Two instructors, past and present, from Glendon’s Drama Studies program have professional shows running concurrently in Toronto at the end of September.
Aleksandar (Sasha) Lukac, current course instructor in Glendon’s drama program, is directing prominent Serbian playwright Biljana Srbljanovic’s play, Family Stories, Belgrade at the Harbourfront Centre. A worldwide theatrical hit, Srbljanovic’s work has been translated into more than 20 languages and produced in over 50 theatres. Following a highly successful student production at Glendon, Sasha is directing the “official” English-language premiere of this play at the Harbourfront Studio Theatre, in collaboration with the Actors Repertory Company. The show which began yesterday, continues until Oct. 8; Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. For more information, visit the Actors Repertory Company Web site or contact the box office at 416-973-4000.
Lukac graduated from the Belgrade Academy of Dramatic Arts. In his native country, he has directed over 50 professional shows and received several awards for his work. He has also been artistic director at The National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia; Theatre Zoran Radmilovic in Zajecar, Serbia; and Theatre Plexus Boris Pilnjak in Belgrade. In Canada, he teaches drama and theatre at York’s Glendon College and at McMaster University. Recently his production of Christmas at the Ivanovs for Talk Is Free Theatre garnered a DORA nomination.
At the same time, former Glendon drama instructor Claude Guilmain’s company, Le Théâtre La Tangente is presenting Guilmain’s play, Requiem pour un trompettiste (Requiem for a Trumpettist) in French, Sept. 20 to Oct. 1, at Theatre Glendon. The play headlined at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in early September.
La Tangente’s artistic co-directors, Guilmain and Louise Naubert signed a three-year partnership with Glendon College in May 2004, making it Glendon’s first official theatre company-in-residence. The partnership is a win-win for both, providing a place of residence for La Tangente, while creating exchange opportunities for the students of Glendon’s drama department and cultural enrichment for the entire campus.
Requiem pour un trompettiste is based on the infamous Walkerton affair of water contamination in a small Ontario town, a disaster that made national media headlines as the story of political corruption, negligence and misinformation was uncovered. The play takes place at an earlier, fictional time in the 1950s in an Ontario town, just after three murders have taken place. Guilmain successfully sustains the dramatic tension in the play which marries text with music.
Theatre Glendon is on the Glendon campus at 2275 Bayview Avenue, York Hall 162. The box office can be reached by calling 416-487-6832. Visit the Théâtre La Tangente Web site for more information on the company and the play.
This article was submitted to YFile by Marika Kemeny, Glendon’s communications officer.