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One Little Goat Theatre Company

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One Little Goat Theatre Company[1] is a theatre company devoted to modern and contemporary "poetic theatre".[2][3] Founded by poet, playwright and director Adam Seelig in New York City in 2002, and based in Toronto since 2005, the company performs provocative takes on international plays. The company takes its name from the ancient Aramaic folk song that traditionally concludes the Passover Seder.

Poetic theatre

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Producing, developing, and defining "poetic theatre" has been One Little Goat's mandate since the company's inception.[4][5] One Little Goat's Artistic Director, Adam Seelig, outlines key elements of the company's aesthetic in an essay for the Capilano Review.[6] These elements include "charactor" (Seelig's term for combining an actor's onstage persona with their offstage nature), the "prism/gap" between actor and audience, and ambiguity. In the essay, Seelig also traces the influences of Sophocles, Zeami, Luigi Pirandello, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Thomas Bernhard, and others on One Little Goat's dramatic approach.

“Poetic theatre attempts to find clarity through ambiguity. It's not verse theatre or prose theatre or journalistic theatre. It's theatre that treats the text as a score [...] and treats the gap between actor and audience not as an obstacle to bypass, but as a medium through which multiple meanings can emerge. There's a difference between shining a light directly into the audience's eyes, and having it pass through a prism."[7]

Production history

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Antigone : Insurgency premiered November 9–25, 2007 at the Walmer Centre Theatre in Toronto. It is a post-9/11 reworking of Sophocles' tragedy from the fifth-century BC. The production explored the socio-political repercussions of combating insurgency by drawing parallels between the original Greek tragedy and current global politics, the production explores the socio-political repercussions of combating insurgency.[8][9]

Someone is Going to Come premiered March 13–29, 2009 at the Walmer Centre Theatre in Toronto. It was written by Jon Fosse, directed by Seelig, and translated from the Norwegian by Harry Lane and Adam Seelig. The three-person play centred around feelings of jealousy involves a man and a woman who move to the middle of nowhere to be alone together, but grow anxious that "someone is going to come".[10][11]

Talking Masks (Oedipussy) premiered from November 13–28, 2009, at the Walmer Centre Theatre in Toronto. It was written and directed by Seelig. Talking Masks is published by BookThug (Toronto 2009).[12]

Ritter, Dene, Voss premiered from September 23 – October 10, 2010 at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York. It was written by Thomas Bernhard, directed by Seelig, and translated from the German by Kenneth Northcott and Peter Jansen[13]

Like the First Time premiered from October 28 – November 13, 2011 at the Walmer Centre Theatre in Toronto. It was written and directed by Seelig. It is modeled on Luigi Pirandello’s 1920 play, Come Prima Meglio di Prima, and written without punctuation.[14] Like the First Time is published by BookThug (Toronto 2011).[15]

The Charge of the Expormidable Moose premiered from May 10–26, 2013 at the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space in Toronto. It was written by Claude Gauvreau, directed by Seelig, and translated from the French by Ray Ellenwood. The Charge of the Expormidable Moose (La Charge de l'orignal épormyable, 1956) revolves around a poet who is envied, plagiarized, mocked and ultimately sacrificed by his fellow housemates.[16] The Charge of the Expormidable Moose is published by Exile Editions (Toronto 1996).[17]

Ubu Mayor premiered from September 12 – 21, 2014 at the Wychwood Theatre in Toronto. It was written, composed and directed by Seelig. It combines Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry with the antics of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug. It was One Little Goat's first play to feature live music. [18][19] Ubu Mayor: A Harmful Bit of Fun is published by BookThug (Toronto 2014).[20]

Since 2016, 'PLAY: A (Mini) History of Theatre for Kids has been performed in Toronto elementary schools.[21][22][23] It introduces elementary school students (grades 1–6) to the theatrical "games" known as "plays". Performed by two actors, PLAY guides young audiences through four periods of drama: Prehistoric Theatre (games around the fire); Ancient Greek Theatre (Antigone by Sophocles); Japanese Noh (Sekidera Komachi by Zeami); and Modern Theatre (Gertrude Stein, Alfred Jarry, Samuel Beckett). PLAY: A (Mini) History of Theatre for Kids is published by One Little Goat (Toronto 2019)

Smyth/Williams: An All-Female Staging of the Police Transcript premiered March 3–12, 2017 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace in Toronto. On February 7, 2010, Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth of the Ontario Provincial Police interviewed Colonel Russell Williams about his possible connection to multiple crimes, including two rape murders. A mostly verbatim adaptation of the police transcript, performed by two female actors and a drummer, Smyth/Williams confronts the attitudes and norms that enable violence against women, while also challenging the conditions that support war.[24][25][26] Smyth/Williams elicited controversy. An online petition, claiming that One Little Goat Theatre Company was sensationalizing violence against women, eventually garnered over two thousand signatures calling for the show's cancellation,[27][28] and the National Post published an Op-ed denouncing the production ten days before opening.[29][30] One Little Goat issued a statement clarifying the company's empathic approach to the material.[27][31] Protesters appeared in the theatre lobby on opening night.[32][33][34] Theatre critics concluded that Smyth/Williams was performed with respect and sensitivity and did not resort to sensationalism.[32][33][34]

Music Music Life Death Music: An Absurdical premiered 25 May – June 10, 2018 at the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space in Toronto. It was written, composed and directed by Seelig. The "absurdical" explored the unexpected dynamics between three generations of family: a grandmother, her daughter, son-in-law and teenage grandson.[35] Music Music Life Death Music is published by One Little Goat (Toronto 2018)

Radio Plays by Yehuda Amichai

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English Language World Premieres, 2003–2006, various venues including the 92nd Street Y and Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto, and in a podcast for Poetry magazine.[36]

