Theatre: Word Wear @ The Fringe

COME ONE, COME ALL!

WEAR CLOTHES!

Welcome to Word Wear – Theatre Terrific’s newest offering at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. A look at the language of clothes, Word Wear is directed and devised by Susanna Uchatius, Theatre Terrific’s Artistic Director, with Joanna Garfinkel as Dramaturg and Assistant Director, and Theatre Terrific students as collaborators.

Date and Time: Performances will take place Sept. 16 to 19 at 8:00 pm, with a matinée on September 19 at 2:00 pm.

Location: Vancouver Japanese United Church, 4010 Victoria at East 23rd Avenue. Click here for map.

Tickets: Tickets are $10 for weekday shows and $12 for weekend shows plus an additional $2 for advance tickets purchases. A one-time $5 Fringe membership is required and can be purchased at any Fringe performance, or through the Fringe. To order online go to www.vancouverfringe.com. For ticket information call (604) 637-6380.

Formed in 1985, Theatre Terrific is Western Canada’s oldest theatre company for people with disabilities, with a mission is to provide inclusive opportunities to transform lives through the power of theatre.

Theatre Terrific's All Sorts Just One More Triumph For True Comeback Kid! Sept. 10-13!

Mute, blind and in a wheelchair, Chris Kozma was not expected to live after being hit by a car that put him in a coma for three months.

Four years later, Chris is now walking and talking, but with difficulty and he struggles to be understood.

Before the accident Chris was a semi-pro skateboarder and an apprentice in sheet metal work. He can't skateboard now, or participate in his other favourite sports - although last Thursday night not only marked his debut as lead in Theatre Terrific's latest production, it was also the first time Chris attempted to ride a bicycle since the accident.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Chris came in 2007 to check out the company’s Summer Fringe Camp, now in it’s 6th year.

"I loved it. Everyone was so nice, and they understood me."

After seven weeks traveling to Vancouver from Surrey for twice weekly classes, followed by eight performances, Chris and his speech therapist noticed a change.

"I'm more confident now in my speaking. [Also] I don't back down when confronted."
His hard work has paid off, and Chris performs a leading role in All Sorts, this year's newest Fringe festival Production from the inclusive theatre company.

Chris' story is not all that different from the rest of the cast in this diverse troupe of actors, most of whom struggle daily to be understood and respected. His performance in All Sorts as "The Man", an outsider, mirrors his own life in many ways.

All Sorts, which opened last Thursday to a standing-room only house, is a humorous look at alliances and group identity.

All Sorts runs September 10^th – 13^th at the Vancouver Japanese United Church (Victoria Drive at 23^rd Ave).

“Our world is full of 'all sorts'.” Artistic Director Susanna Uchatius commented. “All sorts of people with all sorts of hooks, styles, beliefs and identities. Why is there allegiance? When is there dissension? Is there room in our world for 'all sorts'? What would the world be like without the spice of 'all sorts'?”

All Sorts manages to mix it up and boil it down, with lots of hilarity along the way.

Award-winning composer Joel DeStefano, has created a quirky score of jazz, hip hop and new age, to underline the divergent interests of the “Polites” versus the “Anarchists” and the “Happy” people. His enthusiasm for the project shines through: “I love working with Theatre Terrific… the performers are up for anything so I get to try new things.”

The script and concept were created by director Susanna Uchatius, with input from the cast, DeStefano and assistant director Michelle Bruce.

Formed in 1985, Theatre Terrific is Western Canada’s oldest theatre company for people with disabilities, with a mission is to provide inclusive opportunities to transform lives through the power of theatre.

Remaining performances take place September12^th and 1 3^th at 8:00 pm, with a matinée on September 13^th at 2:00 pm. All shows are presented at the Vancouver Japanese United Church, Victoria at E. 23^rd Avenue. Tickets are $10 - $12, for advance tickets add $2. A one-time $5 Fringe membership is required and can be purchased at any Fringe performance, or through the Fringe. To order online go to www.vancouverfringe.com. For ticket information call 604.710.7435.

For blogs and background information on the cast and creators, go to www.theatreterrific.ca or call the production publicist, Steve Duncan at 604-788-8340 or email srduncan@shaw.ca.

Theatre: All Sorts Opens Tonight

Start the Fringe off right with a night of All Sorts, a Theatre Terrific production opening up tonight at the Japanese United Church.

From left: Katie Grey, Ruben Castleblanco, Spencer Lee, Sindy Angel, Alex Edwards.

A humorous look at alliances and group identity. All Sorts runs September 4th – 13th at the Vancouver Japanese United Church (Victoria Drive at 23rd Ave).

