Preview
RANDOM ACTS MINI FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Theatre Junction
March 6, 7 and 8
601 — 17th Avenue S.W.
""It's like buying one of those little goodie bags for a dollar and you don't know what's inside," says Theatre Junction's Nikki Loach, describing the group's upcoming Random Acts festival. "You open it up and you go, 'Oh!'"
Random Acts is the biggest change of pace in the highly regarded theatre group's history – three nights of new theatre unlike anything they have ever presented. Random Acts is a celebration of established artists and up-and-comers on the local theatre scene, and it’s a chance to visit the company’s rehearsal hall, see behind the curtain and meet the performers.
"It’s a wonderful opportunity for Theatre Junction to reach out to the local community and give them a platform for doing stuff," says Loach, the co-producer of the festival and the interim artistic director of Theatre Junction. "But originally, I was worried. Who do I know that will want to do stuff? But it’s quite amazing. There’s a whole whack of people out there who are looking for a platform to produce their work."
For three nights, audiences will be treated a variety of music, movement and text-based performances – short pieces created for the festival and excerpts from longer work, and established artists alongside relative newcomers. Audiences can look forward to The Making Of Myths by Clem Martini, and an excerpt from the new Steven Massicotte play commissioned by the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. New short plays from Theatreboom, Dark Forest Theatre, Symbiosis Productions and Monster Theatre will also be included, along with music from Danielle French’s new album, Piece, and part of the dance show Mummenpansz by Anita Miotti and Ty Semaka.
Audiences can look forward to seeing familiar faces, like Val Pearson, Trevor Leigh, Tyler Rive, Andy Curtis, Kira Bradley and Ryan Gladstone. The festival will be emceed by Loose Moose alumna Rebecca Northan.
Although it’s on a smaller scale, Random Acts follows in the footsteps of the High Performance Rodeo and Alberta Theatre Projects’ playRites Festival. For Loach and co-producer Shauna Baird, it’s an opportunity for Theatre Junction to support new work being created locally.
"You develop your supporters, your audience. You meet young actors, writers and directors," says Baird. "It’s for people who want to see theatre and for people who want to make it."
Random Acts has the added attraction of being a kind of open house for Theatre Junction fans.
"We’re inviting people into our rehearsal space, which is a brand new thing for us," says Loach. "This is our workshop. This is where we create. It’s where we feel safe. It’s a bit like inviting people in to see your messy bedroom."
Their rehearsal hall is in the basement of a strip mall just across the intersection from the Ship & Anchor, a location that has forged a good relationship between Theatre Junction and the 17th Avenue pub. For Random Acts, the Ship serves as a kind of lobby where patrons can wait before the show and gather with friends and performers afterward. A pirate mascot will go back forth between the rehearsal hall and the Ship, directing traffic and keeping things on track.
"The Ship has exactly the atmosphere we want to create for Random Acts," explains Loach. "It’s not in a theatre. It’s loose. It’s fun. It’s unpredictable. It’s not necessarily polished or perfect." |
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