From Press Release
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE presents
HYSTERIA – A FESTIVAL OF WOMEN
Festival Director Moynan King
Festival Sponsor TD FINANCIAL GROUP
Festival Media Sponsor Now Magazine
Oct 22 – 31, 2009 | Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
12 Alexander Street, Toronto | 416-975-8555 | artsexy.ca
“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman” – Virginia Woolf
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE PROUDLY ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FOR
HYSTERIA, ITS 5TH BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF WORK BY WOMEN.
Now in its fifth incarnation, HYSTERIA has become one of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s most eagerly anticipated events. Over a ten-day period Buddies plays host to rapid-fire succession of events ranging from a visual art display and performance installations to eclectic lineups featuring dance, film, music,spoken word and theatre performances.
“In 2003 this unique showcase was but a glimmer in our feminist eyes, and now, six
years later it is a notable festival of international renown that has played host to
established and emerging artists from across Canada, the United States and Europe –
broadening our vision of not only women artists but of the very potential of art itself.
Hysteria is a celebration of the indomitable spirit of the artist where passion and
creativity fly in the face of economic uncertainty and diminished opportunity.
This year’s festival promises to live up to your expectations of artistic excellence and
diversity with performances by TBL [TallBlondLadies] from Sweden and Germany,
Canadian performance art and video icon, Shawna Dempsey from Winnipeg, American
spoken word superstar Staceyann Chin and Drag legend milDRED just to name a few.
Local legends share the stage with artists from across the continent as we offer up two
riotous cabaret evenings Mass Hysteria and The Invert Parade. Never a dull moment
and a new program everyday, Hysteria has something (actually a whole lot!) for
everyone.” – Moynan King, Festival Director
Ticket prices are accessible, ranging from PWYC events to $15 evening passes and an all
inclusive $50 Festival pass. Tickets are available in advance by calling our box office at
416.975.8555. A full schedule of Hysteria is available on line at www.artsexy.ca
HYSTERIA FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
THURSDAY OCTOBER 22
Festival Kick-Off Bash
and Opening Performances
8pm, full-facility, FREE
An evening of performance throughout the theatre featuring work by Andreane Leclerc and Willow Rutherford, Raging Asian Women, Yvonne Ng, Risa Kusumoto, Diann Chea, Gail Allen and Rebecca Singh. Come and enjoy a free sampling of multidisciplinary performance. Plus: Visual art by Karina Bergmans, Saba Giana and a new installation by Moynan King and Trixie and Beever.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 23
Evening Pass $15
Staceyann Chin (NYC)
8pm, Cabaret
An evening with the iconic spoken word superstar, performer and novelist. An award winning writer and activist her work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily, and has being featured on 60 Minutes and Oprah. Come and experience an intimate performance, reading and talk by this amazing and inspiring artist.
Gaggle
9pm, The Chamber
Gaggle. A flock of women gather. Gather and gossip. Gaggle explores the dynamics of women, competition and how and why they talk about each other and our world. Directed by Karin Randoja (Independent Aunties), choreographed by Alisha Stranges, and created by the gaggle group, which features 15 amazing women, all alumni of the Humber Theatre Training Program.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 24
Evening Pass $15
Shawna Dempsey (Winnipeg)
8pm, The Cabaret
Shawna Dempsey discusses lezzie, feminist performance and video art, drawing upon examples from her 20-year collaboration with Lorri Millan. This Winnipeg-based duo has created uppity artworks such as“We’re Talking Vulva”, “A Day in The Life of A Bull-Dyke”, “Lesbian National Parks and Services” and “Consideration Liberation Army”. Shawna will be interspersing her talk and screening with live performance, reflecting Dempsey and Millan’s own particular flavour of queer fun and funny Canadiana.
