Preview
ANTON IN SHOW BUSINESS
Broad Minds Productions
Starring Sheryl Thompson, Donna Barnfield and Christine Reynolds
Written by Jane Martin
Directed by Tarra Loïs Riley
Runs April 27 to May 8
New Dance/Theatre
The answer? Broad Minds Productions’ Anton in Show Business.
The question? What do you get when you combine seven babes, San Antonio, a comedy about a tragedy, a mystery playwright and a spoof that revolves around classic Russian theatre?
Anton in Show Business wraps up the second season for Broad Minds and artistic director Tarra Loïs Riley calls the play by the pseudonymous Jane Martin "unbelievably brilliant. It’s a slapstick farce that makes you leave the theatre thinking and feeling."
The play spoofs a San Antonio theatre company’s staging of Chekhov’s classic Three Sisters by capturing the absurdities inherent in an art form often known for its eccentric directors, inept actors, funding crises and impossible critics.
The Broad Minds cast includes Sheryl Thompson, Donna Barnfield, Christine Reynolds, Oksana Porteous, Crystal Balint, Nina Cameron and Colleen Taylor.
"I’ve stayed very true to the play," said Riley of her production. "The script specifically states it’s an all-woman play, so everyone, cast, stage crew, designers, everyone, are women. And it’s an amazing cast," she adds. "There’s a kind of girls-night-out energy at every rehearsal."
Riley describes the play as a comedy that looks at serious issues in a way that will make you fall out of your seat laughing. "It excites me because it’s so smart, so profound. You don’t need a background in theatre or Chekhov to enjoy it, but the more you know about theatre, the more you’ll enjoy it."
The play, which won the American Theatre Critics Association’s Best New Play Award in 2001, was written by the mysterious, Pulitzer Prize-nominated Martin. The playwright, who has never been seen in person, photographed or interviewed, is believed by some to actually be her spokesman, Jon Jory, former producing director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville (or perhaps Jory and his wife).
"I’m very interested in her work," said Riley. "She’s not in it for self-aggrandizement – or you’d think she’d show up for a Pulitzer (for Keely and Du) nomination. And (her work is) very much from a woman’s point of view."
Which makes Anton in Show Business an ideal candidate for Broad Minds, a company founded by Riley to create challenging and interesting roles for women.
"One of the things that was exciting about starting Broad Minds is that there is wonderful talent out there. But there are a limited number and choice of women’s roles, so this company is a way to address a lack of equity out there," she says. "There are 12 roles for men for every two for women, yet 10 women audition for each role. Being feminine-focused is about bringing back the balance."
Not that Riley is a humourless feminist – she’s a woman whose vision extends beyond the typical theatre scene, where 75 per cent of a given audience is made up of women being entertained by mainly male casts. She’s also a woman who believes womanhood is much more than the modern media’s depiction of the perfect look, the perfect size and the perfect partner.
"People associate feminism with being very serious or lacking a sense of humour, and at Broad Minds we take our work seriously – but not much else," she says. "I see this as a theatre company for women – and for men who love women. We’re a company, if you’ll pardon the pun, with broad appeal. In fact, our last show (Two Rooms) had more men than women in the audience." |
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