A Giant Rebels at Theatre Erindale! |
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| [Mississauga ON, March 2015] Theatre Erindale will close its “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” season with another World Première: the new version of Mary Vingoe’s LIVING CURIOSITIES or What You Will. It’s the extraordinary tale of the Nova Scotia giantess who defied P. T. Barnum. The play runs March 12-22 at the Erindale Studio Theatre.
A previous version of the play was mounted by Ship’s Company in Nova Scotia. When this substantially altered and challenging new version was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2010, Glenn Sumi of Now Magazine called it "A fine Canadian play that hasn't yet been staged in Toronto.... Love to see a local company tackle this highly theatrical work!" Well here at last is his chance – and yours! New York City at the height of the Civil War: in order to help her family, young Nova Scotia giantess Anna Swan arrives at Barnum's American Museum to be put on display. In this bizarre and mysterious world of chicanery, showmanship, and forced isolation, leading a rebellion of ‘freaks’ is the last thing on her mind. But fate and Shakespeare have a way of illuminating unexpected paths. Playwright Mary Vingoe co-founded Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre, Parrsboro’s Ship’s Company, and Halifax’s Eastern Front Theatre, and is past Artistic Director of the Magnetic North Festival in Ottawa. Her new play Refuge is slated for production by Nightwood in 2016. Sheridan and UTM have collaborated to bring Vingoe to Mississauga for this production. She will present a free Play Reading at 4:00PM on Friday March 20th in the Erindale Studio Theatre, and a Talkback following the performance that evening – watch for more details! Special Guest Director Sten Eirik has acted on stages and screens across Canada. He is also past Artistic Director of Norrby Theatre and Acting Instructor at Vimmerby College in Sweden. Five years ago, he founded the Guild Festival Theatre in Scarborough, which this summer will present Romeo and Juliet. Eirik expresses his delight at working with “a rock-solid production team and a graduating class of such gifted and passionate theatre students” as well as with the “ever distinctive” creative voice of Mary Vingoe. “There’s a keen eye for the politics of privilege and appropriation…. It has been a journey I won’t soon forget!” Living Curiosities stars half of the graduating actors of the Sheridan-UTM Theatre and Drama Studies Program (the other half starred in the hit production of Picnic). Set is by Patrick Young and lighting by Jim Smagata, with coaching from Zoë Sweet, Daniel Levinson, and Denise Norman, and highly theatrical costumes by Joanne Massingham. The show runs March 12-14 and 19-22 at the Erindale Studio Theatre on the UTM campus, with evening performances Thursday through Saturday and matinées on Saturdays and on Sunday March 22. Single tickets are $12 or $18; Parking in Lot 1 or the CCT Garage is $6.00, and Mississauga Transit Routes 44 and 110 will take you to the campus. For further information, call the Box Office at 905-569-4369 or visit  Contact: Sten Eirik at 647-438-2060 Production Photos by Jim Smagata from Monday March 9:
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