For this year's Fringe showcase, Artistic Director Susanna Uchatius directs a diverse group of 16 performers from across the Lower Mainland, creating the perfect 'all sorts' cast to question life's perceptions, wink at our assumptions and unearth some truths. Like its candy counterpart, All Sorts has both sweet and dark sides. As always; the work is 'one of kind', and will perhaps mystify, but is sure to delight and touch audiences of all ages.

"Our world is full of 'all sorts'." Susanna commented. "Why is there allegiance? When is there dissension? What happens when the walls are broken?" The script and concept were created by director Susanna Uchatius, with input from the cast and Joel DeStefano.

Award-winning composer Joel DeStefano has created a evocative and engaging score of jazz, hip hop and new age.
Formed in 1985, Theatre Terrific is Western Canada's oldest theatre company for people with disabilities, with a mission is to provide inclusive opportunities to transform lives through the power of theatre.

Presenting their shows in East Vancouver, Theatre Terrific is a ground-breaking company gaining attention for their shows on the 'fringe of the Fringe'. Ed Farolan (Review Vancouver) called their 2006 production, SLOWrunning: "a simple yet perceptive script on time management. The actors … were excellent in their simplicity."

Performances will take place September 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th at 8:00 pm, with a matinee on September 13^th at 2:00 pm. The Wednesday September 10th show is a two-for-one. All shows are presented at the Vancouver Japanese United Church, Victoria at E. 23^rd Avenue. Tickets are $10 - $12, for advance tickets add $2. A one-time $5 Fringe membership is required and can be purchased at any Fringe performance, or through the Fringe. To order online go to www.vancouverfringe.com, for information call 604.710.7435.

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Denizen of the Day: Jay Hamburger

We caught the Artistic Director of Commercial Drive's notorious Theatre In the Raw in a rare reflective moment.

Those who know the vibrant, passionate theatre maker, also know you don't often see him sitting still for long.
With their first ever Fringe production over, the little theatre company that could is setting it's sights on even bigger, better things next year.
Keep following Commercial Drive - Live! for all the latest updates.
By the way, people may not realize that Jay was a contributer to the words and music in the original Godspell when he was at Carnegie Mellon University.

Theatre In the Raw opens to a Standing-Room-Only Fringe Crowd!

The cast of "You Are What You Eat": Roger Howie, Maria Lakes, and Kevin Sloan.

TITRaw Fringe debut was met with wild applause and a room full of smiling faces at the Agro Café last Sunday night.

Remounting Patrick Foley’s funny and relevant “You Are What You Eat”, and premiering Manual Kane’s poignant “Duet in The Park”, the “little company that did” has taken “community” theatre to a whole new level and has introduced Vancouver theatre goers to some outstanding local talent.

“You Are What You Eat” features TITRaw veterans Roger Howie, Kevin Sloan and Maria Lakes. The shining star has to be Howie, who has a face like Silly Putty, which he moulds into countless, great comedic expressions. Sloan and Lakes both have to work hard to keep up with Howie’s relentless delivery, and they do. I completely related to their two characters in that type of situation: being cornered by someone who won’t shut up and feels it’s his right to proselytize regardless of whether the other parties are interested or not.

Foley’s script covers a lot of socio-economical and ethical ground, talking about the industrialized food chain we are the end-users of. I thought that setting the play in a café was brilliant; after all, when you think about it, it’s at a restaurant that we are most divorced from our food. We only want to see and enjoy the food, not think about where it came from.

The other one-act, “Duet in the Park” is an intimate tale about two young women – Bubbles, a prostitute caught under her vicious pimp’s thumb, and Florabelle, a “retard” (as the other kids in the foster home she’s left called her) - who find themselves lost together on the same park bench.

Bubbles and Florabelle (played by Julie Cohn and Edwina Cheer respectively) are charming and frank characters who seem destined to run into each other’s arms. The actors do a great job of fleshing out two roles which could easily become stereotypical.

By the way, Cohn looks great in her superhero knee boots and ultra mini-skirt! I mention this only because if you don’t get there early and get a seat up front, you’ll miss out – which is my only complaint about the production. With no raised stage or raked seating, the audience further back gets a slightly limited view of the show.

That aside, I loved the ensemble cast and the intelligent, deceptively simple story-telling.

If you have the chance, come out and see these shows. They alternate nightly with TITRaw’s other darker drama, a radio play by Bill Pollett, “The Toe Cutter”. You can listen to a short audio clip of it which was produced at CBC studios at http://ourmedia.org/node/348623.

For specific dates and times, check out the Theatre in The Raw website at www.theatreintheraw.ca