TUESDAY JULY 25, 2006
Greetings, all. Surfacing to gulp air and share some HOT Tips ‘n’ Tix before plunging back into the Capital Fringe Festival.
FRINGE HOT TIPS! Two Canadian entries show how good “fringe” can be when done right : fine, polished, ready-for-paying-patrons productions with a well-honed edge. $15 is a steal for each of these excellent productions. Both play at the Canadian Embassy, which canNOT sell tix at door. Purchase ahead! Only 1 or 2 performances left, so order online / phone / Fringe headquarters now! The minimal official Fringe descriptions are accurate, but insufficient to do them justice. Link to Fringe website, plus reviews, podcasts and more through .
(1.) SPRING ALIBI: Tues. 7/25 @ 9:45pm, and Wed. 7/26 @ 8:00pm (65min). This truly well-made play brings a hilarious contemporary twist to "split-stage" phone conversations as two recovering divorcees reveal themselves through those oft-ignored techniques of clever dialogue, plot and character development. Even the author's notes and “Glossary of Canadian Terms” in the playbill are witty & informative. Only two more performances of this multi-award winner. Verbal sexual references. Funny & informative author's comments & “Glossary of Canadian Terms” in playbill. .
Northern Sabbatical Productions
PO Box 11021, Station Main
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA T5J 3K3
Phone (780) 466-9938 Cell (780) 918-4200
Fax (780) 468-4449
Email lue42@shaw,ca ~ www.lue42.comEdmonton, CANADA, July 3, 2006
Spring Alibi
brings Great White North to Capital Fringe
Spring in the Yukon! The perfect setting for a new romantic comedy about self-discovery, voyeurism, and the 8-track tape – according to Linda Wood Edwards’ acclaimed comedy Spring Alibi.
Last August, Damian Sinclair, ED of the Capital Fringe, selected several productions to host at their inaugural festival: Simple Gifts by Tracy Penner, Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor, and Spring Alibi. The Alberta connection is touted at the Smithsonian’s Folkways Festival of Alberta Culture, on now. All 3 productions run in repertory in Edmonton before arriving on July 18th for 5 performances each at the Canadian Embassy.
The Edmonton Sun called Spring Alibi "…a small, well-observed comic gem about two souls adrift in the Yukon…riotously entertaining but with a beating heart at the centre". SEE Magazine said: "Buy tickets for this totally sweet, totally honest romantic-comedy-with-a-twist before word gets out".
Linda Wood Edwards wrote Spring Alibi in 1997 while on sabbatical in the Yukon. It won a prize in Nakai Theatre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Contest, which was a bonus: she entered because they promised a hotel room with a hot bath for only $35. Upon returning to Edmonton, Wood Edwards applied to the Fringe. It took five tries for Spring Alibi to make it into the festival, which accepts work on a lottery basis.
The production drew rave reviews, a sold-out run, and a nomination for the Sterling Award (Edmonton’s equivalent of the Helen Hayes Awards) for outstanding new play. After the success of Spring Alibi, Wood produced a new work for teens.
Dramaturge Gerald Osborn helped the first-time producer assemble a team: director David Cheoros and stars Michele Brown and Andy Northrup. Michele is a veteran performer who comes to the production hot off a third Canadian tour of the Tom Waits/Robert Wilson/William S. Burroughs Musical The Black Rider, which won an Outstanding Production award at the 2000 New York Fringe. Andy is known internationally audiences as a composer, singer-songwriter (check out his new album Cardboard Logic), and actor of stage and screen. David is a former Festival Director of the Edmonton Fringe, is a producer of plays, film, and festival events.
The story is that of two prairie people heading north to build new lives for themselves. When Marlene’s journey of intimate self-discovery collides with Mac’s workday, the fun begins. Spring Alibi brings guilty smiles, and full frontal laughter, to audiences.
Full information at www.capfringe.org
| For interviews, high-res photos, and media tickets: | Email springalibi@lue42.com |
| Linda Wood Edwards | Website www.lue42.com |
| Tel (780) 466-9938 Cel (780) 918-4200 |
June 22, 2006
DC 3 Carries Edmontonians to Inaugural Washington Fringe
Three Edmonton theatre companies, scouted at last summer's Edmonton Fringe present a mini-festival of their shows at the Roxy Theatre before heading off to the brand new Capital Fringe. The shows run in Edmonton on July 14-16.