References

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  1. ^ New York Times, 1 October 2010
  2. ^ "He, She and the Man make for a Seussian tale," Globe and Mail, 16 March 2009
  3. ^ "Play about national security, civil rights raises questions," Canadian Jewish News, 8 Nov 2007
  4. ^ One Little Goat Theatre Company website
  5. ^ "Hysteria, Histrionics, Hypocrisy: The Theater of Thomas Bernhard Comes to New York City," Jonathan Taylor interviews Adam Seelig, Emdashes, September 13, 2010.
  6. ^ Capilano Review, “Poets Theatre” issue, Spring 2010
  7. ^ nytheatre interview with Adam Seelig
  8. ^ Chang, Dongshin (June 16, 2011), Mee, Erin B.; Foley, Helene P. (eds.), "Democracy at War: Antigone: Insurgency in Toronto", Antigone on the Contemporary World Stage, Oxford University Press, pp. 267–285, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586196.003.0015, ISBN 978-0-19-958619-6, retrieved July 24, 2023
  9. ^ Apostolides, Marianne (January 2009). "A Review of Antigone: Insurgency". Canadian Theatre Review. 137: 95–96. doi:10.3138/ctr.137.020. ISSN 0315-0836.
  10. ^ Crew, Robert (March 17, 2009). "Someone creepy this way comes". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  11. ^ Kaplan, Jon (March 17, 2009). "Someone Is Going To Come - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  12. ^ Talking Masks: Oedipussy (BookThug, Toronto, 2009)
  13. ^ Histrionics: Three Plays, Thomas Bernhard (University of Chicago Press, 1990)
  14. ^ Every Day in the Morning (slow) (New Star Books, Vancouver, 2010), ISBN 9781554200511
  15. ^ Like the First Time (BookThug, Toronto, 2011) Archived June 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ The "Charge of the Expormidable Moose: A terrific introduction to an unjustly neglected work," Globe and Mail, May 13, 2013.
  17. ^ The Charge of the Expormidable Moose. Exile Editions. 1996. ISBN 9781550961812 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ "Entertaining, topsy-turvy romp of political shenanigans & scandal in Ubu Mayor," Life With More Cowbell, September 13, 2014
  19. ^ "Time on his side: Seelig stages Ubu-clever Rob Ford satire," Martin Morrow Reviews, September 13, 2014
  20. ^ Ubu Mayor: A Harmful Bit of Fun (BookThug, Toronto, 2014) Archived December 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "Playwright Brings Theatre to Inner City Kids," Amy Grief, Canadian Jewish News, November 9, 2016 (retrieved July 10, 2018).
  22. ^ "Grant helps introduce theatre to inner city youth in Toronto," Fanny Sunshine, North York Mirror, November 1, 2016 (retrieved July 10, 2018).
  23. ^ "Interview with Adam Seelig." The More the Merrier with Donna G. CIUT 89.5 FM Radio, Toronto, 31 Oct 2021.
  24. ^ "Toronto theatre to stage play based on the confession of killer Russell Williams," Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press, CBC News, January 23, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  25. ^ "Play based on Russell Williams' interrogation advocates for women's rights," Gilbert Ngabo, Metro News, January 25, 2017.
  26. ^ Smyth/Williams: An All-female Staging of the Police Transcript production web page.
  27. ^ a b "Smyth/Williams actors say play grew from empathy for Russell Williams’ victims: One Little Goat under fire for creating work from transcript of police interview with killer," Carly Maga, Toronto Star, March 1, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  28. ^ "Creative team behind Russell Williams play seeks to 'reflect on endemic misogyny,'" Lauren La Rose, The Canadian Press, CTV News, March 1, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  29. ^ "Dramatizing the interrogation of Russell Williams an act of cold-blooded voyeurism," Michelle Hauser, National Post, February 23, 2017.
  30. ^ "Statement from One Little Goat Regarding 'Smyth/Williams,'" One Little Goat Theatre Company website, January 31, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  31. ^ "Murder victim’s friend calls for cancellation of play about Russell Williams," Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press, Toronto Star, January 31, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  32. ^ a b "Review: S—:W—," Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter (retrieved July 12, 2018). Veteran Canadian Theatre critic Lynn Slotkin writes: "The sheet of explanation [distributed by protesters on opening night] though well intentioned in respecting the memories of the dead women and those others Williams abused, believes that the play is being disrespectful to Williams’ victims. It is not. I’ve actually seen the play. The play is doing what it intends to do: '…confronting the attitudes and norms that enable violence.'
  33. ^ a b "Getting to the truth, & touching on the why, about violence against women in the thought-provoking, chilling SMYTH / WILLIAMS," Cate McKim, Life with More Cowbell, March 4, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  34. ^ a b "Disturbing Smyth/Williams avoids sensationalism," Jordan Bimm, NOW Magazine, March 7, 2017 (retrieved July 12, 2018).
  35. ^ "Absuridical" is a coinage that merges absurdist and musical theatre: see Carly Maga, "Bringing the Absurd to Life," Toronto Star, May 30, 2018; Kelly Bedard, "Music Music Life Death Music: An Absurdical," My Entertainment World, June 5, 2018 (retrieved same day); Ilana Lucas, "Music Music Life Death Music (One Little Goat)," Mooney on theatre, May 26, 2018 (retrieved same day); and CBC's "Here and Now" with Gill Deacon on May 24, 2018 ("What's an absurdical? New show Music Music Life Death Music, that's what." -@CBCHereandNow, Twitter, May 24, 2018).
  36. ^ "Killing Him: A Radio Play," Poetry Magazine publication and podcast, summer 2008
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