ARTS EAST

Halifax’s Theatre Arts Guild closes its 2013-2014 season with Terrence McNally’s hilarious comedy The Full Monty, the story of six unemployed steel workers  who form a male striptease act. Director Rebecca Humphreys gives us the details. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? I have always been an actor ever since I first dressed up in my mother’s clothes and put on shows for her and anyone else who would watch.  I continued to do theatre in school and then in University.  I have a BA in Drama from the University of Saskatchewan and studied Musical Theatre at Grant McEwan College in Edmonton.  I love live theatre because you get the immediate response from the audience – you build a relationship with them that is special and unique every night.  It is a great rush to hear their reactions and receive their applause at the end of the show. Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? Yes – I knew coming ou...

Cliff Cardinal in Huff; Image by Elizabeth Kantor Monday night, Huff opened its Magnetic North Theatre Festival run to a sold out crowd. You still have a chance to see the “ darkly comedic journey ” set on a First Nations reserve tonight through Saturday (June 25-28). Meet the play’s designer and producer, Elizabeth Kantor, who hopes audiences “ leave with sweaty palms, beating hearts and brains full of questions machinating away.” When and why did you first become interested in theatre? EK: I first became interested in theatre at barely four years old when my Grandmother took me to see the Nutcracker. The whole experience was magical. From then on I wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. A part of the storytelling, a part of a community, a part of the spark when the story meets the audience. Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? EK:  Today I work to tell stories that are socially and politically relevant – current, and in need ...

Kawa Ada and Christine Horne in Iceland. Image by Lacey Creighton Governor General Award-winning playwright, Nicolas Billon is the creative mind behind Iceland , one of the productions showcased at this year’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival. His piece examines how the 2008 collapse of three Icelandic banks created shockwave ripple effects across the world, bringing home the idea that “ no country is an island, not even one as remote as Iceland. ” In this Q&A, Billon shares some intriguing responses about his vocation and also this play, which you can catch June 25 (tonight) or June 27-28 in Dartmouth. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? NB: In high school, I acted in a number of productions. I was terrible. Thankfully, I didn't realise it at the time – so I kept doing it until it dawned on me that I should probably be doing something other than act.  After CÉGEP, I started a community theatre with a friend of mine, and we put on about ...

Photo by Scott Munn Tonight and tomorrow night, as part of Mag North, Halifax’s Zuppa Theatre Co presents Pop-Up Love Party , a“ multi- sensory feast of dance, theatre and thought” to “raise a glass to love.” AE caught up with the show’s director, Alex McLean, to find out more about the delicious production. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? AM: My mother was really involved in community theatre when I grew up, so theatre just seemed like a normal part of life to me. While my friends were going to Sunday School, I was playing backstage at community theatres and watching my mother and her friends rehearse.  Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? AM: I think so. The theatre became a place for me in which I could try to make sense of the world. My perspective on things has changed, but I still use theatre as a tool of grappling with the complexities and ambiguities of experience. And it actually works...

You have two evenings left (today and tomorrow) to catch The National Elevator Project (NEP) at Mag North. Edmonton’s Theatre Yes has commissioned five-minute plays from across the country to be performed within working elevators. “ The actors will be only a few feet away so the experiences are intense,” says Heather Inglis, founder of the NEP and artistic producer at Theatre Yes. “Many people say that the plays are so engaging that five minutes is all they need to feel they have had a complete theatre experience.”   Inglis shares more about the intriguing Project: When and why did you first become interested in theatre? HI: I've been interested in theatre my whole life. I’m an example of a child who was immersed in the arts and fell in love with them at an early age. Before I even knew what a theatre director was, I forced my younger brother to perform plays under the walnut tree for my extended family while I stood on the sidelines to watch. Are they the sam...

Broken Sex Doll Presented by The Virtual Stage Book, Lyrics and Director: Andy Thompson Composer: Anton Lipovetsky Over the top in all the right ways (or wrong ways, wink wink ), Broken Sex Doll had Friday night’s audience in laughing convulsions. The musical comedy transports spectators to the year 2136, a world where robots and humans are indistinguishable on the surface, and where one’s personal ‘feelies’—multi-sensory experiences—can be shared with the entire world. When Daryl (Andrew Cohen) and Ginger (Chelsea Rose Tucker) record their sexual encounter and upload it online, they become instant stars, and the public is ever so grateful. Everyone except the King that is, who is knocked off his throne at the top of the Feelies Chart. Broken Sex Doll is a powerhouse of song and dance, theatrics and burlesque emotions. Although choice electronic sights and sounds dazzle the stage and complement the premise of an even more technologically-obsessed age than pr...

The Magnetic North Theatre Festival continues tonight with When it Rains, a play in the form of a live-action existential graphic novel. When the improbable happens, two couples are beset with misfortune, communication fractures, and relationships crumble as behaviours becomes absurd. People sing, get naked, give up, lose control, and even have sex with strangers. Some kind of God intervenes. Or observes. Or something. Or nothing. Writer-director Anthony Black explains. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? When I was nine, a friend of mine told me he was taking a class at Neptune Theatre School that I should come along. It was a lot of fun and I took classes there for years.  I kept performing in High School shows in my teens. I think I liked the laughter, the sense of play, and the friendships formed. Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? Largely, yes. I still love laughing and playing with friends. It's not that...