From press release
Vanessa Smythe’s BEAST Premieres at Fringe
Their friend’s last wish, was for them to share his goldfish…
Toronto, Ontario…Fresh from working with two-time Academy Award® Nominee Woody Harrelson in the hit comedy Bullet for Adolf at Hart House Theatre, Vanessa Smytheis thrilled to premiere her second original play BEAST at the Toronto Fringe Festival opening on Friday, July 8 at 5:30 pmat the Factory Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto (full show schedule below). The Fringe runs July 6 -17, 2011.
When a best friend dies, two ex-lovers discover that they have been left with more than just his memories – they also get his goldfish. What starts as an effort to honour their late friend, and follow his unique care-giving instructions for the goldfish, turns into a strange yet enchanting weekend of the unexpected for this ex-couple. BEAST is a touching, off-kilter comedy about what it means to love, lose, and re-discover ourselves.
Presented by Hopscotch on the Rocks, BEAST follows on the success of Smythe’s first play Luster was here which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Fringe Festival to critical acclaim.
BEAST is being developed by Smythe with Will O’Hare, assistant director to Woody Harrelson for Bullet for Adolf, and a Dora-nominated director who is also a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and has worked for the Globe Theatre in London, UK as well as the Broadway productions of The History Boys and Mary Poppins. Carson Pinch, trained under George Wood Jr. and Megan Hadley directs. Curious skeletons in Smythe’s closet include her work as Miss Teen Canada in 2003 and a two-and-a-half-year-patience at a desk job — where she first started imagining plays.
As was the case for last year’s production of Luster was here, Hopscotch on the Rocks will be donating a portion of all profits from the Fringe production of BEAST to the Horizons for Youth Shelter in Toronto. Connecting with youth and our young storytellers is among the highest priorities for Hopscotch on the Rocks.
Hopscotch on the Rocks in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents
Factory Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Directed by Carson Pinch, Featuring Matthew Gouveia, Vanessa Smythe, and “Beast” as the Goldfish
Friday July 8 at 5:30 pm; Saturday July 9 at 12:15 pm; Sunday July 10 at 9:15 pm; Tuesday July 12
at 6:45 pm; Wednesday July 13 at 8:00 pm; Friday July 15 at 11:15 pm; Saturday July 16 at 1:45 pm
Tickets: $10.00, call the Fringe Box Office at 416.966.1062 for more info or www.fringetoronto.com
Company Website: BeastThePlay.com
The forced cohabitation to care for a mutual friend’s fish gives A/C (Alex and Cass) a chance to examine what went wrong, what had gone right and unburden themselves to the goldfish, Beast. Great songs, corny jokes and two people finding their way through loss.