Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Something to chew over
By LOUIS B. HOBSON - CALGARY SUN

For five weeks beginning Saturday, Lunchbox’s Suncor Energy Stage One Festival will be work shopping 10 new plays.

“We have 12 playwrights, eight directors and 13 actors who are working on these eight plays and two musicals. Each new work will get one public reading beginning with In Flanders Field on June 5 at noon,” says Pamela Halstead, directing this first workshop herself.

In Flanders Fields, a musical based on the life of John McRae who wrote the famous poem, will get its world premiere as part of Lunchbox’s 2010-2011 season. “The composer Nicky Phillips is here with us in Calgary, but the playwright Robert Gontier is in England so he joins us via the Internet through Skype. This is theatre in the 21st century.”

Halstead says public readings are essential to creating new works, all of which are being considered for the next two seasons at Lunchbox.

“Until you have audience feedback, you really don’t know if the play is as clear as you think it is.

“These feedback readings are free and we encourage people to attend as many as they can to help us out. Lunchbox Theatre is the leading developer of one-act plays in Canada, so we want to make sure what we are creating is the best we can make it.” The full schedule is at lunchboxtheatre.com.

Calgary plays in development through the Suncor Energy Stage One Festival include Dave Kelly’s Dad’s Piano, Ethan Cole’s musical Peril in Paris, Glenda Stirling’s Shopaholic Husband Hunt, AJ Demes’ The Whimsy State and Charles Netto and Mark Hopkins’ Super 8.

— Louis B. Hobson

Lynley Hall and David Leyshon fhave great chemistry in the new musical comedy This Could Be Love.

Photograph by: Dean Bicknell, Calgary Herald

Review

Lunchbox Theatre presents This Could Be Love by Brock Simpson through May 8.

Tickets: Call 403-265-4292.

- - - ½ out of five

—

The cart comes charmingly before the horse in Lunchbox Theatre’s newest show, This Could Be Love.

It’s a bright, tight little musical comedy written and composed by Brock Simpson, in which two young strangers, stood up with all their baggage in tow, decide instead to hit it off with each other — and go straight into marriage, on the premise that love will surely follow.

A kind of cautionary romance on the perils of oversimplifying the overly complicated where the contemporary dating, love and marriage game is concerned, This Could Be Love — in a brand new shortened version of the made-in-Toronto show that enjoyed success during an off-Broadway performance in 2006 — proves an engaging vehicle for the obvious musical theatre talents of David Leyshon and Lynley Hall.

Leyshon portrays He, an uptight jingle writer with a penchant for making lists and straight-ahead thinking, while Hall plays She, a temp worker with thinking that runs more to the detailed but intuitive variety (when it comes time for a morning-after reckoning to give some needs-to-be-met shape to their just-consummated relationship, for example, She has a list of 10 criteria to the three of He).

Soon after their connubial bliss enters a stage where wants follow upon needs, wrinkles begin to appear — especially when She hears the notes which He conceived as the musical theme of their relationship, in a radio jingle.

Directed by Glenda Stirling, the two performers, spirited but not lacking in emotional subtlety, play off each other with a winning stage chemistry — enough at least to make the improbable scenario, with its pleasantly mood-specific tunes and clever lyrics (the last song got good mileage out of Helsinki), seem almost possible in a funny sort of way, or at least make you wish it could be (and how many times have some of us not dreamed it was).

The musical accompaniment was delivered with a light, sensitive touch by pianist Brent Rock, performing at the back of a Terry Gunvordahl-created stage design whose only props were, ingeniously enough, suitcases — lots of them — symbolizing the baggage She, He and all the rest of us carry on love’s journey.

bclark@theherald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

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Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Flamenco+inspiration/2777079/story.html#ixzz0kcMkZWYr

The best way to spend your lunch

Mar 17th, 2010 | By Sean-Paul Boynton

Illustration by Kelsey Hipkin

If you’re looking for a fun alternative to the crowded food courts and overpriced sandwich stands during your lunch hour, all you have to do is pack a snack and head downtown for a short fix of theatre.

Lunchbox Theatre, the venerable one-act play company, has been delighting audiences and providing welcome noon-hour respites from the daily grind for 35 years. Now known as the longest-running one-act theatre organization in the world, Lunchbox has seen the launch of several professional artistic careers over the past three-and-a-half decades, and has become a safe haven for nubile playwrights to showcase original work – much of which has gone on to national and even international success.

