While in Edmonton, Canada for The International Fringe Festival the cast of The Man Who Wasn't There took time to Busk on The Fringe Grounds. This not only gave us more opportunities to perform but was a fulfilling way to connect with people and invite them to our show!
I've cut together a few great moments. Check it out:
Edmonton FRINGE – Part 1 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 2 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 3 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 4 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 5 Edmonton FRINGE - Part 6
Our tech rehearsal is finally here which means we get see the performance space for the first time. The Fringe festival only allows 3 hours in the space to take care of all technical issues such as; lighting, sound, spacing, etc. We managed to cover all our bases and more. By more I mean we managed to sneak in a little photo shoot.
Our venue is on the King Edward School campus, only two blocks from the FRINGE sight. The school is absolutely breathtaking!
The King Edward School first opened its doors to students March 9th, 1914, the Edmonton Bulletin newspaper was moved to note that its new shower baths "will be a novelty to many of the children, who never before saw hot water come down like rain." The new school also featured 17 classrooms, an automatic heat regulator (also notable for its day), separate playrooms for boys and girls and dedicated manual training and domestic science rooms.
Named for the eldest son of Queen Victoria, King Edward was the first school in Edmonton constructed with reinforced concrete. The Bulletin reported it took a million pounds of cement and one long train load of gravel, millions of brick (sic), miles of pipe, carloads of glass and in all about five train loads of material. But there is very little lumber or wood in the building, for it is built to be fireproof. (source)
We are honored to be performing in such a historic building in their community.
After tech rehearsal Lauren Cox and I, James Koroni, invited everyone over to our hosts home to eat dinner, prepared by us. 
Our hosts have an organic garden that provides half of their produce and the other half comes in every Tuesday from a farming co-op, which is evenly split amongst local families. You basically receive whatever can be grown with current weather conditions in consideration. With our host family out of town there were so many veggies to eat. The trick is, you must use what is available which was mostly onions, potatoes, cucumbers, parsley and peas. We got creative with some tempeh and here's the result:
Marinated Tempeh with green pearl onions and string beans Green onion, red quinoa Garlicky baked potato wedges with parsley Oven roasted sweet onions Cucumber salad with cherry tomatoes
We're excited to see how local produce can inspire every meal for the rest of our stay here in Edmonton.
A gallery from today for your viewing pleasure: [flagallery gid=8 name="Gallery"]
Edmonton FRINGE – Part 1 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 2 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 3 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 4 Edmonton FRINGE – Part 5 Edmonton FRINGE - Part 6
Our ensembles' interests and talents are as diverse as the group itself. We come from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Providence, Jamaica, Singapore, Puerto Rico, and beyond. Between us we have worked on performance projects across the globe. We are interested in what we have in common as human beings. We believe that performance is a bridge, that it is deeply imbedded in our nature, and provides a means toward social change and greater understanding of our shared condition.
Help us get to Canada and back us on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/60934704/the-man-who-wasnt-there
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Three performances will be held in Shapiro Theater: August 3 @ 8:00pm August 4 @ 7:00pm and 10:00pm
The production will then travel to Canada and participate in the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. August 12-26
FT Collab Members - Bryan Quick, A Writer Mei Ann Teo, A Director Adam "Robot" Nash, A Composer/Musician Adrian Silver, A Choreographer/Dramaturg Mariana Ortiz, A Producer Lauren Cox, A Dancer Mary Ellen Beaudreau, A Dancer James Koroni, A Dancer Jessica Myers, A Dancer Kevon Simpson, A Dancer
We ask you to join us on this journey, toward asking the right questions, engaging in a serious investigation, and gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. Click to enlarge images:
Journeys are seldom undertaken voluntarily. Somehow we look up to find that we've been traveling with no clear direction or destination. We collide with others and imprint their experiences onto our own- we take on each other's mannerisms, thoughts, points of view. Occasionally we are injured, and these experiences can teach us to withdraw, to retreat within ourselves for fear of rejection, inadequacy, sorrow. But if we take care, we can move through the world expanding, our spirits growing at every intersection of two souls, growing to include every joy and every sorrow, preserving through this expansion all that is essential in human experience.-Jessica Myers
FT Collab presents: 'The Man Who Wasn't There' at DIXON Place Thursday, June 21 8PM
Our creative process is a journey of it's own and we invite you to join us! We will be updating our blog throughout our rehearsals and performance season which begins Next week! Here's the link: