Factory Theatre NAKED 2015/16 SEASON CANADIAN CLASSICS REIMAGINED 2015/16 SEASON SPONSOR FALL SEASONETTE

Transcription

1 Factory Theatre NAKED 2015/16 SEASON CANADIAN CLASSICS REIMAGINED 2015/16 SEASON SPONSOR FALL SEASONETTE

2 THE HERMENEUTICS OF THE TEXTS: NOTES ON BEING NAKED Hermeneutics is the philosophical study of textual and non-textual communication and its meaning, up to and including the lenses through which we, in our historical present, make those meanings. In short, hermeneutics is the theory and practice of interpretation. As a tool of textual analysis, its roots are in the ancient world but probably attained the most critical function in the Middle Ages and Renaissance as a means of deciphering meaning in the Christian Bible. Through the years, the fundamental questions of hermeneutics have changed from, How should one read this, to How do we communicate at all, to What are the conditions in my culture that allow me to make meaning from this thing I am encountering? There is something very profound about that last question, taking us as it does away from the objects we encounter in this case, some of the most exciting plays from some of Canada s most exceptional playwrights directed by an all-star team of directors and forcing us to ask questions not solely of the plays themselves, but of our culture, and our individual places in it. Factory s Naked Season is all about making meaning through asking questions about what happens when we strip something we think we know down to its most essential parts. Each of the plays in this season offers us an opportunity to reflect on the culture we inhabit as we make meaning from these productions. But more than that, the season asks us to interrogate how we make meaning out of searching for truth while watching make-believe in the dark. So what is Naked in the context of this season? Well, that requires some interpretation, since the answer is simultaneously simple and complex. On the one hand, Naked is exactly what it denotes devoid of customary or natural covering but for us, it runs deeper than that. Yes, you will see productions throughout this season that look different from many stage productions you will have seen. The stage may be more bare and suggestive than sumptuous and literal. The costumes may look more like everyday clothes than corsets, saris, or military uniforms. On the other, Naked connotes not only an aesthetic, but an attitude one that embraces vulnerability and strength; simplicity and depth; sensuality and myth. It is predicated on the notion that at its base, an encounter with actors, text, and an empty space that we all temporarily share not only provides the opportunity to ask about our culture, but demands that we do so. FACTORY GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE OUTSTANDING AND GENEROUS SUPPORT OF SEASON SPONSOR CORPORATE DONOR S THE CATHERINE & MAXWELL MEIGHEN CREATIVE TRUST THE J.P. BICKELL PRODUCTION SPONSOR FOR SALT-WATER MOON FACTORY FOREMEN SPONSORS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT NANCY S VERY OWN PILKINGTON- HENNIGER CHARITABLE TRUST NEW WORK DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT LINDY GREEN & SAM CHAITON THE HENRY WHITE KINNEAR THE MCLEAN THE PLURALISM FUND an Ontario government agency un organisme du gouvernement de l Ontario MEDIA SPONSOR 2 FACTORY THEATRE We invite you to come to Factory not to sit back and enjoy, but to lean forward and engage. We hope that the plays presented will prompt you to ask questions, to come early and stay late, and to revel in the variety of meaning making we can accomplish together. Matt McGeachy Company Dramaturg CAPITAL CAMPAIGN LEAD GIFT CAPITAL CAMPAIGN SUPPORTERS W. MICHAEL THAN ANONYMOUS RIOCAN FACTORY THEATRE 3

