The Toronto Fringe Festival is about to take over the city with new and interesting productions popping up around the city between Wednesday July 1st and Sunday July 12th. One of the highlights is sure to be A Crack In The Ceiling which will be hitting the Tarragon Theatre. Experience Toronto had the chance to sit down with the cast of Toronto actors; Deanna Palazzo, Jennifer De Lucia and Shawn Douglas Murphy before the production makes it's debut at Fringe 2009. Here's what they had to say about Fringe, the production and their fave spots around the city...
ETO: What are your thoughts on Toronto's Fringe Festival?
Deanna Palazzo: The festival is an extraordinary outlet to showcase the talent in the city. It allows artists to meet, and audiences get to experience different types/styles of theatre.
Jennifer De Lucia: It’s a fantastic opportunity for artists to come together and celebrate their creative projects.
Shawn Douglas Murphy: This is the third time that I've been involved with the festival... It's exciting to see how the festival has grown over the past three years; the city has truly embraced up-and-coming theatre.
ETO: What inspired A Crack In The Ceiling?
Shawn Douglas Murphy: It was first inspired by award winning playwright Martha Ross as she took the collective through a series of paintings, before we all came together to reap inspiration from Rene Magritte's "Personal Values".
Jennifer De Lucia: A five-day intensive workshop session with Martha and the magical painting inspired a tiny seed of an idea.
Deanna Palazzo: Jason Murray then came on board as dramaturge and director, and worked us tirelessly to create what is now A Crack in the Ceiling.
ETO: This is not the first time you have preformed this collective piece. Tell us about the WriteNOW! Festival of New Works.
Shawn Douglas Murphy: pivotal(arts) started the WriteNOW! Festival of New Works three years ago as an opportunity for new artists in Toronto to showcase their work. The festival is the culmination of 7 months of work-shopping and rehearsing the playwrights piece, through a workshop we've coined, playLab.
Jennifer De Lucia: It celebrates emerging artists. pivotal(arts) funds the entire workshop process for these artists. After working on their scripts for three months, we line them up with directors, work with them to audition actors, and house their plays in a cool venue for the week long festival.
Shawn Douglas Murphy: This year, the three of us decided to take part in this same process to showcase our collective talents.
Deanna Palazzo: That is true. After three months of writing, and roughly 700 pages later, we performed a workshop version of the piece at our company’s third annual festival.
ETO: Tell us about the work shopping and writing process for this production.
Deanna Palazzo: The workshop and writing process was incredible. In all, we’ve spent almost a year working on this project, and it’s amazing how life’s experiences gets rolled up right into it. Working with these individuals has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Last year, I was faced with much sadness; using my pen as a tool to overcome it was empowering.
Jennifer De Lucia: We took the painting and did all sorts of exercises, such as stream of consciousness writing, movement, improvisation and storytelling. We brought in objects from the painting and personified them, and after 5 weeks of work shopping with Martha, we had an idea. Shawn initially came to Deanna and I, and said, “guys, this painting makes me think of a doll house.” Deanna and I jumped at the idea, and we went to the writing board.
Shawn Douglas Murphy:The three of us took our first draft to our Dramaturge and Director, Jason Murray, and over the last nine months, we have shaped our idea into a one-of-a-kind story. At the beginning stages, we each took elements of the story, wrote a draft, met with Jason, and pieced the whole together, bit-by-bit.
ETO: You each take on the role of a talking doll. Tell us about your doll.
Deanna Palazzo: I play the role of Lilian, a porcelain doll. Oddly enough, all my life, my parents used to say I looked like one! Playing Lilian has been one of the best roles I’ve ever had ... When you know why each line is written, and you know the subtext for the character, you can’t help but have a strong connection to the role. Lilian is the storyteller, the caregiver, the knowledgeable one, but she is also the selfish one. I don’t want to give away too much now… you will have to come and see.
Jennifer De Lucia: Playing Barbie is great. I get to play this sexy, smart, confident blonde woman (I’m a brunette). She’s that girl you don’t want to mess with. She’s a thrill to play; I love what we have created for Barbie!
Shawn Douglas Murphy: My doll character is G.I. Joe (a childhood toy of mine and a dream character to play)! Throughout the story, Joe is panicked that his playmate, Oliver, will never come back for him, and so he thinks he’ll be stuck in the dollhouse with Barbie and Lilian, a place he shouldn't be.Joe struggles with when, how and if he can escape.
ETO: Tell us about getting this production up and going?
Deanna Palazzo: Honestly, it has been a whirlwind of emotions. We have such an incredible team. With our WriteNOW! Festival, we produce 4 plays, so there’s a lot of work to do. The production process for the Fringe then, has been that much easier, for sure.
Jennifer De Lucia: We are always meeting to make sure we are on top of everything. Right now we are working around the clock to make sure this show gets everything it deserves!
Shawn Douglas Murphy: For the past three years of the WriteNOW! Festival, the three of us producers, wanted to take part in it, as actors. For this year’s festival, we made the decision to do our own show. With respect to Fringe, we certainly discovered new obstacles and challenges promoting ourselves within a larger scale festival. Fringe will propel us and pivotal(arts) to the next level.
