WINNIPEG, MB – UWinnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film presents Mnemosyne’s Banquet: a collection of solo performances from November 12-15, 2014 at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film. This series of solo works is conceived, developed, and performed by members of the fourth-year Honours Devised Theatre class and is directed by Professor Claire Borody.
Mnemosyne is the name attributed to the personification of memory in Greek Mythology and the mother of the nine muses who represent epic poetry, history, music, lyric poetry, tragedy, hymns, dance, comedy, and astronomy. The title “Mnemosyne’s Banquet” is intended to illustrate the range of inspiration available to each artist.
The actors began their creative process with formal research exploring art forms and content of personal interest, and a series of practical tasks. From this concrete foundation – images, music, props, selected texts and scored actions – each performer has added content, detail, and perspective and created a unique performance piece.
“All performances have been created in a laboratory setting in which ideas were constantly tested through specific tasks and improvisations,” explained Borody. “Each piece is an audio-visual response to the performer’s encounter with source material, and generates specific questions about a particular issue. As a result, the performances vary in their abstraction and distance from the original source-work, and test the boundaries of theatrical form.”
These pieces are arranged as two separate series, each featuring several 20-25 minute solos.
- Series One performances run Wed, Nov 12 and Fri, Nov 14 at 8:00 pm.
- Series Two performances run Thu, Nov 13 at 8:00 pm and Sat, Nov 15 at 7:00 pm.
Performances take place at the University of Winnipeg’s Asper Centre for Theatre and Film, 400 Colony Street.
Tickets are free and available at the door. Visit http://theatre.uwinnipeg.ca for more information.
Based in the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film at The University of Winnipeg, the Department of Theatre and Film offers areas of study in Acting, Design, Drama in Education, Filmmaking, Playwriting, and Production/Stage Management. Our classes are small and our approach is practical. Our faculty is comprised of highly respected and award-winning professionals who are experienced teachers and remain active in their disciplines, bringing relevant and up-to-date instruction to our students.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Patty Hawkins, Dept. of Theatre and Film
204.786.9955, theatre@uwinnipeg.ca
Claire Borody, Dept. of Theatre and Film
204.786-9385, c.borody@uwinnipeg.ca