3 BANANA BOYS DIRECTOR S NOTE There may be some debate whether Banana Boys is a classic Canadian play or not. If there is, I m not interested in having it. In my world, where I ve spent more than half of my career dedicated to the proliferation of Asian Canadian theatre and its artists on our country s stages, it is. It just is. 8 FACTORY THEATRE By Leon Aureus Adapted from the Novel by Terry Woo Directed by Nina Lee Aquino The Company Darrel Gamotin Sheldon Kwan Matthew Gin Mike Chao Oliver Koomsatira Dave Lowe Simu Liu Rick Wong Philip Nozuka Luke Yeung The Team Jennifer Lennon Lighting Designer Joanna Barrotta Stage Manager Adriana Dimitri Apprentice Stage Manager Banana Boys was the first work developed by fu-gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company in 2002, through workshops and staged readings. It had its world premiere in early 2005, in association with Factory Theatre, to sold out houses and positive critical reception. A revised version was presented at the Magnetic North Festival that summer, and remounted in a co-production with Factory Theatre in Fall of The show became an instant classic for a new generation of Asian Canadian youth, and that position was cemented with a sold out remount run, with a new cast, presented by Hart House Theatre in The playwright would like to thank Terry Woo for so generously sharing the world of Banana Boys; his dramaturges Nina Lee Aquino & David Yee for helping him find his way; Richard Lee for rounding out that core four at fu-gen; and the various cast and crew who brought the play to life across Canada. We believed, in a place, a home for us and we dreamed, laboured, cried, laughed, swore that world into existence. Cheers to finding our way home again. Banana Boys, the novel, became an instant success when it hit the shelves. Why? Because it did something very rarely done in literary circles: it talked about contemporary Asian Canadians... and it talked about Asian Canadian men; the often disenfranchised, exotified, hyper-stereotyped subculture of Canadian multiculturalism. They re either that too-keen railroad worker kid volunteering for that uber dangerous job sticking dynamite inside the mine shaft, or the unattractive nerd (the bad kind) who is the side kick of the best friend (but still the butt of all the jokes at their high school), or if they re lucky the sexy can t-tellwhat-kind-of-asian-he-is dude driving that awesome fast car (sans Hello Kitty dangling on the mirror) but has all of 10 lines in the movie. This summates the Asian North American experience in contemporary entertainment over the last several decades. Banana Boys both the novel and the play captured the in-between-ness essential to the Asian Canadian male identity. Handsome (yes, handsome) young men, trying to find their place in this world. Some sidekicks, some fools, but none of them a foil for a White hero. They talk about sex and ambition and love. They deal with loss and guilt and shattered dreams and everyday demons. They are modern day lovers, fighters, thinkers. Depicting Asian Canadian men like that was new territory 11 years ago. And here we are now, still trying to carve out this little space in between. The first production of Banana Boys was a watershed moment for the next generation of Asian Canadian theatre artists. It was a bold, unapologetic (in structure and form), angry, loud and wildly funny play for a generation who grew up without a voice. What seemed like a fun, crazy, epic experiment for all of us back then is, eleven years later, a compelling, moving and ultra complex tale of five young people trying to find their place in this world. As we were, then. In the spirit of nakedness, I m looking forward to putting the playwright s text front and center, rediscovering the beats and intentions, making sense of the impossible stage directions, allowing the fantastical to be just as fantastical as it was before and, really embracing the complexity of it all. Because Banana Boys is complex and a monster of a play. It s also a hard play, it requires us to let go of all of our preconceived notions of how an Asian Canadian story should be told. We ve gotten older and I think now, more than anything, I m excited to share the talents of these five next-next generation Asian actors with our audiences. It s a rare and sublime pleasure to go back and attack the text with wiser directorial eyes, and find a whole new layer to the ever changing Asian Canadian identity. Enjoy the manic, fun ride, listen with open ears and let your imaginations run wild. Wo ei ni, Nina Lee Aquino Director FACTORY THEATRE 9

