Theatre at UBC
On Stage: Season 2011/12
Welcome to Theatre at UBC, where the future of the theatre in Canada can be seen on the stage today.
As a unit of one of the great research-focused universities in the world, we see our role as central in the public expression of the university’s plan, “Place and Promise”. By attending our productions, you become a key part of a much larger movement to enhance the plan’s three pillars: student learning, research excellence and community engagement. The theatre only exists once there is a live audience present, so with your engagement you help to foster and advance the research that is central to theatre practice, and you provide valuable feedback to our emerging artists so they become better at what they do. Subscribe now and you participate in all of these worthy ventures, and we promise you a season of enlightening, engaging evenings of theatre, as well!
Download 2011/2012 Season Press Release
Download 2011/2012 Season and Subscription Brochure
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| The Trial of Judith K. by Sally Clark Sept. 29-Oct. 8 Frederic Wood Theatre |
Thunderstorm by Cao Yu Staged reading of Thunderstorm Nov. 4 & 5 and international touring exhibition Oct. 31 - Nov. 18 Frederic Wood Theatre |
The Crucible by Robert Ward based on the play by Arthur Miller Nov. 10-13 UBC Old Auditorium |
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| Two Merchants An adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Nov. 10-19 Telus Studio Theatre |
A Little Creation by Vanessa Imeson Nov. 24-26 Frederic Wood Theatre |
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Adapted by James Fagan Tait Jan. 20-28 Frederic WoodTheatre |
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One Thousand Cranes
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Rusalka by Anton Dvořák Feb. 9-12 Chan Centre for Performing Arts |
Problem Child & The End Of Civilization by George F. Walker Feb. 9-18 Telus Studio Theatre |
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| Macbeth by William Shakespeare Mar. 22-31 Frederic WoodTheatre |
The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar June 21-24 UBC Old Auditorium |
Sept. 29-Oct. 8 at 7:30 pm
Frederic Wood Theatre
Director: Tom Scholte
Roughly based on The Trial by Franz Kafka, this madcap black comedy by Vancouver’s Sally Clark follows a modern businesswoman, Judith K., who finds her-self accused of an unknown crime. The harder she delves into the bureaucratic nightmare, the more firmly she is bound by it and the more obscure the nature of her charges becomes. The Trial of Judith K. has been nominated for both a Dora Mavor Moore Award and Governor General’s Award for “Best Play.”
The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s
The Idiot
Adapted and directed by James Fagan Tait
Music composed and directed by Joelysa Pankanea
Neworld Theatre/Vancouver Moving Theatre (Vancouver, Canada)
Presented with Theatre at UBC
Jan. 20-28 at 7:30 pm
Frederic Wood Theatre
Jan. 21, 22, 28, 29 at 2:00 pm
Frederic Wood Theatre
No performance Monday, Jan. 23
Post-Show Talkback Jan 22 Matinee, led by Kevin Bennett.
PREMIERE
In a world obsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, is a sanatorium the only place for a saint?
The award-winning team that premiered Crime and Punishment at the 2005 PuSh Festival returns with a musical adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s feverishly comic and haunting social critique, The Idiot. Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin is a man who is entirely and completely good. After four years of convalescing in Switzerland, Myshkin returns to Russia almost cured of epilepsy and the “idiocy” it created in him. On the train ride home he becomes enamored with Rogozhin, who himself is obsessed with Nastasya Filippovna, a beautiful woman with an unfortunate reputation.
Scorned by the society of St. Petersburg for his generosity and innocence, Myshkin finds himself at the centre of a struggle fueled by love, jealousy and greed. In the end it is his very goodness that precipiates disaster, and ultimately, his own collapse.
Neworld Theatre uses popular forms to examine our lives in the context of who counts, who doesn't and what our relationship is to the people we may think we aren't. Vancouver Moving Theatre celebrates the power of the human spirit, focuses on interdisciplinary arts, produces arts based community projects in their home community of the Downtown Eastside.
Tickets Advance $34 /$30 /$28; at door $36 /$32 /$30
Theatre at UBC
ubctheatre.universitytickets.com | 604.822.2678
Eligible for PuSh Pass access
2 for 1 tickets available for January 19 Preview and Matinees on Jan 21 & 22
Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council Innovations Program, and City of Vancouver Cultural Services. Commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development and the PuSh Festival.