Last August, Damian Sinclair, Executive Director of the Capital Fringe, selected productions to host at their inaugural festival. The three shows going are: simple gifts by Tracy Penner, Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor, and Spring Alibi by Linda Wood Edwards. The Alberta connection is being touted at the Smithsonian's Folkways Festival of Alberta Culture earlier in July.
simple gifts stars Penner as Karen, a woman who has grown up in a small Mennonite community, and who has as many reasons to leave as to stay. The solo show, directed by Melissa Thingelstad, was hailed as "Flawless" (Vue Weekly) at the 2005 Edmonton Fringe. "Not only does Penner infuse comic relief at every turn and with each endearing character, she shows a human side that will touch audiences who just can't help but relate." (Edmonton Sun).
Hilarious and tragic all at once, Never Swim Alone is a force of theatrical energy. Two men locked in a cutthroat competition. Refereed by a young woman who holds the key to a traumatic event shared in their boyhood. An event that has shaped their sense of survival and success. Bradley Moss directs April Banigan, Amber Borotsik, and Caroline Livingstone in this remount of the five-star Fringe production.
The Edmonton Sun called Spring Alibi "…a small, well-observed comic gem about two souls adrift in the Yukon…riotously entertaining but with a beating heart at the centre". Wood Edwards' first play, Spring Alibi won Nakai Theatre's 24-Hour Playwriting Competition. David Cheoros directs Michele Brown and Andy Northrup in this new production.
All three productions will go on to five performances each at the Canadian Embassy, and join more than 100 other groups performing in 18 venues in and around downtown Washington, DC. Full details on this bold new festival are at www.capfringe.org.
The three Edmonton shows will perform in repertory on July 14-16th, according to the schedule below. Tickets are $15 each, or $12 for students and seniors, or buy a ticket to all three for $40. All Edmonton performances are at the Roxy Theatre, 10708 - 124 Street. Tickets are available at 453-2440. For more information on the productions, go to www.lue42.com
| DC-3 In Edmonton | Never Swim Alone | simple gifts | Spring Alibi |
| Friday, July 14th | 10:00pm | 7:00pm | 8:30pm |
| Saturday, July 15th | 8:30pm | 7:00pm | 10:00pm |
| Sunday, July 16th | 1:00pm | 2:30pm | 4:00pm |
This project acknowledges the support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the 2006 Alberta at the Smithsonian Project.
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For More Information
Linda Wood Edwards
918-4200 or Linda@lue42.com
Sterling Award Nominations Announced
Liz Nicholls, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Tuesday, June 06, 2006
EDMONTON - Maybe they'll have to rename happy hour at the Next Act. Something like Exhilaration and/or Despair Hour: one more round, with feeling. Edmonton's big, loud, opinionated theatre community assembled in the Strathcona actors' pub Monday to hoist a glass and spring roll in honour of the season's achievements onstage.
Among the nominees:
- Outstanding Fringe new work (award to playwright): Breathe by Adrian Lackey (Tuna Melt), Nighthawk Rules by James Hamilton and Collin Doyle (40 Foot Theatre), Soul Mate by David Belke (ACME Theatrics), Spring Alibi by Linda Wood Edwards (Northern Sabbatical Productions)
- Outstanding Fringe performance by an actress: Clarice Eckford, A Day for Surprises/The Love Course (SPIRIT), Caroline Livingstone, Never Swim Alone (Scarface Productions), Tracy Penner, Simple Gifts (That's Life Productions), Liana Shannon, Afterplay (Blarney Productions)
Also, a special Sterling will go to the versatile Gerald Osborn (the Margaret Mooney Award in Administration).
Voting by the theatre community, 500 strong, is next (next year, voting is by jury). Then comes the divvying up of the Lucite hardware. The Sterlings will be distributed at a June 26 gala at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre, hosted by veteran arts commentator Colin MacLean and actor Kate Ryan.
lnicholls@thejournal.canwest.com
 Photos by Paul Gillis Photography Paul Gillis Photography 7640 Holmes Run Drive Falls Church VA 22042 (703) 573-4342 Email: pgillis@cox.net |
Click here for more pictures| Spring Alibi 2006 Homepage |
