NEW IDEAS FESTIVAL 2007 PROGRAM: March 7 - 24, 2007
WEEK THREE: March 21 - 24, 2007
- Intimacy Inc. by Katherine Koller
- Rendering by Deanna Kruger
- Libraries Are Exciting Places by Anthony Arnold
- Shakespeare's Brain by Allison McWood
Saturday Experiment: 4 10 2000 by Helen Yung
NEW IDEAS 2007: Week Three Biographies
GEOFFREY ALLEN
Peter, Rendering
This is Geoffrey's third New Ideas Festival. In 2005, he played the role of an eccentric professor (a devotee of Jeremy Bentham) and in 2006 had progressed to providing the voice of a drowning fisherman (the captain, I might add!). He has been a fixture on the Toronto theatre scene for many years, his favourite roles including: Sweeney in Sweeney Todd the Barber; Deputy Governor Danforth in The Crucible and Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls. Geoffrey lives in North Toronto without a TV.
HEATHER ALLIN
Ella, Rendering
Heather Allin is a proud to return to the New Ideas Festival. She played Lucy in Lying on the Escarpment, a one woman show at the 2005 festival. Other stage credits include: Queen Elizabeth and Clarence for the all female version of Richard III, Amelia in Comedy of Errors, Lady Capulet in Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare in the Square); and Aggie Rose in Boiler Room Suite. She is a supporting lead in the Canadian feature film Abracadabra, soon to be released; she also played Mrs. Feeney opposite Tom Selleck, in the MOW Stone Cold.
ANTHONY ARNOLD
Playwright, Libraries Are Exciting Places
Anthony Arnold was born in Vancouver. He studied visual art and has exhibited his work in New York, Chicago and Toronto. He was a founding member and performer with the Necessary Corrective Collective and wrote humour columns for Artword Artists Forum and Extension. After taking screenplay workshops at George Brown College, he wrote and directed a couple of short films, one of which was included in the One Minute Film and Video Festival. Libraries are Exciting Places is his first produced play.
JULIE BURRIS
Charlotte, 4 10 2000
4 10 2000 marks Julie's debut with New Ideas Festival, and she is thrilled to be part of it. She was last seen at the Alumnae in Christopher Durang's Baby With The Bathwater and in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops To Conquer. Previous acting credits include Ned Durango Comes to Big Oak (Village Playhouse) and The Vagina Monologues (Stage West Theatre). She would like to thank her partner, family and friends for their continuing love and support.
STEPHEN CHAMBERS
Director, Libraries Are Exciting Places
Trained as an actor in Toronto at The New School of Drama and Second City, and in New York City at The Neighborhood Playhouse, Stephen has done much work on stage and in television and film. He's also turned his sights to filmmaking and heads the small but active independent production company, Doghouse Riley Productions with a terrific team based in Toronto. His last project was shot in English, Italian and French and he's joined forces with a NYC based production company. Stephen is also a musician whose music can be heard in some of his films.
EMILY DAVIDSON-NIEDOBA
Mei, 4 10 2000
A Ryerson University Theatre School alumnus, Emily is a big fan of the Toronto theatre community. She is excited to be involved with the Alumnae Theatres New Ideas Festival, collaborating with such an extraordinary group of talented individuals. Recently Emily performed the role of Joey, and her alternate personae Rene, in SouthPaw Theatre's performance of Crush by Joe Boyd. She is also set to begin work on the feature length animation MOSH as the lead voice of Cherry, with Primitive Films, in the near future. Emily can also be heard as the “voice of” for IceBergRadio.com with Standard Radio.
RENEÉ DE LAIRE
Stage Manager, Rendering
Reneé recently graduated from Ryerson University's Theatre Production program! She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with honours. She is happy to be a part of the New Ideas Festival especially since she feels that amateur art has the most potential for artistic greatness. As such, encouraging and supporting it paves the way for greater artists.
ANDREW DUNDASS
Phil, Libraries Are Exciting Places
This is Andrew's second time on the Alumnae stage, having previously appeared as John in Baby With The Bathwater. Andrew has worked with numerous theatre groups across the GTA, but he's adamant that this doesn't show he has commitment issues. Favourite roles include: Christy Mahon in Playboy of the Western World, Chief Bromden in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and Bill Sykes in Oliver! Love, as always, to Marilyn.
JOEL IVANY
Director, Intimacy Inc.
Joel Ivany is currently studying at The Opera School as their student stage director and is apprenticing under resident stage director Michael Patrick Albano. His most recent directing credits include various operatic scenes for the programs Enter the Albanians and Inspired by Goethe performed at The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in the new Four Seasons Centre. He is currently assisting Jennifer Tarver on Britten's opera, The Rape of Lucretia at U of T. His has worked on various productions with Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Opera in Concert, the New Ideas Festival, Opera York and Toronto Operetta Theatre.
