Theatre Encounter
All content copyright © Theatre Encounter 2011.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." [Shaw]
The Glass Menagerie was Tennessee Williams' first success (1944). It is an investigation into a family's denial of reality, which relinquishes into the subterfuge of private illusion. Dealing with the sense of abandonment and its affect on the what is 'broken' in life, Menagerie plots memory as escape against what is true in experience. A deeply moving inquiry into the inflexible grip of loss, Williams' play charges audiences to face their own reality through powerful imagery and metaphor. Happiness is not created out of imaginative construction, rather an entrance into the human condition.
Theatre Encounter's production will use Expressionism to discover the extreme dichotomy between reality and illusion. Character movement and vocal play is based on the personal backgrounds and works of art created by Expressionist Austrian artists Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser and Oscar Kokoschka.
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Michael Fenton
Starring: Mike Unrau, Val Duncan, Pat Quinn, Nelize Joubert, Brooklyn Ritchie
Designed by: John Hale and Joshua Frasher (Set & Light); Ana Lopez (Costume); Joshua Fraser (sound).
Stage Management by Erin Bauer; Poster and Illustration by Aimee Qui and Mike Unrau; Script Rendering by Michael Fenton and Mike Unrau.
March 10th - 14th, 2009, at 8pm.
with a regular matinee on the 14th at 2pm.
Dancers’ Studio West
2007 - 10 Ave SW (Rear Alley Entrance), Calgary
Starring Val Duncan, Pat Quinn, Elan Pratt and Elaine Weryshko.
Designed by John Hale (Set & Costume); Brian MacNeil (Lights); Dan Guiry (Sound); Ana Lopez (Make-Up and Hair); Vince Brophy (Videography); and Poster & Illustration (Aimee Qiu).
Stage Management by Gregg Kocourek; Script Rendering by Michael Fenton and Mike Unrau.
An allegorical inquiry into common elements of humanity, this 15th Century theatrical standard is for every man or woman seeking the meaning of life through death. Drawing on archetypes of good and evil, self and shadow, Everyman delves into the eternal through good works and the sacrament of penance and confession. Anointed with a prophetic confrontation with his creator, Everyman plots out a provisionary final journey of life by stepping into a metaphoric world of personal qualities and represented values. This stark play continually gives the universal message of impermanence: “Your tyme draweth fast…”
Theatre Encounter’s version will entwine primal ritual and ceremony with a corporeal, metaphysical interpretation of the birth, death, and rebirth of all that is essential in us. Based on physical interpretations of the play.
EVERYMAN
author unknown
Directed by Michael Fenton
Physical Work by Mike Unrau
February 25-27 & March 2-6, 2010, at 8pm.
with matinees on Feb. 27 and 28 at 2.30pm.
The Studio, at Vertigo Theatre Centre
115 - 9th Ave SE (the base of the Calgary Tower)
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors: CADA, FFWD and Vendome Cafe.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is often thought of as the first horror film and is credited in bringing the Expressionistic acting style to the general public worldwide. It is indeed through Caligari’s extreme portrayal of emotion on the surface of the acting that makes it so original and intriguing; its strong connection with movement and music and lack of spoken dialogue is what emotionally strengthens the story of this killer somnambulist. Strongly in tune with the music accompanying it, Caligari portrays the fear of the unknown we all harbour and presents it through a style of acting that leaves realism behind. Through a modern Canadian adaptation, Theatre Encounter presents Calgarians with a beguiling evening of extreme emotion through a story steeped in Expressionism and horror. This is a world premiere.
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
by Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer and
the Baader Meinhof Collective
Adaptation for stage by Amos Altman and Michael Fenton
Directed by Michael Fenton
March 25th - 29th, 2008, at 8pm.
with a matinee on the 29th at 3pm.
Dancers’ Studio West
2007 - 10 Ave SW REAR, Calgary.
