Nomination Day

So a really huge day for us what with nominations for our 2010-2011 Season. Where to start....ok....first up the newly announced Toronto Theatre Critic's Award that gave a Best Actress Award to Yanna McIntosh for her performance of Mama Nadi in Ruined

Full Listings: Toronto Sun, The Star. The Globe and Mail

Dora Award Nominees:Full List

Some bragging just cause: Yanna McIntosh - Outstanding Performance Nominee, Sterling Jarvis - Outstanding Performance Nominee, Ruined - Outstanding Production Nominee, Philip Akin - Outstanding Direction Nominee (Obsidian Theatre in association with Nightwood Theatre)

And in Edmonton the Sterling Awards: Tamara Marie Kucheran - Outstanding Costume Design - Intimate Apparel (Obsidian Theatre presented by The Citadel Theatre)

A big, big shout out to all the nominees.

Working with Words and Shakespeare - Andrea Scott

As befits any actor worth their salt I have a tidy library comprised of the usual suspects such as Ibsen, Aeschylus, Miller, Shaw and Strindberg among many others; I also have 14 of the 38 plays written by England’s national poet, William Shakespeare.  However, in the last year if my agent called me with an audition requiring the memorization of a Shakespearean monologue my mind would race in to find an excuse to get out of it. The Bard puts the fear of God in me and I’ve felt like a lesser actor because of it. So for 2011 I made a pledge to myself to focus on mastering the fear of the iambic pentameter. To do this I refused to audition for any Shakespeare until I could walk into a room and throw down with absolute confidence. 

   

Of course life has other plans for us and 24 hours after I touched down in Toronto after being away for 3 months my agent called me with a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ audition to be prepared for the following week. I’d already turned down one Shakespeare audition this year and knew I couldn’t do it again less than one month later so I accepted and panicked.

Well, before you can say deus ex machine I get a special invite from Obsidian Theatre via email the next day to participate in the Stratford hosted ‘Working with Words and Shakespeare’ workshop taking place on April 1 & 2. So, maybe there is something to that book, ‘The Secret’….

Panzi Wrap to Date

At the end of every performance of Ruined Yanna McIntosh did an appeal for donations for the Panzi Hospital in the DRC. This hospital specializes in providing treatment of the survivors of sexual violence and surgical repair for women suffering from fistulas of the urogenital tract.

A years stay at the hospital cost $450 and I am proud to say that our audiences responded with a whopping $32,524.53. That coupled with Obsidian's previous bake sales puts us at a current total of $34,446.53 which equals support of 76.5 women.

I know from the phone calls that have come in that there are also many more people who are donating to the Fistula Foundation, which oversees the Panzi Hospital, directly.

Now how absolutely AMAZING is that. The support from the audiences was spectacular but I also want to mention the bartenders at the venue who, a number of times, put their tips into the collection box.

The play is so, so special but this fundraising drive is truly one of the best put-a-smile-on-your face and a spring-in-your step kind of news.

We are all pretty pumped over here.

Ruined Wrap

REVIEWS

THE TORONTO STAR

Theatre review: ‘Ruined’ is, in a word, magnificent 

"this is one of the most powerful pieces of theatre you are likely to come

across in many months of theatergoing

THEGLOBE AND MAIL

Ruined: An earthquake of acting that will shake you

THE TORONTO SUN
Congo war play 'Ruined' memorable 

THEATROMANIA

Lynn Nottage’s devastating play is a life-changing theatrical experience

And in the end we had  a truly amazing production that was a great culmination of the last 3 years. I have come to understand that I am a completionist. In other words I can't really enjoy something until it is done and wrapped up.

I think that is why when I was asked what was the best part of the closing night I replied "sitting on the stool in the restaurant" It was only then that I really was able to unwind and  acknowledge what a fine piece of theatre we had created. 

So big, big props to the Obsidian staff,cast, crew, design team, Canadian Stage and the folks over at Nightwood.

Thank you

Philip