Wednesday, March 14, 2012

2012 New Ideas Festival, Mar 14–Apr 1


The 24th AnnualNew Ideas Festival
March 14 – April 1, 2012

Founded in 1989 by Molly Thom and Kerri MacDonald, Alumnae Theatre Company’s festival of new works provides playwrights, directors, actors and technicians with the opportunity to develop never-before-produced short scripts.

The New Ideas Festival is a juried, three-week annual festival of new writing, works-in-progress and experimental theatre, with a different lineup of short plays each week, and a staged reading (+ Talkback) on Saturdays at noon. This year, a Sunday matinée performance has been added each week, in addition to the existing Saturday matinée. Each play in the weekly program (Wednesday – Sunday) now receives 6 performances, and the readings have one each.

New Ideas is unusual among festivals, in that the scripts are read “blind” by a committee, which does not learn the writers’ identities until the plays have been selected. This year, 122 submissions were received - from all over Canada, about 20% from the U.S., and one from the U.K.

The 2012 Festival presents 15 world premieres (12 productions and 3 staged readings), ranging in length from 12 to 70 minutes. There’s something for everyone, including lovers’ fantasies and regrets, secrets revealed, butterflies, puppets, trips to Newfoundland and to Bali, and an unusual night at the Laundromat!

WEEK ONE: Wednesday March 14 - Sunday March 18, 2012
Wed - Sat: 8pm • Sat & Sun matinée: 2:30pm
Staged Reading: Saturday March 17 at noon

The Man with a Butterfly Hat by Donna Langevin / Directed by Anne MacMillan*
Our Eliza by Megan Coles / Directed by Andrew Freund
Let My Mind Run Dry by Cassidy Sadler / Directed by Mairin Smit
Lover’s Flight by Joel Fishbane / Directed by Jonathan Heppner
*Appearing with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
(Total running time with intermission: approx 2 hours)
Saturday Staged Reading: March 17, 2012 only:
Eating Pomegranates Naked by Andrea Scott • Directed by Kimberly Radmacher
(Running time: 70 mins + Talkback)

WEEK TWO: Wednesday March 21 - Sunday March 25, 2012
Wed - Sat: 8pm • Sat & Sun matinée: 2:30pm
Staged Reading: Saturday March 24 at noon

Orpha and Beatrice (Act I) by Claire Frances Muir / Directed by Taylor Graham
Less Than a Second by Gerry McBride / Directed by Peter Bloch-Hansen
The End of an Organism by Jordan Mechano / Directed by Joanne Williams
The Jewel in the Crown by Diane Forrest / Directed by Sukumar Nayar
(Total running time with intermission: approx 2 hours)

Saturday Staged Reading: March 24, 2012 only:
In Their Glory by Eugenie Carabatsos / Directed by David Suszek
(Running time: 70 mins + Talkback)

WEEK THREE: Wednesday March 28 - Sunday April 1, 2012
Wed - Sat: 8pm • Sat & Sun matinée: 2:30pm
Staged Reading: Saturday March 31 at noon

Worms For Sale by Stacy Gardner / Directed by Janina Kowalski
It All Leads to the Lemon Scene by Pamela Winfrey / Directed by Lynn Zeelenberg
Everything Blows Away by Kelly DuMar / Directed by Chelsea Ferrando
Gloria’s Guy (Act II) by Joan Burrows / Directed by Anne Harper
(Total running time with intermission: approx 2 hours, 10 mins)

Saturday Staged Reading: March 31, 2012 only:
Ganga’s Ganja by Radha Menon / Directed by Pam Redfern*
*Appearing with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
(Running time: 65 mins + Talkback)New Ideas Festival 2012 The Details

Tickets: Wednesday – Saturday (evening or matinées): $15
Saturday Reading Series: PWYC
Festival Pass (good for the full three weeks and all the Readings): $35
Location: Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street, 3rd floor Studio, Toronto
(SW corner of Berkeley and Adelaide St. East)
Box Office: 416-364-4170 (box 1) or email reservations@alumnaetheatre.com
Tickets may be purchased online at www.totix.ca
Box Office opens one hour prior to each performance
Please note: Box Office does not accept credit or debit cards
Absolutely no latecomers.

Alumnae Theatre Company (a non-union, not-for profit company) has been producing thought-provoking, challenging and rarely-performed plays since 1919.
Check our website at www.alumnaetheatre.com for press releases, production photographs, and a retrospective on how Alumnae Theatre shaped Toronto’s theatre scene.

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