The Theatre Centre, with Philip McKee and Tanja Jacobs, present the world premiere of Bloody Family, a radical adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy The Oresteia from today, Sept. 26 to Oct. 5. Created and performed by McKee and Jacobs with collaborators Rose Plotek and Ishan Davé, the play also features Norah Sadava in a re-imagining of the tragic trilogy that connects this classical work with contemporary performance - a story of a family ripped apart by idealism.
"With Bloody Family, Tanja and Philip have created a piece that's both authentic and relevant," said Franco Boni, general and artistic director, The Theatre Centre. "Through the development to presentation, it's a privilege to bring such important new Canadian work to audiences at The Theatre Centre."
Bloody Family is personal and volatile story that contrasts compassion with necessity, and examines the birth and failure of justice. A father kills his daughter for honour, a wife kills her husband for revenge, and a son kills his mother for justice. Focusing on the idealism of war compared to the reality of violence, Bloody Family offers a new way to look at forgiveness and honour.
The project was initially inspired by the historic events of 9-11, and Jacobs and McKee have been developing Bloody Family as part of the Residency Program at The Theatre Centre since 2012, exploring the idea that death and evil are an inescapable part of society.
"Tanja and I wanted to explore the pomp and circumstance of war, and the parallel between seeking honourable beliefs through dishonorable action," said McKee. "It's also a bit of a tongue and cheek look at the pursuit of the same ideals within theatre. Should we do something horrible, for the sake of art."
At The Theatre Centre until early October, Bloody Family is the second production in The Theatre Centre's 2014/15 programming year to emerge from Residency, following 6th Man Collective's interactive basketball performance, Monday Nights (on now until Sept. 20). The artistic team recently announced a series of partnerships and collaborations programmed for the year ahead.
Suburban Beast's teen fable Concord Floral (Oct. 12 to 26) will be presented by Why Not Theatre as part of the Curated Rental program. Then, after an acclaimed run as the first production in The Theatre Centre's new home, award-winning author/journalist Alanna Mitchell's solo performance piece, Sea Sick (Oct. 27 to Nov. 2), returns for a limited run before heading off on a cross country tour (details of tour forthcoming).
In November, the Long Term Residency (LTR) program has Studio 180 presenting NSFW (Nov. 7 to 30),
Lucy Kirkwood's new comedy about power games and privacy in the media and beyond. Following that is by the triumphant return of four-time Dora Award nominee, Ralph + Lina (Nov. 25 to 30) presented in association with The Theatre Centre and Ahuri Theatre.
Finally, The Theatre Centre's New Year starts with Small Axe (Jan. 17 to 31), a co-production with Project: Humanity, created by
Andrew Kushnir. It is the third production developed as part of the Residency program at The Theatre Centre, and the work questions how to justly engage with injustice.
For more details, visit
www.theatrecentre.org.
