the red light district will present the directorial debut of red light regular lauren gillis. she is directing Max Frisch's 1948 play, FIREraisers, originally subtitled a "morality without a moral."
gillis' production pivots on the problems of the limits of tolerance, shortwired smoke detectors, and an incessant stream of public service announcements. the production begs a question pressing to all torontonians-how far will we go to hide our prejudices for the sake of appearing politically correct?
gilliis has performed in many of the red light district's past shows, including the WITCH of edmonton, WOYZECK, IVONA princess of burgundia, and most recently, ...la ronde ... she recently completed a degree in theatre direction and neuroscience at the university of toronto.
"we're thrilled to be presenting lauren's work," says artistic director ted witzel. "she has a unique voice, an incredible intellect, a formidable theatrical sense, and a bizarre sense of humour that make her work fresh, challenging, and undeniably original. her work as an actor is always a beautiful balance of vibrance and precision, and after seeing her directing work at u of t, i immediately asked her to present something with us this year."
frisch's play centres around an industrialist everyman figure, biedermann, in a town facing an arson epidemic. warnings are everywhere-the newspapers, the bus stops, the radio, and the tv-if someone comes to your home looking for a place to sleep, he or she could be a "fireraiser." nobody is above suspicion. so when a loud homeless woman claiming to be a former wrestler from the circus (which recently burned down) knocks on the door and asks for a little humanity, biedermann is faced with a dilemma. she's not hardhearted, but...
gillis' update cross-casts biedermann as a present-day entrepreneuse with an agoraphobic house-husband. the chorus of firefighters are translated into a frenzy of public service announcements, installed in every home to help increase fire-safety before the whole town goes up in flames.
the intimate staging places the audience inside the biedermanns' living room in the backspace of toronto's iconic imperial pub. the audience will be limited to 30 each night.
the cast includes: marcel dragonieri, alaine hutton, mina james, courtney lyons, justin miller, eve wylden, and features briana templeton as gillian biedermann.
FIREraisers plays november 2-19, wednesday to saturday at 8pm at the imperial pub, 54 dundas st. e., toronto. tickets are $20 at the door. a limited number of discounted student / artsworker tickets for $15. to reserve tickets, email tickets@theredlightdistrict.ca
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