Problem Child & The End Of Civilization
by George F. Walker
Feb. 9-18 at 7:30 pm,
Telus Studio Theatre
Director: Chris Robson
Two blistering one-act plays from George F. Walker’s sextet of plays, the smash hit “Suburban Motel.” One seedy motel room houses the deliciously dark and comic world of English Canada’s most accomplished playwright. Both are terrific tales of tenderness from the gritty side of life.
Fiercely funny and equally heartbreaking, Problem Child asks the question “how far would you go to get your baby back?” Holed up in a cheap motel, two young parents impatiently await a social worker's verdict while enlisting the help of a drunken innkeeper. Problem Child is a recipient of the Chalmers Award for “Best New Play.”
Five Stars...(Problem Child is) extraordinarily funny...Walker at his best." - The Toronto Sun
The End of Civilization is a gripping stage-noir thriller about an average couple who are driven to cross legal and moral boundaries in order to avoid financial ruin. A bizarre love triangle develops between the man, his wife and a policeman who is investigating the man for a particularly heinous crime.
"No other living playwright pushes the boundaries of comedy as far..." - Chicago Sun-Times
George F. Walker is one of Canada's most prolific and widely produced playwrights. His work has been honoured with two Governor General's Awards, eight Chalmers Awards and five Dora Awards. Walker is also the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement and is a Member of the Order of Canada. His screen credits include Due South, The Newsroom, This is Wonderland and Living In Your Car.
Chris Robson, Director: (UBC: BFA Acting) MFA Directing student Chris Robson is drawn to plays that affirm the strength of the human spirit and foster a sense of community. Recent credits include City of Beaches by David King, Figment by Jim Cunningham, The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown (also performance pianist), Sex and Madness, Rock and Roll (also writer, music director, and performance pianist.) Acting credits include Richmond Gateway Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Stratford Festival, Carousel, Cascade Theatre as well as numerous TV, film and commercial credits.
Featuring final year BFA Acting students Scott Button, Christine Bortolin, Joel Garner, Mitchell Hookey, Jordan Kerbs, Alex Pangburn, Melanie Reich and Matt Reznek and Tracy Schut. The creative team includes BFA Design students Wladimiro Woyno [Lighting & Set], Diana Sepulveda [Costumes] Ling Zhong [Sound] and Gabby Holt [Stage Management].
Feb. 9 - 18, 2012: PROBLEM CHILD & THE END OF CIVILIZATION By George F. Walker, Director Chris Robson | TELUS Studio Theatre, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Map: http://bit.ly/9SgiLX Curtain: Mon. – Sat. @ 7:30 p.m. | Opening: Thur. Feb. 9 | Tickets: Reg. $22/Senior $15/Student $10 | $7 Preview: Feb. 8 | Tickets: 604.822.2678 or Online: http://ubctheatre.universitytickets.com
Media Contact: Deb Pickman P: 604.319.7656 E: publicity.theatre@ubc.ca
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
March 22-31 at 7:30pm
Frederic Wood Theatre
Director: Patrick New
The stuff of nightmares. Black magic. Murder. Ghosts. Madness. Death. Shakespeare’s brooding tragedy digs into the dark territory of man’s ambition and greed. Emboldened by the enigmatic visions of three witches, Lord Macbeth and his Lady slaughter their way to the Scottish throne. Fresh horrors unfold as violence breeds violence, and a reign born in blood quickly spirals out of control. Shakespeare’s most powerful and emotionally intense play has shocked and fascinated audiences for nearly four hundred years.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” – Macbeth
The Extra Events below can be added at special subscriber rates when you book your subscription.
Thunderstorm
by Cao Yu
Director: Siyuan Liu
THUNDERSTORM By Cao Yu, Director Siyuan Liu - FREE event!
A staged reading of Thunderstorm Nov. 4 & 5 and international
touring exhibition Oct. 31-Nov. 18
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC
MAP: http://bit.ly/r0HOtC
Thunderstorm is a tale of fatalism, retribution, and incest by one of China’s most revered dramatists. It is influenced by Western theatre but thoroughly Chinese in manner and material. Cao Yu’s other most well-known works are Sunrise (1936) and Peking Man (1940). It is largely through the efforts of Cao Yu that the modern Chinese "spoken theatre" took root in 20th-century Chinese literature.
The staged readings and accompanying lobby exhibition (from Leeds University, UK), created by Cao's step daughter Ruru Li, about Cao Yu’s life are part of a world-wide celebration of the centennial of Cao Yu’s birth. Known as the "Shakespeare of the Orient," Cao Yu (1910-1996) is one of China’s most honoured dramatists.
