2013-11-23

Montreal Book Fair Videos

2013-10-30

The Rat Pack Jazz


FRIDAY, Nov. 1, 9PM: Dick Powell’s In the Mood for Jazz - $20An irreverent, satirical take on Hollywood's Golden Age. Black & white comes to life in this absurd spectacle of music and celebrity. Dick Powell returns to the stage after a twenty two year hiatus. Featuring: Dick Powell, Laura Thornton, Buck Wheaton (drums), Paco Bertolucci (guitar), Sandy Beaches (double bass), Shorty Benton (piano) and Buster Nelligan (alto sax, flute).
Rat Pack comedy/jazz show- In the Mood for Jazz
Written and created by Patrick Costello and Graham Cuthbertson with the help of Angela Galuppo and The Buck Wheaton Trio.
Bar service an hour before the show.
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2013-10-18

None of the Above

Written by Jenny Lyn Bader
Directed by
Trevor Barrette & Michelle Lewis
Mark these dates in your fall calendar
Tuesday, November 26 – Saturday, November 30, 2013

Only seven performances!

Jamie, 17, a sophisticated New York City private school student, answers the door one day expecting her drug dealer - and instead finds her SAT tutor.
Things degenerate from there. But as the play progresses, Jamie and Clark negotiate an unusual pact. 

With Lily MacLean and Scott Humphrey




None of the AboveKaleidoscope Theatre MontrealAt MainLine Theatre,
3997 St-Laurent,
Nov. 26-30

Tuesday to Saturday at 8:00 pm, Tuesday and Saturday matinee at 2:00pm

Tickets for the preview, Tues. Nov. 26 at 2pm, are $12

Tickets for Saturday matinee, Nov. 30 at 2pm are 2-for-1 (at the door only)


Tickets: $20, $15 (students/seniors),
$12 (groups)

Reservations: 514 849-3378
or online:
www.mainlinetheatre.ca/en/spectacles/none-of-the-above-by-jenny-lyn-bader


Kaleidoscope Theatre Montreal was founded in 2011 by actor, director and playwright Trevor Barrette. The company’s mission is to work with emerging and young professional artists in the Montreal community to produce visually dynamic theatre focusing on storytelling. The company is accessible to all, but most importantly, encourages a young adult audience.

Kaleidoscope Theatre Montreal’s first production, presented in the summer of 2011, was a post-modern dystopian retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone set in a war-torn Thebes, featuring a cast of twenty. The following year they created ‘a brave new world’ with their steam-punk version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The Canadian premiere of Jenny Lyn Bader’s None of the Above, a contemporary two-hander almost-romantic comedy about the things people do for money, grades and love, is their third production.


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2013-10-11

If We Were Birds

Fabulously written, fabulously interpreted.

Purposely destroying innocence or happiness for self blood-pleasure should be a crime. Because it is a crime.

This play is extremely strong, yet entertainingly displayed. The words and the destructive actions described   are to the utmost powerful while the manner in which the outrageous manners are depicted and brought to the consciousness of the public is smoothly chewed up.

Everything in If We Were Birds is simple and effective. From the set to the images used, and the setting in Ancient Greece.

Almost religious and jazzy
All actresses and actors are great in their respective roles, especially so the young girl played by Amella Sargisson who masters the expression and feelings of skin dirt and desperation, the cries and finally the acted upon idea to get herself out of the abusive situation. ''It's my blood'', he claims screamingly while locking her up in order to leave her no way for her cries to be heard. You can't help but think of so many women locked up in so many ways that are left totally uncared about by male-driven worlds, be they religious or other blood-ridden variables. The five-women chorus - each representing different daily life or male war abuse situations - is jazzy in beat, nature and sound.

Extremely well done!

If We Were Birds is currently playing at the Montreal Centaur Theatre. Here are the details:

If We Were Birds
An Imago Theatre production, Centaur Theatre’s Brave New Looks selection for 2013

At Centaur Theatre, October 9-19

453 St. François-Xavier, Montreal
Wednesday to Saturday at 8:30 pm,
Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:30pm


There will be a talkback after each performance.

All matinees, October 12, 13 and 19, are pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation $10)
Tickets
: $25, $18 (students/seniors/Centaur subscribers/artists)

Box Office: 
514 288-3161 or online: 
http://www.centaurtheatre.com/tickets.php
www.imagotheatre.ca

All above photos by 
Tristan Brand.


