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UnSpun Theatre

Collaborate on UnSpun's WikiPlay Project at http://unspun.wikispaces.com

About Me

www.unspuntheatre.com

Help us write The WikiPlay Project now! (photography by Lisa Stanton ):::COMPANY HISTORY:::Originally called Witness Theatre, the story of UnSpun began in the winter/spring of 2001 with a group of young actors hungry to explore alternative theatrical processes. Core members Christopher Stanton , Chris Hanratty (UnSpun's Co-Artistic Directors) and Tara Beagan (now an Associate Artist with UnSpun) formed a company of creator/performers that workshopped and ultimately produced the Edmonton Fringe hit Wreck - a one-act collective creation based on a fatal subway collision in London, England in 1999.

Relocating to Toronto, UnSpun began in earnest with the production of Panhandled (February 2004), a new work by Toronto playwright Brendan Gall , and featuring Tricia Lahde, both of whom have since become Associate Artists with UnSpun.

Beagan's first play, Thy Neighbour's Wife (June 2004), was an enormous success critically, garnering rave reviews from Toronto's major weeklies. It also received three nominations for the 2005 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and Tara Beagan was ultimately awarded the Dora for "Outstanding New Play or Musical (Independent Division)."


Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was staged as part of the 2005 Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival. The creative team returned to the alternative creation techniques that UnSpun first used to create Wreck. Basing the process of creation primarily on the "RSVP Cycles" (or "Methode Repère") popularized by Robert Lepage, the company drew upon a variety of techniques - including improvisation, found images/text, musical composition, and written assignments - in order to create Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. It was the first UnSpun project for Kate Hewlett , now an Associate Artist.


minotaur - presented as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival this past July - was called the "scariest hour you'll spend at the Fringe" by Eye Weekly. An experiment in form and filmic theatricality, the show took audiences by surprise with its blend of Japanese-style neo-horror, traditional ghost stories, and a wry underlying sense of humour.


DON'T WAKE ME, collectively created as part of the 2006 SummerWorks festival, borrowed liberally from the imaginative realms of hard-boiled fiction, film noir, and detective comics. Following a man who attempts to hide from his blindness in the mysterious world of his dreams, DON'T WAKE ME garnered a Best Ensemble mention in Now Magazine's SummerWorks Wrap-Up.


A further investigation of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump followed in December of 2006. A full-length re-imagining of the hit Fringe show, the collective was disassembled and put back together with Tricia Lahde and UnSpun newcomer Shira Leuchter joining the creation team and stepping into the roles originated by Kate Hewlett and Tara Beagan.

Conceived in February of 2007, The WikiPlay Project is an ongoing experiment in global collective creation - an online "wiki" that invites anyone and everyone to test the limits of dramatic collaboration.Coming up next...


Gather your courage. UnSpun's going back to the basement...
(Hallowe'en, 2007)


"The bright future of Canadian Theatre." - Robert Crew, The Toronto Star

CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Chris Hanratty

Christopher Stanton

ASSOCIATE ARTISTS

Tara Beagan

Brendan Gall

Kate Hewlett

Tricia Lahde

MEMBERS Patrick Beagan , Emily Boutet, Leah Simone Bowen, James Cade, John Cleland, Tim Gentle, Robert Kingston, Emily Kulasa , Shira Leuchter, Amy Levett , Natasha Martina, Alison McElwain, Megan McGuire, Mike McPhaden, Katherine Alison Porter, Lisa Stanton .

UnSpun Theatre is a proud member of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts

with support from


www.unspuntheatre.com

My Interests

:::OUR MANDATE:::
UnSpun Theatre is committed to the development of original works within an artist-driven environment. We strive to provide each new work with the time, energy, and resources necessary to generate it's greatest creative potential. We at UnSpun Theatre believe that in order to develop meaningful contemporary works it is essential to place a strong emphasis on the collaborative nature of theatre.

I'd like to meet:

Artists , Audience Members , Philanthropists ...

Music:

Julie Doiron, Eels, Alain Goraguer, Kate Hewlett, Katherine Alison Porter, The Northwest Division, The Postal Service, The Shins, Silver Jews, Sleater-Kinney, Christopher Stanton, Sunparlour Players, Barney Wilen...

Movies:

Theatre is the new Movie.

Television:

We saw one in a play once.

Books:

Buffalo Roam, House of Leaves, CNIB Brochures...

