Holden Street Theatres Offer International On-Screen Program For 2022 Fringe

For the 2022 Adelaide Fringe, Holden Street Theatres will present a new initiative entitled HST On-Screen.HST On Screen will see four acclaimed specially filmed productions from the 2021 Edinburgh Fringe played on a large Novatech supplied LG 75" LCD screen in a ten seat gold class- style cinema lounge. Patrons may book seats individually or the full lounge themselves and their guests. Refreshments and bar service available. On Screen will take place at Ruby's, 32 Holden Street, Hindmarsh.

With three screenings per evening and a total of 170 across the full run of the Fringe patrons can see a number of shows in one evening, or even mix it up with a screening and a live show in one of the other Holden Street venues.

The productions, which come under the umbrella of East Vancouver to Adelaide were co-conceived and curated by Heather Redfern, Executive Director of The Cultch which is one of Canada's most vibrant theatres located in East Vancouver and award-winning British Artistic Producer Richard Jordan whose company Richard Jordan Productions has produced many productions with The Cultch over the past 10 years.

The four HST On-Screen productions are:

1 Hour Photo (the Holden Street Award winner for 2021) by acclaimed writer and performer Tetsuro Shigematsu (creator of hit play Empire of the Son). One Hour Photo tells the story of Mas Yamamoto, whose life was swept up by major currents of the 20th century. An award-winning work from Canada's leading Asian theatre company saturated with the most vivid colours of our times.;

Inside/ Out: A Prison Memoir Patrick Keating's captivating new play is the real-life story of years spent in and out of Canada's penitentiary system; a story about a man's search for community: the community of the street, the community of prison, and of the theatre; do you want what I have got; A Craig'slist Cantata will see your personal ads, set to music! Join a hilarious cast of wild and wacky characters from the Craigslist community attempting to buy and sell online, while longing and searching for human connection. The show is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musicals to come out of Vancouver in the last decade;

The Darlings; A Provocative Evening of Drag from Vancouver Meet The Darlings! Canada's multi-disciplinary, non-binary drag performance collective whose boundary breaking works challenge conventional drag, exploring genderqueer, nonbinary, and transgender experience through the use of movement, poetry, performance art, theatre, and immersive/interactive installation that has shocked and stormed the Vancouver cabaret and theatre scene.

Holden Street Director Martha Lott said, 'When the Covid pandemic brought international touring theatre to a halt (which saw the cancellation of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2020) Holden Street Theatres was unable ( for the first time since 2008) to give the Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award and bring out a headlining International act for 2021.

'I completely sympathise with those who don't like watching theatre on screen, I don't either, but then I saw 'One Hour Photo' with the incomparable Tetsuro Shigematsu, and I was so lost in his portrayal and the story, I forgot he wasn't standing in front of me. Then watching 'Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir' I felt all the emotions of seeing Patrick Keating live. He is incredibly interesting and unsettling and his accent is mesmerising. Then there is Craigslist Cantana' and 'The Darlings', both of which are really suited to the screen; Craigslist because it is great to be able to talk and chat with your friend cabaret style, and the Darlings because its Avant-Garde nature which reminded me of the street art in Camden Lock in the early 80's'.

Richard Jordan said, 'The East Vancouver program came out of the Covid crisis and after Heather Redfern, Executive Director of The Cultch had to move to digital presentation whilst Canadian theatres were closed. At the time, there was an urgent need to generate opportunities for its British Columbia-based artists and companies whose work and livelihoods were being deeply affected due to the pandemic.

'The initial focus for this inaugural season was to bring it to the Edinburgh Fringe titled EAST VAN TO EDINBURGH where it would afford a platform for all the British Columbia companies presented to make their Edinburgh debuts. For some of them, it was also the first time that their work had been seen outside of Canada.

'The success of the 2021 debut Edinburgh season saw it awarded the Holden Street Theatre Best of Edinburgh Award that came with a transfer of the productions to play at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe'.

Both Heather Redfern and Richard Jordan have enjoyed a relationship with Adelaide Fringe over many years. They are therefore delighted to collaborating with Artistic Director Martha Lott and her leading Adelaide Fringe venue Holden Street Theatre, to present EAST VAN TO ADELAIDE as the platform's second international season of curated works by some of the most exciting artists and companies from British Columbia, and that South Australian audiences will have the opportunity to discover them.

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