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2013-10-07

Kafka’s Ape

Based on Kafka’s short story, A Report to an Academy
Adapted from the original German by Guy Sprung
Directed by Guy Sprung

Captured on the Gold Coast and imprisoned in a cage, Redpeter’s only escape route is to become a walking, talking, spitting, hard-drinking member of the Peace Industry, the entrepreneurial world of mercenary soldiers. In detailing the journey of his enforced evolution from apedom to humandom, Mr. Redpeter is a living embodiment of the irony that perhaps now he is more animal than he ever was as an ape.

Starring Howard Rosenstein, with Alexandra Montagnese

Kafka’s Ape
Infinithéâtre at Bain St-Michel
5300, rue St-Dominique (corner Maguire)
Thursday, November 7 – Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tuesday to Saturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday matinée at 2:00pm
Tickets: $17-$25, Infinithéâtre 6pack available
Sunday, November 10 is pay-what-you-can
Tickets: 514 987-1774 ext. 104 or online at www.infinitheatre.com

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ESjW1LNys7M

Other upcoming Infinitheatre shows:
The Pipeline, Dec. 4-8
Infinithéâtre’s annual series of free public readings, presenting three new Québec plays
Hanafuda Denki (The Dance of Death), Jan. 13-18
A Goth-Manga-Kabuki-Pop gender-bending musical treat for the senses

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2013-09-23

If We Were Birds, Imago Theatre at Centaur Theatre

Written by Erin Shields, Directed by Micheline Chevrier
Wednesday, October 9 – Saturday, October 19, 2013



How do you move on, move through, move past inflicted heinous violations? Can vengeance lead to hope? Imago Theatre is honoured to present Erin Shield’s If We Were Birds, winner of the 2011 Governor General’s Award for Drama, from October 9-19 at Centaur Theatre. This moving, funny and unsettling play, with an all-star Montreal cast directed by Micheline Chevrier, gives voice to women forced into silence through violence. Continuing their mandate to encourage dialogue, the company will hold a talkback after each performance.


If We Were Birds springs from the deep bond between two young sisters, characterized by their playfulness, romantic innocence and budding sexuality. An ingenious adaptation of the myth of Tereus, Procne and Philomela from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the play features a diverse chorus of contemporary women, each a survivor of a 20th century conflict. The text draws on testimonials of survivors from Nanking (1937), Berlin (1945), Bangladesh (1971), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-95) and Rwanda (1994). The play is a strong indictment against the culture of war and its cycle of violence. It exposes the silence and shame that so often surround sexual violence, whether in times of conflict or in our everyday lives. It asks us to listen to those whom we refuse to see or hear, whose language often offends, whose stories always disturb.

Chevrier has always been attracted to Greek mythology and fascinated with the consequences of war, “The myths beautifully reveal what lurks within each of us; the conflict of human nature, and the battle between reason and passion, order and chaos.” For her, Shields has captured this paradox brilliantly, “The characters are at the same time violent and tender, beautiful and ugly. Shields is incredibly adept at mixing humour and the gut-wrenching, often injecting comedy into tragedy.”
In this visionary retelling, Procne, daughter of Athenian King Pandion, marries war hero King Tereus and sets sail with him for Thrace. Despite the happiness she feels in her new life with her husband and newborn son, she aches to see her beloved sister, Philomela. Procne pleads with Tereus to travel to Athens and bring her sister to her side. But the moment Tereus sets eyes Philomela, his blood is stirred into violent passion. The horrors of war bleed into the family, turning love into rage, rage into revenge, and revenge into incredible personal loss. Here, moments of humour blend with fury, compassion and sobering self-examination. Shields’ work is rich in content and form, with language ranging from heightened to modern vernacular, daring everyone to venture into the land of extremes.

Involved with Imago since 2009, this is Chevrier’s inaugural show as Artistic Director of the company. For her, as long as sexual violence still makes the news, this play is a conversation that has to start now, “One has only to look at what is happening in Juarez, Mexico, where a vigilante woman has taken justice into her own hands, avenging the rape of working women by the local bus drivers; or what has been happening in Egypt- men carrying off women who have come to the public square to make their voices heard, then raping them. Last spring, the mayor of Osaka defended the use of ‘comfort women’ by the Japanese army in the Second World War; pro-rape chants were proudly sung by fraternity members at Yale.” Chevrier continues to be struck by the silence and apathy of governments in bringing the perpetrators to justice, “I have always believed that the greatest crime is to silence someone or a people; in doing so, we effectively kill them.”

