Ottawa Arts: November edition
Greetings arts fans!
The Storytelling Festival underwent a fantastic weekend with events for children and adults alike. My mum picked up a bunch of new activities for her preschoolers, and I learned that some people eat squirrels. Superbly educational. Like events continue throughout the year, so check out www.ottawastorytellers.ca for details.
If you’re looking for some awesome theatre, there are some very unique happenings this week, and for the rest of the month.
Opening tonight and running to November 18th, 7:30 productions presents The Good Father, directed by John P. Kelly and starring Kris Joseph and Michelle Leblanc (with Irish accents!). Think a one-night stand at a New Years party is JUST a one-night stand…? Nu-uh! The story is both comic and heart wrenching, with a great twist at the end – but I won’t give it away! Also, this is the first performance in the new Irving Greenberg STUDIO space. For more details on the company, check out their brand spanking new website at www.seventhirty.ca (also on Facebook). Show times are 8:30pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 3:30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.
Just down the street from the Irving Greenberg is The Cube Gallery where you will find that curious phenomena called… MERZ. Toured at the Edinburgh Fringe and around the world, MERZ is a one-man show created and performed by Peter Froehlich (director, professor and actor extraordinaire). The Toronto Globe and Mail describes it as “refreshingly different garbage” – yum! The show is based on Kurt Schwitters’ literary creations, which are collected fragments of sound and language which others ignored or suppressed–sneezes, stutterings, meaningless syllables–made into poetry. Sounds weird? You bet! Check out http://www.geocities.com/newtheatreottawa (also on Facebook). The show runs November 8,9,10 & 15, 16, 17 (preview on the 7th) at 8pm.
The next production with the Great Canadian Theatre Company is The Real McCoy, written and directed by Andrew Moodie, inspired by the true-life story of black inventor Elijah McCoy. Born in Canada to runaway slaves, McCoy became a leading expert in the field of thermo-dynamics. The show runs from November 13th - December 2nd. For more info, check out www.gctc.ca.
Breathing Time Productions present an eMOTIONal soirée of art, music, and one-act plays! From the folks that brought you this summer’s hit show FAT PIG comes two more stage pieces from director Claudia Jurt. The show runs from November 14th -18th at the Arts Court. For more info, check out www.breathingtimeproductions.com or their Facebook group. All art on display is available for purchase!
Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre presents a very interesting twist on Shakespeare’s great tragedy that shows the horrific results of a jealous lover. Othella (as the title suggests) switches the gender of the protagonist, and other characters in the play. Interested to see how these changes alter the overall effect? Check out this new adaptation by director David Whiteley from November 15-17, 22-24 at Carleton University. For more info, check out http://www.carleton.ca/socknbuskin/calendar.htm
Needing a good dose of Moliere? The NAC English Theatre presents a new adaptation of Dying to be Sick , the hilarious story of a hypochondriac, from November 16th -December 1st. This play is at once a brilliant lampoon of the medical profession and a domestic comedy that will leave you in stitches, from the pen of the man considered to be the greatest writer of comedy in Western literature. For more info, check out http://nac.ca/en/whatson/results.cfm?EventID=5176
Can’t wait for the Fools’ next summer performance? Check out their newest creation: Tempest in a Teapot. Al Connors, Margo MacDonald, Emmanuelle Zeesman, and director Scott Florence combine comedy, poetry and music for a sexy, satirical storm of Shakespeare not to be missed. The show runs at the NAC 4th stage from November 21-25 at 8pm, 24&25 at 2pm. Check out www.fools.ca for details, or (this is becoming almost redundant now!) their Facebook group. Big Fool Scott Florence, along with Annie Lefebvre and Christie Watson, hosts an .isme(e): performance cabaret on Saturday, November 17th.
Plenty of great theatre to see! But, I have to tell you, my new great love affair is with modern dance. I saw a piece from Tony Chong and Le Groupe Dance Lab a few weeks ago and fell head over heels. This is good, smart stuff. Creative, expressive, interesting, and – above all – beautiful to watch. Check out http://www.legroupe.org/ for details on future shows all season.
Please send me more events to include for December – thank you!
Drowning in theatrical pleasantries!
Jessica
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Tschüß!
Jessica Ruano
Performance Arts Enthusiast
Publicist, Critic, and Theatre go-er
