Geordie Theatre presents its first virtual edition of the Geordie Theatre Fest!
This special event supports Geordie’s initiative as a leader in the development of great new works for Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA).
This year, unlike any other, the Geordie Theatre Fest will be available for live streaming in the comfort of your own home!
With staged readings performed exclusively for schools and produced in partnership with the National Theatre School of Canada, as well as public performances of our acclaimed 2Play touring shows (The Little Mighty Superhero and Celestial Bodies).
Geordie is eager to share these two phenomenal stories with the public and continue to provide audiences of all ages with the unique opportunity to get an inside look at what’s next for TYA.
Staged Readings (offered exclusively for schools)
February 3 & 4, 2021
The Fest will open on Wednesday with The Borrowing Man by actor and playwright Sarah Currie (A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, Storefront Fringe Festival) and directed by our Artistic Director Mike Payette. The play tells the story of three teenagers attempting to follow a virtual internet ritual that involves summoning The Borrowing Man, a supernatural figure that is promised to answer questions about their future. As each girl copes with her own uncertain path, they are asked to question their bond as a trio and their place in each other’s lives.
On Thursday, Geordie presents Until Tenth Grade by Jena McLean (An Ocean of Evergreens, Theatre New Brunswick; I am, winner of “Notable Acts Theatre Festival’s inaugural high school playwriting competition”) and directed by our former artistic director Dean Patrick Fleming. This Gen Z epic story follows teens as they grapple with realities of high school, contending with their identities, activism, and the daunting world of dating.
The Little Mighty Superhero
February 6, 2021 at 12pm
Developed in partnership with Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal
Recommended Ages: 5 and up
Every year, Geordie produces two plays by exceptional playwrights and directors, one for elementary schools and one for high schools and CEGEPS.
This year, the cast is made up of the gifted performers Alyssa Angelucci-Wall, a Concordia University Theatre graduate, Wahsonti:io Kirby (National Theatre School) who was to appear in the Stratford Festival’s Hamlet 911 before its COVID cancellation, and University of Victoria alumnus Douglas Peerless, who moved to Montreal for this special tour.
These three brilliant artists have been working passionately with Geordie over the past four months, alongside tour manager Rebecca Durocher, (a graduate of NTS), to deliver a unique experience to students and their communities in such a challenging year. The tour has been performed via live stream over 60 times and seen by over 8000 students so far. The team is proud, with this new format, to be able to make our stories even more accessible to young people and keep the impact of theatre alive!
The Little Mighty Superhero is written by acclaimed Filipino-Chinese playwright Marie Barlizo who recently wrote Lucky (Next Stage Theatre Festival, Toronto), Happiness (Flipside Theatre Festival), and The Healing which was launched this summer on a digital platform as part of the 2020 Kumustahan projects by Carlos Bulosan Theatre.
The play is directed by recent META (Montreal English Theatre Award) recipient Liz Valdez (Encore, Tableau D’Hôte Theatre) and is a heartwarming journey of a young boy’s quest in rediscovering imagination and memory in the face of fear and the unknown. At the core of this vibrant and visual play is the reminder that every adventure is more memorable when you can share it with someone you love.
To involve and engage our audience, the play will be followed by a talkback, moderated by Geordie’s Artistic Director Mike Payette, accompanied by the artists.
What’s more, our popular Geordie Theatre School is offering a fun, pre-show storytelling workshop for ages 6 to 12, free with the purchase of a ticket.
Celestial Bodies
February 6, 2021 at 3pm and 5pm
Developed in partnership with the National Theatre School of Canada
Recommended Ages: 12 and up
Celestial Bodies is written by Jacob Margaret Archer, a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, whose work has been performed all over western Canada. It is directed by award-winning Mike Payette (Choir Boy, Centaur; Héritage, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe). Actors Kirby and Angelucci-Wall will alternate performances at 3pm and 5pm respectively.
Stella, a fast-thinking (and even-faster-talking) teenager, copes with her first year of high school in some unexpected ways, including casual binge eating, anxiety-inducing Space Facts, accidentally becoming an ice hockey goalie, and a dog named Oort Cloud. Celestial Bodies is one girl’s cosmic journey to truly owning, literally and metaphorically, the space she occupies.
Specifically, for teens, Geordie Theatre School is offering a character creation workshop before the first performance (free with the purchase of a ticket).
GEORDIE THEATRE FEST
Staged Readings (offered exclusively for schools)
In partnership with the National Theatre School of Canada
Until Tenth Grade
Written by Jena McLean
Directed by Dean Patrick Fleming
Featuring: Samantha Bitonti, Wahsonti:io Kirby,
Anton May, Douglas Peerless, Jennifer Roberts,
Espoir Segbeaya, Dakota Jamal Wellman
The Borrowing Man
Written by Sarah Currie
Directed by Mike Payette
Featuring: Alyssa Angelucci-Wall, Samantha Bitonti, Alexandra Laferriere
Public Performances (live-streamed): The Little Mighty Superhero and Celestial Bodies
Written by Marie Barlizo (LMSH) and Jacob Margaret Archer (CB)
Directed by Liz Valdez (LMSH) and Mike Payette (CB)
Dramaturgy by Emma Tibaldo (LMSH) and Andrea Romaldi (CB)
Production Manager: Haylee Tucker (LMSH and CB)
Technical Director: Elly Tomasson (LMSH and CB)
Set and Costume Design: Eo Sharp (LMSH and CB)
Sound Design: Rob Denton (LMSH and CB)
Sound Consultants: Maddie Bautista, Kim Villagante (LMSH)
STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS (GTS) inspired by THE LITTLE MIGHTY SUPERHERO: (children ages 6 – 12), February 6 at 10:45AM.
CHARACTER CREATION WORKSHOPS (GTS) inspired by CELESTIAL BODIES: (teens), February 6 at 1:45PM
THE LITTLE MIGHTY SUPERHERO: February 6 at 12:00PM
CELESTIAL BODIES: February 6 at 5:00PM (Alyssa Angelucci-Wall)
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFRORMANCE OF CELESTIAL BODIES: February 6 at 3PM (Wahsonti:io Kirby) in partnership with Seeing Voices Montreal.
VENUE: Online
Tickets: 10 $ (per household)
BOX OFFICE and INFORMATION: www.geordie.ca
Geordie Theatre provokes thought, fires up the imagination, and seeks to encourage and challenge our audience. We celebrate the art of theatre and its social and global impact by working with emerging and established professional artists from various disciplines and cultural backgrounds to create works that are provocative, relevant and enchanting; inspiring dialogue between communities, children and parents as well as teachers and students of all ages. We look to build relationships with and extend our audience through inclusive practices and by visiting far-reaching communities in Quebec and abroad. Since 1980, Geordie has been producing and presenting plays that are important to young people; stories that are uniquely related to them in a context that reflects the world around them and their personal experiences at home. They are always about fostering the voice of young people and giving them a vessel in which they are represented, listened to, and encouraged while inspiring dialogue with the adults in their lives about what they see and recognize. Season 2020/21 marks Geordie’s 40th anniversary with this unique mission!
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CONTACT: Farida Badrawy at (514) 845-9810 or communications@geordie.ca
Geordie Productions Inc. 550 Delinelle, Montreal, QC, H4C 3B1 Tel: 514.845.9810 ext. 203 Fax: 514.845.3634
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