Echo Productions to Tackle the Infamous Charles Manson with CHARLIE: SON OF MAN

Echo Productions is a Toronto-based theatre company with a mandate to bring theatre to a generation of millennial Canadians (18-30 years of age) who generally do not consider live theatre to be a viable or preferred medium of visual entertainment.

Founded in 2012, the company has carved a niche for itself by taking popular, dark stories (Frankenstein (2014), Jekyll and Hyde (2015), etc.) and adapting them for the stage. By fusing live music and hyper-stylized movement into the text, Echo has created a unique brand that is versatile, dynamic, and leaves audiences with a new appreciation for what live theatre can do. With our 5th anniversary around the corner this style is as relevant and exciting as ever, and this year has all the signs of being our best yet.

With that said, Echo Productions is proud to officially announce Charlie: Son of Man, an original work that puts a modern twist on the events surrounding the rise and fall of one of the most infamous characters of the 20th century, Charles Manson. Manson was a master manipulator who was so skilled at identifying and exploiting the weaknesses of the people around him that he was able to gather a band of followers and a) convince them that he was Jesus Christ come to walk among them, and b) successfully order them to murder seven people in cold blood during the summer of 1969. While the brutality and senselessness of the slayings made them newsworthy in their own right, it was the identity of the killers - mostly young, middle-class Caucasian girls - that made them a national sensation. It forced an entire country to ask the age-old question: how do bad people convince good people to do bad things?

Half a century later, with demagoguery and vitriolic nationalism enjoying a renaissance of sorts, this question is as relevant as ever. We've taken the Manson Family story and removed it from 1969 in the interest of exploring how this situation might be possible in the modern era. The facts are the same but the method has changed - while sex and hallucinogenics were the tools of manipulation that allowed Manson to do what he did in the late 60's, in Charlie: Son of Man he uses sex and today's drug of choice - mobile phones. The feeling of connectedness that a mobile phone (and by extension social media) elicits is as addictive as any drug, and its near-complete integration into modern mainstream culture makes the use of it for nefarious purposes a troubling prospect to consider.

This is a bold take on an equally bold story, and true to our signature commitment to grit and darkness we've pulled no punches here. Charlie: Son of Man is a wild, yet thought-provoking ride from start to finish and we can't wait to share it with you.

The show runs from Nov. 30 - Dec. 9, with four shows per week. Head to www.echoproductions.ca for more information about the company, our past work, and how you can find tickets today!