From Press Release
“You can’t hoover a 757 from your living room carpet”
-Crashland
Crashland is a show about four people and a plane. The plane crashed – they died. The end … or so they thought.
Upon asking for forgiveness, Albert, Lil, Eli, and Marie quickly realize there is more to moving on than what they had imagined. Fueled by their desire to find peace, they must explore their memories to move forward and discover the “what’s left” after death – while navigating the irony of being flattened and flambéed by a 126 tonne airplane.
While the engines settle in Lil’s living room, the characters face what they have done to themselves and others. From Eli recognizing his grey matter next to Lil’s Japanese fern to Marie’s blunt reminder that the crash has left a stain that can’t be hoovered out, the reality is that there is no turning back.
Crashland began as a staging of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land as a play for four voices. However, upon strong recommendation by Eliot’s publisher the project was abandoned. In the aftermath of this exchange, there were four characters – four unique stories remaining.
Crashland developed out of this rubble, in a way that encapsulates the still relevant modernist ideals for which Eliot’s text was known. As Crashland’s characters piece together “what’s left” after the accident, the actors are obliged to undergo a similar experience – embracing a text comprised of the left-overs from the original piece.
By retelling the strange and familiar stories in poetic, yet fragmented language, the actors commit to the challenge of speaking back to a canonized text.
Hangman Theatre is an emerging company from St. Catharines, Ontario – the newly appointed Cultural Capital of Canada. Members include: Gillian Fournier (Toronto Fringe 2011); Geoffrey Heaney (Toronto Fringe 2011, London Fringe 2010); Nathan Tanner Mac Donald (Toronto Fringe 2011, 2010); Michael Pearson (In the Soil 2011); Caitlin Popek (Solar Stage 2011). Crashland was written by Fournier and directed by Mac Donald.
In a culture where people are plugged in and tuned out, this play explores the challenges of reconnecting and recovering humanity. Moreover, come and check out what emerging Niagara artists have to offer and join our surrealist romp through the rubble of the afterlife.
Hangman Theatre Company
in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents
Crashland
Written by Gillian Fournier
Directed by Nathan Tanner Mac Donald
Featuring: Caitlin Popek, Geoffrey Heaney, Gillian Fournier, and Michael Pearson
Lighting Design by Finn Archinuk
Costume Design by Sadie Isaak
Opens Thursday, July 5 and runs to Saturday, July 14, 2012
Factory Theatre Main Space, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5V 2R2
Performances:
Thursday, July 5, 2012 – 10:30 – 11:30pm
Saturday, July 7, 2012 – 1:45 – 2:45pm
Sunday, July 8, 2012 – 7:00 – 8:00pm
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 – 8:45 – 9:45pm
Thursday, July 12, 2012 – 9:15 – 10:15pm
Friday, July 13, 2012 – 2:15 – 3:15pm
Saturday, July 14, 2012 – 9:45 – 10:45pm
Media members please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.
Ticket Prices:
Advance tickets (online or over the phone) $11
At the door $10
Tickets:
Purchase online at: www.fringetoronto.com
Over the phone, call: 416-966-1062 x1
In person at Factory Theatre or at the Festival Box Office (behind Honest Ed’s)