RICHARD JONES
Stan, Rendering
Rick is happy to be back on the boards at New Ideas after a much-too-long break. He was previously seen in Country, Fred Is Dead, and participated as writer/composer of The Meeting. He has been working in the film industry on short films like Everyday Regular Things (Canadian Filmmakers Festival, World Comedy Film Festival), and Man on the Moon (Cannes Film Festival Intern Screening), as well as creating musical theatre with the works Millennium Madness Sale (Toronto Fringe) and The Chatroom, a work in progress. He was most recently sound designer for Alumnae's Lady Windermere's Fan.
TESSA KING
Eugenie, Intimacy Inc.
Tessa King, an actor, playwright and director, moved to Toronto from Melbourne, Australia in January. She studied theatre at UBC, the Victorian College of the Arts and the University of Melbourne. Most recently she appeared in SPARCS Fly as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. As well as contemporary work, Tessa has performed in a number of Shakespeare and classical productions. She has written and performed two solo shows including one based on Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale. She will begin as the new Artistic Producer for the Paprika Festival in April.
KATHERINE KOLLER
Playwright, Intimacy Inc.
Katherine Koller lives in Edmonton, Alberta, and writes for radio, stage and screen. Her first plays were produced at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, CBC radio and Jagged Edge Lunchbox Theatre in Edmonton. Coal Valley: the Making of a Miner was commissioned and produced in Drumheller in 2005. A new one-act, Perdu, is upcoming at Walterdale Playhouse in Edmonton. The Seed Savers, about farming, forgiving and falling in love, has received writing and production residencies at the Banff Centre, and will have its first public reading in Saskatoon this year. Katherine is currently working on Lily of the Prairie in Workshop West Theatre's Playwrights' Unit.
DEANNA KRUGER
Playwright, Rendering
Deanna has won awards for her fiction and plays, including the Dorothy White Award in the 2004 Canadian One-Act Playwriting Competition for an earlier draft of Rendering. She is honoured to have the play included in the New Ideas Festival.
ANDREA LYONS
Blather, Shakespeare's Brain
Many, many years ago, Andrea performed with Alumnae in An Italian Straw Hat. Since then, she's performed all around the GTA with Alchemy Theatre, Triple Take Productions, Feast of Fools Theatre, Rhino Productionsand Decoder Ring Theatre, to name a few. She can be heard as Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective, in Decoder Ring's successful radio mystery series Black Jack Justice and also creates the music for their adventure series The Red Panda. Check them out at www.decoderringtheatre.com.
REGAN MACAULAY
Director, Shakespeare's Brain
Most recently, Regan directed and co-produced Allison McWood's It Was Kit, which was featured at the Toronto Fringe Festival and the Best of the Fringe Holdover Festival in the summer of 2006. Accomplishments in film and TV include directing the reality series Fairy Tale II (OUTtv), several episodes from the documentary series Literature Alive Seasons 1 & 2 (Bravo!), the short film The Scary Bitch Project (SPACE, SCREAM and Drive-In Classics), and the feature film Space Zombies: 13 Months of Brain-Spinning Mayhem! (SPACE and Drive-In Classics). This is Regan's first time directing at the New Ideas Festival.
ALBERT MASTERS
Darwin, Shakespeare's Brain
Albert Masters studied theatre at Harvard University and the University of Toronto. He has appeared in plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Shaw, Moliere, Sheridan, Strindberg, Duerrenmatt, John Arden, Dylan Thomas, Neil Simon, Israel Horowitz, Allison McWood and Richard O'Brien. Recent roles include Danby/Faustus in It Was Kit, Brabantio in Othello and the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show. Film roles include Inspector Gidget in Space Zombies (Triple Take Productions) and Polonius in Hamlet: A Comedy in Three Acts (Bunch of Ice Productions). He has also appeared in three mysteries for Mystery Theatre Experience.
KEITH MCCALLUM
Director, Rendering
Keith is very excited to be participating in this year's New Ideas Festival. Keith graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours degree in Theatre and English. He is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Training Program. He has acted in and directed numerous performances including The Soldier Dreams, This is a Play, The Real Inspector Hound, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Children of Eden.
ALLISON MCWOOD
Playwright, Shakespeare's Brain
Allison McWood is a full-time playwright, holding an honours degree in English Literature. Allison has written twenty-four plays and musicals and has been produced across Canada. Be Kind to Mimes was performed at the New Ideas Festival and the Hamilton Fringe in 2006. Also during the summer of 2006, her play It Was Kit was performed at the Tarragon Theatre during the Fringe of Toronto Festival and the Diesel Playhouse at the Best of the Fringe. She wrote the book and lyrics of the musical Welcome to Eden, Population: 2, which also played the 2006 Fringe of Toronto Festival.
CONOR O'HEGARTY
Joseph, Intimacy Inc.
This is Conor's third time performing at Alumnae Theatre. Last year he participated in the New Ideas Festival, and most recently he appeared as Lord Darlington in Lady Windermere's Fan. Other theatre credits include: The Glass Menagerie, The Subject Was Roses, Philadelphia Here I Come, A Life and The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal.
