Varscona ensemble announces its season
Varscona Theatre Ensemble offers ‘sense of escape’ in new season
Featuring drunken spats, road trips that never end and closets simply stuffed with secrets, the Varscona Theatre Ensemble celebrates the family in all its messy glory as the company ’s three-show 2018-19 season launches.
First up Nov. 22 is Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels.
The show, produced by Belinda Cornish’s Bright Young Things, sees two sisters take each other to pieces in “the most witty and elegant way imaginable,” said Jeff Haslam, the artistic director of the three-company Varscona Theatre Ensemble.
Later in the season, Atlas Theatre (Julien Arnold’s special baby) and The Plain Janes (led by the inimitable Kate Ryan) bring a thoughtful and entertaining duo of plays to the Varscona stage.
Each of the three companies has carved out a passionate place on the local scene and joined forces last year to present their vision in a cohesive fashion.
“What all three companies have in common is a sense of fun and a sense of escape, even when the themes are serious,” said Haslam, who runs the ensemble with associate producer Mat Busby. “You’ll walk into the theatre, sit down and be taken away, even just for an hour and a half. That’s the driving force for us.”
Bright Young Things tends to focus on mid-century stories, “retakes of the great works by Noel Coward or Harold Pinter — things we usually don’t get to see in Edmonton,” said Haslam.
“Belinda’s shows offer an escape from geography and from time. And if people choose to draw comparisons to where we are now, that’s the great work of the bar afterwards.”
Atlas Theatre aims to take us far from home and this year that journey comes care of Calgary playwright Doug Curtis.
Based on a true story, Mesa puts a 90-year-old snowbird, who has lost his licence, in a big Buick with his grandson by marriage, who has agreed to drive south with the senior citizen.
“It starts with the irascible old man who simply wants to get to Mesa before he dies and will only eat at Denny ’s, while the grandsonin-law wants to do the epic road trip, Grand Canyon and all,” said Haslam. “In the end, they discover each other.”
Musician Cathy Derkach performs live music on stage throughout the performance, which stars Julien Arnold as the old codger and Richard Lee as the youthful driver. Patricia Darabasie directs. The show debuts on Feb. 21.
Last up is the off-Broadway and Broadway hit Fun Home. The first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist, Fun Home debuted in 2015, won a whack of Tonys including best musical and has been enjoying packed houses in theatres across the continent since.
The show, which debuts April 11 and is directed by Dave Horak, is based on a graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, whose closeted gay father was a complex combination of erudite inspiration and seedy serial infidelity. Jocelyn Ahlf plays the lead role with Kate Ryan as the mom. Haslam plays the conflicted father, the second time he’s played a bad dad in recent years (think back to 2016’s remount of Stewart Lemoine’s Witness to a Conga).
“Getting this is a real coup,” said Haslam. “I’m really very excited and just a little bit nervous about it.”
“It’s a harrowing story, but the outcome is so joyous. It’s about family, even one that’s been ripped apart and pasted together again. This is an LGBTQ story. But it’s everybody’s story.'"