2010 / 2011 Season Announced
Alex Ferguson and Amy Hall-Cummings in 1984. Photo by David Cooper.
1984
Adapted for the stage from George Orwell's novel by Andy Thompson
Directed by Ron Jenkins
Produced by The Virtual Stage and Langara College's Studio 58
March 24 - April 3, 2011
Presented by the Vancouver East Cultural Centre in its newly renovated Historic Theatre
For tickets and information, click here!
WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. These are the slogans Big Brother uses to reassure the people of Oceania: a society tyrannized by surveillance technology and oppressed by the inescapable "Thought Police". This world premiere of Andy Thompson's multi-media stage adaptation imaginatively interprets George Orwell's timeless and prophetic masterpiece. 1984 revolves around Winston Smith's dangerous, forbidden love affair with Julia. In Orwell's dystopian world, true love is forbidden and punishable by death.
1984 is co-produced by The Virtual Stage and Langara College's legendary professional theatre school Studio 58. Ron Jenkins, the renowned and multi-award winning director of The Black Rider and Bash'd is at the helm. This innovative interpretation of Orwell's famous novel is not one to be missed!
Starring Alex Ferguson as Winston Smith
and Allan Gray as O'Brien
and featuring the senior students of Studio 58
Dramaturgy by Kevin Kerr
Set Design by Drew Facey
Lighting Design by Adrian Muir
Sound Design by Brian Linds
Costume Design by Naomi Sider
Andy Thompson (background) and Jonathon Young in Western Canada Theatre's production of No Exit. Produced in association with The Virtual Stage and Electric Company Theatre. Photo by Michael Julian Berz.
No Exit: San Francisco
Written by Jean-Paul Sartre. Adapted from the French by Paul Bowles.
Directed by Kim Collier
Produced by The Virtual Stage and Electric Company Theatre
April 7 - May 1, 2011
Presented by the American Conservatory Theatre at the Geary Theatre in San Francisco
For tickets and information, click here!
The Virtual Stage's American Debut
The Virtual Stage is setting its sights for the USA with its American debut of No Exit in San Francisco!
A mysterious valet ushers three people into a shabby hotel room. As the door locks behind them, an eternity of damnation lies ahead. What they soon discover is that hell isn't fire and brimstone at all - it's other people. Jean Paul Sartre's 1944 existential classic, adapted from the French by Paul Bowles, is skillfully re-imagined as a series of hidden cameras turn the stage into a cinema, and the audience into voyeurs as a meticulously staged live film takes place before your eyes. The result is a highly entertaining, live-mixed thriller that amplifies the psychology of three slightly-offstage performances by leveraging the techniques of cinema to deliver a high-impact stage experience.
A standout at Vancouver's annual Jessie Awards, winning Outstanding Production and the Critics' Choice Innovation Award, the live-cinematic interpretation No Exit is directed by Kim Collier and co-produced by The Virtual Stage and Electric Company Theatre. This landmark production debuted in Vancouver in 2008 at the Centre for Digital Media and later went on to tour across Canada to intense praise. Critics hail the project as "a new standard of brilliance" for productions of Sartre's dramatic masterpiece.
Starring Laara Sadiq as Inez
Lucia Frangione as Estelle
Andy Thompson as Cradeau
and Jonathon Young as the Valet.
Set Design by Jay Gower Taylor
Lighting Design by John Webber
Costume Design by Kirsten McGhie
Sound Design by Brian Linds
Video Design by Andy Thompson
CANADIAN TOUR REVIEWS
Five stars (out of five)
"Theatrical perfection...
Spectacularly brilliant...
The actors are uniformly terrific...
One of the finest theatrical achievements in recent memory...
- Bob Clark, Calgary Herald (full review)
Four stars (out of four)
"Collier gives heavenly direction in Sartre's hell...
A vibrant, very modern theatrical experience...
The acting is uniformly powerful and committed, the stagecraft extremely skilful and focused.
- Robert Crew, Toronto Star (full review)
VANCOUVER REVIEWS
"Another benchmark of brilliance...
So filled with innovation...
A jaw-dropping reminder that Vancouver's site specific theatre scene remains a world leader."
- Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun
"Director Kim Collier is a visionary.
A riveting theatrical event.
It's fantastic.
This production is so exciting..."
- Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight
"Sartre play dazzles with contemporary dimensions...
So freakishly potent...
Kudos to the entire production team..."
- Jerry Wasserman, The Province
"The best play of the year thus far...
Nothing short of brilliant...
A thrilling masterpiece...
This is a show that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible."
- Steven Schelling, Westender
"Brilliant...
The bravest theatrical ride I've been on this year."
- Michael Harris, The Globe and Mail
