Fourth-year acting students Jamie Galbraith and Jonny Thompson plays the Martins in The Bald Soprano. (Nick Pearce Photo)
DalTheatre Productions is setting the stage for its new 2010-2011 season, a repertoire of delightfully off-kilter plays, Called "Through the Looking Glass," the season has been organized around the theme of reflection and commences with two one-act plays by Eugène Ionesco.
The connection between the plays -- Ionesco’s one-acts, Into the Woods, The Country Wife and The Madwoman of Chaillot -- is the "topsy-turvy, exaggerated worlds" that they depict, says Roberta Barker, chair of the Department of Theatre. She adds their "distorted reflection" of normal activities will help audiences to better "understand how everyday (life) works."
As always, DalTheatre Productions’ seasons are designed as teaching seasons, incorporating plays that can accommodate the size and curricula of the acting, theatre studies, costume studies and scenography programs. The Ionesco One-Acts offer a wide variety of roles for acting students to play; Into the Woods will involve the collaboration of some students from the music department; and The Country Wife will require especially extensive work in costume and set construction.
DalTheatre Productions strives to make its plays a learning experience for the audience as well, by choosing plays with contemporary relevance. For example, The Madwoman of Chaillot (February 9-12, 2011), a poetic satire, pits the drive for money and power against the importance of aesthetics, morals and emotions, using a humorous story about the oil industry.
Dr. Barker believes that the plays all have a "comic surface and a darker underbelly," describing the season as "whimsical."
Jure Gantar, director of the Ionesco One-Acts, says it will be interesting "to see how absurdist humour has survived the test of time" in the context of today’s society where "the absurd has become a part of the mainstream." Following the experimental and bizarre Ionesco One-Acts: The Bald Soprano and Jacques, the season moves on to its musical—Into the Woods (November 23-27, 2010)—which is probably the darkest play of the selection. Dr. Barker explains that Stephen Sondheim’s take on childhood fairytales is "not as happily-ever-after as you would expect."
The season will end with a production of The Country Wife (March 29-April 2, 2011). A Restoration-era comedy, it uses satire to show the audience the follies, corruption, and manipulative nature of mankind. This production, directed by period specialist James Dodding, will offer today’s viewers a peek at the reflection that was held up to audience members of the late 17th century when the play was first performed. The Country Wife, along with all of the preceding plays of the 2010-2011 season, serves the purpose of presenting everyday life in new and unexpected ways.
Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim; directed by Heinar Piller. In fairy tales, Jack must kill the Giant, Cinderella must marry the Prince, and the Wicked Witch must be destroyed. But what happens next? Are witches and giants all bad? Can you really trust Prince Charming? And can a story every truly end? Looking again at children’s tales through the distorting mirror of adult experience, Stephen Sondheim’s beloved musical challenges us to reconsider the risks involved in living happily ever after. Runs Nov. 23-27 in the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre.
The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux; directed by Rob McClure. The Parisians laugh at the Madwoman of Chaillot, with her ludicrous obsessions and her antiquated deportment. But for her the real insanity lies within the men of finance and industry who despoil our planet in their lust for money and power. When oil is discovered beneath the streets of Paris, only the far-sighted Madwoman can see a way to save the City of Light. Jean Giraudoux’s magical tale turns notions of madness upside down and asks how ‘sane’ society can be saved from itself. Runs Feb. 9-12 in the David MacK. Murray Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre.
The Country Wife by William Wycherley; directed by James Dodding. Margery sees Old London Town with new eyes. A young wife form the country, she is entranced by the fashionable city folk. But beneath the glamour London is a haven for seducers, charlatans, adulterers and thieves, and plain-spoken Margery is an alien among them. What will happen when this innocent abroad encounters Master Horner, the most duplicitous rake in the England? William Wycherley’s uproarious 1676 farce takes us on a darkly comic journey through the sins of the city as they are unsettled by the prospective of the country. Runs March 29 to April 2 in the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dal Arts Centre.
New Play Development Showcase: A public reading with students from the fourth-year acting program. Thursday, February 10.
Director’s Showcase: Public performances of creative work by students of our directing class. March 9 -12 and 16-19.
