Prairie Scene Festival
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| Country and Region | Canada — Ontario |
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| Type of Festival | Dance, Drama, Music |
| Location of Festival | Ottawa and Gatineau, Ontario, Canada |
| Festival Contact Information | Phone: +01 613-947-7000 |
| Festival Description | Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) has announced the first programming details of Prairie Scene, an eclectic, multi-disciplinary arts festival featuring 500 of the best established and emerging artists from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Prairie Scene will present 80 different events in music, theatre, dance, visual and media arts, literature, film and culinary arts in more than 30 venues in Ottawa-Gatineau from April to May. “We’re planning a Prairie invasion of the nation’s capital,” said Heather Moore, Producer and Executive Director of Prairie Scene. “It’s the largest gathering of Prairie artists ever assembled outside of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and we’re proud to present their performances and work on the national stage.” Prairie Scene is the fifth in a series of national festivals produced by the NAC showcasing the wealth of arts and culture in different regions of the country. It all began in 2003 with Atlantic Scene, then Alberta Scene in 2005, Quebec Scene in 2007, and BC Scene in 2009. Now the NAC and its partners – including Presenting Partner MTS Allstream – will be turning over their performance and exhibition spaces to Prairie artists. Part of the goal of the Scene festivals is to propel the careers of young artists by introducing them to a group of well known presenters from all over the world. Since 2003 the NAC has invited 314 presenters from 27 countries to travel to the Scene festivals to discover and book new talent, which has resulted in over 275 performance bookings and more than $1 million in fees for artists. More than 50 national and international agents, presenters and talent scouts will be there to see Prairie talent in action. Their sole mission is to find new artists for their audiences across Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. |
| Festival Dates | April 26 - May 8, 2011 |
| Festival Links | http://www.prairiescene.ca/en/ |
Festival Events:
Performance feature 2011:
- TALK
Written and Directed Michael Nathanson
Production Design Hugh Conacher
Graham Ashmore as Josh, Arne MacPherson as Gordon
- Performances — April 27 to 30, at 8:00pm, and April 30, at 2:00pm
- Venue — Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (GCTC), 1233 Wellington West
- Tickets — $27.00, $21.00 Seniors, $13.50 Students
- Talk is a provocative play by Winnipeg Jewish Theatre Artistic Director Michael Nathanson, and was a finalist for the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. The plot revolves around two lifelong friends, Gordon and Josh. The two meet for what is ostensibly a casual drink so that Josh can meet Gordon’s new girlfriend. But when Gordon asks his friend what he thinks of his new love, Josh stumbles over his response, setting in motion an uncomfortable and revealing conversation that takes the two men unwittingly into territory as yet uncharted in their friendship. Gordon is a gentile, and Josh is Jewish, and for the first time, the difference between them results in a passionate and divisive debate about politics, about the Middle East, and about friendship. Talk is crafted with a finely tuned ear for dialogue and electric pacing that keeps us wondering whose side we’re on and why, and leaves us feeling the shock of lost friendship. Fiercely honest, funny, complex and touching, it is a refreshingly frank play about loyalty: political and personal. It’s as much about the Middle East conflict as it is about the responsibilities of personal conviction. It’s about the power of language, the dynamics of friendship, and the dangers of rigid ideology.
- Join us in the theatre on April 27 for a post-performance talkback with Michael Nathanson, playwright and director, and on April 28 with Rabbi Reuven Bulka.
Start or join a conversation about this festival in the Forum.
