Infinithéâtre's THE PIPELINE Returns 12/8-11

Every year Infinithéâtre proudly parades 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 feel the buzz and share their views from Thurs. December 8 - Sun. December 11 at the Bain St-Michel when the theatre company features four new plays, including the winner of the Write-On-Q! play writing competition.

In its ongoing mandate to discover new Québec works to bring to the stage, four years ago Infinithéâtre initiated an annual writing contest, Write-On-Q!, which garners scripts from all corners of the province. The winning script is selected by an independent jury, chaired this year by the esteemed Maureen Labonté (Co-Director of the Banff Playwrights Colony and a highly respected dramaturge, teacher and translator who has chaired the Siminovitch Prize jury three years running). The other two jury members this year were Gerry Lipnowski (CN, Public Affairs) and Laurence Sellyn (Gildan ActiveWear, CFO). In a written citation the jury said, "We were very impressed and moved by the plays were asked to read. There was a broad range of voices, stories, and points of view as well as varying levels of experience. The writing was strong, imaginative and wildly and wonderfully varied."

The now popular writing competition draws submissions from first-time playwrights, students and established writers- this year including web publishers and Governor General Award winners. Artistic Director Guy Sprung is delighted with the over thirty-five entries this year and invites all to hear some of Montreal's finest actors read scripts that could become future Infinithéâtre productions. "Because new Québec work is our focus, The Pipeline reading series has become a vital step in the process of developing new plays and making programming choices for upcoming seasons. Audience reaction is absolutely key in this event. Where else can Montrealers participate in the creative process as we continue to produce relevant, Québecois theatre?"

The Write-On-Q! winner of the $1000 Pamela Dunn Prize is first-time playwright Alyson Grant, Chair of the English department at Dawson College, for her entry Trench Patterns. Another of this year's Write-On-Q! submissions included Mike Czuba's The Reprise, which was so noteworthy that the jury felt it merited a runner-up prize of $500, a first for this competition. The other three scripts in this year's four-day reading marathon are: Triplex Nervosa by novelist, journalist and playwright MariAnne Ackerman, The Book of Bob by actor/playwright Arthur Holden, a regular at these readings having earned a place for four consecutive years, and A Song for Québec by Gazette journalist and Infinithéâtre's playwright-in-residence, David Sherman. Infinithéâtre received a grant from the Cole Foundation to develop Sherman's play, which will receive its first public reading through The Pipeline with Alexis Martin, renowned throughout the French theatre community, directing. 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 also allow the audience to address questions or issues that the texts generated in a relaxed, open forum with the authors, directors and actors.

The Write-On-Q! competition is a huge opportunity for aspiring and established Québec playwrights to receive a kick-start for a new work. Scripts for Write-On-Q! 2012 can be submitted to the Infinithéâtre offices from now until September 4th, 2012 at 5413, boul. St-Laurent, Suite 302, Montreal QC H2T 1S5. For more information, log on to www.infinitheatre.com or call (514) 987 - 1774.

THE PIPELINE 2011
Thurs. December 8, 2011, 7pm
Directed by Alexis Martin
A Song for Quebec - Politics, culture and morality collide in a boîte à chanson in Old Montreal in the early 60s, the beginning of the Quiet Revolution and the birth of true Quebecois music. Here, patrons try to come to grips with the radical changes sweeping through the province and themselves as we see and hear some of the great songs of the era performed.

David Sherman
David is Infinithéâtre's playwright-in-residence. Plays for the company include Joe Louis: An American Romance and The Daily Miracle. David is also a singer/songwriter who performs regularly in Montréal, a journalist whose work appears in The Gazette and the Ottawa Citizen and is producing a documentary film on new tango music in Buenos Aires with his partner Francine Pelletier. A Song for Québec is his homage to the miracle and the magic that is Québec. "Infinithéâtre and Guy believe in theatre as an instrument to invigorate dialogue and ideas. They believe theatre can be, and ideally is, a force for change and engagement, rather than simple entertainment and spectacle. A Song for Québec celebrates the diversity and the uniqueness of the province; it posits Québec as an extraordinary place to live."

Fri. December 9, 2011, 7pm
Directed by Guy Sprung
Triplex Nervosa - a condition affecting property speculators in trendy neighbourhoods during a recession - is a comedy about gentrification and art. Set in Mile End, circa now, it follows the struggles of a young woman who has set aside her music career and maxed out on credit cards to buy a beautiful triplex. Paralyzed by her tenants' personal problems, she risks losing everything.

MariAnne Ackerman
A novelist, journalist and playwright, MariAnne Ackerman was co-founder of Theatre 1774 with Clare Schapiro and Artistic Director until 1997, when the company became Infinithéâtre. Her most recent novel is Piers' Desire. She is also founder and publisher of The Rover, an on-line website with a team of some 40 editors and writers, covering the Montréal arts scene. "I hope the audience will be intrigued by this sometimes farcical glimpse of bohemian life on the Plateau, how mixed societies function. And perhaps think about the personal sacrifices artists are expected to make in our fiercely capitalist world."

Sat. December 10, 201, 7pm (Write-On-Q! winner)
Directed by Guy Sprung
Trench Patterns - Jacqueline is a Canadian combat officer returned from Afghanistan feeling, and wanting to be, dead. She is angry, intelligent and funny, traits she uses to keep her mind from the violent events of the day that broke her. Solace comes in the ghostlike visitations from her great grandfather, a Montrealer conscripted into World War One and executed for desertion and cowardice. As she recedes into his haunted world, we see her slowly move closer to her own.

Alyson Grant
Alyson has taught English Literature at Dawson College for the past
13 years and has worked as a general assignment and freelance writer for the Montreal Gazette. Trench Patterns is her first play. "I deeply respect Infinithéâtre's mandate and repertoire and feel I've been given a gift to be able to work with them. I'd like the audience to come away feeling they've been brought somewhere worth going."

Sun. December 11, 2011, 2pm
Directed by Guy Sprung
The Book of Bob
A middle-aged man stands alone on the stage. This is Bob. A woman stands on a platform behind him. This is God. As Bob's orderly, upright existence comes under assault from a host of misfortunes; he will reluctantly confront God - a God in whose existence he doesn't even believe. The Book of Bob is a contemporary retelling of the biblical story of Job. It's a darkly comic examination of anger, precarious faith and the quiet redemption of love.

Arthur Holden
Arthur Holden is a Montréal actor and writer. He was last seen on stage in Infinithéâtre's hit production of David Sherman's The Daily Miracle. His own comedy, Ars Poetica, will be produced by Infinithéâtre this winter, running from January 17 to February 12 at the Bain St-Michel, with an all-Montréal cast under Guy Sprung's direction. "I hope the play will get people thinking about faith, despair and love in a world which, even today, is less secular than some of us like to think."

Infinithéâtre
THE PIPELINE
Dec. 8-11
Bain St-Michel
5300, rue St-Dominique (corner Maguire)
Admission: Pay-What-You-Can (Suggested $10 donation)

For more information: about Infinithéâtre's 2011-12 season line-up of plays or the 6-Pack discount card, log onto www.infinitheatre.com or call 514 987-1774

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