4 BIOGRAPHIES MATTHEW GIN, Michael Chao NINA LEE AQUINO, Director For Factory: Playwright and actor for Every Letter Counts; Director for The Unplugging. Other: Former Artistic Director of fu-gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company and Cahoots Theatre Company and current Artistic Director of Factory Theatre. She is the editor of Canada s first Asian Canadian 2-volume drama anthology love+relasianships and the co-editor of the award winning New Essays on Canadian Theatre Volume One: Asian Canadian Theatre (Playwrights Canada Press). Etc: Nina is a recipient of the Ken McDougall Award 2004, the Canada Council John Hirsch Prize 2008 and two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Direction. She is an honorary member of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. LEON AUREUS, Playwright For Factory: Remount of production initially staged in Other Recent Theatre Credits: One Good Marriage (Staircase Theatre); Vic Harbour (The Four Winds Collective). Film & TV Credits: Touring T.O. (Crazy Shirt Productions); Less Than Satisfactory (LTS Productions); Baker Street (Baker Street Collective); Hardcore Heroes (History Channel). Etc: Follow Matthew at officialmatthewgin.com on Twitter. PHILIP NOZUKA, Luke Yeung Other Recent Theatre Credits: The Tall Building (Jill Connell, Summerworks); Durango (Theatre SMASH, fu-gen Theatre Company). Film & TV Credits: Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg); Carrie (Kimberly Pierce, MGM Studios) Degrassi: The Next Generation (Epitome Pictures); Aaron Stone (Disney XD); Alphas (Syfy). Upcoming: Das Ding (Theatre Smash, Canadian Stage). Other Recent Theatre Credits: People Power and In the Shadow of Elephants (as a member of the CBT Collective - Carlos Bulosan Theatre). Other: Current Artistic Producer of Carlos Bulosan Theatre. Upcoming: Leon will be producing and directing the new CBT Collective Creation in Etc: Follow Carlos Bulosan Theatre at carlosbulosan.com and NotoriousAureus on Twitter. OLIVER KOOMSATIRA, Dave Lowe Other Recent Theatre Credits: Ching Chong Chinaman (fu-gen Asian Canadian Theatre); Comfort (Red Snow Collective); Situations (George Stamos); Hommes de vase (Fleuve-Espace Danse); Bullying and Violence (TACcom); The Jungle Book (Geordie Productions/Citadel Theatre/MTYP); Lies My Father Told Me (Segal Centre for Performing Arts); Spring Awakening (Persephone Productions); Aladdin (Left of Centre Theatre); Me Me Me (Dynamo Theatre/YPT). JOANNA BARROTTA, Stage Manager For Factory: Brothel #9, And So It Goes, Essay/The Russian Play. Other Recent Theatre & Opera Credits: Theatre: London Road, The Arsonists (Canadian Stage); What Makes A Man (Necessary Angel); carried away on the crest of a wave (Tarragon). Opera: #UncleJohn (Against The Grain Theatre); SVADBA WEDDING, Beckett: Feck It! (Queen of Puddings Music Theatre); Tapestry Briefs: Booster Shots (Tapestry Opera); Acis and Galatea (Opera Atelier); plus eleven seasons at the Canadian Opera Company. Other: Joanna is the General Manager for Against The Grain Theatre (againstthegraintheatre.com). Upcoming: Siegfried (Canadian Opera Company); Pyaasa (Theatre Passe Muraille). Etc: Follow and on Twitter. Film & TV Credits: 19-2 (Bravo/CTV). Etc: Oliver is a recipient of The Elsa Bolam Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Emerging Theatre Artist (2008). For more info go to weebly.com. SIMU LIU, Rick Wong Other Recent Theatre Credits: About Allegra (Toronto Fringe 2014). Other/Film & Television Credits: Make it Pop! (YTV/Nickelodeon), Beauty and the Beast (the CW), Mayday (Discovery/National Geographic), Played (CTV), Warehouse 13 (SyFy), Nikita (The CW). Upcoming: Blood and Water (Series Lead). 10 FACTORY THEATRE DARREL GAMOTIN, Sheldon Kwan For Factory: Tough! Other Recent Theatre Credits: Monday Nights (Theatre Centre, 6th Man Collective), Swoon (jsquared theatre), Just East of Broadway (GIG Productions) Waiting for Godot (Modern Times Theatre) Blue Planet (Young People s Theatre). TERRY WOO, Author For Factory: Banana Boys Etc: FACTORY THEATRE 11

5 FALL SEASONETTE SUPPORTING ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES JENNIFER LENNON, Fall Seasonette Lighting Designer For Factory: Bingo! Other Recent Theatre Credits: Better Angels: A Parable (Call Me Scotty Productions); Stupidhead! A Mucisal Cmoedy (Disorganized Productions); The Twelve-Pound Look (Shaw Festival); Old Man and the River (Theatre Direct); We Walk Among You (Artichoke Heart); Rob Ford the Musical (McCaig Regan Productions); Unknown Soldier (Architect Theatre / lemontree Creations); The Container (The Container Collective). As lighting and technical director: A Rare Mix (Toronto Dance Theatre), Parashakti: Primordial Energy (Menaka Thakkar Dance Company). As associate lighting designer: A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper, 2014). Upcoming: The Enlightenment of Percival Von Schmootz (Theatre Sheridan). FOR BANANA BOYS ADRIANA DIMITRI, Apprentice Stage Manager Other Recent Theatre & Opera Credits: Theatre: Venue Manager (Edinburgh Fringe), Kinky Boots (Mirvish Productions). Opera: BlueBeard s Castle and Ewartung (Canadian Opera Company) La Belle Hélène (The Royal Conservatory of Music) Die Walküre (Canadian Opera Company) H.M.S. Pinafore (U of T Opera). Upcoming: Heart of Steel (Aim for the Tangent Theatre). 18 FACTORY THEATRE FACTORY THEATRE 19