Canterbury Drama Students, playwright Kathy MacLellan, and Teacher Paul Griffin

Last night at Canterbury High School, groups of students each tackled and gave their rendition of Kathy MacLellan’s new work The Golem. The evening started with an introduction by Jan Irwin, Odyssey’s current Company Dramaturge, and a brief explination of the Canterbury Residency Program. This was the first public performance of this new play, and is still a work-in-progress. Each group took parts of the manuscript and gave it slightly different interpretations, but for the most part, the story held from telling to telling. Afterwards, audience members were invited to a Q & A.

25th Anniversary newsletter

Jay T Schramek, Nicolas Van Burek, Brad Long, Andy Massingham, Rose Napoli, Scott Thomas

Jay T Schramek, Rose Napoli, Nicolas Van Burek

Robin Craig, Andy Massingham

Nicolas Van Burek, Brad Long, Jay T Schramek

Nicolas Van Burek, Robin Craig, Kaitlyn Semple, Andy Massingham, Michael Showler

 Courtesy of Nicolas Van Burek.

Happy ending for Trista!!

Trista and Dr. Luntz!!

Don’t miss your chance to meet Trista today at the Ottawa Public Library Main Branch between 11 am and 2 pm. Fingers crossed she finds new meaning in her life.

Here is an example of the amazing work Almut is doing on the masks (work in progress photos).  In this production, only the male characters will be wearing masks, excluding the juve lead – the lover Evaristo.  This is apparently traditional in Commedia dell’Arte – only the men wore masks.  [An interesting side note is that Venetian theatre and Commedia allowed female performers long before English theatre.]

Having the men wear masks also adds a psychological dimension to the play.  Their true feelings are literally hidden behind a mask.  Even the other young male lover Crespino has his true feelings of love compromised by jealousy and pride.

Historical Events during Goldoni’s Life

1707 – Carlo Goldoni is born in Venice

1725 – Voltaire is banished to England for insulting the Chevalier de Rohan, a young French nobleman

1735 – Freedom of the press established during the trial of John Peter Zenger

1750 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born

1756 – Dr. Samuel Johnson publishes The Dictionary of the English Language

1760 – George III becomes King of England

1765 – Il Ventaglio, “The Fan” premieres in Paris

1775 – The Battle of the Plains of Abraham

1775 – The first battle of the American Revolutionary War is fought.

1776 – The Declaration of American independence is signed at the Second Continental Congress

1789, July 14 – Parisians storm and take the Bastille; this is considered the opening salvo of the radical stage of the French Revolution

1793, January 21 – Louis XVI, King of France, is executed for high treason

1793, February 6 – Carlo Goldoni dies, penniless, in Paris

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