UTM drama students take on central roles in their final-year performance
“Seven minutes to Lenny!”
The backstage call from Stage Manager Paul Pembleton sets off a flurry of activity in the dressing rooms. Costumes are fitted, makeup is applied and actors run through their cues. For the graduating class of U of T Mississauga’s theatre and drama studies program, this moment marks the culmination of years of study. Soon, the last preshow song – Lenny Kravitz’s Fly Away – fades out and it’s showtime. The actors step into the world of The Birds, a reimagining of Greek playwright Aristophanes’ 2,400-year-old comedy.
This contemporary adaptation, written by Yvette Nolan and directed by Marcel Stewart, moves the action from ancient Athens to Turtle Island, weaving together Indigenous creation stories and natural imagery to explore themes of colonialism and reconciliation. Two humans seek nirvana in a mountaintop bird society – only to impose their own ideas upon it.
