Alumnae Theatre Presents The 22nd Annual New Ideas Festival

Alumnae Theatre Company Presents The 22nd Annual New Ideas Festival from March 10-27, 2010.

Since 1989, when it was co-founded by Molly Thom and Kerri MacDonald, Alumnae Theatre Company has hosted an annual festival of new works, which provides playwrights, directors, actors and technicians the opportunity to develop never-before-produced short scripts. It's all about the process.

The New Ideas Festival is now a juried, three-week annual festival of new writing, works-in-progress and experimental theatre, with a different program of plays each week, and a staged reading on Saturdays at noon. It is unusual, possibly even unique among festivals, in that the scripts are read "blind" by a committee that does not learn the writers' identities until the plays have been selected.

There are 18 scripts in the Festival this year - something for everybody: short ones, longer ones, funny, sad, tension-filled, silly - and co-producer Pat McCarthy adds, "some surprises that we won't give away!"

WEEK ONE:

Wednesday March 10 - Saturday March 13 (8pm / Sat. matinee 2:30pm)

Staged Reading: Saturday March 13 at 12:00pm

- ENVIA! by Kelly Dumar / Directed by Jessica Beaulieu

(10 minutes)

- Join The Club by Suzanne Courtney* & Leora Courtney-Wolfman / Directed by Stacy Halloran

(15 minutes)

- An Inked Heart by D.J. Sylvis / Directed by Heather Keith

(45 minutes)

- A Very Different Place by Carol Libman / Directed by lindi g. papoff*

(20 minutes)

- Ashes to Ashes by M.P. Fedunkiw / Directed by Maureen Callaghan

(25 minutes)

(Total running time with intermission: approx. 2 hrs 15 minutes)

Saturday Staged Reading, March 13 only:

Theory by Norman Yeung* / Directed by Joanne L. Williams

(60 minutes + Talkback)

WEEK TWO:

Wednesday March 17 - Saturday March 20 (8pm / Sat. matinee 2:30pm)

Staged Reading: Saturday March 20 at 12:00pm

- ENVIA! by Kelly Dumar / Directed by Jessica Beaulieu

(10 minutes)

- Catcher by Michael Corkett Johnston / Directed by Valary Cook

(20 minutes)

- Tightrope by R.J. Downes / Directed by Kate Fenton*

(45 minutes)

- Pearls by Brenda Somers / Directed by Pamela Redfern*

(12 minutes)

- Sex On The Beach by Derek Hale / Directed by Kimberley Ann Croscup

(25 minutes)

- Soledad by Tina McCulloch / Directed by Kathryn Malek

(10 minutes)

(Total running time with intermission: approx. 2 hrs 25 minutes)

Saturday Staged Reading, March 20 only:

The Flying Avro Arrow - A Musical Comedy by Doug Warwick / Directed by Nonnie Griffin*

(60 minutes + Talkback)

WEEK THREE:

Wednesday March 24 - Saturday March 27 (8pm / Sat. matinee 2:30pm)

Staged Reading: Saturday March 27 at 12:00pm

- ENVIA! by Kelly Dumar / Directed by Jessica Beaulieu

(10 minutes)

- Sleeper by Anna Ross / Directed by Tom Haxell

(20 minutes)

- Who is Lieserl? by Flora Stohr-Danziger / Directed by Anne MacMillan

(35 minutes)

- Heat by Michael G. Wilmot / Directed by Florence Ballard

(12 minutes)

- Prisoners by TrIna Brooks / Directed by Andrew Freund

(25 minutes)

- Buff by Catherine Frid / Directed by Daniella Marchese

(10 minutes)

(Total running time with intermission: approx. 2 hrs 15 minutes)

Saturday Staged Reading, March 27 only:

Weightless by Kelsey Blair / Directed by Ramona Gilmour-Darling*

(60 minutes + Talkback)

* appearing with the permission of Canadian Actors' Equity Association

For complete show descriptions and cast and crew bios please go to www.alumnaetheatre.com

The Details - New Ideas Festival 2010:

Running Time: The running time each week varies - times shown above for each play are approximate.

Opening Nights: Wednesday March 10, March 17 and 24, 2010

Performance Dates: Wednesday March 10 - Saturday March 27, 2010

Schedule: Wednesday - Saturday 8:00pm;

Saturday matinee at 2:30pm (followed by a Talkback session);

Saturday Reading Series at noon (followed by a Talkback session).

Tickets: Wednesday - Saturday (evening OR matinees) $15;

Saturday Reading Series PWYC;

Festival Pass (good for the full three weeks plus the Reading Series) $35.

Location: Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street, 3rd floor Studio, Toronto

(SW corner of Berkeley and Adelaide St. East)

Box Office: 416-364-4170 (box 1) or email reservations@alumnaetheatre.com.Our box office opens one hour prior to each performance. Please note: Box Office does not accept credit or debit cards.

Absolutely no latecomers.

Next at Alumnae: Normand Chaurette's The Queens (translated by Linda Gaboriau),

April 16 - May 1, 2010. Directed by Mat Howard.

Our 2010/2011 season will be announced shortly!

For more information on Alumnae Theatre, click here.

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