UW Drama presents "Scenes from an Execution"

[Janelle]

The UW Drama department presents their final show of the season in the
Theatre of the Arts starting this Thursday.  Entitled Scenes from an
Execution, the production features a cast of 16 students and one
professional actor (Heather Hill, actress and voice teacher). Rich in
language and ideas, the production also features sophisticated performance
and design elements including an original sound score performed live, a
major video component, and a 13' x 8' pool of water in which the actors
perform.

Scenes from an Execution poster.Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution
takes us to 16th century Venice, shortly after the Battle of Lepanto: an
event that changed the course of history by preventing the Ottoman Empire
from advancing further into Europe. In the play, the head of state has
commissioned the most talented and extraordinary artist of the time to paint
this pivotal victory on a canvas measuring 1,000 square feet. The size of
the project alone suggests the outcome will be a major public event, but, as
we discover in the play, the painting of the Battle of Lepanto proves also a
contested encounter. Galactia, the artist, possesses a vision and approach
to her art that turns the painting into a traumatic experience, mirroring
the slaughter of the battle itself.

A contemporary British playwright, Howard Barker's work often confronts art
and politics. A master of incisive language and dark wit, his work at once
illuminates and provokes. Barker wrote Scenes from an Execution in 1984, in
part as a response to Margaret Thatcher's aggressive attack on Argentina
over British territory in the Falkland Islands. In many ways, his text is
even more poignant today, post-911, after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and in a time when the idea of Europe is questioned.

Along with the play, the Theatre of the Arts Gallery features Blood & Paint:
A Feminine Response to War, an exhibition of contemporary women artists'
responses to military conflict. Paralleling the story on the stage, this
exhibition features the original work of over a dozen diverse female
artists, including prominent Canadian artist Gertrude Kearns, member of the
Canadian Forces Artists' Program. Also on display in the Gallery during
Scenes is a digital presentation on how the Battle of Lepanto served as a
turning point in Europe's history.

Scenes from an Execution runs on March 8, 9, 10 and 15, 16, 17 at 8:00 p.m.
The production is a collaboration between university members and theatre
professionals: direction by professor Andy Houston; lighting and set
designed by Arun Srinivasan and Kelly Wolf, respectively; costumes designed
by Jocelyne Sobeski of the Drama department; original music and sound
composed by Meghan Bunce; video segments by Drama/Digital Arts Communication
student Tallen Kay; and, dramaturgy and gallery curation by Drama students
Robert Motum and Simon Thibodeau.

For tickets, call the Theatre Centre box office at 519-888-4908.

General Admission - $17

Students & Seniors - $13

eyeGo - $5

10% off for groups of 10 or more

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://artsservices.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/artsannounce/attachments/20120306/07987f9e/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17635 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://artsservices.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/artsannounce/attachments/20120306/07987f9e/attachment.jpe