For the kick-off to this year’s theatre season, Hart House has decided that-in the words of Big Daddy Kane-there ain’t no half-steppin’. This season’s first production, a hip-hop version of A Clockwork Orange, is truly their most ambitious project to date. Featuring the imported directorial talent of acclaimed writer/director/actor Robert Ginty (known for amusing MTV hit 2GE+HER), and starring rising Canuck hip-hop star Bishop, U of T’s flagship theatre is rolling out what Hart House publicist Doug Floyd is not afraid to call “the season’s signature piece.”
Last January, while exercising in the Hart House gym, American director Ginty became intrigued by the years of important theatrical history imbued in the halls of Hart House Theatre and soon began talking with the management about returning to Toronto to direct his first Canadian production right here on campus. Impressed by his many talents (Ginty is an award-winning writer and director as well as an accomplished actor, painter, lecturer at the Samuel Beckett School of Drama at Trinity College in Dublin, and former drummer for both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin), the idea of directing Anthony Burgess’s stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange was pitched, and enthusiastically received by Ginty. Now, just days away from opening night, Ginty is excited about presenting an updated, “urban musical” version of the classic tale which he hopes will appeal to a wider audience than those who only know the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation.
With a talented, respected and accomplished director on board, the next big task was to find someone to play Alex, the young and troubled protagonist. In what can only be described as a stroke of good luck, someone from the production caught an episode of CBC’s Marketplace, regrettably titled “Rhyme Pays.” The episode’s main focus was Bishop, a hip-hop star on the rise and native of Scarborough’s notoriously rough Section 6 housing block. Impressed by his charisma, raw energy and natural musical talent, Hart House contacted Bishop’s management and asked if he would be interested in acting in their hip-hop version of Clockwork. To their surprise, he said yes.
Bishop, whose debut album The Value of a Hustle is slated to drop early next year, has been on the scene for quite some time. The young rapper has collaborated with Choclair on the track “When I’m High” and gone on a cross-country tour with Busta Rhymes. Though he may be new to live theatre, Bishop has already cut his acting teeth on CBC’s urban drama Drop the Beat, UPN’s locally filmed hip-hop show Platinum and in the feature film NARC, during which he gets shot and killed by Ray Liotta.
“I like to do things that nobody else has ever done, or ever thought about doing in my genre,” says Bishop of his decision to join the cast of A Clockwork Orange. To him a difficult challenge breeds a simple kind of confidence and determination: “Anything I think I can’t do, I do,” he says simply. Even through his cool and assured disposition he is quick to acknowledge the new acting challenges he faces on the stage rather than in front of a camera: “With theatre I’m on stage for, like, 80 minutes as somebody else, and I can’t break out of character-there’s no room for error.”
Other than the celebrity content, there are lots of other reasons to see A Clockwork Orange. The cast is stacked with talent from the urban music scene (including three members of the local underground hip-hop group the Dope Poet Society) and U of T students such as Jamie Arfin (who was awesome in last year’s production of A Chorus Line) playing the role of Marty.
Also of interest in this production is the elaborate set which has been constructed on the Hart House stage. Taking a week to build and over a month to design, the massive inner-city set features the largest lighting rig in Hart House history, and wicked graffiti art produced specifically for the production by local graf artist Duoro 3.
A Clockwork Orange debuts at Hart House Theatre (7 Hart House Circle) this Wednesday (September 15) with an opening night event sponsored by Toronto hip-hop radio station FLOW 93.5. The show runs to September 25. Tickets are $15/$12 for students and seniors. Call (416) 978-8668 for more information.
