September 2008 Archives

Ninety years ago, the Spanish Flu killed between fifty and one hundred million people around the globe. This fall, Alberta Theatre Projects examines “the pandemic that history forgot” (Globe and Mail, September 16th 2008).
 
In an article printed September 16th 2008, Helen Branswell of the Globe and Mail revisits the illness that plagued the world at the end of the First World War. Despite its catastrophic consequences, Branswell observes the absence of mention in history books of the outbreak, with very few books devoted to the topic itself.

Playwright Kevin Kerr says the turning point for him in writing Unity (1918) was reading The Silent Enemy: Canada and the Deadly Flu of 1918 by Eileen Pettigrew. What shocked him beyond the pure devastation of the period was that he felt he hadn’t known much about it previously. He was “flabbergasted by the enormity of the event and the global impact… how devastating and terrifying it was” and asked “why isn’t this event more totally present in our collective conscience?” From this experience, Mr. Kerr wrote Unity (1918), an exploration of “the nature of fear, panic and community… glorious death vs. inglorious death”. Mr. Kerr feels that while one can moralize WWI, there was no moral context to the flu and therefore it is harder to comprehend.

A winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama, Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918) courageously examines growing up at the end of the world, when one is faced with the loss of community; an amusing, touching and intensely human portrait of small town life on the prairies.

To read Ms. Branswell’s article, please visit
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080916.wlflu16/BNStory/National/

For more information on Unity (1918), please visit
www.ATPlive.com


Unity (1918) runs from September 23rd through October 11th 2008, with shows Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All performances on the ConocoPhillips STAGE in the Martha Cohen Theatre, 215 – 8 Ave SE. For tickets, please call our Ticket Office at (403) 294-7402, Ticketmaster at (403) 299-8888 or visit www.ATPlive.com
 

Alberta Theatre Projects is now accepting nominations for the Harry and Martha Cohen Award, recognizing a significant and sustained contribution to theatre in Calgary. On stage, off stage and backstage nominees can include actors, administrators, designers, philanthropists, playwrights, teachers, technicians or volunteers. Applications will be accepted until December 15th 2008.

On the evening of their parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, the children of Dr. Martha Cohen and the late Dr. Harry Cohen, established the Harry and Martha Cohen Award.  This award recognizes those members of our community who have demonstrated a significant and sustained contribution to theatre in Calgary.  The recipient is honoured at a special ceremony, where they are presented with a cash prize of $2,100.00 and a framed certificate. This year the award, administered on behalf of the Cohen Family and Alberta Theatre Projects, will be presented on Saturday, February 14, 2009.  As well, the recipient’s name will be added to the list of our inspiring past honorees and inscribed on a scroll to hang in the Martha Cohen Theatre Lobby for posterity.

All nominees, nominators and seconders are invited to attend the performance of The Good Egg by Michael Lewis MacLennan during the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays, to be followed by the award ceremony on Saturday, February 14, 2009 in the Martha Cohen Theatre.  Thank you for helping us to celebrate these extraordinary leaders in our community and for your continued support of theatre in Calgary, we look forward to hearing from you.

If there is someone who you believe deserves this honour, please download the online nomination form at www.atplive.com.  

Alberta Theatre Projects proudly presents the first show of the 2008/2009 Season, Unity (1918) by Kevin Kerr, a dark prairie comedy exploring the consequences of a crisis hitting a small town as the world itself begins to dissolve.

Featuring the hottest young talent in Calgary, Unity (1918) gathers many Alberta Theatre Projects favourites back on our stage, including numerous Betty Mitchell Awards Winners (Elinor Holt, Karen Johnson-Diamond, Jamie Konchak, David Trimble, Tyrell Crews). Glenda Stirling returns to Alberta Theatre Projects to direct the play the Globe and Mail called “a work of powerful and moving familiarity… also painfully funny”. Stirling previously directed Rabbit Hole at Alberta Theatre Projects, for which she received a Betty Mitchell Award Nomination.

Unity (1918) follows three young women on the cusp of adulthood in Unity, Saskatchewan, struggling to cope and comprehend the destruction of WWI and the threat of the Spanish Flu. Mary (Julie Mortensen) waits for her soldier fiancée to return from the war and Beatrice (Ellen Close) dedicatedly knits socks for the boys overseas while Sissy (Georgina Beaty) prepares for the end of the world. The arrival of a blind veteran (Tyrell Crews) upends the town, as a strange flu quickly descends.

A winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama, Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918) courageously examines growing up at the end of the world, when one is faced with the loss of community; an amusing, touching, and intensely human portrait of small town life on the prairies.

Unity (1918) runs from September 23rd through October 11th 2008, with shows Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All performances on the ConocoPhillips STAGE in the Martha Cohen Theatre, 215 – 8 Ave SE. For tickets, please call our Ticket Office at (403) 294-7402, Ticketmaster at (403) 299-8888 or visit www.ATPlive.com

 
CAST
(In alphabetical order)
Sissy : Georgina Beaty
Beatrice:  Ellen Close
Hart: Tyrell Crews
Rose: Elinor Holt
Doris: Karen Johnson-Diamond
Sunna: Jamie Konchak
Mary: Julie Mortensen
Michael / Glen /Man 2: Bruce Novakowski
Stan / Man 1 / Chaperone: David Trimble


Creative Team
Director: Glenda Stirling
Set &Costume Design: Roger Schultz
Lighting Design: David Fraser
Composer/ Sound Designer: Dewi Wood
Production Dramaturg: Amy Lynn Strilchuk
Stage Manager:  Amy Lippold
Assistant Stage Manager: Michael Howard
 


Alberta Theatre Projects thanks our sponsors for their support of Unity (1918): ConocoPhillips Canada (Naming Sponsor of the ConocoPhillips STAGE), Calgary Herald (Season Sponsor), Rogers Communications (Presenting Sponsor of the 2008/2009 Season) and Just the Ticket (Cameo Appearance Sponsor – Unity (1918)).
 

In their most recent issue, Maclean’s magazine examines the “most cultured” cities in Canada. Calgary outranked every other city in Canada in percentage of households who spent money on museums and the arts – not that we’re surprised.

Alberta Theatre Projects is tickled that Maclean’s deemed Calgary the “most cultured” city in Canada, based on findings by the Canadian Council on Learning. We are not, however, surprised by this, as we have enjoyed the cultural hunger of Calgarians for the past 36 years.

We’ve always known that we live in a culturally sophisticated city that combines the curiosity of citizens new and old, the devotion of government and the incomparable support of the business community. Through our four Cornerstone Productions, our Family Holiday Production and the world-renowned Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays, we will continue to provide Calgarians with compelling, thought-provoking theatre produced by Canadians, and we look forward to the future of cultural development in Calgary.

Congratulations Calgary for disproving many stereotypes and demonstrating that we are indeed a vibrant, cosmopolitan cultural centre.

To read the Maclean’s Article, please visit http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080827_119793_119793

For more information about the 2008/2009 Season at Alberta Theatre Projects, please visit www.ATPlive.com. Don’t miss UNITY (1918) by Kevin Kerr, beginning September 23, 2008.