Theatre is a small and self-regulating community where only the best can survive and make money doing it. Most of the student-written shows produced at U of T’s drama festival won’t ever be put up again, which makes it a unique opportunity to catch some one-of-a-kind performances.

The U of T Drama Festival, now in its 16th year, took place at Hart House Theatre this past weekend. The shows in the festival came from all three campuses and were produced entirely by U of T students. This year the festival was adjudicated by David Daylor, a theatre educator from Hamilton who has directed plays across Ontario.

With eight shows from six different companies competing for awards and audience applause, the festival was not about accolades but showcasing some of the best (and worst) theatre U of T can make.—MATT MCGEACHY

In Transit

  • Victoria College Drama Society
  • Written by Sarah Devonshire
  • Directed by Joy Lee
  • Rating: VV

In Transit is not a bad idea for a show, but it needed to be flushed out and matured. The stories take place entirely in some form of transit: a plane, a bus station, the TTC, a car, and on a park bench waiting for a taxi. Each vignette follows different characters attaining maturity. Steve (En Lai Mah) and Nina (Allison Kerr) start as roommates at University and end up in a committed relationship; Matt (Evan Wallis) and Diane (Linn Oyen Farley) meet in a bus station and end up a couple. Then Diane reveals to Matt that she is pregnant while they are riding the TTC. Awkward. Something about the timing onstage did not work, and most of the direction seemed arbitrary. Farley was by far the most talented actor of the bunch, the others lacked, maturity on stage. With better direction and some revisions, as well as actors who can “age,” the show could easily be better. As it stands, the show was flawed and needs work.—MM

Ends of the Earth

  • Hart House Drama Society
  • Written and Directed by Katie Binnersley
  • Rating: VVVv

Symptomatic of the Crash generation in the best possible way, this show is a series of troubling modern vignettes. Brian (Tommy Oliver) is waiting for a bus after visiting his friend when the sexy Sandra (Jennifer Fraser) comes out for a smoke. Brian burns himself with Sandra’s lighter, and she takes him upstairs to ice the burn. The action follows the two as they climb the stairs, and along the way we see moving portraits of the everyday lives of the building’s inhabitants. A single mother, touchingly played by Emma Burns, tried to cope with the difficulties of raising her daughter. Burns’ performance was very well conceived and emotional. On the next floor, we find a man (Daniel Bild-Enkin in a ridiculous beard) living alone and talking to himself. By the time we reach the fifth floor, we find that Sandra lives with a depressed roommate, Bronwyn (Janette Mason), who spends the entire evening fighting with her sadistic mother on the phone. For the most part, Ends of the Earth was a well thought out and polished show. If only the transitions between floors were tightened up, this play would have really excelled.—MM

The Greenroom

  • UTSC Drama Society
  • Written by Andy Wong
    Directed by Jon Mandrozos
    Rating: VVV

This was a well-rounded comedy about a group of drama kids hanging out in the last days before their theatre is torn down. The Greenroom has everything from a lesbian subplot to a mysterious ever-present Guy on the Couch (Jon Mandrozos) who does nothing but sleep. All the stereotypes of theatre nerds are explored: the domineering tech director (Kiki Serdaridis), the keen wannabe (Rebecca Biason), the horny actor (Vincent Andreas Salvador Lee), and the ever-present comedian (Andy Wong). Wong’s script and Mandrozos’s direction read like a funny sitcom; unfortunately, it lasted for an hour instead of only 30 minutes. While the jokes were still flowing, they were less funny when drawn out over the full course of the play. The script does such a great job of introducing the characters so quickly, one wonders why the simple plot had to go on for so long—it could easily be pared down and maintain the full integrity of the show. One had the feeling that the actors were having such a great time that they didn’t want to stop!—MM

On Tape

  • St. Michael’s College Drama Society
  • Written by Joceline Andersen
  • Directed by Raissa Elizabeth Espinoza
  • Rating: V

How did this get in to the festival? It was a huge disappointment. We follow Bonnie and Tom, played by three sets of actors, as they discover that their old roommate was a spy. Bonnie is a teacher (we gather) who is preparing dinner as her pompous partner, Tom, a grad student obsessed with his own genius, comes home. The first set of Bonnie and Tom, played by Aadila Dosani and Steve Figueiredo, fell flat because they didn’t have a sense of timing over the process of discovery that their roomie was a spy. The second pairing (Jillian Srigley and Ryan-James Hatanaka), though more true to life and sporting good chemistry, could not salvage the damage done by the slow start and the haphazard direction. While this play is supposed to drive home that we don’t really know the people around us, it not only seems contrived, but it falls flat on its face at that. I was actually embarrassed for the performers—it was like watching a really boring train wreck.—MM