Starring: Val Campbell, Devon Dubnyk, Kristen Eveleigh, John Knight, Geoff Matthews, Elan Pratt, Lindsay Vallance, Elaine Weryshko and Patrick Quinn
Caligula is the first imaginative work concerned with the problem of the absurd, premiering in 1945, about a character who determines that others should share his lucid awareness of the world’s absurdity. It’s an illustration of the dangers involved in going too far in acting out the consequences of living in a world without values. By treating human life as expendable, the main character is aware that death destroys all plans and reduces them to nothingness, so he is determined, as an absurd man, to accumulate a range of sensual experience in defiance of death. In this way, happiness is a by-product of self-realisation. He who lives the absurd realises human existence to the fullest, and is therefore... happy.
Theatre Encounter's production will be a physical exploration and rendering of the original text and the performer/audience relationship, diminishing the body/mind paradigm through a confrontation between the intellect and the physical.
November 4th-8th, 2008, at 8pm.
with a matinee on the 8th at 3pm.
Dancers’ Studio West
2007 - 10 Ave SW (Rear Alley Entrance), Calgary
CALIGULA
by Albert Camus
Directed by Michael Fenton
Tickets: Adults $20, Students $15.
Starring Val Duncan, Marcy Lannan, Kevin MacDonnell, Elan Pratt, Mike Rogers, and Elaine Weryshko.
Designed by Lindsay Everatt and John Hale (Set & Costume); Brian MacNeil (Lights); Gillian Pinckney and Dan Guiry (Sound); Ana Lopez (Make-Up and Hair); and Poster and Illustration (Aimee Qiu).
Stage Management by Gillian Pinckney; Language Coaching by Aimee Qiu and Blaine Gruenwald; Movement Facilitation by Elan Pratt; Script Rendering by Michael Fenton and Mike Unrau.
Death and Devil is a one act written by one of the forerunners of German Expressionist theatre. In its time the play and the playwright were both banned from various countries for illicit content, offending the establishment and overall bad taste. Always dealing with and fascinated by the seedy underworld, Wedekind unleashes a tale hammering the middle class (in accord with the baby boomers of today) in their shunning of pursuing sensual pleasure through immoral and unethical avenues. Still as relevant today as it was in 1905, this play is a scathing review of what 90% of the population holds dear and considers infallible.
Theatricide is a performer-generated piece, which stemmed from the authors’ in-depth research into theatre history, the role it has played and the present outcome of what post-modernism is actually attaining. It is a symbolically deep story of a woman’s realization that everything she is striving to attain and has lived through artistically has already been done before.
Death and Devil, and, Theatricide
Sept. 25 - 29, 2007
with a matinee on the 29th at 3pm.
The Motel
at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts
Starring: Ben Charland, Elan Pratt, Elaine Weryshko, Pat Quinn, Jessica Robertshaw, Mike Rogers, Tawny Lehan; and
Marcy Lannan, Michael Fenton, and Mike Unrau.
Presented in association with Maple Salsa Theatre
by Frank Wedekind, and, the Baader Meinhof Collective
Directed by Michael Fenton
Click here for production photos
Quest:
David Thompson’s 1811 Journey
by the Baader Meinhof Collective
Directed by Mike Unrau
November 23rd - 27th, 2010, at 8pm.
with a regular matinee on the 27th at 2pm.
Dancers’ Studio West
2007 - 10 Ave SW (Rear Alley Entrance), Calgary
David Thompson has been called “the greatest land geographer who ever lived”, mapping over 3.9 million square kilometres of North America from East to West Coast in his life-time. This is the bicentennial year of his epic journey across the Great Divide in 1810-11. Capturing the essence of this legend’s story, this is a performance piece that pushes the boundaries of physical exploration into the discovery of not only our physical world, but also the inner world of what it means to quest. From Canadian stories of different nations and global themes, Quest uncovers the bends and turns of what mythologist Joseph Campbell calls a 'hero's journey’, as man's eternal struggle with nature, man, and ultimately with himself.
