Play Reading Series

Long live the mighty plays! 
And their creators!

This year, not only will we have public readings of previously unproduced, newly revised and/or unpublished playscripts (there's a mouthful!) BUT we're excited to host readings by Hali-companies who will offer a sneak peek at their upcoming projects. 
 
The plays will be at various stages of development, created by emerging and established theatre makers from near and far. Be part of one of the first audiences to experience the newest plays and works-in-progress, then stay to contribute your thoughts in a post-reading discussion with the writers and actors.

Also check out our Late Night Series at Menz & Mollyz Bar, Thursdays at 10 pm. Details here: Late Night Reading Series

THE FINE PRINT: 
Doors open half hour before start time.
Location is TNS Living Room, unless noted otherwise.
Admission is by donation. $10 is suggested but we accept more, or less, depending on your ability to pay. 
Snacks and beverages available by suggested donation
Readings followed by a facilitated discussion. Please plan to stay and share!

Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm  Sharon Pollock reads

Selected Works
co-presented with Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC)

LOCATION: The Waiting Room, 6040 Almon St

Join us to hear one of Canada's exceptional artists read excerpts from her work... and enjoy time in the room together.

Sharon Pollock has worked as an actor, director, playwright, dramaturge, artistic director and administrator, with stage plays produced throughout Canada and abroad. She is the recipient of numerous awards recognizing excellence in drama, including, two Governor General’s Drama Awards (“Blood Relations” and “Doc”) The Canada Australian Literary Award for her body of work, a Japan Foundation Award, The National Theatre School of Canada’s Gascon Thomas Award, and was recently made an Officer of The Order of Canada. Since 2006 she has served as Dramaturg and Librettist with The Atlantic Ballet Company of Canada, most recently on their national touring production of Ghosts of Violence.Pollock has led numerous playwriting and theatre workshops at various institutions, online at Frank Moher’s http//e-script.wa and on a personal mentorship basis. Since 2006, and in addition to her on-going theatre work, she has served as Dramaturg and Librettist with the Atlantic Ballet Company of Canada.

Also check out Sharon's workshops Boot Camp for Playwrights and Just for You and her contribution as a panelist in Selling Art or Selling Out panel discussion.

Sharon's participation in the Live-in Festival has been supported by Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, The Halliburton, Playwrights Guild of Canada and Fountain School of Performing Arts.

Monday, October 5th, 7:30 pm  DOUBLE BILL

Kind of a Little Cancer: A Biography by Luciana Silvestre Fernandes

Kind of a Little Cancer is a biographical story. Witnessing Brazil's tragic world cup loss while in Brazil, and finding out about a sneaky little tumour, make for quite the eventful summer. This is the story of how a pragmatic and rumoured-to-be heartless 24-old navigates through doctor hunting, international medical systems, paper-work madness, E.I., and this "emotion" thing, to, at last, get a bad-ass scar. Join her, as she tries adulting on the long road to becoming a true bureaucracy survivor.

Luciana is a Halifax based theatre artist, who came all the way from Brazil to settle in winterland.A Dalhousie graduate, Luciana is often found directing, occasionally acting, writing or doing whatever needs to be done so the show can go on. That includes performing, stage managing, choreographing, directing and creating/writing with Hali-companies including Taboo, Child’s Play, Villain’s, Doppler Effect and for various Atlantic Fringe shows. She was writer for Grumble (Child’s Play) as well as director. Kind of a Little Cancer is her first solo show.

Lily of the Valley by Aisha Sommer Zaman

While tests, crushes and finding someone to buy booze for them is what concerns most teens Caius’ age, turning tricks, addiction and abuse are what consume his day. When his peers retreat to the safety of their families every night, Caius has nowhere to return to. Along with his unlikely group of allies, Caius explores love, lust, sanity, and addiction while trying to reshape his understanding of what it means to have a home in this fresh take on the traditional coming-of-age story. 

Aisha Sommer Zaman is a twenty-something-minus-the-something-year-oldmplaywright who has excitedly joined Halifax’s theatre scene in recent years. She has written several well-received pieces for Halifax’s Queer Acts Theatre Festival, some of which were inspired by work she did at DaPoPo’s own “Acting OUT” youth ensemble. When she’s not exploring all the colourful theatre Halifax has to offer, she spends her time studying languages she’s too shy to use with native speakers and trying to remember whether or not she watered her citronella plant.

Thursday, October 8th, 7:30 pm VILLAINS THEATRE reads

The Blazing World a new adaptation of Margaret Cavendish's original by Colleen MacIsaac 

A visionary proto-science fiction epic written in 1666 by philosopher, scientist, and playwright Margaret Cavendish. This modern reimagining by Colleen MacIsaac and The Villain's Theatre sets this dark and labyrinthine tale in our own blazing world, ravaged by the increasingly dire effects of climate change. Come join the Villains in our first experiments into exploring this imaginative sci-fi odyssey, inspired by one of the most unique female philosopher-poets in western history, with projections by Michael Lake.

