January 3 - 14, 2012
The hottest two weeks in winter.
The 15th Annual Wildside Festival will feature the winner of the Best of the Fringe Award, selected by a jury of Montreal theatre professionals, and a line-up of unique productions on our list of Must-See shows.
Last year the limited number of Wildside Theatre Passes sold out fast. Don't miss your chance this year - get yours now!
A Thousand Paper Cranes:
The Weapons Of Peace
60min.
PRESENTED BY: Geordie Productions
CREATED BY: Micheline Chevrier & Paula Wing
WRITTEN BY: Paula Wing
DIRECTED BY: Micheline Chevrier
STARRING Cassandre Mentor, Jennifer Roberts, Nicholas (Koy) Santillo
Maximum impact, with measurable results. These were the tactics of the US army in 1945 in an aim to end the war with a significant event. The results were death, destruction and sickness from the A-Bomb that dropped from the sky. Sadako Sasaki was one of those victims whose fight to survive and stay positive in the face of her illness has made her a symbol of peace and hope throughout the world.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
- Albert Einstein
“This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world”
- Children of Japan
Bifurcate Me
60min.
PRESENTED BY Theatre 4.669
CREATED BY: Created by Nathaly Charrette, Julie Legal, Andy Massingham & Kevin Orr
DIRECTED BY: Kevin Orr
FEATURING: Nathaly Charrette and Andy Massingham
A scientist has hired two people to determine why humans fall. Set in a lab of the Douglas Hospital in September 1972; Bifurcate Me is a theatrical drug trial that fuses chaos theory, a dash of sports history, over 235 falls, and the intimate narrative of two human guinea pigs trying to navigate the landscape between discomfort and pain. It’s funny, fabulously physical – oh, and bilingual.
“Intensely physical... part slapstick, part absurdist comedy... engaging, refreshing and surprisingly affirmative.”
- The Ottawa Citizen
“This show manages to be both high concept and low brow.”
- Ottawasneezers.com
Blink Blink Blink
60min.
PRESENTED B:Y Kirsten Rasmussen Productions
CREATED BY & FEATURING: Kirsten Rasmussen
Blink Blink Blink is a tragic comedy written and performed by Kirsten Rasmussen. Blink Blink Blink is the story of a motivational speaker Sara Tonin and a scared little bunny, Benjamin. All Sara wants is to live the fearless and successful life her book preaches. All Benjamin wants is to be more courageous like his heroic father. They both strive so blindly for their goals, that they lose sight of themselves and collide head-on with each other.
WINNER: CENTAUR'S BEST OF THE FRINGE AWARD
RUNNER UP FOR JUST FOR LAUGHS BEST COMEDY
“You will laugh to tears”
- Montreal MIRROR
“Rasmussen's timing is unreal. [Her] starpower is mindblowing”
- Charlebois Post
“She's funny off script and on.”
- Prairie Dog Magazine (Regina)
Bliss
60min.
PRESENTED BY: Candles are for Burning
WRITTEN BY: Olivier Choinière
TRANSLATED BY: Caryl Churchill
DIRECTED BY: Steven McCarthy
FEATURING: Delphine Bienvenu, Jean-Robert Bourdage, Trent Pardy, France Rolland
Olivier Choinière’s darkly surreal masterpiece explores our insatiable appetite for celebrity in this North American premiere production of Caryl Churchill's translation. Who is Celine Dion? What is Wal-Mart? And who is that girl kept prisoner in her room? An Oracle arrives to help us hold Heaven in one hand and Hell in the other and to finally give us the answer.
SUMMERWORKS CANSTAGE AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
“The nightmare of a plot tailors itself to each of our imaginations”
- Mondomagazine
“Outstanding direction, production, design, ensemble”
- Now Magazine
Countries Shaped Like Stars
60min.
