From press release
Audiences looking for a brutal, intimate, comeback comedy can look no further than Rowing at the Toronto Fringe. Set in an intimate basement in Kensington Market, audiences will join the Westdale Community Rowing team’s failed victory celebration as they attempt to figure out what went wrong during the race, play numerous party games and discover how to raise $50 000 for the Heart and Stroke.
After losing their first race in 51 years, it’s a long night for Westdale’s community rowing team. Team captain Mark is missing, first seat Howie is going through a quiet mental breakdown and no one is coming to their charity fundraiser. Filled with party games, pyromania and encounters with emerging psychopaths, Rowing is a fast paced, brutal coming of age story about what it means to be a winner in Hamilton, Ontario and the monsters we become when we fail.
Rowing features an equally emerging team of young artists from across Toronto, Francois Macdonald (Dora Nominee -Zinspires Puissance Quatre, Theatre Francais, Our Town, Theatre Rusticle), Andrew Markowiak (Man Seeking Woman, FX), and current second city Conservatory Member, Lauren Griffiths, out of school, hungry and ready to prove themselves.
Rowing is directed and written by Aaron Jan (Age of Arousal, Factory Theatre, The 10/10/10 Project, Then They Fight/Bismuth Theatre), an award winning alumnus of Fu-GEN’s playwriting Kitchen program and Factory Theatre’s Foremen program, a new training program for directors of colour to direct new work. Jan’s plays have received funding by the Ontario and Toronto Arts Councils and have been produced professionally at Theatre Aquarius. In 2012 he was youngest playwright to win the Best of Hamilton Fringe award. Rowing is dramaturged by Tom McGee, dramaturg for Theatre Brouhaha’s Best of Toronto Fringe winners, Punch Up and Help Yourself.
“A must see!” – The Theatre Reader
“A Trip Worth Taking!” – My Entertainment World
Rowing
Presented by Chrysalis Workshop in association with Filament Incubator
Featuring: Madeleine Brown, Lauren Griffiths, Francois Macdonald, Andrew Markowiak, Anthony Perpuse and Isaac Powrie
Written and Directed by Aaron Jan
Dramaturgy by Tom Mcgee and Lucy Powis
Set and Costume Designer: Aram Heydarian
Lighting Designer: Logan Cracknell
Sound Designer: Jason Thomson
Fight Choreographer: Neil Silcox
Graphic Design: Jordan Laffrenier
Performance Dates
June 30th at 8:00 PM
July 1st at 8:00 PM
July 2nd at 8:00 PM
July 3rd at 8:00 PM
July 4th at 8:00 PM
July 5th at 8:00 PM
July 6th at 8:00 PM
July 7th at 8:00 PM
July 8th at 8:00 PM
July 9th at 8:00 PM
July 10th at 8:00 PM
Details
- Rowing plays at the Kensington Conference Centre. (56C Kensington Ave)
- Tickets are $10 at the door, $12 in advance. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes for serious Fringers.
- Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Fringe Club at Honest Ed’s Alley, and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
- Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
- This venue is wheelchair-accessible provided you arrive early (at least ~20 minutes) and notify the House Manager you require an accessible route.
Photo provided by the company