Sitting on Paradise

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Performance Date: 9/28/2010, 7:30 pm

Our first Readers Theatre of the 2010-2011 season is ready to make you howl at one of the funkiest venues downtown, the Prickly Pear Cafe on 2nd Street.

Our Bare-Naked Reader's Theatre nights are performed the last Tuesday of every month . We call it  Bare-Naked Theatre not because of the lack of any clothes, but because the production is stripped-down, un-staged, and maybe a bit more intimate than what you are used to - the experience is between the performers, the audience, and the playwright's words.

We kick of our season this Tuesday night with some madcap musings on the eternal question of materialism vs spiritualism.

Have supper first if you like, and then enjoy this comedic romp by the Governor General's Award-winning playwright Eugene Stickland. Sitting on Paradise tells the tale of a nature-loving developer and his would-be Wild Man buddy as they plot to build a New Age development in an as-yet unspoiled tract of forest.
But first they have to convince the developer's hard-nosed materialist wife.

Find out how a man gets things done; Discover how much stuff you really need; and marvel at the most peculiar couch transaction ever.  All this happens at 7:30 pm at the Prickly Pear.  Tickets are available at the door only.

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2010 - 2011 season Auditions

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Audition Dates  : 9/13/2010, 7:30 pm         9/14/2010, 7:30 pm

The summer was spent busily politicking to halt the proposed give-away of the City of Medicine Hat Cultural Centre. The College administration has decided that it finds the Visual Communications department an inconvenient obstacle to their scheme to build a new sports building. Happy to spend dollars on the proposed sports complex, the college is less willing to spend their money on the VisCom students; so they cravenly made a play on the Cultural Centre.   Embarrassingly, the College admin has tried to spin this as "support"  for the Visual Communications program.  It would be damn near comedic if it weren't so appalling!  The Cultural Centre was built with your tax dollars for the use of our cultural organizations - let us hope that our Aldermen can stay true to the people they are meant to represent, and will not betray the trust of the civic leaders who founded one of THE MOST SUCCESSFUL of Medicine Hat's cultural institutions.

But now that fall begins to colour the landscape the FUT in the HAT is gearing up for our 2010- 2011  Season.   We will be kicking our season off with the successful raw and unplugged Reader's Theatre, performed the last Tuesday of every month at the Prickly Pear Cafe. We call this Bare-Naked Theatre, not because of the lack of any clothes, but because the production is stripped-down, unstaged, and intimate as all heck.  The experience is between the performers, the audience, and the playwright's words.   And we promise to call the next day if you need us to.

In the new year we will be premiering a new play, set in Medicine Hat  and based on a ground-breaking court decision. Supper Waltz is written by Shirley Roll Tucker, who grew up in Medicine Hat and has her own history with local theatre. We hope you will all stay tuned for further news on this production as February nears

Auditions September 13 &; 14; 7:30 pm  at the Cultural Centre

To get the ball rolling we are planning mass auditions for the winter season to be held September 13 and 14. On those days we hope everyone will show up at 7:30 pm  at the Cultural Centre (That is, if we haven't been kicked out!)  Remember, part of FUT in the HAT's mandate is to provide a welcoming space for new faces and to give everyone a chance - so don't be shy about coming out.

We will be auditioning for 5 Raw Readers' Theatre pieces and one full stage production.

The Readers' Theatre pieces are:
Sept. 28 -- Sitting on Paradise; a comedic romp by The Governor General's Award - winning playwright Eugene Stickland
Oct. 26 -- Private Peaceful  ; the Edinburgh Fringe Festival sell-out by Michael Morpurgo adapted by Simon Reade
Nov. 23 -- Here on the Flight Path by Norm Foster
Jan. 24 -- Mrs. Brown The howlingly hilarious character created by Brendan O'Carroll and enjoyed by millions via the hit internet youtube phenomenon.  Have a look at the clip below if you haven't watched one yet!
Mar. 22 - Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell

Feb 24 -26 Mar 3 -5 a new script, Supper Waltz by Shirley Roll Tucker.
We will be work-shopping this production October 16 and 17 with Eugene Stickland and rehearsals will start at the beginning of January. Casting will take place at the September auditions and actors will be expected to attend the October workshop.

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