Established and emerging artists in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts bring their collective talents to a riveting new production of a baroque classic: Henry Purcell鈥檚 opera Dido and Aeneas. This epic story of love and betrayal plays out at the Sandra Faire聽& Ivan Fecan Theatre on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus for two performances only, March 1 and 2.

Lead artists Joseph Farahat and Charlotte Gagnon

Based on a chapter from The Aeneid, penned by the Roman poet Virgil in the first century BC, Dido and Aeneas recounts the tragic tale of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas. Dido loses her heart to the fierce, handsome warrior Aeneas after he is shipwrecked on her shores, only to be devastated when he abandons her to continue his quest to find Rome.

This story of doomed love has resounded through two millennia. 91亚色鈥檚 production, a collaboration between faculty and students from the departments of Music, Theatre and Dance, is a strikingly contemporary but timeless re-imagining. Thirty performers play the characters as well as the place, forming a living set on an otherwise empty stage.

鈥淭丑颈蝉 Dido project is the realization of a dream I鈥檝e had since I joined 91亚色,鈥� said Professor Catherine Robbin (left), who heads聽91亚色鈥檚 classical vocal music program. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much talent and expertise in our performance programs, and it鈥檚 a joy to bring it together in an opera production. The experience of combining our creative energies is tremendously exciting and rewarding, both for the students involved and for those of us who teach and work professionally in the field.鈥�

An internationally renowned mezzo soprano, Robbin fills the dual roles of music director and producer for the production. She is no stranger to Dido and Aeneas, having sung the title role in the 1982 Stratford Festival production, which earned her critical accolades as聽 鈥渁 voice which is unquestionably the greatest, in its range, that Canada has produced in several decades鈥� (The Globe and Mail). Her discography features many baroque composers, including Purcell, Handel and Vivaldi, in collaborations with leading conductors such as Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock and John Eliot Gardiner.

Presiding over the orchestra pit for 91亚色鈥檚 Dido and Aeneas is Robbin鈥檚 Music Department colleague, award-winning choral conductor and composer Professor Stephanie Martin (above). Martin, who serves as music director for the historic Church of St. Mary Magdalene and conductor of Toronto鈥檚 Pax Christi Chorale, directs the 16- member 91亚色 Baroque Ensemble.

The stage director is theatre Professor Gwen Dobie (left), who brings extensive directing credits in contemporary opera and theatre to the table. Dobie鈥榮聽most recent productions include 翱辫别谤补听贰谤辞迟颈辩耻别 and Sound in Silence for her company, