Ethiopian Playwright featured in CrossCurrents Festival 2006

 

Media Refer: Factory Theatre/Catherine Hernandez 416.504.4473 x224 Fax: 416.504. 4060 Catherine@factorytheatre.ca

 

Factory Theatre proudly presents the 5^th Annual

CrossCurrents Festival

Produced by Nina Lee Aquino

Spring is in the air. And pushing against the hard concrete of the city, reaching towards the sky and forward into the future is the growth of new, ever-changing ideas from emerging writers.

This April 1-9, six playwrights from across the nation will share their extraordinary stories at this year’s CrossCurrents Festival. The only festival of its kind in Toronto, CrossCurrents is celebrating its fifth year of launching new works-in-progress from emerging and established writers of colour from across the nation.

From Hiro Kanagawa’s Tiger of Malaya to Andrew Moodie’s The Real McCoy, CrossCurrents is the best place to get a sneak preview of what’s coming to Canadian stages in the future.

Under the guidance of producer Nina Lee Aquino, director of the hit play Banana Boys, these works are presented in their post-infancy, allowing our audiences an insight into the paths of progression these stories have taken.

So lace up your red boots and make a date with diversity. This is what the future of theatre looks like.

April 1^st 8pm

Opening Night

In partnership with Diaspora Dialogues, which supports the creation of new works that reflect the complexity of the city back to Torontonians through the eyes of Toronto’s diverse communities, a spectacular CrossCurrents Carnival will mark our opening night, featuring the talents of spoken word artist, Belladonna, singer Tamara Podemski and excerpt readings from this year’s playwrights.

April 2^nd 8pm

Wise Woman of Abbyssinia

By Rebecca Fisseha

Directed by ahdri zhina mandiela

Ethiopian-Canadian playwright, Rebecca Fisseha, tells the story of the story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and its aftermath followed through to the present day. In putting a new spin on ancient sacred texts against the backdrop of urban life in Ethiopia, it revisits the thorny age-old issue of female rivalry.

April 3^rd 8pm

Bunk #7

By late playwright, Larry Guno

Staged reading by Native Earth Performing Arts

Exploring the legacy of residential schools, Bunk is the story of six young First Nations men and their relationships with their charismatic supervisor O’Keefe.

April 4^th 8pm

Five.Red.Hands.

By Dalbir Singh

Directed by Sheila James

Set in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, 'Five. Red. Hands.' centers on five disparate characters, all of whom are struggling to find their rightful place in the world. A young Sikh woman's impending arranged marriage frames the action as the other characters stumble and collapse (literally and figuratively) into each other's lives.

April 5^th 7:30pm

fu-GEN Kitchen Potluck

Always a full house and always a hit, fu-GEN returns to this year’s festival with a selection of tasty new works. The lineup includes In-Surp Choi, Jane Luk, Siu Ta, Susan Aceron, Daniel Christopher Chen, Mia Grace Kim, Zoë Huang and Dale Yim. Bring an appetite. The party’s in the kitchen.

April 6^th 8pm

Dust

By Jason Maghanoy

Directed by Philip Akin

A chilling examination of torture, decency, and the limits of hope, Dust tells the tale of a young prison guard as he greets new recruits at Abu Ghraib prison. 

April 7^th 8pm

A Very Polite Genocide or The Girl Who Fell to Earth

By Melanie Brouzes

Directed by Yvette Nolan

Spanning three generations of a shattered Metis family, experience the intertwined narratives of two residential school survivors, a male prostitute, and a suicidal university student. While the full impact of abuse, war, alcohol and living on the brink of annihilation and are undeniable, so is the endurance of the human spirit. Traditional stories, ghosts and monsters transcend each generation, and time becomes as slippery as an eel.

April 8^th

NEW!!! UnderCurrents Festival

UnderCurrents  is an exciting new multi-component program of CrossCurrents that offers playwrights under the age of 21 and an English as a Second Language (ESL) class a forum to showcase their latest works.

2pm ESL Collective Creation

Under the guidance of playwright David Yee, comes a collective work from the ESL drama students of teacher Johanna Tzountzouris at Monarch Park Collegiate. Encouraged to use a variety of mediums, these young writers will present a new work based on their experiences as new Canadians.

8pm Under 21 Playwright Feature

Kensington

By Stephanie Law

Directed by Marie Beath Badian

Kensington: a mosaic of cultures and faces.  Kensington: a crossing where past lives and new identities collide.  Two girls — one privileged, the other impoverished — struggle to find each other across the tracks.  

April 9^th 8pm

Closing Night

lady in the red dress

By David Yee

Directed by Ken Gass

Set in 2002, lady in the red dress examines the head tax redress policy for Chinese-Canadians as it moves through the Ontario Appellate Court. Inspired by a W.B. Yeats poem, the play weaves mysticism through the modern age – following a lawyer being pursued by vengeful spirits of past injustices.

·                    Witness art installations created live each night before the show!

·                    Read each playwright’s memoirs and view their unique photo diaries as they shape the latest drafts of their work!

·                    All events take place at the Factory Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street (at Adelaide).

·                    All tickets are Pay-What-You-Can. Call the box office at 416.504.9971 or order online at www.factorytheatre.ca