VideoCabaret Returns to the Trenches With THE GREAT WAR, Begins 10/26

As previously announced, VideoCabaret remounts Michael Hollingsworth's acclaimed play about World War I which saw sold-out houses every night of its initial run this past spring. With Armistice Day and the season of Remembrance next month, The Great War could not be more timely as it takes audiences - in VideoCabaret's trademark magical staging-style - from the front lines to the home front, focusing on the mid-ranking officers and infantry-men named in no history book.

The ensemble features all the superb actors from the original spring production except for Richard Clarkin whose roles will be performed by another VideoCab virtuoso - Paul Braunstein - who joins Greg Campbell, Richard Alan Campbell, Kerry Ann Doherty, Mac Fyfe, Anand Rajaram and Dylan Roberts. These seven actors play more than 40 characters whose stories take the audience from the golf courses of Canada's political elite to munitions factories where widows work, to the trenches of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and more. The Great War elicits horror and laughter with the graveyard humour of soldiers, the murderous foolishness of leaders, and the absurdity of warfare.

The Great War starts October 26, opening October 29 for a limited run (at least through November 14) at the historic Cameron House. For tickets, call 416-703-1725, for details visit videocab.com.

Michael Hollingsworth's History Plays are satires combining comedy, tragedy, pathos and farce; a mix that is darkest in the plays about conquest and war. The original '93 production of The Great War was presented at the Theatre Centre on the ground floor of a Legion Hall; the WWII veterans who saw the show embraced it as fully as teachers, students, neo-dadaists, history nerds and theatre lovers. It won Dora Mavor Moore Awards for OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY and COSTUMES, and five further Nominations including OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION.

In May-June 2010, VideoCabaret created a new production of The Great War that played to sold-out crowds for 46 performances and united critics in praise.

"****... VideoCabaret is at the top of its gameŠThe staging is remarkable, Andy Moro's multi-cue lighting is a tour de force, and the costumes of Astrid Janson and Sarah Armstrong are as imaginative and eye-catching as ever. If you've never seen VideoCab's unique work, this is the perfect place to start; if you have, you certainly won't want to miss this one." -Toronto Star

"... skillfully negotiates a bayonet's edge between farce and tragedy... Hollingsworth and his seven flexible actors... do a brilliant job of encapsulating both (war's) lunacy and its horrors." - Globe and Mail

"****... A finely drilled team of artists in one of the season's best showsŠHollingsworth's meticulous attention to detail, use of vivid colours and fluid storytelling transform the past into a graphic novel come to life while mowing down the myth that history is boring" -NOW Magazine
VideoCabaret presents The Great War
The History of the Village of the Small Huts: 1914-1918
Written and Directed by Michael Hollingsworth
Starring Paul Braunstein, Greg Campbell, Richard Alan Campbell,
Kerry Ann Doherty, Mac Fyfe, Anand Rajaram, Dylan Roberts
Lighting Andy Moro, Set Andy Moro, Jim Plaxton, Music Brent Snyder
Costumes Astrid Janson & Sarah Armstrong, Props Brad Harley, Wigs Alice Norton
Stage Manager Andrew Dollar, ASM Laurie Merredew Sound Design Justin Roddy, Sound Jake Blackwood
Associate Director Deanne Taylor, Producer Jim LeFrancois
Previews from Tuesday October 26, Opens Friday October 29 for a Limited Run
VideoCabaret at the Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West (one block west of Spadina)
Tuesday to Saturday 8pm, Sunday 2:30pm
Tickets: Previews & Tuesdays $15, Wednesdays $20, Thursdays & Sundays $25, Fridays & Saturdays $30
Box Office & Group Bookings: 416-703-1725 For more Info: www.videocab.com

 

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