Winter season

2011: The year of the Fool



Every new year I consult the Tarot, that great arbiter of Chance, for a little arcane clairvoyance. As I was in India over the holidays and not near my cards I couldn’t check right away but when I began rehearsals for Artaud last week I pulled a card at random. Quel chance! It was Le Mat (The Fool)!
According to the Tarot of Marseille the Fool signals creation, innovation, a new departure, abandoning everything. The Fool places himself on the fringe of ordinary existence.

So, under the aegis of the Fool we wish you a year filled with inspiration and innovation.
May all your creative comings and goings in 2011 bear the such foolish blessings.

NEW PRODUCTIONS, INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS, STAGED READINGS…please read below about what we have planned for Winter 2011…

photo by Matt Smith Artaud: un portrait en décomposition February 16-19 & 23-26, 2011 8pm Presentée en co-production avec/ Presented in co-production with Théâtre Français de Toronto Cruelty, madness and beauty. Through his poems and letters and through the memories of his closest friends Artaud: un portrait en décomposition presents an unflinching theatrical portrait of Antonin Artaud. We invite you to join us in celebrating the incandescent poetry and sublime violence of Artaud’s language and thought. “La vie et de brûler des questions. ” -Antonin Artaud avec/featuring Adam Paolozza and Coleen MacPherson mis en scène/direction Michele Smith éclairagiste/lighting design Kim Purtell performance in French/performance en français Tickets/billets $20 available at the door Date/ Wednesday to Satuday, February 16-19, 23-26 @ 8pm Location/Lieu THÉÂTRE FRANÇAIS DE TORONTO Bureaux et Centre de création 21, rue College • Bureau 610 Toronto ON M5G 2B3 TÉLÉPHONE : 416.534.7303 with the generous assistance of the Ontario Arts Council avec l’assistance genereux du Conseil des Arts de l’Ontario

L’Empire de la nuit February 22, 2011 7:30pm conception et jeu Adam Paolozza musique Prince Nifty pour L’Alliance Française de Toronto Soirée unique/One night only Mise en lecture/Staged reading Presented in partnership with the Alliance Français de Toronto Dans la nuit, pendant l’Heure bleue, un homme est assis auprés de sa fenetre, regardant la nuit à travers. C’est une espace de calme, de rêve et de songe. L’homme s’ouvre aux rhythmes et forces nocturnes. L’Empire de la nuit (The Empire of Night) is a poetic and musical hommage to the night. The audience is invited to enter into a series of aural and visual ‘poem spaces’ for an experience at once intimate, mysterious and dreamlike. …inspired by the writing of Fernando Pessoa and the installations of Belgian artist Jan Fabrelink name

Marcello Magni commedia dell’arte workshop March 26-31, 2011 In partnership with Why Not Theatre and with support from the Canada Council for the Arts It is with great pleasure that we are offering a workshop this March with Marcello Magni! A co-founder Théâtre de Complicité and a regular collaborator with Peter Brook, Marcello is a world class performer, director and teacher. Stretch your physical and gestural vocabulary and develop your creative imagination during this intensive exploration into one of the theatre’s oldest and most mysterious disciplines – commedia dell’arte Dates: March 26 – March 31, 2011 10am-5pm cost: $525.00 ($464.50 plus HST) *some scholarships are available Space is limited to 24 participants to register please email: marcello.workshop2010@gmail.com

The Pasolini Project March 2011 …stay tuned for more info about a staged reading of The Pasolini Project at the Canadian Stage’s Spotlight: Italy festival…