The Villain’s Theatre, formerly known as Vile Passéist Theatre, is a Halifax-based theatre company. Inspired by the forgotten works of the Renaissance dramatists, we look to stage the compelling and revelatory plays of the past as well as drawing inspiration from them to create new works.villainstheatre.com 

Tuesday, October 13th, 7:30 pm - Script Reading

KAMP, a new musical, by Jamie Bradley & Garry Williams
 KAMP is an unlikely, historically-inspired musical about the transformative power of art. Imprisoned in the "gay" isolation block of a Nazi death camp, a group of prisoners transcend the horrors of forced labour, torture and humiliation to produce an explosive cabaret night. Written by Jamie Bradley and Garry Williams, the creation of this piece has been supported by Arts Nova Scotia and the Playwrights' Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC).

Hear the script reading on Tuesday and come back Friday, October 16th, 8 pm for the Concert Version with music. For more details, look under Performances

Garry Williams has been DaPoPo's Artistic Director since its inception in 2004. A Merritt nominated actor and composer, he has collaborated with a multitude of artists & companies in Europe, the USA and across Canada. Recent theatrical forays have included Two Planks' production of Miracle Man/Dustbowl Joan, Kim Parkhill's A Good Death, LunaSea's Ibsen's Bites, Opening Night at Festival Antigonish, and One Light's Chess With the Doomesday Machine. Last year his play Jesus Is A Faggot played at the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival. He plays the piano with some skill, believes in the value of artistic creation in the community, and knows far too many show tunes.

Jamie Bradley is a multi-media actor, puppeteer and improviser, who started his writing career with comedy sketches and plays for CBC Radio and three Atlantic Fringe Festival hits (also over thirty dinner theatre scripts). His larger productions include Jamboree, the inaugural musical of Summerside, PEI's the Harbourfront Theatre and 2012's Titanic: The Fated Voyage.  His latest projects are a play about two aging friends entitled Sherlock & John: The Forgotten Case and a new musical called KAMP. Also in the works is a puppet and mask adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau. This year, the Tantramar Heritage Trust in Sackville, New Brunswick has contracted Jamie to write a First World War touring play called Before the Leaves Turn; after which, he will be creating a family musical for Christmas 2016. He lives in his native Halifax with his wife, three children and forty-seven fountain pens. 

Thursday, October 15th, 7:30 pm  

Agency by Eva Barrie

Set in present-day Berlin and 1980s Divided Berlin, Agency investigates the relationship between the communist vs. post-Wall generation while exploring intimacy in lonely human-beings.  After spending her life haunted by her father’s mysterious disappearance at the hands of the Stasi, Hannah finally has the opportunity to set the record the straight: she finds the man who spied on her father.  Demanding answers and getting far more than she bargained for, Hannah takes a trip into the past.


Originally from Okotoks, Alberta, Eva Barrie is a Toronto-based director, actor and creator and has created art in Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Canada and the United States.She is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Performance Acting Program and has trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company in Saratoga Springs, NY and New York City, NY. Last fall she was the Co-Program Director of Nightwood Theatre’s Young Innovators Lab, a lab celebrating alternative theatre-making. Her writing has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council and she was lucky to have her play Olga read at Tarragon Theatre’s “Rehearsal Hall” (director: Andrea Donaldson).  This one’s for mum and dad.  

Monday, October 19th, 7:30 pm ZUPPA THEATRE reads

The Library of Missing People by Kate Cayley (in collaboration with Zuppa Theatre Co.)

A mix of ghost story, fictional “history,” fantasy, and meditation on how we remember, and invent, absent loved ones. What happens to your life if you suddenly leave it? How do the people left behind create stories that explain a disappearance? What if there was a library that archived the vanished—all of them? Zuppa will enter a second phase of work on The Library of Missing People in November 2015 and the play is scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2016 in Halifax. 

Zuppa Theatre Co. is an ensemble theatre company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The company is driven by a core group of artists developing original performances in collaboration with like-minded individuals from related disciplines. Every Zuppa Theatre Co. show is a ride through wild visions, genres, familiar stories and the unknown; the experiences, thoughts and inclinations of the lead artists determine the landscape. The company has developed a unique collaborative process that favours the intuitive over the formulaic and thrives on the play between the imagined and the real. At the heart of each show is the restless spirit of the actor. Zuppa Theatre Co. is Ben Stone, Susan Leblanc, Alex McLean (Artistic Directors), and Stewart Legere (Artistic Associate). www.zuppatheatre.com

Tuesday, October 20th, 7:30 pm 

Untitled  by Vijay Padaki
co-presented with Halifax Theatre for Young People

An original play from Bangalore Little Theatre that recognizes the triumph of a transgender person against heavy odds. It is a common phenomenon in many cultures to prefer a boy child. The girl child is not only unwanted, but often killed either as a fetus or as a newborn. In the play the protagonist has the dual disadvantage of being born as a girl child and later being discovered to be transgender. The play moves between two time frames, twenty years apart, between the family that has the unwanted child and the present circumstances of the grown and transformed transgender. 

www.halifaxtheatreforyoungpeople.com

The play has been acclaimed widely as not only a compelling story in itself, but a powerful statement advocating  human rights and inclusiveness in society. The play is derived from the field work experiences of the author, who is also a management professional devoting his time to the needs of large social-development programs in India and several developing countries.

