FLYING, FALLING, FALLEN: Ghost River Theatre Production’s “The Highest Step in the World”

FLYING, FALLING, FALLEN:
A Review of Ghost River Theatre Production’s
“The Highest Step in the World”

by Simone Keiran

Five separate stories are woven into cohesive and compelling drama in David van Belle and Eric Rose’s Ghost River Theatre production, The Highest Step in the World.

Captain Joseph Kittinger

The main story centers around a very literal interpretation of the question, “What do you do when you can’t go back down the same way you came up?” — by examining what it may have taken from American air force pilot and war veteran, Captain Joseph Kittinger, to jump off the Excelsior III flight balloon on August 16, 1960, from 102,800 feet (31.3 kms) in the upper stratosphere, and free-fall for four and a half minutes, reaching supersonic speeds of 614 mph (988 km/h) — a feat which has not yet been equaled.

LHASA: LAND OF THE GODS at Calgary Circus School, until March 21

Swallow-a-Bicycle Performance Theatre presents:

Lhasa: Land of the Gods

Until Sunday, March 21st, 2010
9:00 PM Nightly
Calgary Circus School
at the Lantern Community Church in Inglewood
1401 – 10 Avenue, SE, Calgary

A performance fusion of circus aerials, music and theatre featuring Jamie Tognazzini, Léda Davies, and Marcy Lannan.

Tickets: $20 adults, $15 students/seniors/Actors equity
Available at the door, or online.

Harold Pinter’s BETRAYAL at Theatre Calgary until April 11th

Theatre Calgary presents

Harold Pinter’s BETRAYAL

Directed by Richard Rose

March 23rd to April 11, 2010
Times vary and there are weekend matinees.
Max Bell Theatre
at The Epcor Centre for Performing Arts

Emma has had a seven year affair with Jerry, her husband Robert’s best friend. Ingeniously unfolding in reverse, the nine scenes in the play begin at the end of the affair and move backwards to the moment the lovers first share an adulterous kiss. This love triangle reveals that everyone has something to hide and betrayal has more than one price. Poignant, and often bitterly comic, this play highlights the genius one of the world’s greatest modern playwrights.

Theatre Calgary offers solid, reputable and established works by acclaimed playwrights, and brings in leading directors and talent for performances.

TICKETS:
Theatre Calgary Box Office: (403) 294-7447
(Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST)
TicketMaster has a full price and date listing, and a map of the Max Bell Theatre, call (403) 299-8888

EVELYN STRANGE at Vertigo Mystery Theatre

Vertigo Mystery Theatre Presents

EVELYN STRANGE

By Stewart Lemoine

March 13 to April 4
Vertigo Mystery Theatre
at the base of the Calgary Tower
115 – 9 Avenue, SE

Special Price: $10 Director’s Preview
Tickets at the Door Only (starting 6:30 pm)
Sunday, March 14 at 7:30

My name is Evelyn Strange and sense has ruled my life in place of passion.

Forgetting your own name, life history, and recent whereabouts is no way to start a first date—but Evelyn Strange is unlucky that way. She may have forgotten who she is, but if the contents of your pockets told a tale of bloody murder, you wouldn’t want to remember either.

A charming, witty crime comedy from Edmonton’s celebrated Stewart Lemoine.

DO ANIMALS CRY, Tonight Only

Theatre Junction GRAND presents

DO ANIMALS CRY

By Meg Stuart and Damaged Goods (Belgium)

Saturday March 13th, 2010
8:00 PM
Theatre Junction GRAND
608 – 1st Street, SW

Cry if you want to: it’s family time now! In Do Animals Cry Meg Stuart and her performers (Damaged Goods,from co-producers, Théâtre Garonne du Toulouse, Théâtre de la Ville du Paris, Wolksbühne am Rosa Luxemberg Platz of Berlin, PACT Zollverein of Essen, and Kaaitheatre of Brussels) challenge the greeting commando called family — a frantic reunion where loved ones reminisce for the last time before falling to pieces. Featuring six dancers addressing the family dynamic with tension and unspoken comfort, this show is a melting pot of scenes and situations with movement as the main ‘trigger.’

Tickets: Theatre Junction, (403) 205-2922, or at the box office 608 – 1st Street, SW.

(X-posted to Calgary Dance)

Ronnie Burkett’s BILLY TWINKLE, REQUIEM FOR A GOLDEN BOY on at ATP

ALBERTA THEATRE PROJECTS Presents:

BILLY TWINKLE

REQUIEM FOR A GOLDEN BOY

March 18, 2010 to April 11, 2010.

Created and Performed by Ronnie Burkett
Music by John Alcorn, Lighting design by Kevin Humphrey

Billy Twinkle is a middle-aged cruise ship puppeteer who dazzles audiences with his Stars in Miniature marionette niteclub act. His saucy burlesque stripper Rusty titillates the tourists, octogenarian Bunny invokes sidesplitting laughter with the inflatable balloon in his pants, Bumblebear juggles and roller-skates and steals the hearts of every audience, and society dame Biddy Bantam Brewster brings a bit of highbrow hilarity to the high seas with her drunken aria. Billy is the best in the business and on top of the world as he floats along through life.