ALEXANDRA PARRAVANO
Sam, 4 10 2000
Alexandra is a recent graduate of the University College Drama Program at U of T. She has also attained a minor in both music and dance from the Claude Watson Arts Program. Alexandra is thrilled to be a part of the New Ideas Festival thanks to everyone she worked with! Selected credits include: Sheila in Phone Play (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland 2005), Clytemnestra/Athena in The Orestia directed by Ken Gass, Ablaze at the Paprika Festival (Tarragon Theatre), Mrs. Schroeder in Anyone Can Whistle, Eve in Babies, a Musical and Cordelia and the Fool in King Lear (Earl Haig Claude Watson Arts Program).
CHRIS REID
Mike, 4 10 2000
Chris is very excited to be making his first appearance with Alumnae Theatre. Last season he performed in Forward Theatre's Lifeboat (Toronto Fringe Festival), participated in a staged reading of Caryl Churchill's A Number and earned a THEA award for his portrayal of Father Bartolomeo in Vinci (The Oakville Players). Future projects include A Nobel Pursuit this spring at The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts.
JASON REILLY
Smog, Shakespeare's Brain
Jason Reilly has been actively involved in theatre and film for the past several years. Recent stage credits include the 2006 Fringe production of It Was Kit, as well as productions of The Mousetrap and Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love. Jason also performed as a member of The Second City Touring Company for several years. His film credits include: Space Zombies: 13 Months of Brain-Spinning Mayhem!, Kamikaze and Zombie Night. Jason is extremely excited for this opportunity to crawl around inside Shakespeare's Brain and promises to watch out for the squishy bits.
KEVIN RISK
Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Brain
This is Kevin's second New Ideas Festival, the first being the 2002 reading of Ordinary Times. Selected theatre credits: Modern Ritual (A Beautiful Lie), The Paradise Lust Romance Series, and the role of Shakespeare in the 2006 Fringe production of It Was Kit (Triple Take Productions). He starred in the feature Space Zombies: 13 Months of Brain-Spinning Mayhem! as well as completing the sound design and basic effects. Kevin was an Editor for Fairy Tale II (OUTtv) and Literature Alive (Bravo!) as well as Sound Editor for five audio books (CaribbeanTales). Kevin has written scripts for stage, radio and film.
DAWN SADLER
Betty, Libraries Are Exciting Places
Dawn is a graduate of the BFA Music Theatre program at the University of Windsor. Most recent theatre credits include Tamora in Titus Andronicus, Grace in Annie and Lydia in Light of India. She was also a member of the ensemble of The Cuckoo, voted best in venue at the Hamilton Fringe Festival. Dawn most recently appeared as Sarah in Decoding Aleil, recently aired on Space Channel. She also appeared in Terrance Odette's film Sleeping Dogs, which premiered at this past year's Toronto Film Festival. As always, Dawn thanks her Mom, Grandparents, Andrew and her feline babies, Rhapsody & Blue.
GILLIAN STREET
Director, 4 10 2000
Gillian is an actor, writer and director and is new to the New Ideas Festival. She was last seen in Les Liasons Dangereuses (Amicus Production) in November, and Over the River and Through the Woods (The Curtain Club) last spring. Her next project will be to direct her first one-act, Welcome to my Death, this year at the Toronto Fringe Festival. She is excited to be back in the directors seat, after years of acting, and would like to thank Helen for the opportunity.
LYNN WHITEHOUSE
Stage Manager, Shakespeare's Brain
Lynn Whitehouse is a writer who studied theatre in Montreal. This is her first stint as a stage manager.
HELEN YUNG
Playwright, 4 10 2000
As a writer, Helen Yung was recently awarded a playwriting grant from the Toronto Arts Council in 2006 for an untitled work-in-progress and has published articles in The Dance Current and Ricepaper magazines. In 2004, Yung co-wrote Fish And For Dessert for the 2004 Toronto Fringe Festival, which was rated one of the top Fringe Hits! by Eye Magazine. Other theatre credits include producing, stage management, dramaturgy, design, and costumes/make-up. Yung also works fulltime in arts advocacy for the Canadian Dance Assembly. She would like to thank New Ideas, the cast of 4 10 2000, and especially director Gillian, for their support.
WEEK ONE: March 7 - 10, 2007
- Gift Baskets by Siobhán Dungan
- Job Descriptions by Peter Bloch-Hansen
- Louise, Thelma and Something in the Middle by Julia Lederer
- Poached by Emily Pearlman
- Tea on New Year's Eve by Diane Forrest
Saturday Experiment: Eulalie and the Great March by Flora Stohr-Danziger
Go to: Week One
WEEK TWO: March 14 - 17, 2007
- Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea by Haley McGee
- Conscientia by Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt
- Rope by Mary Frances Pocrnic
- Fish Face by Ginette Mohr
- Death to Dating by Kathryn Malek and R.J. Downes
Saturday Experiment: Insane Uncle Leroy by Stephen Kunc
Go to: Week Two
TICKETS
- Email Reservations: reservations@alumnaetheatre.com
Festival Artistic Producers:
- Amy Connolly
- Bell
- Andrea Romaldi
Contact Us: new.ideas.festival@gmail.com
ALUMNAE THEATRE COMPANY
70 Berkeley Street
Toronto, Ontario • M5A 2W6
Phone: 416-364-4170
Email: contactus@alumnaetheatre.com