Considering that these days it takes a lot of hard work and patience to make a mark in the theatre community with a new company, it’s surprising to hear Bartley Bard, the founding artistic director for Lunchbox, recall how it was a hit from the beginning.

“At our very first performance on Sept. 15, 1975, every single seat was filled,” says Bard, on the phone from his current home in Los Angeles that he shares with his wife and Lunchbox co-founder, Margaret. “I had gotten 100 of those folding chairs and set them up in Bow Valley Square, and just through word of mouth and putting ads in the paper, we sold out our first show. And we sold out pretty much every show since then.”

Granted, Lunchbox had some strokes of luck and special circumstances during their beginning that modern upstart companies would have a hard time finding: for instance, their space at Bow Valley Square was held rent-free (and would continue to be until 2008, when Lunchbox was forced to move to their current location at the base of the Calgary Tower). The company also debuted at a time when only Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects made up the city’s theatre community.

Despite sounding like an easy environment in which to debut a new theatrical voice, what made Lunchbox survive all these years has been its commitment to fostering new talent, as well as committing itself to a diverse cross-section of productions.

“We wanted to come across as professional – that was our main goal,” recalls Bard. “We featured comedies, dramas, classics, and then once our status was sealed, we were able to attract new, original works by up-and-coming playwrights, which was what we had hoped to achieve from the beginning.

“Calgary’s a fast-paced town,” he continues, “and the people there want to see more: more theatre, more originality, more of something special. And it’s a really special town, so we fit right in, I think. When we started, there were only two skyscrapers surrounding our space…and then there were four, and then five, and…well, look at it today. It’s always growing, and we were able to watch that growth.”

Indeed, Lunchbox has become an integral part of Calgary, both artistically and culturally. Its importance to the city was sealed when Petro Canada partnered with the company to create the Stage One Festival, which gives fresh-minded playwrights the chance to bring their debut creations to life, culminating in one play being chosen to close out the season.

Bard left Lunchbox and Calgary in 1999, moving to Los Angeles with his wife to pursue other artistic avenues, including screenwriting. The company then went through a few successors that led to Pamela Halstead joining on one year ago. Halstead is committed to not only maintaining Lunchbox’s well-deserved reputation, but also ensuring that the next 35 years are just as prosperous as the previous 35.

“Some of the things that the company went through recently – especially the move to our new space, which is costing us more money now since it’s no longer rent-free – are things that have the potential to sink most companies of our size,” says Halstead. “I think what’s kept us going has been our long history of demonstrating that we care about the community and what we stand for, as well as our large audience that has stuck with us and kept coming back for so many years. We’ve definitely created a following, so it’s great to see that they still care about us.”

Halstead says that Lunchbox will survive in the ever-changing and always unpredictable artistic community of Calgary by staying true to its mission of developing new work and keeping its doors open to emerging artists from all walks of life – whether they be actors, directors, or playwrights. She also mentions the company’s Emerging Directors program, which allows up-and-coming directors the chance to work with established professionals of the craft and eventually direct a showcase of their own.

This year will prove to be a big one for Lunchbox Theatre, as the company plans to celebrate their milestone in as many ways as possible. Halstead mentions a “community celebration” that will happen in June, and although details are still being finalized, she promises it will be “a giant party with people throughout Lunchbox’s history joining in on the fun.” This May will also see the return of Lunchbox’s most beloved character, Ivanka, return to the company’s stage for a “greatest hits” collection from her past six performances.

As for whether Bard will attend the celebration in June, which wouldn’t have even happened without him and his wife: “We’ll see. I definitely would like to attend, although our son is celebrating his tenth birthday that month, so we can’t miss that. There are just too many milestones to celebrate at once!”

For more information on Lunchbox Theatre, including ticket prices (only $15 for students), visit www.lunchboxtheatre.com

Lunchbox play chases Submarine to Scotland
By LOUIS B. HOBSON, CALGARY SUN
Last Updated: March 15, 2010 4:36pm

Vancouver playwright Michelle Deines’ The Submarine currently running at Lunchbox Theatre feels more like a film script than a play.

It’s to designer Becky Solly’s credit that The Submarine works as well as it does in Lunchbox’s little theatre at the base of the Calgary Tower.

Solly had to create set pieces which could take the audience from a pub in Scotland to a fisherman’s cabin, to the dock and then onto his fishing boat. The piece de resistance is that the submarine has to make an appearance — and it does.