Until he is fired by the cruiseline. Standing at the edge of the ship contemplating a watery demise, Billy is abruptly called back to reality when his dead mentor Sid Diamond appears as a hand puppet. Sid literally will not leave his side, and forces Billy to re-enact his life as a puppet show in order to remember and rekindle the passion Billy once had for puppets, people and the dream of a life that sparkles.

For anyone stuck in the middle – mid-career, mid-love, mid-life – caught between our own past and future, this requiem for a golden boy shines a little light on the wonder of youth meeting the wisdom of age with a kick in the pants to finish what we started.

“Burkett’s lack of peers demonstrates that he has essentially invented, or at least reinvented, the genre of serious puppetry. Since he founded the Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes in 1986, his one-man shows have grappled with kid-unfriendly themes ranging from the Holocaust to AIDS to art history, and over time his puppets have shed their novelty status. To put it simply, his marionettes act. They emote, sometimes holding audiences in thrall while simply standing around onstage and talking to one another, as human actors would.”

Alex Hutchinson, “ The Puppet Master and the Apprentice: One of the world’s great puppeteers finds renewal — for himself and his art form — in mentorship,” The Walrus Magazine, April, 2010.

For ticket information please contact the ALBERTA THEATRE PROJECTS ticket office at (403) 294-7402 or click here to order online!

Ronnie Burkett’s plays are directed towards ages 14+
No latecomers will be admitted.

Alberta Theatre Projects performances take place at the Martha Graham Theatre in the EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts, 205 8th Avenue S.E., Calgary Alberta, T2G 0K9

Family Weekend at the Glenbow Museum

This upcoming Saturday and Sunday (March 13^th – 14^th, 2010) Glenbow Museum is hosting a Family Fun Weekend of various activities geared towards kids and their parents/guardians.This is a seasonal day of events, free for Glenbow members, but offered at the usual rates for 1-time family admissions (posted below.)

Weekend at the Museum
March 13 & 14, 9am-5pm
Free for members

Mark your calendar for the first Weekend at the Museum when the museum throws open its doors to children and their parents for a big hands-on, multimedia event. All three public exhibition floors will be open for musical and theatrical performances, workshops, storytelling, hands-on art based activities, yoga sessions and a chance to go behind-the-scenes to see the hidden treasures at Glenbow.

For schedule of events, click Weekend at the Museum.

Theatre-related workshops which look interesting include:

A step-by-step puppet workshop with Calgary’s Old Trout Puppet Theatre, where children can design a face and construct a body to create their very own marionettes. All supplies provided. Age 7 +
1:00 – 4:00 pm,
Location: Morris Schumiatcher Activity Room (3rd Floor)

Heather John, a member of the Cree community, utilizes the Blackfoot Gallery, Nitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life, as the setting for her engaging and enlightening storytelling style. All Ages.
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Blackfoot Gallery(3rd Floor)

Glenbow’s artist-in-residence, Kris Demeanor, leads a song-writing workshop for kids. Kris provides a number of instruments and guides children through the process of writing a song, as well as a performing his own compositions. Age 7 +.
11:00 am – noon & 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Location: ConocoPhilips Theatre
(Main Floor)

Other workshops include sculpting horses from copper wire, hands-on artifacts in the Mavericks exhibition, a behind the scenes tour, yoga for children, a drop-in art studio, sketch club, geodes, knights, and a treasure hunt.

Family prices: (2 adults, up to 4 youth) $28
Adult (18+) ……………………… $14
Senior (65+) ……………………. $10
Student (with valid ID) ………… $9
Youth (ages 7-17) ………………. $9
Glenbow members and children under 6 are free.
Annual Family Membership (2 adults, up to 4 youth) are $90.

Nicola Garvin
Membership & Annual Giving Coordinator
Phone: (403) 268-4165
E-mail: memberships@glenbow.org

Glenbow Museum
130 – 9 Avenue S.E., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 0P3
Email: info@glenbow.org; Phone: (403) 268-4100; Fax: (403) 265-9769.

ONE YELLOW RABBIT: Gilgamesh La-Z-Boy Returns

March 18, 2010
Gilgamesh La-Z-Boy Returns to One Yellow Rabbit

Gilgamesh La-Z-Boy

Gilgamesh La-Z-Boy returns to One Yellow Rabbit for another run, March 18 -27, 2010. The play was so popular at its High Performance Rodeo premiere, that it sold out.

March 18 – 27, 2010
Tuesday-Saturday at 8:00 pm

Sunday matinee on March 21, 2:00 pm
Tickets $21 – $32
Pay-What-You-Can: March 18 & 21
Big Secret Theatre
EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts
2nd floor, 225 – 8th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB

The ancient Mesopotamian Legend of Gilgamesh, with its hyperbolic language and epic structure, is beautifully recounted and choreographed while juxtaposed between three actors in contemporary costumes on a set composed of La-Z-Boy furniture.  In case you think this is a one trick pony of a production, the setting hones attention in on the actors’ abilities and voices, on the power of the story and the words which produced it, on the story’s relevance to our present existence.

For tickets, visit One Yellow Rabbit or call (403) 294-9494
For more information, call (403) 294-7411