For Amelia Sargisson, who plays Philomela, the play raises the disquieting fact that we are all participants in, and victims of, a culture of violence, “I hope this production will inspire people to make small changes within their own lives to resist and help reverse the trend towards social values which not only accept but lionize violence.” According to the play, the effort to do so - to comprehend and even surpass ourselves - is inherent in us.

The well-known company of actors includes Lauryn Allman as Procne, Chip Chuipka as Pandion, Nico Racicot as Tereus, and Amelia Sargisson as Philomela. Playing the chorus of ravaged women who have been transformed into birds are: Deena Aziz, Stefanie Buxton, Shiong-En Chan, Clare Schapiro and Warona Setshwaelo.

Creating the trapped world of the play, complete with perches, rich textures, shadows, and evocative sound and props, are lauded designers Diana Uribe, set and costumes; Rob Thompson, lights; and Peter Cerone, sound. The stage manager is Kira Maros. Chevrier is thrilled with the wealth of talent, varying in age and background, coming together to explore this challenging piece of theatre.

Imago Theatre produces plays that address current issues and represent women’s experiences, perspectives and stories. For the past 26 years, Imago Theatre, along with an active, thinking and opinionated audience, has fostered conversation, encouraged reflection and provoked change.


If We Were Birds
An Imago Theatre production, Centaur Theatre’s Brave New Looks selection for 2013
At Centaur Theatre, Oct. 9-19, 2013
453 St. François-Xavier, Old Montreal
Wednesday to Saturday at 8:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:30pm

There will be a talkback after each performance.

Tickets for the preview, Wed. Oct.9, are $15

All matinees, October 12, 13 and 19, are pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation $10)
Tickets: $25, $18 (students/seniors/Centaur subscribers/artists)

Box Office: 
514 288-3161 or online: http://www.centaurtheatre.com/tickets.php
www.imagotheatre.ca

This year three Montreal companies join together to offer modern adaptations of classic tales at a great price (4 tickets for $40/students, $60/adults): If We Were Birds, Imago Theatre; The Aeneid, Talisman Theatre; The Iliad and The Odyssey, Geordie Productions. Call Geordie Productions at 514 845-9810 for this package.




2013-08-30

Wonderful Kathleen Turner

Tonight was the tribute to Kathleen Turner at the Montreal World Film Festival. Michael Douglas and Danny De Vito as well as Kirk Douglas and Kathleen Turner's daughter were present, either in person or on video.

Movie scenes were selected for the occasion, from some of her best movies including The War of the Roses and Body Heat.

Kathleen Turner at the Montreal World Film Festival Tribute
Photo Jacqueline Mallette
Kathleen Turner is a wonderful actress, still working and still in demand. Still adored, loved and appreciated by her public.Still chic on stage: all those stitches from her own stunts are long gone, her performances are the best.

Kathleen Turner has also been an activist for over 26 years in some cases, and she believes women's health is most important for the world's health at large. Watch this video from Kathleen Turner at the Montreal World Film Festival press conference and the second video from the tribute at the Imperial Cinema (Videos Jacqueline Mallette):




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2013-08-05

Montreal First Peoples Festival : Nuestramericana

A beautiful family event downtown Montreal!

Starting with the parade of participating representatives from many nations on 3 continents, dancers, musicians, flag holders and the crowd all gather on Place des Festivals for shows until evening bands take over. With specialty food tastings and corn on the cob.

Such a peaceful happy moment!



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2013-07-29

THE ENGLISH TEACHER

TVA FILMS is proud to announce the release of The English Teacher on Friday, July 26th 2013.   
Directed by Craig Zisk, the movie stars Julianne Moore (Crazy Stupid Love, The Hours, The Kids Are All Right), Academy Award® nominee and Emmy award winning actor Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets,  Little Miss Sunshine), also starring Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror), the Broadway star Nathan Lane (Mirror MirrorThe Birdcage) and Michael Angarano (Gentlemen Broncos). The English Teacher is the charming story of a small town teacher whose mundane routine is turned around when a former student returns after failing as a playwright in New York City. 


