Julia Lederer Makes SummerWorks Debut with REALITY THEATRE

Reality and fantasy blur for a woman playing a spoon in Beauty and the Beast. A man reconsiders a contract signed in blood. The World Wide Web disappears into thin air. Julia Lederer's Reality Theatre is a fast moving collection of short, interwoven plays that explore our anxieties about change, the acceleration of technology, and maintaining human relationships in a world quickly becoming less and less human.

Lederer's work has been described as, "delightfully original" (The Toronto Star), "endlessly quotable" (Torontoist) and "wonderfully weird, piercingly poetic and unexpectedly moving" (Crain's Chicago).

The production features Akosua Amo-Adem (Soulpepper, Canadian Stage, Obsidian), Krista Morin (The Handmaid's Tale) and Andy Trithardt (Convergence, Talk is Free). This show will also mark the directorial debut of Rebecca Applebaum, known for her work as an actor (Bad Jews, paperSERIES) and a playwright (Complex, Don't Look).

Lederer's last festival premier, With Love and a Major Organ ("Best of Fringe"), went on to be produced to critical acclaim in Chicago and Alaska, and will be at L.A.'s Theatre @ Boston Court this fall and is published by Scirocco Drama.

Reality Theatre was initially developed after Man in the Portrait (the second play in the collection) won the Jury Prize at Driftwood Theatre's Trafalgar 24 in 2014. As the winner, Lederer was given resources to continue to develop the piece into a full-length script, but instead, Lederer developed it as part of a larger collection-brought together with thematic through-lines while being composed of extractable parts. The result is like a hybrid of Ives' All in the Timing and Capek's R.U.R.

From the collection, The Spoon Plays have been produced in New York (Midtown International Festival) and Chicago (Midnight Summit Ensemble). Reality Vision has been produced in NY (Gi60, Brooklyn College), and the UK (Gi60, stage@leeds), and is published in One-Minute Plays: A Practical Guide to Tiny Theatre (Routledge, 2017). This SummerWorks is the first time Reality Theatre is being produced as a complete work.

QuestionMark-Exclamation Theatre presents

Reality Theatre

At The SummerWorks Performance Festival

written by Julia Lederer

directed by Rebecca Applebaum

starring Akosua Amo-Adem, Krista Morin, and Andy Trithardt

set design by Christine Urquhart

costume design by Brandon Kleiman

lighting design by Claire Hill

sound design by Andy Trithardt

stage managed by Farnoosh Talebpour

produced by Stephanie Jung

marketing by Aurora De Peña

Factory Theatre Mainspace

125 Bathurst Street

Toronto, ON

Performances:

Thursday, August 3, 8:30 pm

Sunday, August 6, 3 pm

Monday, August 7, 7 pm

Tuesday, August 8, 5:30 pm

Thursday, August 10, 9:30 pm

Saturday, August 12, 3 pm

Sunday, August 13, 8 pm

NEW THIS YEAR - PAY WHAT YOU DECIDE
In addition to our usual $15 ticket, $25 and $35 tickets are also available - you pick whichever suits your budget. All tickets are general admission, and there are no limits on any price level.

Single tickets can be purchased online anytime, or by phone or in person at our Festival Box Office starting August 1. For most shows, 25% of the house capacity will be reserved for sale at the door. Festival Passes (3-Show, 7-Show, and 10-Show) go on sale July 6.
For more information on tickets, passes, and how to access of box office, visit summerworks.ca/tickets.

Photo credit: Bryanna Reilly