RECENT NEWS

  • EDEN Last Chance

    Wednesday, 09 May 2012

    EDEN closes on May 13th! You still have five chances to catch this world premiere.

  • EDEN Getting Lots of Attention

    Friday, 27 April 2012

    EDEN opens tonight, April 27th, and runs until May 13th. We’ve been getting great buzz....

    • NEW WORK DEVELOPED BY SARASVÀTI PRODUCTIONS

    Ripple Effect

    Sarasvàti Productions premiered Ripple Effect at FemFest 2008 and then toured throughout Winnipeg and surrounding areas. Ripple Effect explores the link between violence on a personal level with larger, more global violence. How does violence in the home affect the school? How does violence in school affect the home life? How does violence in the world affect youth? Does violence have a ripple effect?

    Background
    The play was originally commissioned by Urban Rural Mission following an incidence of violence in a small rural community. Although this was the starting point of the project, the script has moved beyond this to explore a wider perspective. With the research into school shootings and bullying, the script attempts to look at the various manifestations of violence. A janitor is used as the narrator in the play. Upon discovering a poem outlining a desire to seek revenge on the school we are left to take a journey with the narrator into the lives of several characters in an attempt to discover which teenager may be the ticking time bomb. The play attempts to question whether the effect of violence is more violence; whether it is possible to help youth and diffuse a cycle of violence.

    The script development included roundtable sessions with youth from all backgrounds. In the fall of 2007 the script was workshopped with youth and then presented in a workshop format to three selected schools and a public audience. The response allowed for further rewrites of the play but also demonstrated the great need for the piece to be seen by a wider audience. Teachers, youth and parents all expressed a desire for the piece to spark discussion among a broader representation of people. The artists and teachers shared the fact that they have met all the youth who are characterized in the play and feel overwhelmed trying to deal with it all. Youth insisted that they experience the situations in the play on a daily basis and craved the opportunity to have their peers see the work. Adults also shared that it had opened their eyes to some of the things youth are dealing with and spoke to their own experience as teenagers.

    Responses:
    “It has opened my eyes as a parent. I hope my young children grow to see this one, it’s very important!”

    “This is a very important message and I think this could make a real difference in the lives of many young people especially if proper follow-up techniques are used to bring out many issues in the schools. It should be shown in every school.”

    “As one of the parents, I see this as being a story that would touch both adults/parents and students. Sometimes, even we don’t realize the rippling effect of our actions onto our own children. As much as we hope that all of our positive actions are absorbed, we have to remember that anything negative is also being noted. The play reflected how it’s so easy to categorize or criticize this younger generation without putting yourself in their shoes or understanding why they are this way. Frieda’s character certainly tried to make that relation with the students. In having shown this production to the audiences this past week, hopefully it will have already started a positive rippling effect.”

    Check out the Ripple Effect promo video

    You Whore!

    A collective creation exploring women in the virtual age. The ensemble researched women’s relationship to technology and cyberspace; and incorporated improvisation, collective writing and live video feed. Early writing for this piece was used for aten-minute production at The Festival of Original Theatre and it is now being developed into a one-act play entitled VIRTUAL WOMYN. Originally produced at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival (2003) with Jessica Burleson, Mylee Nordin, and Heidi Malazdrewich.

    Fire Visions: Poems by Bertolt Brecht

    “No one ever accused Brecht of being subtle. He saw himself as the blunt conscience of the proletariat and against those who turned a blind eye towards the beggars, the unemployed and the homeless. In 14 poems, well-assembled by director Hope McIntyre and her quartet of able performers, Brecht noisily pounds home his message…The four performers were dressed in the typical Brecht stage uniform – in black and barefoot – and delivered the verse clearly, strongly and with welcome visual accompaniment. Whether Great Babel bore a baby puppet, or slide projections of refugee camps during the recitation of Eight Thousand Poor Peopole Assembled Outside the City, the poems were all presented with trademark Brechtian flair.” - Kevin Prokosh, Winnipeg Free Press (January 24, 2002)

    Created with the input of four performers, director, dramaturge, sound composer and consulting visual artists; this theatrical work used movement, projection, puppetry, song and text. The piece was previewed at the Windsor Theatre (Sackville) and premiered at BrechtFest in Winnipeg (2002).

    Hunger

    Based loosely on atrue story, HUNGER is about a woman’s struggle against political and emotional turmoil as she undertakes a hunger strike on the steps of the Guatemalan Capital Building. Performances raised funds for Amnesty International and the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture. Performed at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace (2000) and Colin Jackson Studio (2001), published in International Plays for Young Audiences (Meriwhether).

    Revisioning

    Three women are shipped to the New World (Canada) on a convict ship from Britain. All three women are transformed and find that their lives are changed forever.  Produced at the Festival of Original Theatre (1999) and Alumnae Theatre Studio (1999), published by One Act Play Depot (http://oneactplays.net).

    “Watching a theatre company mature is one of the real pleasures of regular theatregoing. With Revisioning, the latest show by Sarasvàti Productions, the group takes an impressive leap forward..” - Jon Kaplan NOW

    Full List of Productions

    • HUNGER (1998) Toronto – Passe Muraille Theatre Backspace
    • REVISIONING (1999) Toronto – Alumnae Theatre
    • A reading series of three new plays (1999) Toronto – Alumnae Theatre
    • MISSIAH (2000) Toronto – Equity Showcase Theatre
    • HUNGER (2000) Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • DEATH OF LOVE (Workshop, 2001) Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • FIRE VISIONS: POEMS BY BERTOLT BRECHT (2002) Winnipeg and Sackville (NB)
    • ONE FOR THE ROAD (2003) Winnipeg and Sackville (NB)
    • FemFest 2003 Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues (2004) – Winnipeg and Brandon
    • YOU WHORE (2003) Winnipeg – Fringe Theatre Festival
    • JILL’S WAR by Victoria Loe Hicks and Nancy Kruh(2004) Winnipeg – Fringe Theatre Festival
    • FemFest 2004 Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • IMPROMPTU OF OUTREMONT by Michel Tremblay (2005) Winnipeg – Forrest Nickerson Theatre
    • International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues (2005) – Winnipeg
    • Readings of two new plays at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works 2005
    • FemFest 2005 Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues (2006) – Winnipeg
    • FemFest 2006  Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio and The Contemporary Dancers Studio
    • International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues (2007) – Winnipeg
    • One Night Stand event at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works 2007
    • FemFest 2007 Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • RIPPLE EFFECT (2007) workshop presentation (a new play on the topic of youth violence)
    • International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues 2008 – venues throughout Manitoba.
    • FemFest 2008 Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • RIPPLE EFFECT Tour (2008), performances in Manitoba High Schools and community centres
    • EDEN workshop presentation (2009) Winnipeg – Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
    • FemFest 2009 Winnipeg – CanWest Centre for Theatre and Film
    • FEN by Caryl Churchill (2010) Winnipeg – Rachel Browne Theatre