Vijay Padaki is a theatre educator based in Bangalore, but has worn two caps all his life. One of them is in management, with a special interest in organization and institutional development. The other cap is in the theatre, especially in writing and training. Vijay joined Bangalore Little Theatre in 1960, the year of its inception. He has written over 40 original plays in English. In addition, he has adapted or translated several other play scripts.

Vijay Padaki comes to Nova Scotia via a collaboration between Tessa Mendel, Debbie Castle (People Development Ltd.), and DaPoPo and will be sharing his wisdom in a number of NS venues during October.


Thursday, October 22nd, 7:30 pm VOCALYPSE reads  

Escape to Freedom by Sandy Moore
Sandy Moore's Escape to Freedom is a new opera based on the true story of Wolfville, Nova Scotia native, Mona Parsons, the only woman to have been incarcerated in a nazi concentration camp.   The opera is infused with fictionalized scenes (based  on   fact) covering Mona  Parson’s  arrest  in  December  of   1941, the interrogation,  the resulting  trial,  and  her sentence to life imprisonment at hard labour.  Other scenes include 3 1/2 years of  deprivation  in  various prisons  in Germany,  her escape from the POW camp in Vechta, an encounter with a dying German Soldier discovered in a foxhole, and her rescue by a Canadian soldier.

Vocalypse creates, commissions, and presents unique and exciting musical events which expand the boundaries of contemporary classical and improvisational vocal music. All musical genres are fair game for the Vocalypse imagination, but the emphasis is on contemporary classical and experimental forms, including opera, new art songs, notated music, graphic scores, spoken word, and free jazz. www.vocalypse.ca


Sunday, October 25th, 4:00 pm  

Insomniac Society by Stacey Lane
LOCATION: TNS Living Room, 2353 Agricola St
Reading facilitated by Dave Steele, read by students from the Halifax Grammar School

Nightmare-prone Margaret has a solution to the soul-crushing loneliness that teenage insomniacs face when they are confined to their bedrooms for nights that seem like they will never end. She has created the Insomniac Society, an internet chat room where the sleepless can share their frustrations until their alarms go off.  Members-to-be must pass Margaret’s test to prove that they are who they claim and must adhere to her tyrannically strict rules. When Margaret finds herself completely alone one bleak restless night, the solitude is too much for her. She lets a suspicious character join.

Stacey Lane’s plays have been performed at over five-hundred-fifty theatres on six continents. Her scripts are published with Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts Inc., Pioneer, Smith and Kraus, Heuer, Brooklyn, Eldridge, Next Stage Press, Manhattan Theatre Source, JAC Publishing, Seraphemera Books, San Luis Obispo Little Theatre, Sterling, Freshwater, Poydras Review, The Quotable, Euphony, Germ Magazine, Mock Turtle Zine, Indian Ink, The Other Otter, Furious Gazelle, Monologue Database, Actor Point, Canyon Voices, Whoopee Magazine, Steel Bananas and Scene4.  She is the recipient of the Wurlitzer Foundation Grant and the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District’s Literary Fellowship. www.StaceyLaneInk.com

Monday, October 26th, 7:30 pm Guillermo Verdecchia reads


The Art of Building a Bunker  co-created by Guillermo Verdecchia & Adam Lazarus 
The funny, awful story of Elvis,  an overly senstive misanthrope made to undergo sensitivity training. A tour de force performance featuring: Portuguese chicken, ethnic and racial masquerade, classic Canadian rock inspired by Ayn Rand, and learning to paddle the Canoe of Oneself Down the River of Inclusivity. A controversial hit at Summerworks, Factory Theatre and Vancouver's Revolver Fest.

Guillermo Verdecchia is a multiple award-winning theatre artist. He is Head of New Play Development at Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre, co-creator with Adam Lazarus of The Art of Building a Bunker, and a cyrpto-geographer. He teaches at the University of Toronto, at the Soulpepper Academy, and has been Artist-in-Residence at the Universitiy of Guelph, Memorial University, Ca' Foscari in Venice, and Picador Professor at the University of Leipzig. He loves prosecco, the work of Caryl Churchill, and that one album by Radio Tarifa. He sleeps much of the night and dreams of going south in the winter.