Beyond Plays at Summerworks

Where the genres blur
Performance Bar and Live Arts Series 
by Émilie Charlebois

The Performance Bar returns and the new Live Art Series promise exciting, immersive and potentially unsettling experiences at this year’s SummerWorks. You might even make some new friends along the way.

In case it wasn’t already apparent, we are very excited for the upcoming SummerWorks Festival. Although we’ll be focused on providing critical reviews for the Theatre Series throughout its run, the Performance Bar and Live Art series are not to be missed. Bringing music, theatre, art and performance together in unexpected, interactive and challenging ways, these events are sure to have their audiences experience the full spectrum of human emotions. 

The Performance Bar is pretty self-explanatory: booze and live acts. But SummerWorks is set to provide much more than a fun drinking-hole. The cabaret-style event will bring together a wide array of music, happenings and performances throughout the two weekends of the festival (August 10-11-12 and again August 17-18-19) at the Lower Ossington Theatre, Cabaret Space. Although performances such as David Yee’s Google Translate piece and Patti Cake’s rockified doo-wop music will make you think, dance and laugh, it is most likely the overarching six-part narrative created by hosts Atomic Vaudeville and Ron Pederson that will bring you back for each night’s installment. Every performer will appear as a guest on Captain Ron’s Ship of Friendship, the story of Captain Ron and the Friendship Crew who are on a journey to discover the diverse and eclectic nature of live performance with puppets, crafts, hugs, groovy dancing, and candy. With friends like these and at a price you can afford, who wouldn’t want to hop on board?

Performance Bar: August 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 @ Lower Ossington Theatre, Cabaret Space, ground level studio (Venue G).
Doors open at 8PM. Performances start at 10PM.
Pay What You Can. Cash Bar from 8PM to 2AM.
For more information: summerworks.ca/2012/performance-bar

Another uniquely interactive experience offered by SummerWorks 2012 is the inaugural Live Art Series that will feature work from artists like Nina Arsenault, Aman Sandhu and Swapnaa Tamhane, The Torontonians and Brian Lobel. For anyone who may not be familiar with the term, Live Art incorporates elements from various art forms (e.g. theatre, dance, music, sculpture, etc.) to create performances that integrate audiences into the work in order to challenge conceptions of traditional art and social norms. The results are often unpredictable, irreproducible and ephemeral, but with tremendous impact as the audience is made complicit in the process of creation and artistic exploration. They will be pushed to question their own preconceived notions of art and human relations, without having to pay any fancy tuition fees (most of the performances are free)! For the truly adventurous, The Torontonians and Mammalian Diving Reflex have prepared “DARE NIGHT: Lockdown” on August 10, an all-night sleepover at the Gladstone Hotel where their guests will try to survive through a night of dares, ghost stories, séances and challenges. Everyone who makes it through to the other side will also be rewarded with a cookout breakfast and basketball challenge.

Live Art performances are taking place at various venues (e.g. coffee shops, bookstores, hotels, buses, etc.) throughout the festival. For more information on schedules, prices, artists and performers: summerworks.ca/2012/live-art-series