...telling the stories of women and youth
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Burning Passions Theatre, click:
Past Productions:
(click on title for more
information)
the crush of beauty (2009)
Candida (2009)
Bella Donna (2008)
Mrs.
Warren's Profession
(2007)
Living
Rivers Don Festival
(2002)
Ontario,
Yours Too...
(2002)
No
City Limits (2001,
2002)
The
Game (2001)
December
6 Memorial
(2000/01)
Fireweeds:
Women of the Yukon
(2000)
What's
a Girl to Do?
(1997)
Production History:
The company was launched with an original work by Laurel Smith and Matthew Behrens on male violence, entitled What's a Girl to Do? This one-woman show, preformed by Laurel Smith with musical director Michael Barber, explored the myth of "happy ever after" endings as told through musical theatre. The work appeared at the International Theatre of the Oppressed sponsored by Mixed Company, appearing at the Bathurst Annex Theatre, followed by a run at the Manotick Fringe Festival, and culminating in a performance at the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson's Point as a benefit in celebration of the 5th anniversary of the Sandhurst Women's Shelter.
The company's first major Toronto production took place in September 2000. Fireweeds: Women of the Yukon by playwright/composer Cathy Elliott. This world premiere was presented at Canadian Stage Theatre at 26 Berkeley Street, Upstairs, in Toronto. For more information, click here.
In 2000, the company was invited by the Toronto District School Board to create a new work that dealt with the issue of male violence and the December 6 Memorial, to commemorate the murder of 14 female students of the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989 by an anti-feminist gunman. Written and performed by Laurel Smith and Matthew Behrens, long-time social activist, the piece was presented at both Lord Dufferin Public School and Winona Public School during the 2000/01 school year.
The company was commisioned by the Equity Department of the Toronto District School Board to create a theatre project around the issues of class and the labour movement. Laurel Smith, coordinator of the project, was invited into Lord Dufferin and Smithfield Public Schools to work with the students, sharing information regarding the history of the class struggle and the labour movement in Canada and around the world. The project culminated in a presentation of a new work, written by Smith, entitled The Game, performed by a Grade 7 class of Lord Dufferin students in May of 2001.
During the summers of 2001 and 2002, Burning Passions Theatre, in partnership with Arts York, a community arts council, conducted a summer youth theatre project. The No City Limits project, begun in the summer of 2001, was performed by a troupe of youth and toured throughout the City of Toronto to youth centres, community centers and other public venues. A facilitated discussion followed each performance on the youth issues presented in the play. For more information, click here.
During the spring of 2002, the company toured throughout Ontario a new work, ONTARIO, Yours Too... Written and performed by a troupe of professional and community theatre artists, this project was presented in collaboration with the Ontario Coalition for Social Justice and their Fit to Govern Campaign. Performances were given at venues througout Ontario sponsored by the local Social Justice Coalition in each community. The play was also presented as part of the Mayworks 2002 Festival. For more information, click here.
Burning Passions Theatre was commissioned to coordinate the artistic programming for the May 2002 Living Rivers Don Festival produced by Festive Earth. This eco-festival took place at The Brick Works, Bayview Avenue in Toronto.
In July of 2007, the company produced Mrs. Warren's Profession, the timeless George Bernard Shaw play about "the woman question." The acclaimed production played to sold-out audiences at the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival. For more information, click here.
In the spring of 2008, the company produced David Copelin's award-winning play, Bella Donna, a tale of sex and intrigue on the legend of Lucrezia Borgia, the most reviled and desired woman of Renaissance Italy, presented at the Berkeley Street Theatre. For more information, click here.
At the 2009 Fringe Festival, Burning Passions Theatre presented a 5-star reviewed production of the Bernard Shaw classic romantic comedy, Candida. For more information, click here.
Burning Passions Theatre presented the premiere of the crush of beauty at the 2009 Summerworks Theatre Festival An unlikely friendship occurs between an old woman and a teenage girl who meet on a park bench . For more information, click here.
Burning Passions Theatre is a registered charity:
#89076 7924 RR0001.