The Question... Laura Orozco and Myrna Wyatt-Selkirk on Action Spectrum - Director's Project

The Actor/Director Relationship

by Estelle Rosen

Laura Orozco is in her third year studying Psychology and Theatre Studies at McGill University in Montreal. She is currently co-technical director at the Tuesday Night Café Theatre. She is also Festival Production Manager for Action Spectrum.

Professor Myrna Wyatt-Selkirk is an Associate Professor at McGill University in the Department of English where she teaches Acting and Directing. She is the Festival Director for the Action Spectrum: Director's Project 2014 festival

CHARPO: Tell us about McGill's Action Spectrum: Director's Project 2014 theatre festival directed by members of Department of English:Directing for the Theatre course. The festival includes both classic playwrights and student playwrights, did each director select the play they chose to direct and, what are some of the challenges for a festival that includes 12 plays?

OROZCO: Action Spectrum is the product of a huge collaboration. Behind the scenes of a 12-play festival there needs to be very clear communication and coordination. This year the festival is happening in collaboration with the Tuesday Night Café Theatre with performances happening in the unique TNC space on the McGill Campus. As a smaller company with a smaller space, executing a festival like this has meant a lot of shared time and space. (cont'd)

Review: (Montreal) The Mikado

                                   Photo by Cal Cheng
Fans, fun and frolicking at fifty
McGill’s Savoy Society celebrates half-century with The Mikado
by Sarah Deshaies
@SarahDeshaies

Lurking beneath the colourful exterior of The Mikado is a sharp critique of Victorian-era English politics. By shrouding the story in far-away Japan, theatrical duo Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert got away with spoofing the establishment via pretty songs and corrupt stage mandarins. 

How appropriate then to have their 9th musical collaboration reborn in 2014 Montreal - a city with endless potholes, socks stuffed with cash, crumbling bridges and crane operators who are paid 24/7 to do nothing. 

The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, can be adapted into its present context no matter the level of local corruption or scandals, and the McGill Savoy Society is treading into lush territory with their 50th anniversary presentation of the piece. As such, references to the Charbonneau commission, “lady separatists” and senate scandals pepper the dialogue throughout.

The Question... Juliet Paperny on The Tempest

Holding Interest
by Estelle Rosen

Juliet Paperny is in her third year at McGill and facing the difficult question of what to do after graduation. After moving to Montreal from Vancouver she had to get used to two things: the frigid winters and the huge workload. The latter had been standing in the way of extracurriculars for a while; as a history and psychology student there isn't much room for outside projects. Ms Paperny had been acting since she was six, had helped direct for a few years in high school and has always been a Shakespeare fanatic. It was the end of last year when she decided to pitch The Tempest to Players' Theatre. She has since found her involvement with the McGill theatre community very rewarding and worth the hours of dedication. Though she is still grappling with the daunting task of post-undergraduate decisions, she's convinced this experience will stay with her no matter where she ends up. 

CHARPO:  What was it about Shakespeare that converted you to a Shakespeare fanatic, and  

as a fanatic, what is your opinion on the controversy whether Shakespeare wrote all those plays. The Tempest has been adapted in a variety of styles besides theatre including music and literature. Tell us a little bit about what form this production will take.

PAPERNY: William Shakespeare provided us with comedies, tragedies, histories and blends of all three; and what’s more, they’re all free to perform. I chose The Tempest because it’s one of the Bard’s rare combinations of humour, misfortune and fantasy, all taking place in real time. The Tempest pushes the boundaries and provides the audience with wondrous escapism. I selected The Tempest for this very reason. Players’ Theatre attracts many different people but for the most part, the audience consists of students, students with work, stress and little free time to spare. If they’re taking the time to come to the theatre in the middle of November it better be something that will hold their interest.

Review: (Montreal) Tick, Tick...Boom!

Before Rent: Larson’s autobio Tick, Tick... BOOM!
A sharp cast and quartet sometimes strains, but otherwise hits the mark

by Sarah Deshaies

@sarahdeshaies

That ever-lasting question: to be a poor starving artist with a small shot at fame and riches, or to switch into a more lucrative, secure (and maybe heartless) profession.

Jonathan Larson, known best for rock opera Rent, was deliberating this very question as a young, struggling composer living in Manhattan in the ‘90s. Tick, Tick… BOOM! happened along before Larson became known for composing and writing Rent, the modern incarnation of La Bohème, as lived by boho artists scraping by in Alphabet City. Before Rent won a Pulitzer, a Tony and grossed hundreds of millions at the box office.

And as Larson tragically died of aortic dissection the night before Rent’s Off Broadway premiere in 1996, Tick, Tick… BOOM! is a lasting self-portrait of a struggling artist, a snapshot of his life when success was only a tantalizing glimmer in the future. Before the riches and fame did not quite arrive. For Rent fans, it’s a must-see peek into Larson’s psyche.

The Question... Jon Corkal on directing Tick, Tick...Boom!

When Something...Clicks!
by Estelle Rosen

Jon Corkal was raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and although a relatively late-joiner to the theatre world, he immediately fell in love with it. Tick, Tick…Boom! may be his first venture in creative direction, but he has been involved in numerous productions (in varying roles) in the past few years.  Some of his performance credits include West Side Story, Company, Sweeney Todd, and Anything Goes, as well as musical direction for The Certainly Not Sullivan Cabaret and Party Worth Crashing: A Concert (Asst. MD).  He has done both creative and musical direction for Tuesday Night Café’s (TNC)  upcoming production of Tick, Tick…Boom!, premiering October 16, 2013  at TNC Theatre.

CHARPO: There are several issues and reasons that would make Tick, Tick…BOOM an interesting consideration to open Tuesday Night Café (TNC) 2013-2014 season, not the least of which that it was written by Jonathan Larson. Tell us why this play was selected for TNC? 

CORKAL: Oddly enough, it wasn’t until quite recently that I was even first introduced to Tick, Tick…Boom!  I remember when I was told that it was written by Jonathan Larson, I thought I knew exactly what to expect: a show with a lot of energy that was likely too corny for its own good (I mean, what better product of the 90s was there than over-the-top cheesiness?). But in reading the script and listening to the score, I found something that just…clicked.  And it was more than just sharing the same name.