UC’s annual festival of student work about to take flight
The Department of Drama’s Taking Flight has something for everyone
Taking Flight: A Festival of Student Work runs March 27 – April 7, 2012. This year the Festival kicks off with a special week-long performance of Fair Liberty’s Call by acclaimed Canadian playwright Sharon Pollock. This production runs in conjunction with a conference celebrating Pollock’s achievements. Fair Liberty’s Call is the first production to take place in the newly opened F.R. Matthews Theatre.
Running April 3 – 7 in the Reeve Theatre at the University of Calgary are six student led productions that range from a modern re-telling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus to a musical about manatees, a Theatre for Young Audiences quest for missing stars; and a improvisation performance about “giving” that requires audience stories for inspiration. There are also two staged readings, one that explore a playwright’s own experience working with at-risk youth and the second takes audiences inside the condemned King Eddy Hotel in search of a time capsule.
Taking Flight allows the public an opportunity to see the cumulative work of students’ creative research in the Department of Drama. The festival is unique in Calgary in its diversity and range of performances with selections extending from staged readings by graduate level playwrights to complete one act plays by some of the world’s most respected playwrights.
“Taking Flight is an opportunity for students to practice their craft, be it directing, designing, acting or participating in the technical side of theatre,” explains Valerie Campbell, Artistic Director. “Taking Flight is a step towards running their own companies or festivals and gives students a sense of ownership and responsibility.”
More information: www.drama.ucalgary.ca
Festival Lineup:
Fair Liberty’s Call by Sharon Pollock
Through the fractured memories of personal stories, the tumultuous birth of our nation emerges from history. It is 1785 and the Roberts family hosts a United Empire Loyalist reunion to remember the siege of Yorktown in the American Revolutionary War. The night takes an unexpected twist when the appearance of a stranger forces each of them to confront questions of their individual and collective identity.
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
If there is life after death, what happens to love?
Told from the perspective of Eurydice, this modern, quirky re-telling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, takes audiences on an exploration of love and loss, and the lengths we’ll go through to hold onto it or forget it.
Mating Season: A Musical by Peter J. Vooys
A manatee’s fight for love leads him into danger and to the brink of death.
It is mating season for the manatees of coastal Florida and Hugh, a young manatee, is in love with the beautiful Priscilla. But manatees don’t couple, and they aren’t supposed to fall in love. Follow the outrageous trials Hugh must face to prove his love!
In Winter, a Theatre for Young Audiences performance by Britt Babott
Nothing is just a story.
Imagine a mountain valley where the stars have been stolen. It is constantly nighttime and perpetually winter. Join Girl as she embarks on a quest to find her parents and to return the stars to the valley. This show is recommended for children aged 6 and up.
Wasted by Dan Perry (Staged Reading)
What remains after everything else has been wasted?
Edward has just moved into a new position as a social worker. His first client is Amanda, a tough adolescent with a criminal record and five weeks left in the program. This piece is based on the playwright’s actual experience working with at-risk youth and examines the topics of drug addiction, teen prostitution, physical and sexual abuse.
The Eddy by Peter Cochrane (Staged Reading)
The King Eddy Hotel and the streets of whiskey row.
Former hotel owner Elmer Kretsch and retired policewoman Helen Standforth, both in their eighties, break into the condemned King Edward Hotel in search of a hidden time capsule containing some very old and revealing documents.
The Giving Stories by Allison Zwozdesky & Alicia Ward
This performance is all about you!
This interactive, community-based performance needs your help! Submit your stories and experiences about “giving” and watch them come alive on stage through improvisation and dance. Visit www.thegivingstories.com and see your story take flight!
