Canadian Stage presents the Toronto premiere of Catalyst Theatre's Frankenstein, an award-winning adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic gothic novel integrating poetic verse, song, original music, stylized movement and fantastical costumes and sets made entirely of paper. Frankenstein has taken western Canada by storm enjoying sold-out runs in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Saskatoon, Whitehorse, Vernon BC and Fort McMurray AB, and collecting eight Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards including Outstanding New Play, Production of a Musical, Score, Set, Costume and Lighting Design. Conceived by Catalyst Theatre's Artistic Director Jonathan Christenson, who also directs, and Resident Designer Bretta Gerecke, the production stars the original cast including Andrew Kushnir as Dr. Victor Frankenstein and George Szilagyi as The Creature. Catalyst Theatre, an internationally acclaimed, groundbreaking Edmonton-based company was part of the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver in February and will be playing London's Barbican Theatre in July and NY's New Victory Theater in the fall. The company was introduced to Toronto audiences at the Luminato Festival last year receiving critical and popular acclaim for Nevermore, The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Frankenstein previews begin April 29; the production opens May 6 and continues to May 29, 2010 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto. Tickets are available in person, by phone 416.368.3110, or online at canadianstage.com.
Critical Praise
"A monsterpiece...Christenson scores a dazzling trifecta. His book explores the story's broader themes with stunning theatricality and emotion. His lyrics are simple but faithful to the complexity of the original and his music, ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs to gorgeous modern pop power ballads is accessible, even hummable ... the audience was transfixed. A monster hit."-The Edmonton Sun
"a darkly comic phantasmagoria, whose storytelling elements remind you of everything from Alice in Wonderland and Cabaret, to Into The Woods and Phantom - and then some. A gothic tour de force."-Calgary Herald
"One of the real stars of the show is designer Bretta Gerecke. Her richly detailed, raggedy white costumes and dreadlocked wigs evoke the 18th century, Rocky Horror and a convention of ghost clowns all at once. A bizarre collection of strangely mutated props enhance the sense of hybrid weirdness. Gerecke's sets are equally evocative: a graveyard of twisTEd White papier-maché trees and crosses, and Arctic mountains and glaciers made of plastic shower curtains."-Vancouver Province
"Forty years before Charles Darwin blew the top off a religiously determined natural world, Shelley expressed the horror of digging too deeply into life's secrets. And this
Tim Burtonesque musical, so tenderly sung and gorgeously presented, digs very deep indeed"-The Globe and Mail
About the production
Frankenstein has been a bona fide hit in every market. The original production of was presented at Keyano Theatre in Fort McMurray in November 2006. In March 2007, the production ran in Edmonton for nineteen performances and garnered ten nominations and eight wins at the 2007 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards. In January 2008, Frankenstein traveled to Vancouver where it was co-presented by the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. That tour also included the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre (Vernon, BC), The Eric Harvie Theatre (Banff Centre for the Arts) and was followed by a return to the Catalyst stage in Edmonton. In 2009, Catalyst was introduced with Frankenstein to audiences in Calgary at the Max Bell Theatre in a co-presentation between the One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo and Theatre Calgary; in Whitehorse at the Yukon Arts Centre and in Saskatoon at the Persephone Theatre. Most recently Frankenstein played for the third time in Edmonton at the Timms Centre for the Arts, where on April 17, 2010, it played its 100th performance. The entire original team (onstage and off) has stayed on with the production since the first phase of its development.
Frankenstein is a highly stylized musical adaptation of Shelley's classic novel. The cautionary tale about the consequences of interfering with nature and the universal search for love and acceptance revolves around Dr. Frankenstein and his tormented creature who becomes increasingly hostile towards the man who made and abandoned him, and the society that repels him. A startling storybook come to life, this dreamlike spectacle features the original cast of eight actors in over 40 roles and integrates poetic text, witty song, stylized movement and fantastical costumes and sets made almost entirely of white paper. It is a quirky, beautiful and often ghoulishly humorous retelling of a timeless story.
