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MOCK THEATRE FESTIVAL TO BE STAGED AT YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, January 29, 1997: Vanier College Productions at York University will present FESTIVAL!, an amusing look at amateur theatre festivals, from Tuesday, Feb. 4 to Saturday, Feb. 8. Back for the second time by popular demand, this production celebrates 25 years of theatre of Vanier. This original production, a mock theatre festival, is the work of Fred Thury, artistic director of Vanier College Productions and a playwright, composer, actor and director. FESTIVAL! pokes fun at theatre festivals, with all of the performers playing the roles of actors from three fictitious theatre "companies" enacting Thury's one-act play, Cottage of Fear, a country house murder mystery. Thus same play is performed by each of the different "companies," so the audience will see widely varying interpretations as if they were watching a theatrical competition. As for the audience, they must sort through the credits: 18 actors play a total of seven parts. The theatrical "companies" are: a classic English company called the Timesmore Drama Society from the U.K.; a revisionist Canadian company called the Scottish Arts and Recreation Centre Drama Guild from Halifax; and the musical YugoKranian English as a Second Language Theatre company from the fictitious country of YugoKrane. Each act of FESTIVAL! is a different performance of "Cottage of Fear." Fred Thury has been associated with Vanier College at York University since 1970, and has directed formal theatrical presentations at Vanier for 25 years, beginning with Under Milk Wood in 1972. He is also the author of many children's plays, including Nuts & Bolts & Rusty Things, Folk Tales around the World, Behind the Wrinkles (performed by Lampoon Puppettheatre), and Nose to Nose (YPT). The latter two plays were workshopped with Vanier College Productions. Thury also wrote the libretto for The Last Straw, performed by the Toronto Children's Chorus with Ben Heppner at Roy Thomson Hall, which was recently recorded and issued on the album Along the Road to Bethlehem. A teacher as well as a director, Thury has inspired the development of inventive theatre productions at Vanier College and has encouraged many students who have gone on to careers in theatre. FESTIVAL! will be presented at 8 p.m. from Feb. 4 to 8 in Vanier College Hall, lower level, at York University (Keele St. at Steeles Ave.) in North York. Tickets are $10 ($8 for students and seniors) and can be reserved by calling Vanier College at (416) 736-5192.
For more information, call:
Mary Ann Horgan
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