running on frozen air

[Shannon E. Hengen]

Just to mention the Ontario premiere of a play written and directed by=20
Sudbury Theatre Centre's Artistic Director, Gordon McCall, playing at=20
STC 22 Jan.-Feb. 3--in case you wanted to come to Northern Ont. for some=20
good theatre and good skiing in the next few weeks.  (Gordon McCall was=20
at Vancouver's Touchstone Theatre, Winnipeg's Prairie Exchange, and=20
Saskatoon's Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan before coming here.)  This=20
play is about the longest sled dog race in the world, the Yukon Quest,=20
and so is unique.  How many plays can you think of in which one of the=20
most intense emotional attachments occurs between characters and=20
animals--in this case a real Alaskan husky named Chunk?  The play makes=20
good, inventive use of the theatre space and is often funny but also=20
dramatic in the sense that each musher's reasons for entering the race=20
are gradually revealed and debated, bringing about change.   A real=20
strength of -Running on Frozen Air- is that it's so, well, so Canadian,=20
so northern.  Since I'm sure Gordon McCall would like to see it produced=20
in other theatres, I'll leave the discovery of more details about the=20
play to you.  Call him at 705 674 7788.
 
STC's season will conclude this year with Mamet's -Oleanna-  (26 Feb-10=20
Mar), and then -Driving Miss Daisie- (opening 8 Apr).  Other theatre in=20
Sudbury comes out of the very successful Th=E9=E2tre du nouvel-Ontario; w=
e=20
are also fortunate in being able to see all of the touring productions=20
of Debajehmujig Theatre, North America's longest running Native company,=20
which is based on Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve, Manitoulin Island (Ont.).
 
I hope people will continue to give these little reviews and other=20
theatre info.  Shannon Hengen