Co-creators Jonathan Christenson and Bretta Gerecke wrote, ‘We were drawn to Frankenstein as a powerful contemporary myth, one that speaks on both the personal and the collective level and to explore deeply felt, if rarely expressed, fears and longings that transcend time and space. It was a story that seemed at once topical and timeless. It is a brilliant exploration of what happens when we fail to take responsibility for what we have put out into the world, on both an individual and a societal level. Like all great myths, everything about this story is writ larger than life, stretching our imaginations to the very limits of probability. We hope to transport audiences to another world - a place in between dreams and reality. We tell the story as a modern day fairy tale for adults with dark, complex and contradictory truths. It is a world that is at once whimsical, nostalgic and tender, horrifying, brutal and ugly, one that walks the tightrope that's stretched between tragedy and comedy, that belongs more to the world of dreams than that of our waking lives, and speaks more to the heart than it does to the mind.'
Canadian Stage's Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn states, "Catalyst Theatre Artistic Director Jonathan Christenson and Resident Designer Bretta Gerecke have a unique visual vocabulary. They explore ideas through a highly stylized approach to language, movement, design and performance style. It is with great pleasure that we welcome these formidable artists, and the magic they create, to our stage." He continues, "What makes Catalyst Theatre's adaptation of Frankenstein so compelling is the way it explores the root themes of Shelley's novel while framing its questions in an undeniably contemporary context. Re-imagining eternal human questions from a uniquely contemporary perspective is at the very heart of our work here at Canadian Stage."
Frankenstein features the original cast and creative team from the world premiere production. Joining actors Andrew Kushnir and George Szilagyi are Nick Green, Tim Machin, Sarah Machin Gale, Nancy McAlear, Dov Mickelson and Tracy Penner.
Frankenstein is written, directed and composed by Jonathan Christenson (Artistic Director of Catalyst Theatre), and designed by Bretta Gerecke (Catalyst Theatre's Resident Designer) with choreography by Laura Krewski and sound design by Wade Staples.
John Raymond is Stage Manager, with Candice Charney and Beth Dart as Assistant Stage Managers. James Robert Boudreau is Production Manager. Amy Kucharuk is Head of Props. Sheena Haug is Costume Associate and Kevin Green and Chris Hayes are Stage Carpenters.
About the Artists
Jonathan Christenson is Writer, Director, ComposerChristenson became Artistic Director of Catalyst Theatre in 1996. Under his leadership, the company has created nearly 20 original productions which have toured Canada, the United States, the U.K. and Australia. He garnered numerous awards in Canada and the U.K. for his work as a director, writer and composer. Past productions have included Nevermore which will be touring London's
Barbican Theatre, New York's New Victory Theater and Calgary's Vertigo Theatre, Frankenstein, The Blue Orphan, The House of Pootsie Plunket, Elephant Wake, My Perfect Heaven, The Abundance Trilogy, Electra, Songs for Sinners, Carmen Angel, Dream Life, Love + Love, and Sticky Shoes. He was recently commissioned to write, compose, and direct Hunchback by The Citadel Theatre (Edmonton) and Keyano Theatre (Fort McMurray). Outside of Catalyst Theatre, Christenson has taught for the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta and directed productions for
Studio Theatre (University of Alberta), The Citadel Theatre's Teens at the Turn Festival, Workshop West's Springboards New Play Festival and Keyano College Theatre (Fort McMurray).
Bretta Gerecke is Production DesignerOriginally from Winnipeg, Gerecke has been based in Edmonton for 14 years. She is the resident designer of Catalyst Theatre, where she was designed more than 15 world premieres. Gerecke has also worked extensively at The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton Opera, Canadian Stage (Sunday Father, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Omnium Gatherum, Fire, Misery), The Edmonton Opera and the Calgary Opera. Her most recent credits include Beyond Eden (Theatre Calgary/Vancouver Playhouse), Nevermore (Catalyst Theatre), The Drowning Girls (Bent Out of Shape Productions), True Love Lies (Factory Theatre). Upcoming projects include Don Giovanni (Calgary Opera) and One Pure Longing (Luminato/Erika Batdorf). Gerecke is the recipient of 15 Sterling Awards, the Enbridge Emerging Artist Prize, a Top 40, Under 40 Award, the Global Woman of Vision Award, and was twice short-listed for the Siminovitch Prize.