Director Siyuan Liu is an Associate Professor with Theatre at UBC. He specializes in Asian theatre and he has published numerous research articles on twentieth-century Chinese and Japanese theatre in Theatre Journal, TDR, Asian Theatre Journal and in Text & Presentation. His book reviews have appeared in Theatre Journal, Theatre Survey, Asian Theatre Journal, Text & Presentation, and Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. He has contributed dozens of entries on twentieth-century Chinese theatre to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance and The Encyclopaedia of Asian Theatre. He has regularly presented research papers in conferences in North America and is the President of the Association for Asian Performance.
The cast for the staged reading features UBC students Corey Turner, Keyanna Burgher, Jesse DeCoste, Owen Douglas Embleu, Julia Henderson, Alice Ren and Alan Mak with Ryan Caron and Michael Germant. The Creative & Production Team includes Theatre at UBC alumnus Nick Harrison (Fight Coach) and our BFA Design students Ling Zhong (Lighting and Sound Design) and Emily Hartig (Stage Manager) with Hibiki Morishita (Assistant Stage Manager).
THUNDERSTORM
By Cao Yu, Director Siyuan Liu
VENUE: Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road, UBC | MAP: http://bit.ly/r0HOtC | STAGED READING: NOV. 4 & 5 at 7:30pm | EXHIBITION: OCT. 31-NOV. 18, 10am to 4pm (except Sun.) |
Tickets - FREE! | Information: 604.822.2678 or www.theatre.ubc.ca
The Crucible
by Robert Ward,
based on the play by Arthur Miller
Libretto by Robert Ward and Bernard Stambler
Director: Nancy Hermiston
UBC Opera Ensemble with the
UBC Symphony Orchestra
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a study of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. It was one of the most important plays of the 1950s, along with two other Miller plays, Death of a Salesman and All My Sons. Ward’s musical setting of The Crucible only increases the intensity in this powerful depiction of the strength required to maintain integrity in the face of overwhelming injustice. The Crucible, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is one of the few widely recognized operatic masterworks of the 20th century.
November 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 pm
November 13, at 2:00 pm
UBC Old Auditorium
Regular Tickets $35 | $25 | $20
Theatre at UBC Subscriber Add-On price $30 | $20 | $15
Two Merchants
An Adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
Nov. 10-19 at 7:30 pm , Telus Studio Theatre
Director: Dana Lori Chalmers
Set amidst the modern day Arab-Israeli conflict, Two Merchants is a twist on Shakespeare’s classic The Merchant of Venice. This original adaptation retains the famous story of an unpaid debt, a daughter’s defection, and ancient antagonisms leading to a trial without mercy and the renewal of old hatreds. Amidst religious persecution and fear, two enemies engage in a life and death battle over an unfulfilled contract, family loyalty, and justice.
But things are not as they once were; where once an infamous Jew battled his Christian neighbors, now it is Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Arabs who must find their way through the treacherous waters of Shakespeare’s ‘Venice’. In one act, Shylock, the Jew, seeks justice and vengeance from within a Muslim dominated culture. In the other act, Shylock, the Muslim, strives for the same things within a Jewish dominated culture.
Two Merchants is a doctoral research project: More than a theatrical production, Two Merchants is also a research endeavor aimed at developing the use of entertainment to counter ideologies that spur entrenched conflicts. Every performance features a brief questionnaire and audiences are invited to join us for a beverage at the in-theatre bar for questions, discussion and debate after every performance. Evening performances will also have observers in the theatre to note audience responses to the shows. In addition, audience members can volunteer to participate in a focus group discussion or one-on-one interview/discussion with the director and researcher – Interdisciplinary Studies Doctoral Student, Dana Lori Chalmers.
The villanie you teach me I will execute, and it shall goe hard but I will better the instruction.“ – The Merchant of Venice
Featuring intermediate year BFA Acting students Georgia Beaty, Alen Dominguez, Emma Johnson, Pippa Johnstone, Karina Palmitesta, Joel Garner, Alexander Keurvorst, Kenton Klassen, Matt Reznek, Tracy Schut and Courtney Shields. The creative team includes MFA Design students Diana Sepulveda [Set], Alia Stephen [Lighting & Video], Megan Gilron [Costumes] and Danielle Bourgon [Stage Management] with BA student Scott Zechner [Sound]. The academic team includes Richard Menkis (CNERS), Shafik Dharamsi (The Liu Institute), Stephen Heatley (Theatre and Film) and Susan Cox (Applied Ethics)
What is Two Merchants?
