Blood on The Moon
written and performed by Pierre Brault
In the year 1868 in the frontier town of Ottawa, James Patrick Whelan stood accused of the murder of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a fellow Irish immigrant and former leader of the Young Ireland rebellion who had since risen to become one of Canada’s most influential politicians. The evidence against Whelan was purely circumstantial, yet led him to his death before thousands of jeering spectators in what would become Canada’s last public hanging. Some 135 years later, Whelan’s ghost still haunts the streets of Ottawa, determined to prove his innocence and rewrite the history books. The murder, widely believed to be the result of a Fenian plot, remains a pivotal moment in the rich and varied history of the thousands of Irish immigrants to Canada. Pierre Brault’s gripping drama explores this most fascinating episode, laying bare the Irish passion for the homeland, and the sacrifices made in its name.
Blood on the Moon premiered at the 1999 Ottawa Fringe Festival in the Arts Court Theatre at 2 Daly Avenue. This building was once the Ottawa Courthouse and the actual site of the historical trial of James Patrick Whelan. It is immediately adjacent to the Carleton County Gaol, now the Ottawa International Youth Hostel, where Whelan was incarcerated and hanged.
WINNER
Best Actor – Capital Critics Circle Awards
Best Actor – Montreal English Critics Circle Awards
« An utterly splendid performance… Brault is pure actor… a pleasure to watch. » – The Sunday Independent (Ireland)
« Pierre Brault’s one man hurricane of politics and history and injustice…is a towering performance. … Excellent. » – CBC Radio
« Riveting from beginning to end… Blood on the Moon packs the short, sharp, clean and precise punch of an assassin’s bullet.” – The Kitchener-Waterloo Record
« Riveting… a tour de force…. » – The London Free Press
AND FEATURED in previous months…
September 2016
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Ottawa Fringe Town Hall
Venue: Arts Court Studio
Date: September 12, 2016 |
October 6-8, 2016: FRINGE ENCORE DOUBLE BILL
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Giant Invisible Robot
Written and performed by Jayson McDonald
Directed by Scott Holden
Russel is a terminally shy young man who’s had one imaginary friend all his life. Unfortunately, that friend is a Giant Invisible Robot programmed to destroy. Join Russel as he attempts to find love, bury the past and prevent his Giant Robot from destroying earth’s cities one by one.
WINNER
Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Award – Vancouver Fringe Festival (2011)
Artists’ Choice Award – Edmonton Fringe Festival (2011)
Best of Fest – Edmonton Fringe & Winnipeg Fringe (2011)
Best Male Performer & Innovation Award – Victoria Fringe Festival (2007)
Best Original Work – Ottawa Fringe Festival (2007)
Best Original Script – Brickenden Theatre Awards (2006)
“Jayson McDonald is a remarkable talent… He’s a skilled comic actor and a natural storyteller.”
★★★★ – CBC Manitoba
« Deeply affecting… McDonald is a manic chameleon capable of making us howl with laughter one second, and well up with tears the next.” ★★★★ – Winnipeg Sun
JOE: THE PERFECT MAN
Written and performed by Rachelle Elie
Directed by Adam Lazarus
After losing his job, Joe’s passion to play all the lead roles in « THE SCOTTISH PLAY » explodes to the surface. Soon after he stumbles upon a “MACBETH Open Call Audition” and sees it as his one chance to fulfill his destiny. Through ridiculous failures and absurd attempts at BRILLIANCE he stumbles through the opportunity of a lifetime. An original one-woman absurdist comedy.
WINNER
Outstanding Comedy – Ottawa Fringe Festival (2008)
TOP TEN SHOWS TO SEE AT EDMONTON FRINGE – Vue Magazine
TOP TEN SHOWS TO SEE AT VANCOUVER FRINGE – Vancouver Province
★★★★ – Winnipeg Sun, Edmonton Journal, See Magazine, Vue Weekly, Uptown Magazine
“Joe turns failure into a miraculous spectacle…some of the most fun you’ll have in theatre all year!” – Eye Magazine (Toronto)
“You’ll laugh. You’ll cry.” – Edmonton Sun
“…there is no denying this performer’s courage, engagement and intelligence.” – Happiest Medium (New York)
“A gifted performer and improvisor, but also frighteningly intelligent.” – Montreal Gazette
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November 21, 2016
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Hot Ticket Theatre Trivia Night
Venue: Arts Court Studio
Date: Monday, November 21, 2016 |
December 6 & 7, 2016: FRINGE ENCORE & SPECIAL SCREENING
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ROLLER DERBY SAVED MY SOUL
DECEMBER 6 – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Written & Performed by Nancy Kenny
Directed by Tania Levy
Roller Derby Saved My Soul tells the story of Amy, a shy young woman who spends most of her time reading comic books and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs in her basement apartment. For her 30th birthday, her over-achieving younger sister June drags her to a roller derby game and Amy completely falls in love with the sport. Roller Derby Saved My Soul is a story about uncovering the superhero within each one of us, while learning to love, laugh, and grab life by the short shorts and kneepads.
After sold-out runs in Ottawa, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver, Nancy Kenny brings her Fringe-circuit smash-hit back to Ottawa for a one-night only presentation to commemorate its 100th performance.
