FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2008
Contact: Diana Hart
admin@westernedge.org
(250) 668-0991
(Nanaimo)
WESTERN EDGE THEATRE
ANNOUNCES SPRING "MINI-SEASON"
Nanaimo's Western
Edge Theatre has announced two productions for Spring 2008. One is an
international hit comedy, the other a moving and controversial one-person play.
First up is
"Art," a smart and widely-praised comedy about the
ins-and-mostly-outs of male friendship. When Serge spends $40,000 to buy a
painting that is nothing but a canvas painted white, his buddies are less than
impressed. Before long, the three are locked in a hilarious battle of wits and shifting
alliances, as they also deal with an imminent wedding and the onset of
middle-age. Can friendship survive modern art -- or, for that matter, growing
up?
"Art" is
co-produced with Ponomo Productions, which first presented the play on Gabriola
Island last Fall. Featured in the cast are Bill Miner, Frank Moher, and Drew
Staniland. The play runs for three performances only at the downtown Nanaimo
Art Gallery (150 Commercial Street), Friday, March 28th and Saturday, March
29th at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, March 30th at 2 pm.
Next is the one-woman
play "My Name is Rachel Corrie," which has generated both protest and
praise in productions around the world. Adapted from the diaries and journals
of the young Olympia, Washington woman who travelled to the Gaza Strip to work
with the poor, and was killed while attempting to prevent a Palestinian home
from being bulldozed, "My Name is Rachel Corrie" is at once inspiring
and disturbing, and a theatrical experience that won't soon be forgotten.
"My Name is
Rachel Corrie" features Nanaimo actress Bahiyyih Egeli and is directed by
Frank Moher. It plays in Nanaimo for two performances only, Saturday, April
19th at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 20th at 2 pm, at Clifford's Wake Bookstore, 2
Victoria Crescent (on the China Steps downtown). A third performance will take
place at The Roxy on Gabriola Island on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7:30 pm.
Tickets for both
"Art" and "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" cost $18 for Adults,
$15 for Seniors, and $10 for Students, available at the Nanaimo Art Gallery,
online at westernedge.org, or by phone at 668-0991 (Nanaimo) or 1-800-811-7405.
They will also be sold at the door as available.
The productions are
expected to be Western Edge Theatre's last. The company, which has been
homeless since the Bay Theatre was sold in 2007, has been unable to find
another small-scale performance space in which to perform. "If we're going
to have to make an exit," says Artistic Producer Frank Moher, "we’re
going to do it with a flourish."