Linda Sinclair (Moore) is a forty-year-old unmarried high school English teacher in the small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania. She shares a small apartment with two Siamese cats and her rich collection of great literature, and she likes it that way. But Linda's simple life turns an unexpected page when former star pupil Jason Sherwood (Angarano) returns to Kingston after trying to make it as a playwright in New York. Now in his 20s, Jason is on the verge of abandoning art, pressured by his overbearing father (Kinnear), to face reality and go to law school. Linda can't stand the thought of Jason giving up on his dreams so she decides to mount his play - a dark, angst-ridden, ambitious work - as a Kingston High School production, with flamboyant drama teacher Carl Kapinas (Lane) directing. With the play, her reputation, and her teaching career on the line, Linda finds an unlikely ally in herself. 


THE ENGLISH TEACHER marks Craig Zisk's feature film debut ; he won a Golden Globe for Brooklyn Bridge, and earned multiple Emmy nominations for The Larry Sanders Show and Weeds. 
The film was written by Dan and Stacy Chariton and is an Artina Films production. Naomi Despres, Robert Salerno, Matthew E. Chausse and Ben LeClair serve as producers. Philippe Chausse of Procinvest Sas and Aaron Gilbert of Media House Capital serve as executive producers. 

The film premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2013. Since May 31st 2013, the movie already played in 13 cities in Canada. 
US  –  English  –  PG  -  136 minutes 


2013-06-03

Ce que le jour doit à la nuit

CINÉMA
A-Z Films a le plaisir d’annoncer que le film Ce que le jour doit à la nuit, réalisé par Alexandre Arcady, prendra l’affiche en exclusivité au Cinéma Beaubien le 14 juin 2013.

Le film met en vedette Nora Arnezeder (The Words, Safe House), Fu'ad Aït Aattou (The Last Mistress), Anne Parillaud (Nikita), Vincent Perez (Un baiser papillon, Cyrano de Bergerac), Anne Consigny (Rapt, Un conte de Noël) et Fellag (Monsieur Lazhar).

Ce que le jour doit à la nuit est une adaptation du best-seller de Yasmina Khadra, auteur reconnu mondialement notamment pour les livres L’attentat, Morituri et Les hirondelles de Kaboul. Pour le réalisateur, qui est un grand admirateur du travail de Yasmina Khadra, ce récit est l’oeuvre qu’il attendait : « Il me semblait que tout mon apprentissage, toute mon expérience de cinéaste étaient tendus dans l’attente inconsciente d’un roman comme celui-là. »

SYNOPSIS
Algérie, années 1930. Younes a 9 ans lorsqu’il est confié à son oncle pharmacien (Fellag, Monsieur Lazhar) à Oran. Rebaptisé Jonas, il grandit parmi les jeunes de Rio Salado dont il devient l’ami. Dans la bande, il y a Emilie, la fille dont tous sont amoureux. Entre Jonas et elle naîtra une grande histoire d’amour, qui sera bientôt troublée par les conflits qui agitent le pays.


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ANIKAI Dance: Wendy Jehlen and Shakespeare

In the hands of ANIKAI Dance, Shakespeare’s texts are taken out of context and performed mostly in Hindi or American Sign Language.
They conjure up entire narratives with just one line, one word, one gesture.
ANIKAI Dance presents
The Canadian premiere of
The Knocking Within
a dance-theater duet

Directed and performed by Wendy Jehlen and Pradhuman Nayak
At the 2013 St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, venue: MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)
Sat. June 15- Sun. June 23
Click to see promo video: The Knocking Within
ANIKAI Dance Company comes to Montréal for the first time to present The Knocking Within. Just coming off a tour in India, where the show played to standing-room only audiences and received rave reviews, The Knocking Within will be at the MAI, as part of the Montreal Fringe Festival, before returning to Boston for a an extended return engagement. The Knocking Within is created by performers Wendy Jehlen and Pradhuman Nayak with lighting design by Stephen Petrilli.