Andrew Kushnir plays Dr. Victor FrankensteinKushnir is a Toronto-based actor and playwright. Most recently, he played Jack Wilson in Beyond Eden (Theatre Calgary/Vancouver Playhouse). Other acting credits include: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hair, Sweeney Todd (Canadian Stage); The Last Five Years (Theatre Company); Habitat (Theatre Network); Offensive Shadows (Studio 180); Pal Joey, Floyd Collins (Shaw Festival), King Lear (Colorado Shakespeare Company). Television and film credits include The Border, This is Wonderland (CBC); Love Bites I & II (TBS); The Lazarus Child (Eagle Pictures). Writing credits include the play The Middle Place, which was developed through Project Humanity (where Andrew is Creative Director) and will be presented by Canadian Stage and Theatre Passe Muraille in their respective 2010-2011 seasons.
George Szilagyi plays The Creature
An Edmonton-based actor, Szilagyi makes his Canadian Stage debut. Szilagyi recently produced and performed his play Hockey Stories for Boys, which he has adapted into an award-winning screenplay. Other highlights include: Dr. Treves in The Elephant Man (
Studio Theatre); Betram in The Black Rider (November Theatre); Owen in Girl in The Goldfish Bowl (Theatre Network); and Ernest in The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine (Aarrgghh! Productions), for which he received a Sterling Award for Outstanding Fringe Performance by an Actor. Film credits include Freezerburn with Tom Green. Upcoming, Szilagyi will be curating the theatre program of Edmonton's Kaleido! Arts Festival in September.
About Catalyst Theatre
Catalyst Theatre is an internationally acclaimed Edmonton-based theatre company renowned for groundbreaking new work under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Christenson and ongoing partnership with Resident Designer Bretta Gerecke. Since 1997, several of Catalyst's productions including: The House of Pootsie Plunket, The Blue Orphan, and Frankenstein have toured Canada, the U.S., Australia and the U.K. and garnered over forty awards. The work is characterized by a bold and distinctive theatricality that integrates a strong musical component with striking visual imagery, a heightened physical performance style, poetic text, and an often darkly comic sensibility. Rachel Haliburton of The Independent (U.K.) wrote "With its unique visual language and disorientating sense of humour, Catalyst promises to rewrite the theatrical agenda for other companies straining to be original." Starting with Frankenstein in 2006, the company has focused on developing one large-scale production every second year and on the continued collaboration of a core group of artists. Their recent work Nevermore was presented last season at Keyano Theatre (Fort McMurray), Catalyst Theatre (Edmonton), National Arts Centre by Magnetic North Theatre Festival (Ottawa) and as part of Toronto's Luminato Festival at the Winter Garden Theatre. More recently it was part of the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver by the Arts Club Theatre, The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and The Vancouver East Cultural Centre and enjoyed a second sold-out run in Edmonton. In 2010-2011 Nevermore will appear at The
Barbican Theatre (London) co-presented by the Barbican's BITE and The London International Festival of Theatre, at the New Victory Theater in New York, and at the Vertigo Theatre Centre in Calgary by the High Performance Rodeo and Vertigo Mystery Theatre. The Citadel Theatre has commissioned Catalyst's next production, Hunchback, an adaptation of the
Victor Hugo classic. Hunchback will be presented next February at Keyano Theatre in Fort McMurray prior to its official premiere in the Citadel's Shoctor Theatre in March 2011. For more information, refer to
catalysttheatre.ca.
About Canadian Stage
Founded in 1987 with the merger of CentreStage and Toronto Free Theatre, Canadian Stage is one of Canada's leading not-for-profit
Contemporary Theatre companies. Led by Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn, Canadian Stage produces and showcases innovative theatre work from Canada and around the world, allowing its audience to encounter daring work guided by a strong directorial vision and a 21st-century aesthetic. The company prides itself on presenting trans-disciplinary work and work in translation that pushes the boundaries of form and style. The company reinforces the presence of Canadian art and artists within an international context through work that mirrors the cultural diversity of Toronto. Canadian Stage has a long-standing commitment to education and enhancement programs for the public and investing in the art form by nurturing and developing theatre professionals while producing thought-provoking theatre and quality entertainment in Toronto, one of North America's largest theatre centres. For more information, refer to
canadianstage.com.
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