And another missed week, ho ho ho…thank Heavens no one with anything better to do reads this!

IN THEATRES THIS WEEK:

– PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at the Ottawa Little Theatre. Until March 2nd!  Go cheer for Liz and the Bennet sisters!

– GOD OF CARNAGE at the Irving Greenberg Theatre (GCTC), from Third Wall Theatre.  Until March 2nd too! Pick your side (Vallon or Reille), and watch the tulips fly!

– OULIPO SHOW at the NAC Studio.  From the 27th to March 2nd (in French).  A ‘dazzling choreography of the endless possibilities of language’…sounds good to me.

– INNOCENCE LOST at the NAC.  Previews start on Feb 27, premiere on March 1st.Beverly Cooper’s dramatization of the true story of Steven Truscott.

– OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN at the Ottawa Dance Directive Studio (Arts Court).  The 28th to March 2nd, some ODD dance goodness.  And speaking of goodness, here’s this sweet ’79 tune I just found, from The Dogs:

UNDERCURRENTS REVISITED:  So we’re into the crappy half of February now, and suddenly we’re all noticing how cold and shitty is outside.  Has it always been like this?  Yes, yes it has…it’s just that UNDERCURRENTS was running for the first two weeks, and everything seemed so much better.  And yes, I was SUPPOSED to write about this last week, but my Foof got sidetracked by an emergency 12-hour shift at the drudgery.  And then I was gonna do something  DURING the week, but depression won that battle.  February, am I right?

Anyhoo, I wanted to take a moment and reminisce on the festival that was this year, the third Undercurrents, and just maybe the best?  Hard to quantify, but I loved the shit out of almost every show.  My adoration of LITTLE ORANGE MAN spans two years and several provinces, and it was wunnerful having both performer Ingrid Hansen AND director Kathleen Greenfield in my town for the show.  HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE LIVE MUSIC VIDEOS was likewise dandy to catch again, and I think I’m starting to get the hang of this hip-hop jazz (pro tip: it actually is NOT jazz).  Theatre Columbus seem to have scored the hit of the fest with their fully sold-out THE PUBLIC SERVANT, which was pretty worth the buzz…and hopefully it’ll be back again in some capacity.  Same can be said for SKIN, the gorgeous and brilliant piece from our own Deluxe Hot Sauce.  Amazing movement in that show, something it had in common with Skeleton Key’s moody-cool LADIES OF THE LAKE.

Of course there was the delightful lobby show BREAD  from Geoff McBride and Karen Balcome, that had lots of satisfied attendees eating well during the festival.  And my pick for the sleeper of the festival, the amazing and haunting LITTLE ILIAD from Evan Webber and Frank Cox-O’Connell, taking theatre and technology to a truly special place.  But I suppose I’ve talked about all of these shows at length in my previously posted reviews.  What else is there to say about Undercurrents 2013..?

…oh right, the PARTIES!  That’s right, there were not one but TWO Undercurrents shindigs, and yours truly (not exactly a social butterfly, but maybe sort of a social parasite or barnacle or something) was at both of them.  The first one, the ‘opening’ party, took place upstairs at the GCTC on the first Saturday.  DJ AL Connors was spinning his usual fine tunes, and a sweet spread of schwarma fixings was laid out for the eating.  I’d already stuffed myself earlier on at the FACE2FACE closing party at Arts Court (Social parasite, definitely), where I’d come from with Ingrid and Kathleen.  I soon joined fellow superfan Rich Hemphill in some oversized bottles of Beau’s, but not before experiencing the secret, final performers of Undercurrents 2013…Two Little Birds and RECESS.  Travelling through the crowd with an oversized fortune-teller (or Cootie Catcher, or one of the other dozens of names it’s known by), the Birds cornered various partygoers to help them navigate their fates.  That’s right, folks…if you missed this party, you didn’t experience ALL the theatre that Undercurrents had to offer this year.  Sneaky, hey?  After receiving my commemorative catcher, I settled in to the party and had some fun…okay, I wallflowered it for a spell and then embarrassed myself on the dance floor, but who’s keeping track?  I ended up splitting after last call with some of my future castmates (more on that another day) and vaguely recalling having a great time.

Party #2 was the ‘closing’ party, held one day prior to closing the festival (who wants to WAIT to party??), at the splendid home of Pat’n’Kate.  A more traditional BYOB, and soon enough packed to the rafters with performers, creators, theatre elites, and, well, me (parasite!).    It was a fine and friendly affair, with ace foodstuffs provided by darlin’ HM Connors (COOKIES!!).  Spent quality time with awesome people (including my future director…more later!!), almost hit on a couple of girls, but didn’t (you’re welcome, ladies), and had a pretty darn nice walk home after missing the last bus.  I do believe I have failed to properly thank Pat and Kate for hosting this amazing party, so in that spirit THANK YOU!!  And thanks double to Pat Gauthier for assembling this amazing lineup for Undercurrents 2013.  Can’t wait to hear official numbers on the festival, and what we might expect next year…hopefully some of this will be forthcoming on April 15th when GCTC big man Eric Coates announces the 2013/2014 lineup, about which I am SERIOUSLY excited.  So congrats again to everyone involved for an incredible Undercurrents.  And now there’s less than four months til FRINGE!

Oh phooey, that’s enough for this one, late or no.  I was hoping to write about the dandy shows I caught weeks ago at the MFA director’s workshop series at Ottawa U…namely Martin Glassford helming Paul Rainville and Nick DiGaetano in AUDIENCE, and Sarianna Monette-Saillant directing Nathaly Charrette and Sasha Dominique in CATOBLEPAS, but a little too much time has passed for me to get my thoughts down proper. Suffice to say, the shows were night and day in setting and style, featured great performances that really deserved to be seen, and Martin and Sarianna are gonna be forces to be reckoned with.  Also, I think my French is improving!  And shoutout to Danielle Savoie, who handles a sound board with the best of them. 🙂  Until next time, kids…peace, love and soul,

Kevin Reid, the Visitor (and Winston)