TBL [TallBlondeLadies] (Sweden & Germany)
9pm, The Chamber (Presented in association with FADO Performance Art Centre)
A collaborative performance project between Anna Berndtson and Irina Runge. TBL inverts female stereotypes through the composition of absurd and unexpected performative gestures, incorporating a range of accoutrement from high-end fashion to sports gear. Their works present diametrically opposed concepts; beauty and grace are juxtaposed and diminished through brute action and athleticism, tacitly disrupting and challenging gender-based categorizations.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 25
Spin – A Workshop Presentation
8pm, The Chamber, PWYC
Written and Performed by Evalyn Parry, with Anna Friz and Brad Hart
A musical, poetic and theatrical investigation of the Bicycle as muse, musical instrument, and instrument of social change. Taking inspiration from a series of amazing-but-little-known cycling ladies from history (Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride around the world in 1895! Amelia Bloomer, 19th century sufferagette, advocate of “dress reform”, and name sake of “bloomers”!), Parry spins a story that encompasses proto-feminism, the invention, evolution and marketing of the bicycle, Toronto’s most notorious bike thief, and a life-changing accident.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26
OFF-SITE EVENT
FADO Performance Art Centre presents
Potential Fertility Rite by TBL [TallBlondeLadies]
Irina Runge and Anna Berndtson
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm, FREE
YYZ Artists Outlet – 140-401 Richmond Street West
For more information visit the FADO website at www.performanceart.ca
TUESDAY OCTOBER 27
Blue Box by Carmen Aguirre (Vancouver)
8pm, The Cabaret, PWYC
In association with Nightswimming Theatre
Drawing from her unbelievable (but totally true) life story, Carmen weaves a sensual tale of danger, lust and revolution from her experiences as a passionate young woman in the Chilean resistance to her misadventures with an illusive vision of a man who drifts in and out of her life. This one woman show is a sexy and surprising storytelling experience performed by one of the fiercest and funniest performers in Canada.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28
Evening Pass: $15
MASS HYSTERIA
Pre-Show Performance: Sharron Matthews
7:30 pm, The Cabaret
Vocal powerhouse and camp queen Sharron Matthews kicks off this raucous evening of cabaret performances with a short set of barn-burning tributes.
Mass Hysteria Mainstage
8pm, The Chamber
An evening of fast and furious 5-minute performances hosted by the hilarious Lex Vaughan and featuring Femme du Feu, Verne Good, Oni The Haitian Sensation (Ottawa), The Dirty Dishes, Mia Sheard, Katie Crown, Kathleen Phillips, Robin Akimbo, Rhoma Spencer, Erin Fleck and The Fellatio Club and Gadfly.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 29
Evening Pass: $15
When She Was King
milDRED (NYC)
8pm, The Cabaret
In this one woMan show milDRED takes us on a gender-bending, theatrical ride through her many ‘selves’, which include impersonations of Shaft and P.Diddy. milDRED is world-renowned for her character appearances. A queen of disguise, she mimes men’s roles, looking for masculinity in women.
Using theatre, dance, poetry and cultural history, milD
RED breaks down racial and gender stereotypes using humour and beauty to express one’s individual truth. www.dredlove.com
Mixed Programme
9pm, The Chamber
A multi-disciplinary evening of short works featuring short films by Lesley Farley (Regina) and Anita Ponton (London), dance by Nova Bhattacharya and Tanja Woloshen (Winnipeg), performance by Sarah Friend and an interactive lobby performance by Shara Mohamed.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 30
Evening Pass: $15
THE INVERT PARADE
An evening of queer brilliance featuring a sexy pre-show performance by Coral Short followed by outrageous performances by A-list Canadian lezzies and fabulous allies, hosted by Quebecois celeb Nathalie Claude.
Pre-Show Performance: Guardian by Coral Short
8pm, The Cabaret
The Invert Parade Mainstage
9pm, The Chamber
Hosted by Nathalie Claude
With Susana Cook (NYC), Coral Short and Alexis O’Hara, Dayna McLeod, Diane Flacks, Trixie and Beever, Clara Fury, Lucas Silveira (of The Cliks), Shannon Cochrane and special Anonymous guests followed by dancing and revelry. Music by DJ LadyBear.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 31
Madame Pierre’s Other Tongue
8pm, The Cabaret, Tickets $10
Lazlo Pearlman (London UK)
Why is the French cock feminine? The German moon masculine? Do you know what shame hair is?
Would you like someone French to graze your watercress? “Madame Pierre’s Other Tongue” is a subversive, surreal and silly look at language and the trouble it gets us into, with song, dance and genderfuck from a queer variety artist, cabaret and burlesque transman’s point of view.
HYSTERIA VISUAL ART GALLERY
Open throughout the festival
Organisms and Orifices
a mingling of sculptural creatures suspended in air by Karina Bergmans
Nude Series #1 & #2
2 original works by 18 year old, Toronto based artist, Saba Giani
Room for Virginia Woolf
Ante-Chamber Installation by Moynan King and Trixie and Beever
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents
HYSTERIA: A FESTIVAL OF WOMEN
Festival Director Moynan King
Oct 22 – 31, 2009, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
12 Alexander Street, Toronto. Box Office 416-975-8555
Day Passes $15 Festival Passes $50
www.artsexy.ca
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