With written works by Val Duncan, Celene Harder, Jennifer LeBlanc & Mike Unrau. Starring: Val Duncan, Celene Harder, Jennifer LeBlanc.
Dance Choreography by Jacquey Morison.
Designed by: Joshua Fraser (Sound, Video & Set); Anna Lopez (Costume); Ajay Badoni (Lights); John Hale (Set).
Stage Management by Krista Hudson; Illustration by Aimee Qui, Graphic Design by Jordan Schlachter. Physical Work by Mike Unrau.
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors: CADA, FFWD and Vendome Cafe.
"Loved the physical expression, parallel to Thompson's Quest. Camera excellent, make-up, great voice, artistic, beautiful."
"This was all carried off by an incredible performance from the 3 actors and the remarkable sound, lighting and staging. And that does not even mention the premise which is the theatre encounter driver, that the physical movement on stage penetrates to a deeper level whether you are wholly aware of that or not."
"A challenging yet rewarding experience. Physicality and vocality at an intensity I have rarely if ever experienced elsewhere."
"Watching Everyman was like having every emotion I've ever had on the inside, exposed to an entire audience. The actors were so intense and committed to the performance that it made me feel their experience was my experience."
Audience reactions:
Audience reactions:
Widely argued as the first play to deal with pro-feminist sentiments, Medea plots revenge against passion in a world of deceit, grief and murder. Playing on the games of spite and remorse, the piece investigates what it means to be human when loss is so great that we react with barbarism.
Theatre Encounter’s production will be performed as a reinvention of the characteristics of humanity, pushing the performance truths of ‘reality’ into surreal representations of all we cling and hold onto in our personal and family ideals.
Medea
an adaptation by Jean Anouilh of Euripides classic
Directed by Michael Fenton
March 1st - 5th, 2011, at 8pm.
with a matinee on March 5th at 2.30pm.
The Studio, at Vertigo Theatre Centre
115 - 9th Ave SE (the base of the Calgary Tower)
Starring: Val Duncan, Mike Rogers, Rhandi Neal, Pat Quinn and Jennifer LeBlanc
Designed by: Joshua Frasher (Sound); Anna Lopez (Costume); Brian MacNeil (Lights); John Hale (Set).
Stage Management by Aly Gustafson; Illustration by Aimee Qui, Graphic Design by Jordan Schlachter.
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors: CADA, FFWD and Vendome Cafe.
To see a video short of this production focusing on the physical work, click here, or see our home page (2min).
"Medea was beautifully evil, with poise and practice. Yet human all at the same time."
"All the actors impressed me with their knowledge & the lines and the intensity & their performances."
Audience reactions:
"Though the visual and auditory experience may be jarring, the story was not lost to me.The rhythm of the run kept me grounded."
The Cremation of Sam McGee
by the Baader Meinhof Collective
an adaptation of the Robert Service poem by Val Duncan
Directed by Elan Pratt
August 4th - 5th, 2011, at 6.45pm and 8.45pm
August 6th, 2011, at 6.45pm, 8.45pm, and 10.45pm
The Abattoir
(Theatre Encounter's Studio Theatre)
1305 - 11th Ave SE, Calgary, in Inglewood.
The Baader Meinhof Collective reimagines The Cremation of Sam McGee as the personal struggle of the poem’s narrator, Cap, to carry the burden of promises made and debts unpaid. Lines from Dante’s Inferno provide a counterpoint to Robert Service’s classic Canadian text as we follow Cap into his reverie, his eulogy, and his own personal wilderness.
Starring: Val Duncan
Designed by: Val Duncan, Elan Pratt with Michael Fenton
Illustration by: Aimee Qui and Graphic Design by Jordan Schlachter. Photo by Mike Unrau
Sound: Pat Quinn
To see a video short of this production, click here, or see our home page.
To see a video promo of this production with more detail about the story, click here (4min).