Video: More than a theatrical production, Two Merchants is also a research endeavor aimed at developing the use of entertainment to counter ideologies that spur entrenched conflicts. Here director/researcher Dana-Lori Chalmers provides an enlightening in depth explanation of the inspiration, execution and intentions for the project. This brief video also contains a scene that was captured at the outdoor rehearsal for Two Merchants presented at part of UBC’s Celebrate Learning Week.
Nov. 10 - 19, 2011: TWO MERCHANTS an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Director Dana Lori Chalmers | TELUS Studio Theatre, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Map: http://bit.ly/9SgiLX | Curtain: Mon. – Sat. @ 7:30 p.m. | Opening: Thur. Nov. 10 | Tickets: Reg. $22/Senior $15/Student $10 | $7 Preview: Nov. 9 | Mondays $5 for UBC alumni! | Tickets: 604.822.2678 or Online: http://www.theatre.ubc.ca
Note: Two Merchants is a doctoral research project.
Media Contact: Deb Pickman P: 604.319.7656 E: publicity.theatre@ubc.ca
Regular Tickets $22 | $15 | $10
Theatre at UBC Subscriber Add-On price $18 | $14 | $8.5
A Little Creation
By Vanessa Imeson
Directed by Patrick New
Nov. 24-26 at 7:30 pm
Frederic Wood Theatre |
Tickets: Free
A wonderful event for the whole family!
In Brief: Combining oral tradition with theatre, this workshop production blends several Aboriginal Canadian Creation stories. Reflecting on the past and the present these tales combine to create something new that considers traditions of the past from the vantage point of today’s concrete Indian.
Theatre for Young Audiences: Although aimed at children, “A Little Creation” melds art forms in a way that will delight children and adults alike. Featuring large-scale puppets designed by MFA Design student Vanessa Imeson, a quirky cast of characters is brought to life by our ensemble cast - enacting a colorful collision of eras and stories. Questioning what really constitutes the ‘Beginning’.
The Company: MFA candidate Patrick New, a recent Sydney J. Risk award winner, directs. Performances by BFA Acting alumni Meaghan Chenosky and David Kaye, MFA Design student Alex Carr along with BFA Design student Laura Fukumoto, Law student Lisa Smith, and actors Nyla Carpentier and Ashley McCallister. The creative team includes MFA Design Student Vanessa Imeson/Costumes (this is her thesis project) and BFA Design and Production students Set, Emily Hartig/Lighting, Brady Villadsen/Projections and Gua Khee Chong/Sound with BA Theatre student Ashley Noyes/ Stage Management.
Listen to a sample sound clip from the show! (We gratefully acknowledge A Tribe Called Red for music used in the production)
A LITTLE CREATION: November 24 - 26, 2011
Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Rd., UBC | MAP: http://bit.ly/r0HOtC |CURTAIN: Thurs - Sat @ 7:30 pm Sat Matinee at 2:00 pm | TICKETS: Free! | BOX OFFICE: 604.822.2678 theatre@interchange.ubc.ca
Rusalka
by Anton Dvořák, In Czech with English surtitles
Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil
Director: Nancy Hermiston
UBC Opera Ensemble with
the UBC Symphony Orchestra
Dvořák’s quintessentially Bohemian take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid is not only his finest and most enduringly popular opera but arguably one of the most deeply moving operas of all. A water nymph’s desperate longing to experience true love plunges her into the emotional maelstrom of life at a handsome Prince’s court. Emerging with a profounder understanding of the unspeakable pain, as well as the fleeting joys of human existence, she nevertheless finds it within herself to forgive her betrayer, even at the cost of her own immortal soul.
February 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 pm
February 12 at 2:00 pm
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Regular Tickets $35 | $25 | $20
Theatre at UBC Subscriber Add-On price $30 | $20 | $1
The Merry Widow
by Franz Leha
in German with English
Surtitles
Libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein
UBC Opera Ensemble with the UBC Symphony Orchestra
Set in a high-society party in the Pontevedrian Embassy in turn-of-the-century Paris, The Merry Widow is a light-hearted, whimsical operetta that tells the story of Anna Glawari, the temperamental widow of an outrageously wealthy man in search of a new husband. But she faces a tough decision: if she decides to remarry, her tiny country, Pontevedro, will be left bankrupt. What unfolds is an embassy plot to match and marry her off to the suave, handsome Count Danilo; a scheme complicated by the secret affair of the French attaché and the wife of the Pontevedrian ambassador. Lovers’ crazy trysts, lavish parties, spirited hijinks, and political intrigue make this joyful operetta one not to be missed.
