Trent Students and Alumni Perform Radical Theatre Production
Martin Crimp’s “Attempts on Her Life” - Final Show February 11
Under the direction of Diana Manole, a professional theatre director with Canadian and international experience and a professor in Trent’s Cultural Studies Department, Trent University students and alumnae performed shows of Martin Crimp’s well-known play, “Attempts on Her Life”. Performances ran February 4 through to February 7 at Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space in Peter Gzowski College at Trent University.
A final show will be held on Thursday, February 11 at 8 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (336 George Street North). Admission is by donation at the door. Limited seating is available. Tickets can be reserved by sending a name, number of tickets requested and date of attendance to attemptsonherlife@live.com
"Attempts on Her Life", written by the British playwright Martin Crimp, is described as one of the most radical works of 1990s theatre. The play consists of 17 scenarios where lines are not assigned to any characters or given any stage directions of time and space. All scenes talk about Annie, or Anya, Anoushka, a character who is never present on stage and whose identity continuously changes, from a terrorist to a victim of a civil war, a teenage porn star, a suicidal performance artist, and even a new brand of car.
Under the direction of Professor Diana Manole, seven Trent University students and alumnae struggle to find out who Annie is and in what kind of world we are living in today. Working on what seems a school project, they switch from one character to another and use different styles of performance, from classical tragedy and puppet theatre to rap songs, striptease routines, and film. The result stirs laughter and tears, enthusiasm and outrage, melancholy and ironic dismissal, leaving the audience to choose which of the Annies presented on stage might be your Annie.
Martin Crimp is regarded as one of the most innovative contemporary British playwrights alive today. “Attempts on Her Life” is his best-known play and it has been translated into and performed in over twenty languages.
The performances are sponsored by the Cultural Studies Department, Catharine Parr Traill College, Peter Gzowski College, Champlain College, Otonabee College, Julian Blackburn College, the Sociology Department, and Theatre Trent.
A final show will be held on Thursday, February 11 at 8 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (336 George Street North). Admission is by donation at the door. Limited seating is available. Tickets can be reserved by sending a name, number of tickets requested and date of attendance to attemptsonherlife@live.com
"Attempts on Her Life", written by the British playwright Martin Crimp, is described as one of the most radical works of 1990s theatre. The play consists of 17 scenarios where lines are not assigned to any characters or given any stage directions of time and space. All scenes talk about Annie, or Anya, Anoushka, a character who is never present on stage and whose identity continuously changes, from a terrorist to a victim of a civil war, a teenage porn star, a suicidal performance artist, and even a new brand of car.
Under the direction of Professor Diana Manole, seven Trent University students and alumnae struggle to find out who Annie is and in what kind of world we are living in today. Working on what seems a school project, they switch from one character to another and use different styles of performance, from classical tragedy and puppet theatre to rap songs, striptease routines, and film. The result stirs laughter and tears, enthusiasm and outrage, melancholy and ironic dismissal, leaving the audience to choose which of the Annies presented on stage might be your Annie.
Martin Crimp is regarded as one of the most innovative contemporary British playwrights alive today. “Attempts on Her Life” is his best-known play and it has been translated into and performed in over twenty languages.
The performances are sponsored by the Cultural Studies Department, Catharine Parr Traill College, Peter Gzowski College, Champlain College, Otonabee College, Julian Blackburn College, the Sociology Department, and Theatre Trent.