Preview
THIRD ANNUAL SOLOCENTRIC FESTIVAL
One Yellow Rabbit - Solocentric Theatre and Dance
Runs April 29 to May 8
Big Secret Theatre (Epcor Centre)
Every theatre festival’s gotta have its shtick. And often that shtick is based on the celebration of individuals.
The Stratford and Shaw Festivals celebrate two literary giants – Shakespeare and George Bernard – the Alberta Theatre Projects playRites Festival celebrates Canadian playwrights and even Theatre Junction’s Random Acts focuses on the individual with its award for outstanding artistic achievement.
But none of these festivals go quite as far in showcasing the singular as One Yellow Rabbit and Solocentric Theatre and Dance’s Solocentric Festival.
Solocentric celebrates the ego – and that’s a good thing.
Now in its third year, the festival brings together artists from every performance discipline who have the guts and wonderful arrogance to stand up and be heard all by themselves. This year’s event features 20 artists – some new to Solocentric and some returning for a second or third time. Among the former is B.C. actor Charles Ross who is bringing his One Man Star Wars Trilogy to Calgary. In one hour, Ross retells George Lucas’s cinematic epic all by his lonesome, filling in the unavoidable gaps with imagination and creativity rather than Lucas’s trademark overdone special effects.
Among the Solocentric returnees is the Old Trout Puppet Workshop’s Pete Balkwill, who is presenting his staged reading of Signalman… the Navy in a Nutshell. Funny, political and personal, the piece draws on Balkwill’s true-life experiences in the U.S. Navy while showing us the path from swabbing decks to performing solo. For fans of the Old Trouts, Balkwill’s foray into solo performance is essential theatre-going.
This year’s festival also boasts the Solocentric Resident Company’s first creation, Hadji and Mar. Tracing the 49-year marriage of British diplomat Harold Nicolson and writer Vita Sackville-West (Virginia Woolf’s contemporary and friend), this work tells a true story of infidelity, homosexuality, writing and diplomacy.
Other artists involved in this year’s fest include composer and musician David Rhymer, known for his work with One Yellow Rabbit and Ghost River Theatre, who performs a new version of his controversial musical about a murder among the denizens of Vancouver’s Wreck Beach.
But Solocentric doesn’t end with the 20 headlining acts.
Two other important events round out the festival: the Twentysomethings cabaret and Teen Soul-Oh! The first features a series of 20-minute works by such artists as Kimberley Cooper, Michelle Todd and Savoy Howe. The second promises 10 teen soloists, ages 12 to 15, performing pieces they’ve created. Teen Soul-Oh! plays a matinee on May 8, followed in the evening by the Twentysomethings cabaret to close out the festival.
Due to Solocentric’s tight schedule, the bulk of the solos have only one performance, increasing the need for performer fearlessness and bravery. But that’s not a problem for these artists. It’s at the very core of what they do and who they are – big, bold, beautiful egos all.
For more information on this year’s Solocentric Festival, go to www.solocentric.com or call the One Yellow Rabbit box office at 264-3224. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.