Fort Isabel – Toronto Fringe 2013 Press Release

fort isabel

“[F]or whom and where does it get better?”

From press release:

A dark and dramatic exploration of growing up queer in rural Ontario, Fort Isabel combines childhood imagination with critical issues and forces us to re-examine how our memories shape who we are.

Two children find a dead body in rural Ontario. Their town flies into a queer panic, but the children stay silent. Eight years later, one of the friends disappears without warning. Fort Isabel is a play that explores the childhood experiences that shape us as adults, and how sometimes the deepest secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves.

While more gay-straight alliances are popping up in our (city) schools, homophobic hate crimes are on the rise. We are told it gets better. But for whom and where does it get better? Even now, here in Canada, we have our own dark corners of intolerance, hate, violence and death. Fort Isabel is a new Canadian play that takes place in one of these dark corners. A place where keeping a secret can be the difference between life and death.

The creative team for Fort Isabel includes: playwright Sarah Miller-Garvin, director/dramaturg Evan Vipond, production designer Anna Standish, stage manager Lucie Ryan Donnelly, assistant director and sound designer Rebecca Daunt, and lighting designer Shawn Henry. Featuring Jennifer Krukowski as Jen and Victor Pokinko as Clinton.

Fort Isabel, presented by Blood Orange Theatre and Deviant Productions (in association with the Toronto Fringe Festival) plays the following dates at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (16 Ryerson Ave):

  • Wednesday, July 3 – 10pm
  • Friday, July 5 – 4:45pm
  • Saturday, July 6 – 5pm
  • Monday, July 8 – 11pm
  • Tuesday, July 9 – 8:30pm
  • Wednesday, July 10 – 3pm
  • Friday, July 12 – 7pm
  • Saturday, July 13 – 4:30pm

Tickets cost $10 and can be bought at the door, or purchased in advance at fringetix.ca or by phone at 416-966-1062, extension 1. Additional fees apply to advance purchases.

Please note that latecomers are never seated at Fringe performances.