Theatre Asylum
172a Baldwin St.Toronto Ontario M5T lL8
Canada
office 416 979 3942
Artistic Director Jennifer Herszman Capraru
jencap@interlog.com
Mission Statement
Theatre Asylum is an award winning company which produces thoughtprovoking theatre by and about women, and Jewish identity, from the inter/national repertoire. Past productions include Canadian premieres of My Mother's Courage by George Tabori, The Gut Girls by Sarah Daniels, Blood and Ice by Liz Lochead, and Dear Elena by Ludmilla Razumovskaya. Of late the company has been involved in new play develpment.
Our approach includes longer rehearsal periods, a focus on research and dramaturgy, and an imagedriven, physical staging style.
No unsolicited or not professionally produced scripts please and the focus is on Canadian writers.
2004-2005 Season
BéBé
Collective exploring the women in the life & work of Brecht. Lehrstück, we use Brecht's own Epic theatre techniques to unmask his feminine side in life, work, and love. Through Cabaret, Song and Drag, the brilliant women behind some of the greatest hits of 20th century drama leap out of the shadows and into the spotlight. A raucous, irreverent and heart breaking romp through the outrageous lives of Ruth Berlau, Margarete Steffin, Helene Weigel, Elizabeth Hauptmann, and the man himself. Developed at Rhubarb! at Buddies in Bad Times and Nightwood Theatre.
World Premiere November 2004, Theatre Centre
Available for touring
The Trials of John D
by Jonathan Garfinkel, Music by Brubaker and Cole
A smash hit in three cities. In 1987 Demjanjuk was accused of being Ivan the Terrible of Treblinka and brought to trial in Jerusalem for crimes during the Holocaust. In 1988 he was sentenced to hang, but in 1991, acquitted. ...THE TRIALS probes the nature of guilt, and our need for retribution. The style is cabaret and the place is on the cutting edge as the next generation steps into the ring. Toured to Chutzpah, Vancouver, Intrepid Theatre, Victoria, and Harbourfront, Toronto, developed at Banff, National Arts Centre and Ashkenaz Festival.
Warning: Live accordion!
World Premiere February 2004
Available for touring
Past Press:
2 Dora Nominations
"**** There's nothing finer than cabaret that's the real thing... furiously beautiful and cruelly funny...an acidic script...a powerful cast."
Globe
"Like all good cabaret, the fun is on the surface but the undercurrents are deep, dark and disturbing." Vancouver Courier
"THE TRIALS QUITE POSSIBLY THE SHOW OF THE YEAR. Gripping, thought provoking and highly entertaining"
Monday Magazine, Victoria BC
"A blistering production proves so true to the spirit of classic cabaret....clever and caustic, a beautifully bitter stew of ideas...every moment is made memorable."
Vancouver Sun
BéBé
"Inspired, a good show, in fact, a thrilling one...The stunning new play,Bébéuses Brecht's own alienation technique, and Kurt Weilllike songs, to portray four fascinating muses/lovers caught in the Brecht machine....rundon'twalk"
CLASSICAL 96 FM
"*** Lively and poignant....edgy and has a bite of anger....the acting is strong."
Toronto Star
"*** An admirable profusion of female talent on and off stage...As the oncecarefully controlled material from the BrechtArchiv becomes available to scholars
and to directors with the brains and curiosity of Capraru, our understanding not just of Brecht, but of the women whose ideas he has accredited to himself is changing..."
Globe
My Mother's Courage
by George Tabori
3 Dora Nominations
"****The direction is spare and superb, both visually and emotionally...possibly the finest piece of acting I have seen in Canada"
Globe
"...deeply moving and illuminating art" Montreal Gazette
"****A remarkable, off balancing piece of work...riveting."
Toronto Star
The Gut Girls
by Sarah Daniels
2 Dora Nominations
"****Admirably surefooted direction...good theatre for anyone, striking..."
Globe
"****...production serves the play well...a solid, engaging piece of work all around."
Toronto Star
Ruth MadocJones as "Masha" in Walking to Russia a world premiere by Jonathan Garfinkel, January 2002
Directed by Jennifer Herszman Capraru
Set Design by Troy Hourie