Cordelia (Ester Purves-Smith) is a Canadian engineer based in Halifax who develops a submarine that runs on water so it can remain submerged indefinitely.

The day before the submarine is to be unveiled for prospective buyers it goes AWOL and reports have it stranded in The Hebrides in Scotland.

A fisherman claims to have caught it in his net. So off to Scotland goes Cordelia where she meets a most surly fisherman named Murdoch (Trevor Leigh) who embraces the philosophy that whiskey is the elixir of life. Cordelia and Murdoch are like oil and water but anyone who saw movies like Leap Year know they’re going to find out they’re really comrades at heart. Purves-Smith and Leigh have instant and believable chemistry whether they’re sparring or spooning, and it’s both their individual and combined charisma that drives The Submarine.

When she’s not determined to preach, Deines writes snappy dialogue that provides gentle laughs and even gentler insights into human nature.

Both Cordelia and Murdoch are damaged souls who need repairing and that’s what happens when they set out to rescue the submarine. Jonathan Lewis’ sound design and original music add to the atmosphere as does Amy Paterson’s lighting designs.

I like that director Pamela Halstead has Purvis-Smith and Leigh reconfigure the set pieces rather than a team of crew members, and I like that we see how Solly’s set works.

The Submarine is not a laugh-riot by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a pleasant lunchtime diversion.

THE SUBMARINE

AT LUNCHBOX THEATRE

Rating: 3 out of 5

STARRING
TREVOR LEIGH,
ESTHER PURVIS-SMITH

DIRECTOR
PAMELA HALSTEAD

Playwright finds joy seeing stories come to life

BY STEPHEN HUNT, CALGARY HERALDMARCH 11, 2010

Spotlight

The Submarine, by Michelle Deines, at Lunchbox Theatre through April 3. Tickets: 403 265 4292 Ext. 0.

—

Michelle Deines is the author of The Submarine, the new Lunchbox Theatre production that opened Tuesday. Deines spoke to Centre Stage on Monday.

Q: What’s The Submarine about?

A: The Submarine is about a (Canadian) woman who travels to Scotland, in search of her wayward submarine that she’s lost, and when she’s there — I know, sounds improbable — when she’s there, she meets a man who she eventually finds out he has it.

Q: What was the genesis of the play?

A: I heard a story on the CBC about a Scottish fisherman who — it was an interview, I think, on As It Happens, with a Scottish fisherman who had found a submarine. He thought it was an old Second World War sub. He’d hidden it somewhere and was trying to get the British navy to pay him salvage fees. I’d been looking for an idea for a play with a small cast, like a two-hander (two cast members). I heard that story, and thought it was so ridiculous, it was perfect. Like truth is stranger than fiction! That was the genesis of the play, although the play is not based — beyond the submarine and it being set in Scotland — it’s not based on anything real. The characters are fictional, and the submarine itself is completely different than the submarine in the real story.

Q: One of the characters in The Submarine is Scottish. Was it hard to write his voice?

A: It was hard. Because I wrote it with an accent — and I’m very familiar with a Scottish accent, but I’m not an expert. Like most Canadians, we’ve heard it, but we don’t live it. I spent a month in Scotland in 2006, and that really helped. And I travelled to Lewis, but more than the accent, it was also the character — in a way, his voice was the one that came to me first. The accent was hard, but the actual heart of the character, and who he was, came right away.

Q: In addition to plays, you also write poetry and fiction. Do you have a preferred genre?

A: I don’t know if I do. What I love about playwriting that’s different from all other genres, is that you get to see it come to life. Ideally, of course. It’s quite thrilling. It’s quite a magical thing, to walk in and see these people bring to life something you conceived of and worked really hard on and you see they’ve put a lot of work into, too. Writing is a really lonely thing, and I like that also about playwriting is that it brings you together with other artists. I think playwriting is kind of my favourite in that way, but I like writing in the other genres too, in poetry and fiction too.

Q: You’ve done a few fringe festivals in the past. How did you find that experience?

A: The fringe is a really great first stepping stone (for a playwright). It’s cheap, not a very big financial risk, and if your word of mouth is good, you can get a lot of people to come see your piece. You also get to meet other people that are doing the same thing, so I’ve had really positive experiences at the fringe.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I am working on a new script called The Museum. It’s about a man who works in a museum that can’t be opened because the city the museum is in is too violent. Again, it’s based on something I heard in real life: a story I read in the New York Times about the museum in Baghdad.

shunt@herald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

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