WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film features its third-year Honours acting classin the hilarious and unsettling absurdist comedy Seven Doors by Botho Strauss. It runs from February 12-16, 2013, at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film, 400 Colony Street. The translation is by Jeremy Sams and is directed by faculty member Christopher Brauer, with Stage Management and technical support from the Department’s production students.
Seven Doors is a rare mix of absurdity, sketch comedy, and post-modern tragedy with a couple of musical numbers. In eleven playful and profound scenes, the characters delve deeper and deeper into hilarity and absurdity as they try to make sense of their feelings. The characters cling fiercely to the personae they have chosen and as a result, they suffer (often hilarious) confusion and distress when they try to connect and disconnect in this modern world. Where Sartre made the point that hell is other people, Strauss points out that hell is ourselves.
Working from images of contemporary urban landscapes, Seven Doors set design student Ksenia Broda-Milian has created a space filled with surprises. Costume designer Joseph Abetria, inspired by the concept that the characters have assigned themselves an identity, has created 28 costumes inspired by paper dolls. Casey Downes, props, has pulled from a range of eras, suggesting that everything seemed permanent and eternal at one point, but obsolescence comes quickly. With a bold lighting design by student Alison Fulmyk rounding out the production elements, Seven Doors is a feast for the senses.
Performances are Tuesday, February 12th through Friday, February 15th at 8:00 pm nightly, and Saturday, February 16th at 7:00 pm, at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film, 400 Colony Street (enter off Balmoral). Admission is free but reservations are recommended. Please call our 24-hour Reservation and Information Line at 204.786.9152, or visit The University of Winnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film website at http://theatre.uwinnipeg.ca
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 CONTACT
Patty Hawkins, Dept. of Theatre and Film
The University of Winnipeg
T: 204.786.9955,
p.hawkins@uwinnipeg.ca