Top Ten Must See Fringe Show – CBC Canada Writes
WINNER
Outstanding Fringe Production – Les Prix Rideau Awards (2012)
Patron’s Pick – Winnipeg Fringe Festival & Vancouver Fringe Festival (2014)
Best in Fest – Atlantic Fringe Festival (2013), Ottawa Fringe Festival (2011), Hamilton Fringe Festival (2011)
Critic’s Choice – Atlantic Fringe Festival (2013)
“Comforting and uplifting.” – The Globe and Mail
“Perfect escapism and purely satisfying entertainment… Go see it.” – CBC Ottawa
“Roller Derby Saved My Soul skates straight into your heart.” – Edmonton Journal
ON THE FRINGE
DECEMBER 7 – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Produced by Nancy Kenny and Natalie Watson
Directed by Cory Thibert
Edited by Natalie Watson
In the summer of 2014, an intrepid team of documentarians set off to chronicle the adventures of eight Fringe artists – including fan favourites Martin Dockery and Jem Rolls – touring the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit. After 10 cities, over 18,000 kilometres, countless hours of interviews and more coffee than your doctor would advise, they collected a treasure trove of the stories and the scenes behind the scenes. On the Fringe is a feature-length documentary that takes you on a fun and poignant road trip through this undeniable force in the world theatre scene.
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January 19-21, 2017: fringe encore
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Countries Shaped Like Stars
Created and performed by Nicolas Di Gaetano and Emily Pearlman
Directed by Patrick Gauthier
The story of Gwendolyn Magnificent and Bartholomew Spectacular starts with demanding dragon fruits and ends with heartache whispered into the ears of birds and constellations. With spoons, water glasses, whirly-winds and a mandolin, the performers create the sounds and images of a landscape forever altered by regret. Part storytelling, part concert, this is a tale of love heard best through a tin-can telephone.
Premiering at the 2009 Ottawa Fringe, Countries Shaped Like Stars has played to sold out houses across the country.
WINNER
Outstanding Overall Production – Ottawa Fringe (2009)
Outstanding Fringe Production & Outstanding New Work – Prix Rideau Awards (2010)
Outstanding Production – Edmonton Fringe Festival (2013)
Runner Up: Steamwhistle Emerging Artist Award – Summerworks (2010)
« Gently unhinges language and logic, so that we can play in the spaces between words and bathe in the emotions that underlie reason. Another way of saying this is that Countries Shaped Like Stars makes you feel as openhearted and happy as a kid.” – The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC
* Relaxed Performance. Specifically designed to welcome people who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, including small children. people with an Autism Spectrum Condition, sensory and communication disorders, or a learning disability. |
February 8, 2017: fringe encore
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The Elephant Girls
Written & Performed by Margo MacDonald
Directed by Mary Ellis
“Without doubt, they were the most notorious girl gang Britain’s ever seen.” (Gangs of London)
Clever, organized, devious & daring; they stole from the rich and gave to themselves. Only recently brought to light, this is the riveting story of the all-female gang which terrorized London for over 100 years. Maggie Hale—the gang’s suit-wearing, bloody-knuckled, girl-chasing “enforcer”—will tell you all: who they were, what they did, how it worked, how they got away with it, and how it all came crashing down. But just how much are you sure you want to hear?
Captivating and repelling, humorous and terrifying. You won’t be able to look away.
WINNER
Outstanding Production & Best of Fest – Ottawa Fringe Festival (2015)
Critic’s Pick Outstanding Production – Ottawa Fringe Festival (2015)
Outstanding New Work, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Female Performance – Prix Rideau Awards (2015)
Best Actress – Capital Critics Circle Awards (2015)
“…ferocious, charismatically intense.” ★★★★★ – CBC Manitoba
“…Captivating…utterly entrancing.” ★★★★★ – Winnipeg Free Press
“…MacDonald captivates…Astonishing.” ★★★★ – Broadway Baby (Edinburgh)
“…brilliantly written and exceptionally performed.” ★★★★ – Fringe Guru (Edinburgh)
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April 6-8, 2017: fringe ENCORE DOUBLE BILL
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An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein
Originally Directed & Designed by Graham Price and James Richardson
Welcome to a darkly comic world, a world where nothing is as it seems and where the most innocent conversation can turn menacing in an instant. 10 imaginative short plays that range widely in content and location, but have a style unmistakably that of children’s author and columnist for Playboy – Shel Silverstein. From One Tennis Shoe where a man accuses his wife of becoming a bag lady to a play where the only three words spoken are ‘meat and potatoes’. An Adult Evening… will make you fall off the end of the sidewalk in laughter. In 2003 Third Wall Theatre made its mark on the Fringe with an award-winning production of this hilarious series of plays. See what happens with 14 years of maturation when Third Wall revisits this ridiculous classic.
Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein features an all new cast including Attila Clemann, Sarah Finn, Andrew Moore, Norah Paton and special guest appearances you won’t want to miss!
WINNER
Ottawa Fringe Festival Best Comedy (2003)
THE ROOT OF ALL SQUARES
Written by Sterling Lynch & Sam VartENIuk
Directed by Dave Dawson
This « zippy philosophical comedy » has been described as « Abbott and Costello meet Logic 101 and Economics 202 », bringing into the discussion such things as irony, material worth, and pointy sticks. One part Beckett, and one part global macroeconomics. Performers, and now real-life married couple, Ray Besharah and Laura Hall reprise their roles 13 years after this show appeared at the Ottawa Fringe Festival in 2004.
WINNER
Toronto Fringe Festival New Play Contest (2001)
“Imagine the comic, social action possibilities of Bud Abbot explaining capitalism to Lou Costello, and you begin to get the drift of this tight, canny work… a smart, engaging, well-acted and directed production.”
★★★★ – Edmonton Journal
“The Root of all Squares is likely one of the smartest scripts at this year’s fringe. The Black Sheep Theatre production directed by Dave Dawson gives this canny tale its due.” – Ottawa Citizen
★★★★ – CBC Winnipeg
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