all childs of god. Lester: Stay away from here. Cormac: Sure I can't hep ye? Lester: You're a liar. Cormac: You ain't never married. It's a grief and a heartache and they ain't no reward in it atall. You just raise enemies in ye own house to grow up and cuss ye. Lester: You're crazy and cain't fool me just turn around and get goin. Cormac: You aIN'T needin' a watch are ye? Lester: Do you reckon i need a watch. Git. Cormac: (turning to leave) I jus don't know why people don't want to listen? (Walks off. Long silence.) Ain't that the truth. - Se...

The Stranger. Camus: When was the last time? Shadow: What? Camus: The last time we talked? Shadow: Yesterday before the storm. Camus: And the last word? Shadow: What are you talking about - we don't talk. Camus: Do you remember then the last word you wrote? Shadow: No. Camus: You didn't even think about it. Shadow: (laughs) My name. How every correspondence ends Camus: Exactly. Shadow: Oh I get what this is about. Camus: Do you? - See: Plays :: note :: ... Suzan-Lori Parks wrote a play a day which inspired a nation-wide grassroots festival ... the published book acknowledges Paul Osher - who said it'd be cool. ...

"Mountain Language (1988) by Harold Pinter is perhaps the most concise, powerful, and violent example of what language is and can do, how language differentiates people and can make them mutually unintelligible." (Michel Aaij, 1998) :: comment :: . . . students listen as Henry Wolf, Pinter's friend and peer (they went to high school together and have worked together ever since) . . . he was moved more by their work than the National Theatre performance . . . so much to experience . . . "In his 1965 speech "Writing for the Theatre," Pinter famously commented, "There are two silences. One where no word is spoken. The other when perhaps a torrent of language is being employed. When true silence falls, we are still left with echo but are nearer nakedness." One of the rich discoveries of Mountain Language is that, if language is a tool of oppression, silence can be unspeakably intimate and ultimately hugely liberating. When I first read the play, the s...

"We should care because languages are interesting in themselves. As Adult Education and Universities of the Third Age are increasing in constituency, there has been a considerable demand for language courses. I have been fascinated by words and languages all my life and have lately undertaken the study of Coptic through the University of the Third Age in Canberra. I have also been engaged in teaching languages and linguistics over several decades and am constantly surprised by the number of people who share my own fascination for language studies. Ultimately we should care, because language is the most valuable single possession of the human race. (p.66) Why do languages die? In most cases, languages die as people die, especially people in a small community. Languages can also be murdered as the result of a deliberate political stratagem. David Crystal quotes part of a play, Mountain Language, by Harold Pinter which very clearly illustrates the dictatorial process: 'Your langu...

Robert Wilson and Tom Waits transform a tragicomedy into a musical laced with irony. By Jonathan Kalb. [ New York Times: Arts ]