Ad: 450 Pilot

  • UTM Drama Club
  • Written by Marissa Ship
  • Directed by Ryan Singh
  • Rating: VVVVv

Every so often, the stars align and a show like this comes along, with superb writing, exceptionally talented actors, and direction so nuanced that you don’t even realize the show was directed at all. This is what happens when sheer talent, nurtured by talented teachers in a creative environment, is allowed to shine. In short, it’s the best of university theatre. A two-hander, the play follows Andrew (Paolo Santalucia), who responds to a woman’s personal ad. The self-referential ad only wants to know one thing: why did he respond? In the vein of existential drama, this show could easily have been naïve and played out like a first-year philosophy class. But the writing knew its own limitations, and didn’t throw existential crap at the audience. Instead, it focused on the relationship that develops over the course of 30 minutes between the two characters. Santalucia and Shannon Shura had great chemistry on stage— Sanalucia’s portrayal of a neurotic urbanite was worthy of Woody Allen. As for Shura: some people simply have the talent to command attention, regardless of the context. If these two keep honing their craft, expect to hear their names attached to bigger projects. This show is easily the best of the fest!—MM

Purgatory

  • Victoria College Drama Society
  • Written by Victoria Fisher
  • Directed by Adam Albanese
  • Rating: VV

Three individuals arrive in purgatory (a white-chaired waiting room): Qword, a cynical computer programmer, Meeble, a blasé teen obsessed with the colour blue, and Avitorix, a high-strung lawyer. All must go before St John, head of immigration, to have their fate decided based on a point system measuring if they are good or evil, Meeble and Avitorix band together to save Qword from the “boredom of hell.” The deadpan immigration assistant and the jolly appeals judge elicited some laughs, however the repetitive hell jokes were painfully anticipated. Is Marshall attempting to highlight some of the problems with Canada’s immigration system, comparing the use of the point system for evaluating immigrants with the notion of purgatory? Unfortunately, this play covers familiar ground, much of the direction appeared forced, and awkward transitions were accompanied by a tinny piano rendition of “Girl from Ipanema.” Although the festival format imposed limitations on technical resources, the company did not utilize the minimal tech to their advantage. Despite the enthusiasm of the actors, the characters’ constant questioning of mortality failed to convince. —ANN A GALL AGHER -ROSS

Snap!

  • UTM Drama Club
  • Written by G.C. Walton
  • Directed by William R.A. Dupuis
  • VVVv

Brandon MacDonald commanded attention and broke hearts as Graham, a disturbed fellow haunted by something from his past. This was one of the most demanding shows because of the intensity of the writing and the performance. On one side of the stage is Graham’s bedroom, where he has recurring nightmares. On the other sits his therapist’s couch. For Graham, the audience is both a voyeur and his therapist. We discover Graham’s trauma was an experience from first-year university, when innocent horseplay escalated and resulted in Graham accidentally snapping his friend’s neck, leaving him a quadriplegic. As this is revealed the audience is strapped in to ride Graham’s emotional roller coaster. During the climactic revelation, MacDonald snapped his fingers to simulate the sound of a neck breaking. The entire audience flinched.—MM

Cast Asunder

  • Woodsworth College League of Dramatists
  • Written by Matt Riley
  • Directed by Matt Flowitt
  • Rating: V

This one-man show is the story of an atypical angel, an outsider cast asunder named Faustus Experi Animus. His direct address to the audience expounds on the terrible injustices of society and his plans to become supreme ruler. These are punctuated by occasional flashbacks to his first and only love, personified by an echoing recording of her voice. These brief recollections were the most compelling of the entire play. However, the play crossed over to uncertain territory when it subjected the audience to a strange series of incoherent projected images of torture, money, cars, poverty stricken children in some unnamed continent—which confused rather than clarified the script’s message. As an angel, Faustus openly accuses the audience of neglecting their humane responsibilities, and threatens destroy the human race. Kudos to Riley for having written and performed the piece. He certainly has presence and is in command of his script. But repeatedly chastising the audience for its lack of morality is not persuasive when the main character speaks of how he plans to obliterate us all.—AGR