Every year when planning FemFest, Sarasvati Productions looks for new and exciting ways to connect with Winnipeg communities. We strive on representing as many communities as we can and helping them tell their stories. FemFest 2012: Staging Identity is so much more than just some actors on a stage. Women’s storytelling aims to engage the audience and force them to see something inside themselves and create their own artistic viewpoints and spaces. We are pleased to present, as part of our already stellar festival line-up, two excellent, hands-on workshops from two of our touring performers and companies.
Another exciting aspect about FemFest is the opportunity to present readings and lectures from distinguished and established playwrights and artitsts. It is importanting to attend readings of works in progress in order to better understand and appreciate the writing process. We are proud to be presenting writers from across Canada and across genres as part of the line-up of FemFest ancillary events!
Sunday, September 16th – 1-3pm: Ever wanted to create an incredible solo show, but had no idea where to begin? How do you get your ideas off the ground if you have no one to bounce off of? Well, don’t you fret! Johanna Nutter from Montreal’s Freestanding Productions will be facilitating a Solo Play Creation Workshop. This workshop will explore the creation of solo performance through four main lenses: audiences, heroes, mechanics and conclusions. But what does a solo show even look like? Check out Nutter’s critically acclaimed My Pregnant Brother at FemFest!
Sunday, September 16th – 3:30-6pm: If working solo isn’t your thing, we encourage you to check out the Collaborative Play Creation workshop as presented by Renee Iaci and Daune Campbell of Shameless Hussy Productions. Working with a friend or partner can be tough if your visions or ideas aren’t on the same path. Learn to create an idea map and ensure that from conception to opening night your production articulates your message and turns heads. If you’re looking for a gun-slingin’ good time, stop by Sonofabitch Stew: The Drunken Life of Calamity Jane at FemFest and see how the collaborative process comes together!
Both workshops have a registration cost for $15. For more information or how to register, please visit www.femfest.ca or call 204-586-2236.
Sarasvàti Productions – FemFest 2012: Staging Identity Ancillary Events
Marcia Johnson Reading
September 18, 12:30p.m.-1:15p.m.
****EDITED SEPTEMBER 12 – reading now taking place at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film
Free Admission
Made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada.
Marcia Johnson’s plays include Binti’s Journey (‘The Heaven Shop’ by Deborah Ellis) – Theatre Direct; Courting Johanna (Alice Munro’s ‘Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage’) – Blyth Festival and Late – Obsidian Theatre. Also, a librettist, Marcia has written the short opera My Mother’s Ring and the full length Paradises Lost. Her play is Linden’s Sister, published by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in “More than a Play.”Marcia has acted in The Real McCoy by Andrew Moodie at Factory Theatre and Great Canadian Theatre Company. She was an original cast member for the Toronto Fringe hit, The Gladstone Variations.
MasterClass with Judith Thompson
September 18, 3-6p.m. and September 19, 9a.m.-12noon
(participants must be able to attend both sessions)
Sponsored by the Playwrights Guild of Canada
Registration Limited – contact us at 204-586-2236 or info@sarasvati.ca
Cost: $50/$40 for members of the Playwrights Guild of Canada
Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (at the University of Winnipeg, 400 Colony Street)
Judith Thompson is a widely recognized playwright, director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Her plays include The Crackwalker, White Biting Dog, Lion in the Streets, I am Yours, Sled, Perfect Pie, Habitat, Palace of the End, Body and Soul, and Such Creatures. She has also written featured films, television movies, and radio plays. Awards include: Officer of the Order of Canada, 2 Governor General Awards, Toronto Arts Award, 2 Chalmers Awards, Walter Carsen Performing Arts Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. She is also a professor at the University of Guelph for the School of English and Theatre Studies.
The Real Thing Lecture with Judith Thompson
September 19, 12:30-1:20p.m.
Sponsored by the University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre and Film
Free Admission
Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (at the University of Winnipeg, 400 Colony Street)
Judith Thompson Reading and Reception
September 19, 5p.m.
Free Admission
Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (at the University of Winnipeg, 400 Colony Street)
Jordan Hall Reading from The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez
Part of FemFest ‘Shorts’ series
September 21, 8:15p.m.
Free Admission
Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (at the University of Winnipeg, 400 Colony Street)
Made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada.
Jordan Hall is an emerging artist whose work has been dubbed “stellar, insightful” by Plank Magazine, “thoughtful” by CBC Radio, and “vivid, memorable” by NOW. Her writing for the stage includes her short work Red, The Second Last Man on Earth, and Asleep at the Wheel, as well as her full-length play, Kayak, winner of Samuel French’s Canadian Playwright’s competition. She is developing her newest work, Travelling Light, as an associate with the Playwrights Theatre Centre.
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