Inspired by research into the neuroscience of sleep and the anthropology of dreams, The Knocking Within weaves a portrait of two lovers and the nightmares that plague them, unveiling the violence that lies just beneath the surface. With influences from Capoeira to Bharata Natyam, American Sign Language poetry to Kalaripayattu,
West African dance to a wide range of Contemporary forms, this work combines a dizzying array of movement vocabulary, woven together into a new language of the body. The piece calls into question the lines we draw between art forms, between cultures, even between methodologies.

The Knocking Within
draws on texts from Shakespeare, arguably the most recognizable playwright in the English language in the world, including lines from Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Twelfth Night, Titus Andronicus and the sonnets, to effect a re-staging of theater, taking it decidedly into the realm of visual communication. The texts are present but implicit, creating a tension between the permanence of print, the persistence of imbedded cultural stories, and the immanent meaning-making power of bodies moving through space.

These texts, taken out of context and performed mostly in translation into Hindi or American Sign Language, conjure up entire narratives with just one line, one word, one gesture. The challenge for the audience is to use these references, but not to see these characters as the Shakespearean ones – Macbeth, Othello, Ophelia – but rather as two unnamed lovers who could be anyone.

The show was performed in India just after a horrific gang rape and murder had led to widespread protest against rampant violence against women. ANIKAI Dance Artistic Director, Wendy Jehlen, addresses this violence in the play, “So often we view these events as separate from ourselves. I hope that audience members will connect viscerally with the characters and carry this understanding into their engagement with real world violence.”

Past audiences have responded strongly to the troubled relationship laid bare onstage. One audience member had this to say: “The Knocking Within is a very intense and personal experience. At one point during the show I noticed pain in my fingers. It was only then that I realized I had my hands clutched together, fingers interwoven, squeezing against my wedding ring. I was completely unaware of the physical response I was having to the tension unfolding on stage until my fingers went numb.”

The Knocking Within
ANIKAI Dance Theatre at the St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival
MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), 3680 rue Jeanne-Mance, Running time: I hour

Dates: June Sat 15/6 21:45, Sun 16/6 22:30, Mon 17/6 19:45, Thu 20/6 16:45, Fri 21/6 20:00, Sun 23/6 14:45 Tickets: $8.00/$5.00 students/seniors (+ $2 service charge)
To purchase: 514 849-FEST (3378), online at www.montrealfringe.ca, at the Central Box Office located at FRINGE Park (corner Rachel/ St-Laurent) or at the MAI as of one hour before show time. www.anikai.org


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2013-05-02

CCA: Greg Lynn in conversation with Peter Eisenman, Chuck Hoberman and Shoei Yoh

Special Event

May 8 2013

Join the CCA for conversations led by Greg Lynn, curator of Archaeology of the Digital,with three of the featured architects in the exhibition: Peter Eisenman, Chuck Hoberman and Shoei Yoh.

Click here for the Facebook event.
Free admission.
read more

Montreal exhibitions

In conversation: Phyllis Lambert and Elizabeth Diller

Événement spécial au CCA | Special Event at the CCA
Le lundi 13 mai 2013, 18 h | Monday 13 May, 6 pm


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2013-04-17

Gold Mountain is all about injustice

Gold Mountain is all about injustice that awaits people with the courage to go search fortune elsewhere. It is a story of Chinese men in Liverpool but it could also be about women, who try to get past the WASP system. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant - or Anglican in England - and while we're at it: the expression never mentions the word Male because it doesn't even come to mind that the question should be about anyone other than male. But let's get back to this great play called GOLD MOUNTAIN by LES DEUX MONDES.



Gold Mountain tells the story of different folks being paid less because... Why, actually? Because they look different? Because they're not related to the local politicians? What hidden mafias set those rules? Which key do we press to stop it? How else can hidden mafias work for their own? And then you might want to ask as you leave the theater: How would that half Chinese son be welcomed in his father's home village of China now that the fierce Kuomintang is no longer the sole authoritative ruler of the country? Would he be offered the same opportunities as any local? Or would he now be considered an invader trying to steal jobs or saved/shared resources while trying to build a gold mountain for himself so he can take it elsewhere to some other worldly or unworldly paradise unknown to the locals? Quite the theme: Live together... on equal grounds for white men and Chinks (and for women too maybe?).

Visual concept on the set is innovative multimedia with Chinese shadows. Actors move not exactly mountains but close.

