Tyumen, Then – Toronto Fringe 2011 Press Release

From press release:

Join these award-winning Toronto theatre artists for a ruthless, seriously unhinged satire about ideology, war, and the quest for survival…

Tyumen, Then

By: Adam Underwood
Directed by: Andrea Donaldson
Starring: Adam Lazarus, Kevin MacDonald & Lyon Smith
Set & Costume Design by: Jung-Hye Kim
Sound Design by: Verne Good

Specially selected by the Fringe, October Theatre’s Tyumen, Then will have seven performances with the aim of raising $2000 for the Toronto Fringe Festival.

July 4th, 1941: Trapped in the boxcar of a motionless train, somewhere between Moscow and Siberia, two confined soldiers guard the rousing corpse of Vladimir Lenin. Tyumen, Then captures our fundamental theatre-going needs – it is at once heightened and romantic, hilarious and stimulating, violent and horrifying.

October Theatre is a company devoted to original scripted work that is dark and wickedly humorous. In Adam Underwood’s Tyumen, Then, Adam Lazarus, Lyon Smith, and Kevin MacDonald share the stage for the first time. Andrea Donaldson, fresh off her directing hot streak of Dora nominated projects Montparnasse and The Atomic Weight of Happiness, directs in her vivid and precise signature style with beloved designers Jung-Hye Kim and Verne Good.

Show Dates & Times:

Friday July 8th @ 11pm
Monday July 11th @ 8:45pm
Tuesday July 12th @ 4:30pm
Wednesday July 13th @ 12:15
Thursday July 14th @ 7pm
Friday July 15th @ 6:15pm
Saturday July 16th @ 1:45pm

Robert Gill Theatre
214 College Street, 3rd floor (@ St. George)
(Air-Conditioned Theatre)

Ticket Information:
Tickets can be purchased for $11 at www.fringetoronto.com
& over the phone at 416.966.1062
& in person at the door one-hour prior to performance for $10

BIOS:

The Director:
Andrea Donaldson
Andrea is a director, theatre creator and performer. Recent directing credits include Dora Nominated projects: The Atomic Weight of Happiness for Stand Up Dance, Montparnasse for Groundwater in association with Theatre Passe Muraille (SummerWorks Spotlight Award – Directing), Dora nominated Offensive Fouls for Theatre Direct, Dora nominated The Unfortunate Misadventures of Masha Galinski in Winnipeg, Victoria and twice in Toronto, The Blyth Festival’s Young Company, Howard Barker’s The Possibilities at SummerWorks in Toronto and in Vancouver, and Rob Baker’s Crack in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as her own play Garden at Rhubarb.

The Playwright:
Adam Underwood
Adam is a playwright and actor. Last year Solo Collective Theatre in Vancouver produced his one-act play Coffee Makes Me Cry. He has worked for Bard on the Beach, Green Thumb Theatre, CanStage, Caravan Farm Theatre, Carousel Theatre, and Theatre Melee. He is graduate of Studio 58 in Vancouver.

 

The Cast:

Adam Lazarus
Adam is a Toronto based actor, director and acting instructor (NTS/UofT).  As an actor, credits include Wonderland (2010 SummerWorks Spotlight Award for outstanding performance); Le Fain de Partie (Luminato/Waves); [boxhead] (Crow’s Theatre/Mammalian Diving Reflex); Appetite (Volcano/Theatre Passe Muraille/Exchange Rate Collective).  Adam is a graduate of L’École Philippe Gaulier in France and he is the artistic-producer of the Toronto Festival of Clowns.

Kevin MacDonald
Vancouver transplant and graduate of Studio 58, Kevin has spent the last decade performing across the country with companies ranging from The Playhouse, Rumble, NeWorld, Bard on the Beach, Arts Club, Alberta Theatre Projects, NAC and Soulpepper. Often involved in new work, Kevin has participated in more than 50 workshops and readings. He has completed the CFC’s Actors Conservatory and has appeared in the independent films READOGRAPH, TWO BROTHERS and THE WATER GAME and in the television series Cold Squad, The Mountain and UC: Undercover. Kevin has been nominated for Jessie Awards for his work as both an actor and a set designer.

Lyon Smith
Select theatre credits: Hippie and the Perilous Pirates Daughter for the Blyth Festival, For Sale for Aluna Theatre, the Zoo Story for Theatre Extasis,  the Drawer Boy for Theatre Passe Muraille, Danny King of the Basement for Roseneath, and Edward the Crazy Man for Workman Arts. Lyon is a Gemini nominated voice artist and is a featured actor in many popular cartoons.  He is also a Dora award winning sound designer.

Set & Costume Designer:
Jung-Hye Kim is a Toronto based set and costume designer. Her other design credits include After Akmatova (Tarragon Theatre), Montparnasse (Theatre Passe Muraille and Groundwater Theatre),The Middle Place (Canstage, Project Humanity, Belfry Theatre, GCTC), The Big League (Lorrain Kimsa Theatre for Young Audience),The Great Mountain (Red Sky Performance), Radiance (b current), Iphigenia at Aulis (Festival of Ideas and Creation at Canadian Stage), Sia (Pyretic Production for 2010 Toronto Fringe), If We Were Birds (Tarragon Theatre and Groundwater Theatre), Ten Green Bottles (Te-Amim Theatre), Offensive Foul (Theatre Direct, Dora nomination for outstanding TYA production) She received an honourable mention for a new young designer in 2006 Siminovitch Prize.

Sound Designer:
Verne Good
Verne does sound and lighting design and some poetry stuff. She has designed sound for Praxis, Tarragon, Seventh Stage, Groundwater, Theaturtle, and Theatre Awakening and lighting for Buddies in Bad Times, Crow’s, Necessary Angel, and The Piggery. She is the assistant sound designer at Stratford Festival again this year, and very excited to be working on Tyumen, Then