Infinitheatre's THE PIPELINE 2014 Runs Now thru 12/7

Every year Infinithéâtre presents Québec's newest discoveries in The Pipeline, an annual series of free public play readings where the audience takes centre stage. Guy Sprung, Infinithéâtre's artistic director, invites the public to be part of the excitement and share their views from today, December 3 - Sunday, December 7 at the beautiful Rialto Theatre. On offer will be the three winning plays from the Write-On-Q! playwriting competition as well as two works in development from previous Write-On-Q! prize winners.

In its ongoing mandate to discover new Québec works to bring to the stage, six years ago Infinithéâtre initiated an annual writing contest, Write-On-Q!, which accepts submissions of scripts from all corners of the province. Not only do unknown writers submit their work to this popular competition, including students in writing programs at universities and the National Theatre School, but plays also come from CEGEP & university professors, journalists, editors, actors, screenwriters, directors, novelists and various literary award-winners. The winning and runner-up scripts are selected by an independent jury, chaired this year by Governor General Award-winning Montreal playwright and teacher, Kent Stetson, along with one of Quebec's great actor/director/teachers Diana Fajrajsl and long time theatre supporter and producer, Douglas Cohen.

Artistic Director Guy Sprung is very pleased with the 36 entries this year and invites audiences to hear some of Montreal's finest actors read scripts that could become future local productions. Affirms Sprung, "The Pipeline reading series has become a vital step in the process of developing new plays and making programming choices for upcoming seasons. This year the number of exciting plays submitted was so great we have expanded to five the number of plays we are reading. Audience reaction is absolutely key to this event. Where else can Montréalers participate in the creative process as we continue to produce relevant, Québécois theatre?"

The Pipeline 2014 at the Rialto readings include the winner of the first place Write-On-Q! $3000 Pam Dunn Prize: Fanny La Croix for Joan's Not Here, and Second Place Prize (tie), $1000 each: John 8 by Tabia Lau and Oren Safdie for Mr. Goldberg Goes to Tel Aviv. The other two scripts in this year's five-day reading extravaganza are Write-On-Q! honourable mentions: Alyson Grant's Progress! and Arthur Holden's Battered. Both playwrights have had world premieres produced by Infinithéâtre. Please see below for details about each play and its author.

The Pipeline gives the public a unique opportunity to voice their opinions and directly influence Montréal's cultural landscape through lively talkback discussions- an important part of any play development- following each reading. Providing invaluable input for the playwrights, talkbacks allow the audience to address questions or issues that the text generates, in a relaxed, open forum with the authors, directors and actors. Infinithéâtre gratefully acknowledges the support of Ezio Carosielli and the Rialto Theatre.

THE PIPELINE 2014 at the Rialto

Wed. Dec. 3, 2014, 7pm

Directed by Guy Sprung

progress! - Progress! is set in the room of a Montreal hospital soon to close to make way for a Super Hospital. A woman who has tried to kill herself is coaxed back to the living by the room's former inhabitants, particularly a Vaudevillian duo and their unintentionally funny antics. Affection and humour emerges as the antidote to life in an absurd universe where progress doesn't necessarily bring us forward.
With Arthur Holden, James Loye, Patricia Summersett, Danielle Desormeaux, Howard Rosenstein

Alyson Grant

Alyson Grant has taught English Literature at Dawson College for fifteen years. Her first play, Trench Patterns, won the 2011 Write-on-Q! prize for playwriting and received a full production with Infinithéâtre in 2012. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Infinithéâtre for the second time and hope the absurd world presented in Progress! endears itself to the audience and, most importantly, makes them laugh."

Thurs. December 4, 2014, 7pm (Write-On-Q! winner)

Directed by Guy Sprung

john 8- A room. A man. A job. Banality, insanity, and cycles of violence.

With Noel Burton, Julie Tamiko Manning, Amanda Silveira, Tristan D. Lalla, Karl Graboshas

Tabia Lau

Tabia Lau has developed several pieces of work as a playwright, book writer, producer and literary manager. Her most recent play Cutaway was read at Red Bull Theatre's Revelation Readings. She is currently Manhattan-based and is an Associate Artist with Next-In-Line Productions, an MFA Playwriting Candidate at Columbia University, and proud member of the Dramatists Guild First Year Out Program. For more information: tabialau.com "Infinithéâtre has always been a theatre I've been excited to see over the years. They have emerged as an exciting place to see new, English work, and I've never felt anything but welcome. Guy is an irreplaceable support system for both me and the artists who know him. It is my pleasure to see my work on this stage."

Fri. December 5, 2014, 7pm (Write-On-Q! second place, tie)
Directed by Alexandra Seay
battered - Bobby Lyons is in trouble: an argument with his girlfriend Filo has left her with a broken arm. Now Bobby must undergo court-ordered counselling with psychiatrist Eleanor Stoll. But Bobby is resistant to the methods of psychotherapy. Meanwhile Eleanor's boyfriend Frederick is scandalized by Eleanor's sympathetic attitude toward Bobby. The web of relationships linking these four characters is thrown into chaos by a chance encounter that will leave them all a little wiser.
With Susan Glover, Brett Watson, Gitanjali Jain, Bruce Dinsmore

Arthur Holden
Arthur's first two plays, Father Land and Ars Poetica, received their premieres at Bain St-Michel under Guy Sprung's direction; his most recent play, The Book of Bob, was extensively workshopped by Infinithéâtre before opening at Centaur Theatre in a production directed by Ellen David. Arthur is married to acclaimed novelist Claire Holden Rothman, with whom he has two grown sons.
"The Pipeline has been a constant source of inspiration to me. Winning the first Write-On-Q award was the coolest distinction I've ever earned. Confusion, goodwill, selfishness and love co-exist to make an ongoing mess of every human existence. Life isn't something we make sense of. It's something we stumble through."

Sat. December 6, 2014, 7pm (Write-On-Q! second place, tie)
Directed by Sarah Carlsen
mr. goldberg goes to tel-aviv - Tony Goldberg is an award-winning, Jewish-Canadian, gay author. We find him in his Tel Aviv hotel room, putting the finishing touches on a blistering speech he's about to deliver to Israel's left-leaning literate. But not all is going according to plan. His scheduled trip to Gaza has been blocked by the government; the tea he ordered from room service is cold, and he's about to find himself at the centre of a terrorist operation to assassinate the Israeli Housing Minister. Part farce, part suspenseful drama, this is a play where allegiances constantly shift, religion is irreverent, and politics is a matter of survival.
With Arthur Holden, Davide Chiazzese, Jonathan Silver

Oren Safdie

Born and raised in Montréal, Oren is a playwright-in-residence at La MaMa, and helmed the Malibu Stage Co. where his off-Broadway/London hit Private Jokes, Public Places debuted. His next play, The Last Word also moved off-Broadway. His play Unseamly (read at The Pipeline 2102) was produced by at Infinithéâtre last season. Other works include Jews & Jesus and La Compagnie, which he developed into a pilot for CBS. Oren scripted the film You Can Thank Me Later starring Ellen Burstyn, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Newport Film Festival.. He teaches Playwriting at the University of Miami.

"The play was inspired by a failed boycott against Israeli films during the Toronto Film Festival several years ago. I'd like the audience to understand the events in the Middle East in a slightly different way."

Sun. Dec. 7, 2014, 3pm

Directed by Geneviève Blais
Joan's not here- A woman named Joan falls into a coma following a car accident. As her family and live-in girlfriend orbit around her, jockeying for position and place of importance, things left unsaid take more and more space in an already stifling hospital room. A play about the illusion of control in our lives and the disconnect we so easily come to feel towards those we're supposed to be most connected to. What happens when ordinary people face the extraordinary and can no longer hide...and maybe, just maybe, find the courage to live as they really are?

With Catherine Allard, Chip Chuipika, Diana Fajrajsl, Hayley Kezber, Danielle Desormeaux

Fanny La Croix

Fanny is a writer and award-nominated actor based in Montreal. She has developed several television treatments, including the comedy The List and the drama, A New Normal, both developed with writing partner Alexandria Haber. Past television writing experience includes having been in development with WestWind Pictures (of Little Mosque on the Prairie fame) for the comedy 6° of Greene.
"Joan's Not Here is my first full-length play and I feel truly humbled to have won this year's Pam Dunn Prize. The Write-On-Q! competition created by Infinithéâtre under Guy Sprung is vital to artists such as myself. To have the knowledge that our work is being read, considered and treated with respect means everything!"

Infinithéâtre presents

The Pipeline 2014 at The Rialto

Dec. 3-7, Wed. - Sat. at 7:00 pm, Sunday at 3:00 pm

At the Rialto Theatre, Hall III, 5723 Parc Ave

Admission is pay-what-you-can ($10 suggested donation)

Scripts for Write-On-Q! 2015 can be submitted to the Infinithéâtre offices from now until Tues., Sept. 8 at 5413, boul. St-Laurent, Suite 302, Montreal QC H2T 1S5.

For more information: about Infinithéâtre's 2014-15 season line-up of plays or the 6-Pack discount card, log onto www.infinitheatre.com or call 514 987-1774.

To post a comment, you must register and login.