ETO: How many people have been involved behind the scenes with the production?
Shawn Douglas Murphy: On board first was award-winning playwright Martha Ross, who led us in the work shopping process with our painting. She took us through the process that she went through to create The Attic, the Pearls and the Three Fine Girls, and then we met with Jason Murray.
Deanna Palazzo: We have a great little team. The three of us serve triple, if not quadruple duty on this project. For both the WriteNOW! Festival and Fringe, the incredibly dedicated Breanne teBoekhorst served as costume, prop and set designer, the brilliant Andy Phillips served as our stage manager for the first production and the phenomenal Laine Newman is currently serving as our stage manager for the upcoming production in Fringe.
Jennifer De Lucia: The magical Jason Murray, our Director and Dramaturge rounds out the team.
ETO: What was is it like working with director, Jason Murray?
Deanna Palazzo: It has been an honour and a pleasure working with Jason. He has pushed us hard from day one and we are so grateful for that. He trusts us, believes in us and isn’t afraid to tell us exactly what he thinks. Yes, the latter can be hard, but in the end, the result is more than we ever thought possible. Jason has been a mentor to me for years. I truly believe I’ve become a better actor since working with him.
Jennifer De Lucia: Jason is a true inspiration. This show wouldn’t be where it is if it wasn’t for his constant encouragement, guidance, direction and fabulous ideas. He has stood tall behind us the entire time. Every idea is a good idea to him, even if there’s a possibility that the idea, when tested out, might not work. The man has a great sense of humour, and always brings the best energy to rehearsal. He is by far one of the best artists I have worked with in my life; the amount of knowledge I’ve learned from him blows me away!
Shawn Douglas Murphy: Working with Jason wasn't just working with a director who comes on board when a play is completely written.He was there from the beginning; his love and passion for this story, and us, has helped us reach incredible heights so that we can tell a story that is like no other.
ETO: You all currently live here in Toronto. What are a few of your fave spots throughout the city?
Shawn Douglas Murphy: We all live in the city of Toronto, but I'm the newbie; I moved here about 3 years ago. I currently live in the Little Italy/Annex area, and you can often find me at Southside Louie’s on College Street, enjoying a pint, just relaxing from a busy day of rehearsals or work. Other than being a tourist in my own city, exploring the great sites Toronto has to offer, I usually spend my free time seeing as much theatre as I can.
Deanna Palazzo: Born and raised! Some of my favorite spots? Well, I am a sucker for comedy, so I love checking out places like Second City and Comedy Bar. Aside from rollerblading around the city and enjoying its beauty… I love the Beaches. My favorite visual is the view of the city when you’re driving east along the Gardiner, past the CN Tower. We truly live in a beautiful city!
Jennifer De Lucia: I was born and raised in Toronto. I love this city. As far as favourite places to go… I love my front porch! I spend my free time chilling there. It’s quiet, peaceful and cozy.
ETO: What is the greatest threat to theatre in Toronto?
Shawn Douglas Murphy: This probably goes without saying, but the massive funding cuts to the arts, is a major threat.For new companies like pivotal(arts), the opportunity to receive funding is extremely difficult.Corporations give when they can, but with the current economy, they're less likely to do so.
Deanna Palazzo: As any artist can tell you, it costs a lot of money to produce shows in the city. With little money available, companies face difficulties putting on shows. Also, with arts programs being cut in the city schools, opportunities for children and young artists are limited. Thank goodness for schools such as Etobicoke School of the Arts and programs such as Dragontrails which encourage the arts!
Jennifer De Lucia: Theatre is one of the oldest forms of entertainment and it should be appreciated more, and given more attention than it currently has. Art is one of the best ways to centre your soul, whether it be painting, singing, dancing and so forth. Artistic programs need to continue in the school system; artists need to meet, need to communicate, need to thrive off each other, and ultimately, need to grow their artisan.
ETO: What is truly "great" about theatre in Toronto?
Jennifer De Lucia: The vast amount of collective creativity – everyone is always working with someone fantastic and in a show with someone wonderful! The wonderful support from your fellow artists is also a lovely treat!
Deanna Palazzo: The support from other artists! There are so many festivals that encourage artists, and give them a platform to perform which they might not have had otherwise. Also, the ability for an artist, no matter what their race, sexual preference, religion, background, talent, age or perspective, to have a voice, and an audience willing to listen.
Shawn Douglas Murphy: I think the greatest thing about Toronto theatre, is that the truly innovative theatres of the late 60's and early 70's still standing today, and many, with their original mandate. It's a inspiration for someone like me and our company to know that, if we keep doing what it is we're doing, someone will be saying the same thing about us in 40 years.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!
A Crack In The Ceiling
At Toronto Fringe Festival
Tarragon Theatre
30 Bridgman Avenue
Friday July 3 – Sunday July 12, 2009
http://www.pivotalarts.ca
http://www.fringetoronto.com
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