June 21, 22, 23 at 7:30 pm
June 24 at 2:00 pm
UBC Old Auditorium
Regular Tickets $35 | $25 | $20
Theatre at UBC Subscriber Add-On price $30 | $20 | $15
One Thousand Cranes
by Ren Hisa based on the original play by Colin Thomas
translated by Toyoshi Yoshihara
FREDERIC WOOD THEATRE
3 Performances Only!
Feb. 10 & 11 @ 7:30 pm, Feb. 11 Matinee @ 2 pm
Performed in Japanese with English surtitles by 劇団文化座 Bunkaza Theatre Company (Tokyo)
Bunkaza Theatre has adapted UBC Theatre alumnus Colin Thomas's award-winning play for young audiences.One Thousand Cranes weaves together the stories of two twelve-year-olds: Sadako, the girl whose death by radiation-induced leukemia is commemorated in Hiroshima's monument of one thousand cranes, and Buddy, a Canadian boy whose life is being taken over by his fears of nuclear war.
カナダの劇作家コーリン・トーマス原作による『千羽鶴』（吉原豊司翻訳）。広島で被爆し「原爆の子の像」のモデルともなった佐々木禎子さんの物語を通じ、核兵器に怯えるカナダの少年の心の変化、成長を描きます。
A year after the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, this beautifully crafted show from Tokyo puts a human face to nuclear fallout. The presentation in Vancouver by Bukaza Theatre Company coincides with the Museum of Anthropology’s Exhibition on Hiroshima (Closing Feb. 12). 1,000 Cranes is performed in Japanese with English surtitles and storytelling by Nan Gregory. 95 minutes - no intermission.
Established in 1942, Bunkaza is one of the oldest contemporary theatre companies in Japan with 45 fulltime company members. Most of their repertoire deals with oppressed grass-roots people who strive for the betterment of their lives. They have a special interest in Canadian theatre and have produced numerous Canadian plays including The Tomorrow Box by Anne Chislett, Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock and Odd Jobsby Frank Moher, all with translations by Toyoshi Yoshihara. The Bunkaza version of One Thousand Cranespremiered in 1985 in Tokyo. The company has since toured Japan, giving more than 200 performances of the play.
1942年に設立された文化座は、長い歴史と45名に及ぶ専属団員を誇る現代劇制作集団です。その演目には、平和でより良い生活を目指して戦う庶民の姿を描いた作品が多く、「千羽鶴」のほか、アンチスレット作「びっくり箱」、フランク・モハー作「こんにちは、おばあちゃん」などのカナダ戯曲も上演しています。「千羽鶴」日本版は1985年の初演以来全国各地を巡演、総上演回数200を超える実績を上げるに至っています。
Sponsors: The Metropolitan Tokyo Government; Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver; Theatre at UBC; UBC St.John's College; UBC Museum of Anthropology; Office of the Dean, UBC Faculty of Arts; Vancouver Save Article 9; and Tonarigumi.
One Thousand Cranes Written by Ren Hisa, based on the play by Colin Thomas - Translated by Toyoshi Yoshihara
Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Rd., UBC | MAP: http://bit.ly/r0HOtC | SHOWTIMES: 3 Performances! Feb. 10 & 11 @ 7:30 pm, Feb. 11 @ 2 pm | TICKETS: Tickets: $32 | Seniors $28 | Students $24 | Family Package (2 Adults Max) $50 – advance bookings only | BOX OFFICE: 604.822.2678 or http://ubctheatre.universitytickets.com
Media Contact: Deb Pickman P: 604.319.7656 E: publicity.theatre@ubc.ca
Other performances on Salt Spring Island and in Victoria BC listed on the
flyer
Free Origami Workshop!
Before and after the 2pm matinee on Feb. 11 of 1,000 Cranes, there will be a
free origami demonstration/workshop for audience members led by Yukiko Tosa
with Vancouver's origami club PALM. Also enjoy our lobby installation of
1,000 colourful paper cranes which has been created by Yukiko Tosa along
with a team of dedicated volunteers and installed by Jay Henrickson.
Yukiko Tosa is Branch Head of the Kensington Branch, Vancouver Public
Libraries and co-founder of a local origami club PALM. PALM meets on the
fourth Saturday of each month at the Kensington Branch of the Vancouver
Public Library.
