Alumnae Theatre Company continues its 2017 edition of the New Ideas Festival (NIF) with a trippy, darkly funny Week Three program, the final week of the fest. The annual festival includes three weeks of short new plays and full-length readings, including four plays and one reading each week, running in the Studio space.
Beat by Dale Sheldrake, directed by Josh Downing. Alone and injured following a near fatal car crash, Evelyn 1 (Jackie Mahoney) is beside herself, as she listens to her heart/inner voice (Evelyn 2: Laurel Schell). Taking stock of her life as she waits for help to arrive, she’s forced to face her inner demons and addictions. Darkly funny, sharp and theatrical; with some lovely spoken word dialogue and strong performances from Mahoney and Schell.
The Ballad of Sadie Wong by Andrew Lee, directed by Cassidy Sadler. Film noir detective story meets modern-day romance when day-dreamy, chipper bookstore clerk Althea (Remi Long) meets volatile, melancholy barista/punk rocker Sadie (Liz Der). Their sharp-witted, fun dynamic goes dark when Althea becomes concerned about how far Sadie will go to reach the top of the marquee. With the help of fictional Detective Ellesmere (Peter McArthur), Althea tries to solve Sadie’s mystery—but is Sadie beyond hope? Nice work from the cast; Long and Der have great chemistry, especially with the punchy dime store detective novel banter.
Who Knocks? by Connie Guccione, directed by David Suszek. An obituary for a high school classmate gets Rose (Sandra Burley) and Mary (Ruth Miller) thinking about death in this darkly funny look at aging and mortality. Great odd couple chemistry between Miller’s cynical, wise-cracking Mary and Burley’s gentler, good-humoured Rose.
The Hungriest Woman in the World by Shannon Bramer, directed by Claren Grosz. Struggling with ennui and identity, and longing for a way out—it’s through the looking glass for Aimee (Jeanine Thrasher). When her workaholic husband Rob (Armand Antony) refuses to join her for a night at the theatre, she goes off on her own. At the show, she befriends her seatmates, highly extroverted actors Nathan (Jamie Rose) and Julie (Jacqueline Verellen), and stays out all night. Bizarre shenanigans and darkly hilarious times ensue. Shout to the cast; great use of movement and farce-like comedy.
The Week Three program also includes a reading on Mar 25 at noon: Thistlepatch by Catherine Frid, directed by Kelsey Laine Jacobson.
Heart beats, blue feels and the big sleep in trippy, darkly funny Week Three program.
The NIF Week Three program continues until Mar 26 and closes the festival for this year; evening performances at 8p.m. and matinées at 2:30p.m., including talkbacks after the readings and the Saturday matinées. It’s an intimate space and a popular fest, so advance booking online or early arrival (box office opens one hour before show time—cash only) are strongly recommended.
life with more cowbell 
Reblogged this on The Alumnae Theatre Company's Blog and commented:
Review of New Ideas Festival 2017 – Week Three.
Main program (4 short plays) runs to Sunday, March 26, with a one-time staged reading of Catherine Frid’s “Thistlepatch” on Saturday at noon.