Two men compose the entire actor team on stage. British Chinese writer David Yip who wrote the play performs the father figure, he who was not rich or corrupt enough for the family of the woman he loved, and then left his home village and walked barefoot to Hong Kong, and from there worked on a merchant ship all the way to Liverpool in search for a new life elsewhere, anywhere. His Liverpool's Chinatown raised son - born from a white English woman who had to live through prejudiced family rejection as a result of her marrying a Chink - is performed by Kevin Wong.

The play is in English with French surtitles.

Les deux mondes has done it again. This story - partly true with some fiction - must have been quite the challenge to bring together. It's been six years of work since that day of June 2007 when they first met to discuss the project.

Check out the video here


More info and details on Gold Mountainhttp://servicesmontreal-eblog.blogspot.ca/2013/04/gold-mountain.html


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2013-04-08

Gold Mountain

Part of Les Deux Mondes’ 40th anniversary season!

Les Deux Mondes presents a co-production with Unity Theatre, Liverpool (with French surtitles)


Gold Mountain
Written by David Yip and Kevin Wong, Directed by Daniel Meilleur
Tuesday, April 16 – Saturday, April 27
“You must leave, go and bring honour to your family. Find your gold mountain, make your fortune. Then and only then can you return.”
Award-winning Montreal theatre company Les Deux Mondes is excited to present their internationally acclaimed show, Gold Mountain, for the first time in their home theatre, Aux Écuries, from April 16-27. Written by talented British playwright, actor and filmmaker David Yip, along with Kevin Wong, the play is performed by the original actors: David Yip as father figure, Yee Lui and Eugene Salleh, as his son, David Yee. This visually stunning multimedia presentation is the collaboration of the inspired Les Deux Mondes creative team: director/designer Daniel Meilleur, visual artist Yves Dubé and sound/multimedia designer Michel Robidoux.
Despite their difficult relationship, David Yee elicits from his father, Yee Lui, the story of his tragic life; having to flee a small village in China and its political upheaval with the hope of finding his ‘gold mountain’- a name given to North America’s west coast by Chinese immigrants looking for riches during the 19th century gold rush. Yee Lui finds himself in Liverpool married to an English woman and with a family, but without the trappings of the success he dreamed of. Loosely based on actor David Yip’s own father's life, Gold Mountain is an intimate tale of father and son, immigration and belonging, told with breathtaking theatrical magic. David tries to piece together the broken jigsaw of his father Yee's life - exploring his rambling stories in search of family truths. But every answer asks more questions- will David find the man he barely knew? In this epic journey, follow Yee’s story of personal exile against the backdrop of Communist China, war, gambling, addiction, adversity and friendship. Les Deux Mondes’ striking environment, including a transporting soundscape and brilliant images created by lighting, shadow play and film, is coupled with riveting performances. Follow Yee’s search for fortune and happiness, and David’s ultimate understanding, through the multimedia poetry of this celebrated, contemporary show.
For writer Yip, the play is a cocktail of stories shaken and stirred, “Some accounts are true, others made up, but the emotional roller coaster of the piece is very close to the mark.” It was also important for Yip to shed light on the often untold stories of his heritage, “With nearly 40 years as an actor, I have become more and more frustrated that so little writing comes from the British-Chinese community.” He continues, “All through my childhood, the veil of secrecy and suspicion hung heavy, the past was to be forgotten and only the future could be contemplated and talked about. It is up to artists like myself to help lift that veil and allow the younger generations to be able to ask, ‘why’?” Yip enjoyed talking to artists from the Chinese community in Vancouver when Gold Mountain played there in November, “Canada is fortunate to have a thriving community with great historic links to the ‘gold mountain’. I was inspired by our exchanges of ideas and thoughts.”

Though a memory-play, the story’s themes address today’s issues. Les Deux Mondes has had the opportunity to play in 35 countries during its forty years of existence. Daniel Meilleur, Gold Mountain director (and company co- Artistic Director with Michel Robidoux), discovered the issue of immigration all over the world, lived more or less harmoniously or confrontationally, “No wonder that a story that depicts a Chinese emigrant in Liverpool can move spectators in Sweden just as much as it touched us as Quebec artists. The concerns are universal.”

