Entertaining: Theatre Kingston's season-opener a 'cautionary tale for the world today'
Kingston playwright Chloe Whitehorn's "Blood River" will premiere Wednesday inside the Baby Grand Theatre. Theatre Kingston's season-opener, Theatre Kingston's first production of Theatre Kingston’s 2023-24 season, is directed by Doyle, who also directs “Blood River,’titled ‘Blood River’ and is about human intimacy and interaction. Doyle, herself a playwright, said the play is particularly adept at portraying human intimacy, power dynamics, and a cautionary tale about misuse of power. The play's three actors, Kay Vukelic, Brayah Prickard and Shannon Donnelly, all studied theatre in Kingston and Doyle has been focusing on drawing out truthful performances from the cast. Doyle hopes the play will have its world premiere with Theatre Kingston, but she believes it won't be the play's only run. The first performance of the play, "Blood River," debuts at the Baby Grand Theatre, 218 Princess St. and runs Tuesdays to Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the show are available for purchase at theatrekingston.com for $20, $30 and $45, plus HST and handling fee. Other notable performances include "Casting Off", "Castasting Off," by A Good Catch Circus", and "Homecoming," by former Great Big Sea", by Sean McCann by the Paper Kites & Flower.com.
Published : 2 years ago by Peter Hendra in Entertainment
Doyle, who’s also directing “Blood River,” the first production of Theatre Kingston’s 2023-24 season, said Whitehorn is particularly adept at portraying human intimacy and interaction. “She’s really good at writing deep friendship, and this play has a lot of those heartwarming, deep friendships,” Doyle said. The groundbreaking court ruling, which made abortions a constitutional right, was just a starting idea from which Whitehorn built the play Doyle noted.
“I’m a real believer in letting artists do their thing,” explained Doyle, herself a playwright, too. The finished script, she said, is instead centred around the ability of authorities to strip away one’s seemingly untouchable rights. “It’s about human dynamics and power dynamics. And it’s about the misuse of power,” Doyle said. “And that’s a very important cautionary tale for the world right now.” While it’s definitely a drama, “Blood River” also folds in elements of a mystery and even a dash of humour to make a play that’s more of a “what happened” than a whodunit, Doyle said. While Whitehorn had been living in the southern U.S. when she was hired a year and a half ago to write “Blood River,” she has since moved back to Kingston, another reason Doyle wanted to work with her.
“I want to be promoting actual Kingston artists as opposed to just importing people all the time,” she said. “We have a lot of people here with a lot of talent and we need to get them working.” Like Whitehorn, the play’s three actors — Kay Vukelic, Brayah Prickard and Shannon Donnelly — all studied theatre in Kingston. From the director’s chair, Doyle has been focusing on drawing out truthful performances from the cast. “This is a play that will make you feel all of the feels,” Doyle suggested. While the play will have its world premiere with Theatre Kingston, Doyle feels it won’t be the play’s only run. “It’s a full-on Kingston production,” she said, “but I think this play has legs and will be a play that other people will be doing.”
Her only quibble about “Blood River?” “I told her to give me a simple set and then she gave me a river. That’s not simple — that’s a different element,” Doyle laughed. “Blood River” debuts Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. and runs Tuesdays to Sundays at the Baby Grand Theatre, 218 Princess St. Go the theatrekingston.com for a list of showtimes and to purchase tickets, which are $20, $30 and $45, plus HST and handling fee. While the Baby Grand will be occupied this week, so, too, will the Regina Rosen Auditorium downstairs. Friday evening, former Great Big Sea member Sean McCann will be singing — along with, he hopes, the audience — the best-loved songs of the East Coast Canadian band of which he was a founding member. It starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $34.50 and $39.50 plus HST and handling fee.
Wednesday sees A Good Catch Circus bring its show “Casting Off” to the stage. “Monologues, melodies, arguments and chit-chat infiltrate acrobatics with philosophical charm,” reads the description on kingstongrand.ca. It also starts at 7:30 and tickets are $19.50, $34.50 and $39.50 plus. The next night, on Thursday, indie folk outfit the Paper Kites & the Roadhouse Band, along with openers Cactus Flower, will land at the Princess Street venue. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $33.34 to $38.99 plus handling fee. While the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts will be hosting Homecoming performances Friday evening, on Sunday the Kingston Symphony will feature cellist Ian Whitman as it performs pieces by Vaughan Williams, Dvorak and Mazzoli. The concert begins at 2:30 p.m. and tickets range from $10 to $50.
The symphony’s annual vinyl records sale, meanwhile, begins Thursday at the symphony’s warehouse (Unit 7A, 785 Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd.) and runs until Sunday. The busiest venue of all this week is the Broom Factory at the corner of Rideau and Cataraqui streets. On Friday, it’ll be the Arrogant Worms (7:30 p.m., $35). Sunday afternoon sees the return of the Carole King/James Taylor tribute show “You’ve Got a Friend” (2 p.m., $27.50) Elijah Woods headlines a sold-out show on Wednesday (7:30) and then Kingston favourites the Wilderness will be there on Thursday (8 p.m., $20). And it’s just music this week. The Kingston Canadian Film Festival presents a free screening of the coming-of-age tale “Coeurs de Slush.” It starts at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7) at 305 Rideau St.
KCAD is a not-for-profit, which means that money needs to be raised, and that happens Saturday night with a lineup of local bands at BluMartini. Performing will be Stun Seed, Echoes, Freaks N’Geeks and Six Deep. There will also be door prizes, a silent auction and, of course, art. Cover is $10 and the doors open at 8 p.m. There’s another fundraiser Wednesday evening for the Reelout Arts Project. In addition to being treated to a performance of Domino Theatre’s current production of “Dial M for Murder,” ticket-holders can also watch a live drag performance by Sherry Anne Hex. Tickets for “Dial F for Fundraiser,” which starts at 7:30 p.m., are $20 and can purchased at the Domino’s box office at 52 Church St. or through dialf.eventive.org.
Topics: Theater