Heroes:

Margo Charlton and the Toronto Arts Council, Pat Bradley and the Ontario Arts Council, Richard Rose and Tarragon Theatre, Layne Coleman and Theatre Passe Muraille, Jennifer Buffett, Andy Pogson, Geoffrey Pounsett, Yvette Nolan, Ryan Roguski and Indigo Manulife, Elizabeth Dawn Snell and Artists' Play, John Boylan and The Centre for the Arts, Lou and Pauline Beagan, Melissa Moore, Craig Lauzon, UpstandingImprov, Chris Gibbs, Joanne O'Sullivan, Greg MacDonald, Ben Harris, Trish Fagan, Kate Keenan, Kyle Horton, Steven Burley, Craig Buchert, Ryan Kingston, Laurie Graham, Christian Morgan, Jenn Orpana, Angel Morgan and Greg Lanthier at The Little Space, Michelle Iaizzo, Ian Shaw, Chris Kingswell, Philip Sword, Kenton Delisle, Dave Backus and Graham Vogt, Anne Turjansky, Slauka Fodchuk and everyone at St. Vlad's, Skinny Jo Productions, Dawn Obokata, Larry Laforet and Jimmy Simon at George Brown, Jody Hewston, Martin Gero, Kurt Smeaton, Becky Johnson, Graham Wagner, Ryan V. Hays, Julie Dumais and everyone at Catch-23 Improv, Kevin Gillese, Christian McKenna, Chad Donella, Keith Barker, Harold and Nancy Gall, Genevieve Dainard, Sean Jordan, Alexis Nederhoff, Luke Allen, Travis Murphy, Dave Hayes, Caroline Saulez, Rebecca Ridell, Erin Brandenburg, Andrew Penner, Chris Peake, Brandon Enriquez, Helen Vounotripidis, Will Langstroth, Amy Levett, Linus Hand, Chris Goddard, Franco Boni, Shauna Major, Greg Poulin, Dean Bradley, Sara Teitel, Nadia Schwien, Marc Tellez, Robert Harding, Trish Lindstrom, Kaeja d'Dance, Nervemeter Productions, Crate Productions, Rosie Shaw & CanStage, Dinkus, The Remainders, The Northwest Division, Sunparlour Players, Murray Gall...

My Blog

UnSpun e-News for July 20th 2007.

Hey. Hi! How are you? You look fantastic. Have you lost some weight? Really? Well, you look great. Seriously.THAT'S ENOUGH SMALL TALK! It's time to update you crazy kids about recent and upcoming rumb...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST

An easy new way to contribute to The WikiPlay Project...

If you're interested in adding a little something to the WikiPlay Project - but don't feel like scrolling and reading through all that text - we have some good news for you.We've just added the STREAM...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:31:00 PST

The WikiPlay Project or "Let's Write A Play!"

This idea occurred to me as I was unpacking a new book at work called Wikinomics (www.wikinomics.com) - an examination of the brave new world of global collaboration.Well, UnSpun Theatre is all about ...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 09:31:00 PST

Jon Kaplan's NOW review for HSIBJ

Christopher Stanton (left), Tricia Lahde, Shira Leuchter and Chris Hanratty make a Jump. --> --> Buffalo roams Reworked Fringe script stops and starts By JON KAPLAN --> -->   HEAD-SMASHED-I...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:20:00 PST

Paul Isaacs hated Head-Smashed. Fair. But is it just us, or is he sort of a prick about it?

On StageHEAD-SMASHED-IN BUFFALO JUMP Co-created and performed by Chris Hanratty, Tricia Lahde, Christopher Stanton and Shira Leuchter. Directed by Brendan Gall. Presented by UnSpun Theatre. To Dec 16....
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Sat, 16 Dec 2006 12:26:00 PST

If you loved The Rockettes, you'll HATE Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump...

GOTTA LOVE THOSE ROCKETTES Robert Cushman, National Post Published: Saturday, December 9th, 2006 The Rockettes, the pride of Radio City Music Hall in New York, have apparently been performing their Pa...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Mon, 11 Dec 2006 08:20:00 PST

Head Smashed In Real Good by Alison McElwain

The car ride home was full of talk of the play.  It gripped our imaginations and kept hold of them for the entire 2 hour drive (the weather was terrible, and we were crawling).  Everyone was...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:45:00 PST

3 days in.

Okay. I take full responsibility. It was my probably-ill-considered idea in the first place. Like so many well-intended blogs in this great blogosphere we call "life," we let this one wilt a bit after...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:16:00 PST

Head-Smashed-In Preview Articles in Eye & NOW!

(from Eye Weekly) Arts Week A Smashing Return How's this for virtual recycling Christopher Stanton's UnSpun Theatre company uses spam email as a source of found poetry. It helps to inspire their coll...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 09:55:00 PST

UP AND AT THEM.

So. Good. Listen. Here's what we've done. The last few rehearsals have been very much table work and story editing and very very very heady. And we actually, I believe, have a play. Which is a RIDICUL...
Posted by UnSpun Theatre on Sat, 28 Oct 2006 10:05:00 PST