For the designers, the company’s Villeray neighbourhood is ever-present. This from Michel Robidoux- “Any play about the integration of newcomers into a society is automatically relevant for audiences everywhere. The story is also about hope and the willpower of continuity.” Yves Dubé adds, “Besides tackling the reality of immigrants, Gold Mountain speaks to the generation gap, racism, interracial marriages and forgiveness.”

The play is personal for Robidoux, “Being a huge Beatles fan and the son of a Montreal harbour longshoreman, I would have been drawn to any story taking place in Liverpool and around its harbour. My father worked for the Cunard Steamship Company operating between Liverpool and Montreal.” When Robidoux came back from Les Deux Mondes’ first tour in China, he started building virtual musical instruments from samples he had recorded and composed a number of musical themes, “Many compositions fit the Gold Mountain project and the rest were inspired by this crossbreeding of China and Liverpool, the cradle of The Beatles, whose music was some of the first I learned.”

With a solid reputation for artistic innovation and experimentation, this Les Deux Mondes production is no different. Here, text influences the multimedia universe and vice versa. Having seamlessly collaborated together on four previous productions, this first-class team is reunited for this gorgeous show: concept, lights and costumes, Daniel Meilleur; visual concept and video design, Yves Dubé; and sound design, Michel Robidoux; with credit for the overall concept shared by all three.

From playwright David Yip: About Gold Mountain (video clip)
Gold Mountain April 16-27 in English with French surtitles
Les Deux Mondes with Unity Theatre, Liverpool

At Théâtre Aux Écuries
7285, rue Chabot (near metro Fabre) in Montreal
Tuesday to Friday at 8:30 pm, Saturday at 4:30pm
Tickets: $12.50-$25.00
Box Office: 514 328-7437 (514 Écu-ries) no service charge or online www.auxecuries.com/billetterie

www.lesdeuxmondes.com/en/spec-index.html
www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk
About Les Deux Mondes: www.lesdeuxmondes.com/en/cie-index.html

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2013-04-05

Hotel Soap Joke - Friday Afternoon Literature -

This is not a joke.
It's actual correspondence between a London hotel staff and one of its guests. The hotel submitted this to the Sunday Times. No name was mentioned.

This is perfect for a Friday afternoon.

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE ''FREE'' SOAPS WHEN TRAVELLING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way. Thank you,

S. Berman

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Dear Room 635,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

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Dear Maid -- I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won't need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.

S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn't remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can of further assistance.

Your regular maid,
Dotty

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Dear Mr. Berman,
The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this A.M. that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

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Dear Miss Carmen,

It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 745 AM and don't get back before 530 OR 6PM. That's the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath-room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?

S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you,

Elaine Carmen,
Housekeeper

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Dear Mr. Kensedder,

My bath-size Dial is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room, since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder
Assistant Manager

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Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the heck left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial.

S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily (sic). I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

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Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory.

As of today I possess:


  • On shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
  • On Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.
  • On bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.
  • Inside medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
  • In shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
  • On northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
  • On northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.


Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

2013-04-03

Thinking of YU


Quebec English-language premiere!
IMAGO Theatre
Presents
Thinking of YU
Written by Carole Fréchette Translated by John Murrell
Directed by Micheline Chevrier

Mark these dates in your spring calendar

Wednesday, April 24 – Sunday, May 5, 2013

Thinking of YU is a play about one woman’s fixation with Yu Dongyue, a young Chinese journalist who was imprisoned for 17 years for having thrown paint on a poster of Mao during the Tiananmen Square student protests. Her obsessive research is interrupted by a lonely single father who mistakenly received her mail and a young Chinese woman who desperately wants to perfect her English grammar. Their unexpected companionship prompts each of them to question the consequences of fighting against injustice. Each comes to grips with their relationship to the world as they wrestle with notions of bravery, change and hope.

With Shiong-En Chan, Danielle Desormeaux and Kwasi Songui
Thinking of YU
Imago Theatre
At Centaur Theatre
453 St. François-Xavier April 24-May 5
Wednesday to Saturday at 8:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:30pm
Tickets: $20-$25
All tickets for the preview, Wed. April 24, are $18
Saturday matinee, April 27 and May 4 at 2:30pm, are pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation $10)
Tickets: 514 288-3162 or online: http://www.centaurtheatre.com/tickets.php
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