Ottawa’s GCTC reveals 50th anniversary season
iPhoto caption: Posters by Jesús Rivera Zavala
The Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) has revealed its 50th anniversary season, featuring joyful comedy, big ideas, and a local world premiere.
“Our 2024-25 Season is a celebration of how far GCTC has come in the last 50 years, and a chance to look to the future,” said artistic director Sarah Kitz in a press release.
“The season offers a range of productions – from a classic Canadian comedy, to the high-wire act of an improvised musical, to a coming-of-age story: all brought to life by talented local and regional artists. We couldn’t be happier to share this season of performance with you.”
In a new subscription offer, fans of the theatre are invited to become a GCTC ambassador. This five-play subscription includes a ticket to each of the mainstage shows, as well as to the FemmeVox music series. It also includes discounted tickets to any of the other exciting events at GCTC, plus a guest ticket to a show of the ambassador’s choosing (other than FLOP!).
Further information about the coming season, including the season’s artwork by Jesús Rivera Zavala, is available on GCTC’s website.
The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine
Written by Robert Morgan, Martha Ross, and Leah Cherniak
Directed by Geoff McBride
Starring Maryse Fernandes and Drew Moore
September 24 – October 6, 2024
Ernest and Ernestine are in puppy love. Then they move into a tiny basement apartment together. Can their love sustain cohabitation? A hometown team of Ottawa’s finest take on this Canadian comedy classic.
Beowulf in Afghanistan
Written by Laurie Fyffe
Directed by Kate Smith
World premiere
November 12-24, 2024
A Canadian soldier harnesses the medieval Anglo-Saxon text of Beowulf as a life raft through the clash of battle, and after. Supported by GCTC’s Tributary Project.
FLOP! An Improvised Musical Fiasco
Created by Ron Pederson and Alan Kliffer
Directed by Alan Kliffer
Starring Rob Baker, Jan Caruana, and Ron Pederson
A Klif Entertainment production
December 10-22, 2024
The playwright quit, there’s no sheet music, the choreographer was cancelled, and the director went into rehab. World-class performers scramble to create a miraculous new musical in this high-wire act of skill, comedy, and desperation.
Why It’s Impossible to Raise a Girl
Co-created by Sophia Fabiilli, Sarah Kitz, and Zoë Sweet
Written by Sophia Fabiilli
Directed by Evalyn Parry
Starring Zoë Sweet
A SweetnFab Collective production
January 21 – February 2, 2025
Beth is struggling to stay afloat as a single parent, a working professional, and the 45-year-old resident of her mother’s basement. A show about the complex relationship between mother and child, life’s transitions, and parenting in precarious times.
Vierge
Written by Rachel Mutombo
Directed by Dian Marie Bridge
A co-production with Black Theatre Workshop
March 18-30, 2025
Sixteen-year-old Divine’s only real friend is Jesus. When her family joins a new church she learns that the world around her is not as it seems. With heart and humour, Vierge follows four Congolese-Canadian girls as they navigate Christianity, virginity, and teenage hormones.
Liam Donovan
Liam is Intermission’s publishing and editorial assistant. Based in Toronto, his writing has appeared in Maisonneuve, This Magazine, NEXT Magazine, and more. He loves the original Super Mario game very much.
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iPhoto caption: Poster art by Jesús Rivera Zavala.
In GCTC’s FLOP!, three actor-comedians craft a musical from scratch
This December, Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company will present Klif Entertainment’s FLOP! An Improvised Musical Fiasco, created by Ron Pederson and director Alan Kliffer.
iPhoto caption: Courtesy of the St. Michael's College Troubadours.
A Lord of the Flies adaptation hits the Hart House Theatre stage this weekend
Andrea Perez is set to direct the student-led production, which will reimagine the story through a de-colonialist lens.
iPhoto caption: Photo of Annemieke Wade courtesy of TAPA.
TAPA appoints Annemieke Wade as new executive director
Wade steps into the position with an extensive background in theatre, with past roles including executive director of Roseneath Theatre and Theatre Direct and company manager of Tarragon Theatre.
iPhoto caption: Beowulf in Afghanistan graphic courtesy of GCTC.
Beowulf in Afghanistan to make world premiere at GCTC
As part of its 50th anniversary season, Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company will program the world premiere of Laurie Fyffe’s Beowulf in Afghanistan, in a production directed by Company of Fools artistic director Kate Smith.
iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of The Hive
Brampton On Stage partners with local companies to present contrasting pair of fall productions
Brampton Music Theatre is head-banging to the stage with a community theatre production of We Will Rock You, while The Hive Performing Arts is staging Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahoe’s Every Brilliant Thing.
iPhoto caption: Poster courtesy of CBC Podcasts
PlayME releases trailer for new audio drama Tunnel Runners
Launching on October 30, the series follows Cam, a 16-year-old gifted student whose struggles with anxiety and depression lead him into a labyrinth of hidden subway tunnels beneath Toronto.
iPhoto caption: Photographed productions from L to R, top to bottom, with the photographer in brackets: seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Dahlia Katz), Big Stuff (Dahlia Katz), De Profundis (Dahlia Katz), Goblin:Macbeth (Jae Yang), Salesman in China (David Hou), Dana H. (John Lauener), Earworm (Dahlia Katz), Age Is a Feeling (Dahlia Katz), Honey I’m Home (Eden Graham).
Our favourite theatre productions of 2024, in Toronto and beyond
End-of-year lists are personal. When it comes to theatre, the question isn’t really what shows you liked most, but which ones left the strongest imprint, continuing to pinball around in your mind and heart even after the set is gone and the cast no longer recalls their lines.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Danelle Jane Tran.
REVIEW: Yes, Holiday! An Improvised Musical really is different every night
Putting aside its opening number and a single proper noun, every word of Bad Dog Theatre’s Dora Award-nominated Holiday! An Improvised Musical has the potential to change from performance to performance.
iPhoto caption: Poster art by Jesús Rivera Zavala.
In GCTC’s FLOP!, three actor-comedians craft a musical from scratch
This December, Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company will present Klif Entertainment’s FLOP! An Improvised Musical Fiasco, created by Ron Pederson and director Alan Kliffer.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Roya DelSol.
REVIEW: Tarragon’s Craze lacks focus — that’s what makes it fun
A frenzied test of endurance, Craze whips along like a social media feed on steroids, sprinting from image to image with wild, masculine bravado.
iPhoto caption: Courtesy of the St. Michael's College Troubadours.
A Lord of the Flies adaptation hits the Hart House Theatre stage this weekend
Andrea Perez is set to direct the student-led production, which will reimagine the story through a de-colonialist lens.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Baram and Snieckus’ Big Stuff uses improv to explore the materiality of grief
The couple’s Second City-tested comic repartee keeps the show moving with delicious lightness.
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