The production features the extraordinary talents of this “luscious quartet” (The Montreal Mirror). Veteran actors Janis Kirshner (Ocean), Debra Kirshenbaum (Sylvie) and Laura Mitchell (Renee) are joined by recent Dawson Theatre graduate Taylor Baruchel (Elle). “It’s a dream cast,” says director Hawkins. “Audiences and critics enthralled by the fireworks of Kirshenbaum and Mitchell last year in Two Short Women and The Wall will be thrilled to see them back on stage together again, joined by Mitchell’s long-time “TITTERS” collaborator, the sublime Kirshner, along with the youthful dazzle of Baruchel.”
Renee, the central character has a lot on her plate: her parental and work responsibilities, her pursuit of sex and love, her spiritual and religious quest and the call of her own creativity. The play charts her descent into madness as she is torn apart by the conflicts of these various obligations and desires. “The play attracted me by its interweaving of the comic and serious,” says director Paul Hawkins. “You can’t tell where the laughter stops and the pain begins. It’s true-to-life in that the travails of the characters in all their anxiety, stress, pain and absurdity are at one at the same time comic, tragic, poignant—indeed, universal.”
“The play addresses the sheer stress of making a go of it in a one-parent home,” says writer Arsenault. It poses questions such as how much does a child need to know about a parent's personal life; how do you take care of your personal aspirations without depriving your children of needed attention; in what way do social service organizations, under the guise of helping, label and punish single parents for not being perfect? Another topic is creativity and mental health: how does bottling up your creativity affect your health and does expressing it lead to personal growth?
Unwashed Grape was founded by Laura Mitchell and Paul Hawkins (both Dawson College teachers) in 2004. The company’s name alludes to a line of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. Their mission is to produce entertainment that speaks to the passions and the perplexities of the human heart. They are drawn towards work—be it comic or tragic—within the poetic realist tradition of Tennessee Williams. “Williams’s plays are larger than life, they can be comic and tragic at once, and he entertains while speaking to the heart,” says Mitchell (herself an actor/director/writer). Past productions include Tacit Agreement (GLBT Theatre Festival 2004 and Montreal Fringe 2005), Cuthbert’s Last Stand (GLBT 2005) and Cuthbert—Uncut! (TSC 2006), and Biss-ous (TSC 2006). Cuthbert-UNCUT! and Biss—ous earned rave reviews from The Mirror, The McGill Daily, and The Concordian.
In the spring of 2007, Unwashed Grape joined forces with Right Now!, a company co-founded by Ann Lambert and Laura Mitchell in 2001, to produce Two Short Women and The Wall: Two Plays by Ann Lambert (TSC 2007). The production was praised by the Gazette (and listed as a Best Bet for the duration of the run), The McGill Daily, the McGill Tribune and The Concordian. As Right Now!, Lambert and Mitchell’s first production was a play they co-wrote: The Mary Project, which was commissioned by The Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa), workshopped at Infinitheatre (Montreal), and then produced at La Mama (Melbourne, Australia)—where it played to sold out crowds. The company is dedicated to asking big questions: about life, love, family, friendship, politics, betrayal, and hope. Even if we don’t have all the answers, the questions are essential. We want to give voice to characters and stories that often get overlooked—even when their stories and the questions they raise are very big indeed. Now as a unified company, Unwashed Grape will ask the big questions that emerge out of the passions and the perplexities of the human heart.
Montreal playwright Louise Arsenault is a graduate of the playwriting program at the National Theatre School and has a Masters in English and Creative Writing from Concordia University. Some of her previous plays include Rebels All (NTS), Bivouac (Imago), Innerspeak (Workman Theatre Project, Toronto), and Present Perfect (workshopped with Peter Hinton at Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal, public reading at Moyse Hall, McGill). She was playwright-in-residence at Centaur Theatre where she wrote and workshopped Cayuga. She currently teaches English literature at Dawson College and is a mother of two fabulous teenagers.
Writer and actor Laura Mitchell has co-written and performed 4 Theatre Cabarets with Janis Kirshner: Female Bondage, Lashed but not Leashed, Same Great Taste and Put Another Monologue on the Fire. These plays have been performed, among other places, in Seattle, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. She has also co-written one feature film (Sex and the New Millennium, 7th Art Productions), one full-length play (The Mary Project) and she has recently co-produced, co-written and narrated a documentary—Unbuckling My Bible Belt, which premiered at this fall’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema—not to mention her many roles with Unwashed Grape. She was awarded Best Actor from the Harvest Festival (2006). Actor Janis Kirshner, as half of “TITTERS” along with Laura Mitchell, performed at theatres and events in various cities (including Seattle and the Vancouver International Comedy Festival). Select theatre credits include Algy in The Club, an all-male musical played by women; Louella Parsons in Camera Woman; and Marie-Antoinette in The Mary Project, where she got to both give birth and die onstage. Writer and actor Debra Kirshenbaum has worked in Toronto, Montreal and across this beautiful country. Some favourite projects have included Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker, Michel Tremblay’s En Piece Detachee and Colleen Wagner’s The Morning Bird, two Ibsen endeavours with Peter Hinton, collaborations with Dan MacIvor and Ed Roy, The Mary Project by Ann Lambert and Laura Mitchell, The Wall and Two Short Women by Ann Lambert. Debra was most recently seen singing with Honey Parnell in Them Green Eyes Won’t Lie. Taylor Baruchel’s work includes appearances in such films as Who Gets the House?, Prom Wars and Let the Game Begin. She continues to study her craft at the prestigious Prince Edward Island Conservatory with renowned theatre director Duncan McIntosh.
Paul Hawkins has directed productions with Unwashed Grape (Tacit Agreement, Cuthbert’s Last Stand, CLS—Uncut!, Biss—ous, The Wall), two one-woman shows starring Alison Boston and was an assistant director one summer at the Stratford Festival. Bonnie More (Stage Manager) has worked with Pumpkin Theatre, Geordie Productions, Gravy Bath, The Bionic Yahoos, Underdog and Paratus Productions. She also helped produce the Montreal Fringe Festival in its first four years. Eduardo Pipman (Original Music and Soundscape) began his career in his native Buenos Aires, has toured throughout Argentina, Paraguay, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Belgium. In Montreal, he has performed and recorded with various jazz and contemporary improvisational musicians and won the prestigious award for the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2000. Steve Schon (Lighting Design) is a freelance technical director and lighting designer who has worked on about 500 productions across Canada and in Montreal over the past 25 years. Currently, he is technical director at Dawson College, Black Theatre Workshop and the Just for Laughs Festival. Sidney Harper (Set & Costume Design) has created memorable designs for Unwashed Grape productions and is a freelance designer with wide experience in the fashion and interior design worlds.
Dating Jesus By Louise Arsenault
November 6-18, 2007
Theatre Ste Catherine, 264 Ste Catherine St. East (Metro Berri-UQAM)
Evenings: Tues-Sat 8:00 p.m. Matinees: Sat. & Sun. 2:00 p.m.
Reservations: 514-284-3939 or reservations at theatrestecatherine.com