Triplex Nervosa
:a condition effecting property owners in trendy neighborhoods on the eve of a correction
Tass Navor has maxed out her credit cards and put a promising music career on hold to buy a triplex (three storey apartment building) in Mile End, Montreal. When she and her handyman Rakie conspire to make a difficult tenant’s life less comfortable, things go terribly wrong. A comedy about art and property, featuring ambitious young hipsters and their oppressive elders.
Seven actors play 11 roles.
Tass Nazor | young woman, building owner.
Rakie Ur | handyman, East European immigrant.
Max Fishbone | 50ish, washed up music producer; doubles as Kevin Fishbone, Chicago lawyer.
Damien-Marie de Beaufort | mid 30s, French, man about town; doubles as Lonny’s ghost.
Alisha Tate | early to mid twenties, would-be painter.
Aaron Klein | any age, Hasidic, scholar; doubles as Alisha’s mother.
Sgt. Germaine Tremblay | female detective; doubles as real estate agent.
Venus of Dublin
Drama
A poignant tale about the personal cost and public inspiration of an actor’s life, this play was inspired by a true event, the legendary English actor Edmund Kean’s visit to the Huron village of Lorette, Quebec, in the early 1800s.
Premiered at the Centaur Theatre in 2000.
A shabby Dublin hotel room, the once-great actor Edmund Kean makes one last lunge at immortality by commissioning a portrait from a young ruffian artist he met in a pub. Unable to find the soul of a mercurial performer, the artist struggles to find the true man beneath his complex persona. Meanwhile, the hotel keeper Ginger Hogan is drawn into a whirlwind of ego and creativity. This play will strike a chord with anyone who has dreamed of escape from the self, and woken up to the familiar.
One woman, two men. Single set.
Blue Valentine
Romantic Comedy
On a snowy night in Montreal, a high-powered literary critic encounters twin brothers: a struggling writer and his dazzling other.
A thriller with romantic overtones, this biting comedy asks why women fall for Mr. Wrong when happiness waits nearby.
Premiered by Theatre 1774 in 1996. Directed by Marianne Ackerman, starring Leni Parker and Bruce Dinsmore.
Nominated in the Best Play and Best Anglophone Production categories at Les Masques, 1997.
Two juicy roles, man & woman.
Céleste
Céleste recalls her life with Professor David Temple, first as his housekeeper, then his lover and wife. A poetic tale of memory, suppressed emotion and tenderness, an exploration of Quebec’s three solitudes by way of characters.
Two actors, one actress. First production directed by Marianne Ackerman, starring Marthe Turgeon, Tom Rack, Shimon Aviel, with an appearance by Coral Egan. Music by Karen Young.
Sliding in All Directions
Music Theatre, 1995
A soldier and an angel, archetypal lovers, descend into the inferno of urban life in search of each other. The core of the play is four sketches probing the anguish of our time: an off-beat party scene by John Mighton, a father-son memory piece by Norbert Ruebsaat, a tough monologue by Judith Thompson and a mysterious telephone conversation by Donald Molnar. These earthly tales are woven together by a musical score inspired by the Song of Songs. A year in the making, this collaboration between Marianne Ackerman and composer Karen Young won THEATRE 1774 a Masque award for Best Anglophone Production. Their work inspired a film, Les Cantiques, broadcast on CBC and Bravo!
Karen Young created a best-selling CD from the material called Canticum Canticorum (Le Cantiques des Cantiques), songs and lyrics by Ackerman and Young.
Directed by Guy Sprung.
Cast: Karen Young, Roc Lafortune, Bruce Dinsmore, Lise Roy, Anne-Marie Leduc, Erwin Potitt.
Musician Vassil Markov.
Set and lighting by Jean-Charles Martel.
Movement coach Marie-Andrée Gagnon.
Costumes by Mireille Vachon.
Sample the music here on YouTube More about the project from Karen Young here. Text and score available from the author.
L’Affaire Tartuffe, or the Garrison Officers Rehearse Molière
Montreal, summer of 1774: a troupe of British Garrison officers attempt to stage Molière’s Tartuffe, directed by a young Seigneur whose hidden ambition is to flout the authority of the Catholic Church. The project pits Conqueror against Conquered, with tragic results for the play.
The idea was inspired by historical fact: that in 1774, Garrison officers in Montreal staged plays by Molière – in French – thereby ending a Church ban on theatre dating from 1694. A fresco of French, Canadien, Scottish, Irish, English players on the eve of the American Revolution. With war brewing to the south, a pact is struck between French and English élites.
The result: Two Solitudes – not the consequence of military victory, or of happenstance. Rather, a lucid deal struck between Conquered and Conqueror. A pact still defended to this day.
Ten actors, in French, English and Gaelic.
Premiered by Theatre 1774 in 1990, reprised for the Celebration ’93 Festival, L’Affaire Tartuffe toured to Sherbrooke and Toronto.
Woman by a Window
Poetic Drama
Woman by a Window is a venture into the unconscious, modern dance without the footwork. The only character is Emma, personified by voices doing battle in her head: Will, Desire and Soul – played by three actresses.
The play combines language, image and emotion to talk about a sharp corner in a woman’s life journey.
Premiered by THEATRE 1774 January-February 1992. Directed by Paula de Vasconcelos. Starring Clare Schapiro, Sheila Langston, Marthe Turgeon. Set and costumes by Raymond-Marius Boucher, lighting by Jean-Charles Martel, sound by Wayne Tepley.
Alanienouidet
Collaboration with Robert Lepage
A loose text created for the improvisational approach of Robert Lepage. The idea was inspired by an historical incident: in1826 British stage icon Edmund Kean make a North American tour, stopping in Montreal and Quebec City. Three native Indian chiefs attended a performance of Richard III at the Royal Theatre in Quebec, and afterwards, invited Kean to visit their village at Lorette.
They presented him with tribal robes and gave him the honorary name of Alanienouidet, meaning ‘a strong wind on drifting snow’. For years, Kean could be seen roaming the streets of London dressed as a Huron chief.
A portrait of him in native regalia (pictured here) hangs in the Garrick Club, London. This play deals with Kean’s visit to Lorette, his visions and memories of the lost weekend.
Premiered at the National Arts Centre in January 1992, directed by Robert Lepage starring Randy Hughson, Marie Brassard, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Yves Sioui Durand, and others. Also presented at the Carrefour Theatre Festival in Quebec City.
Why We Pay Rock Concert Prices for Robert Lepage. | Toronto Life, October, 2010 By Marianne Ackerman | Available from the author