The Story: Joel Ivany on Against The Grain's new season

L-R Joel Ivany, Nancy Hitzig, Cecily Carver, Christopher Mokrzewski and Caitlin Coull

A Diary of One Who Appears
by Joel Ivany Artistic Director, Against the Grain Theatre

I’m an opera director. I often work with acting singers who are among the best in the world. This is an area of comfort for me. But budgeting, ticketing, licensing, website designing and dealing with agents are not skills I had as I emerged from opera school, but inevitably they come with the job of running your own theatre company.

Thankfully I have a wonderful team, which over the past year and a half has enabled Against the Grain Theatre to become what it is today.

We’re currently preparing our 2012/2013 season, and I’m constantly aware of how much thinking goes into every single decision. AtG is a unique ensemble that requires intimate venues to give our events that special je ne sais quoi. It takes time to scout out these niche locales and vet them for our unusual purposes. 

First-Person: Joel Ivany on Turn of the Screw

Killing Curiosity

Staging Britten's brilliantly dark piece

by Joel Ivany

It is a curious story.

Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera, The Turn of the Screw, opened in 1954 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Against the Grain Theatre will be producing the eerie tale from May 24-27 at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, on U of T campus.

It’s quite an exciting theatrical piece to be preparing.  Described primarily as a ghost story, it can also be interpreted, though rarely is, as a love story.

Review: The 7 Deadly Sins (and Holier Fare)

Sacred to Profane

Against The Grain tempts the devil

by Axel Van Chee

One thing I love about small companies is that they need to be innovative and constantly explore all the possibilities in terms of modes of production, venues, and repertory choices with their limited funds. Although they may not always succeed, the results are often surprising and enlightening. Against the Grain Theatre has done just that with their latest production of The 7 Deadly Sins (and Holier Fare) featuring four modern pieces, two of which are even by living American composers. It certainly is a daring affair, and like a charcuterie, each of the four is a different representation of the modern musical sound, and although you may not like one, chances are, you are going to like one of the others.

First-Person: Joel Ivany on The 7 Deadly Sins

Holier Than Thou

Going beyond Weill

by Joel Ivany, Artistic Director and Founder - Against the Grain Theatre

On Friday March 16 and Saturday March 17, Against the Grain Theatre will be presenting a concert entitled The Seven Deadly Sins (And Holier Fare). As the title suggests, the program features Kurt Weill’s ballet chanté Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins), but it also includes Benjamin Britten’s Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac and two contemporary two-piano pieces. 

To give you a taste of what we’ve been delving into to prepare for this production, allow me to introduce you to “the sins,” AtG style: