From press release:

A play created by & starring Joanna Caplan

Developed in association with Double Edge Theatre Residency Program

Premiering at the Toronto Fringe Festival at The Annex Theatre

July 8 to 17, 2011

— Let’s sing and dance to prove that we exist. —

 

Have you heard the old story about the German actress? The one where she wanders around the camp singing her arias in order to try to escape the gas chamber? Total Verrückt! tells her story with inspiration from the work of the Jewish Dutch poet Etty Hillesum, Jewish German cabaret stars Max Erlich, Willy Rosen and Dora Gerson. Taking its name from the 1944 production performed by inmates from Westerbork transit camp, Total Verrückt! translates as “completely crazy”. In this ghostly cabaret, watch this imprisoned actress sing and dance to prove that she exists.

Joanna Caplan has been developing Total Verrückt! over the past seven months whilst based at Double Edge Theatre’s Farm Center, in Ashfield Massachusetts. Her process combines an exploration of Double Edge’s movement-based improvisation methodology as well as a journey into the ancestral memory of her cultural heritage and rich legacy of Jewish artists. Total Verrückt! weaves together Jewish myth and memory, asking questions about the necessity of art as a means of survival and an act of resistance.

Caplan is an actress, theatre artist and arts educator based in Toronto. She studied theatre in Montreal at the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program (The Dome) and holds a degree in Contemporary Philosophy and International Development Studies from the University of King’s College in Halifax.

 

Performances:

The Annex Theatre – 730 Bathurst Street

Fri., July 8 – 8:45pm – 9:45pm Wed., July 13, 2011 – 1:45pm – 2:45pm

Sat., July 9 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm Thurs., July 14, 2011 – 7:30pm – 8:30pm

Sun., July 10 – 10:30pm – 11:30pm Sat., July 16, 2011 – 9:45pm – 10:45pm

Tues., July 12 – 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Advance tickets are $10, available online: www.fringetoronto.com , by phone 416.966.1062 or in person at the Box Office Tent located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (34 Lennox Ave.)