PRESENTED BY: Mi Casa Theatre (Ottawa)
CREATED & PERFORMED BY: Emily Pearlman and Nicolas Di Gaetano
DIRECTED BY: Patrick Gauthier
The story of Gwendolyn Magnificent and Bartholomew Spectacular starts with demanding dragon fruits and ends with heartache whispered into the ears of birds and constellations. With water glasses, whirly-winds and mandolin, they create the sounds and images of a landscape forever altered by regret. Part storytelling, part concert, this is a tale of love heard best through a tin-can telephone.
WINNER – OUTSTANDING NEW CREATION - PRIX RIDEAU AWARDS
“Has to be seen to be believed”
- CBC Winnipeg
“To miss a show so indelible, enchanting and inventive would be tragic.”
- Alibi Magazine, Albuquerque NM
Dick Powell's
"in The Mood For Jazz"
65min.
PRESENTED BY: SideMart Theatrical Grocery
CREATED BY: Patrick Costello and Graham Cuthbertson
FEATURING: Dick Powell, Laura Thornton, Holly Houston Vanderbilt III, and the Buck Wheaton Trio
Dick Powell returns to the stage after a hiatus that has lasted 22 years plus a day! The man from the famed Pacific City Wolfpack sings some of his favourite hits in a one-night-only-special-appearance! Supported by our guest of honor and Dick's ex-wife, the beautiful and talented Laura Thornton! Includes a brief introduction by noted Jazz historian Holly Houston Vanderbilt III and backed by the hippest five-piece jazz band around: The Buck Wheaton Trio!
Some Awards Dick Powell has won:
Most acting in a musical - (Downtown Cit Live Performance and Sports Festival)
Longest Date Song:“The Seasons of Arkadelphia Part 2: Winter and Summer and Spring)” - (FOURFOUR Magazine Readers Poll)
Very Big Jazz Band: "In the Mood for Jazz" - (FOURFOUR Magazine Writers Poll)
Queen Of Hearts
60min.
PRESENTED BY: Les Saints
WRITTEN BY: Manon Beaudoin
DIRECTED BY:
Moira Wylie
FEATURING Lois Anderson & Manon Beaudoin
Queen of Hearts is set in a psychiatric hospital in an evacuated town that is under constant bombing, with two women stuck in one of the hospital wings: a caretaker and a patient. The patient in this story suffers from delusions. At the beginning of the story, the nurse is wounded by a fork that flew into her heart during the bombing. She is getting weaker. She is stuck with the patient and progressively finds herself seduced by the world of the patient.
This black comedy combines animation, soundscape and two women on the edge.
Teaching Hamlet
60min.
PRESENTED BY Repercussion Theatre
WRITTEN BY: Keir Cutler / Directed by Paul Hopkins
FEATURING Brett Watson, Keir Cutler
"Teaching Hamlet" is a fast-paced, hilarious comedy featuring a Shakespearean actor (Brett Watson) and an Oxfordian intellect (Keir Cutler) facing-off in a battle of wits. This is the latest play by the multiple-award-winning playwright of “Teaching Shakespeare,” and is brilliantly directed by Repercussion Theatre’s artistic director, Paul Hopkins. “Teaching Hamlet” premiered at the 2011 Montreal Fringe Festival to rave reviews.
“an intelligent, hilarious word wrangle over authorship of the plays, as the worlds of theatre and academia are cleverly juxtaposed.”
- The Gazette
“Brett Watson plays every note in a stunning tour de force.”
- The Charlebois Post
“Sharp and witty - sure to please!”
- CJAD
Edgar Allan Poe's:
The Pit And The Pendulum
PRESENTED BY: Second Body Productions
ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY: Alex McCooeye
DIRECTED BY:
Greg Kramer and Alex Johnson
FEATURING: Leni Parker and Alex McCooeye
In a medical chamber of a war-torn territory, an unrelenting army official prods a man to recall his trial and confinement at the hands of “The Inquisition”, a mutual foe. As he reveals his plight, both are forced to explore their own inner turmoil as they face “a death of more than customary bitterness”.
“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.”
- Edgar Allan Poe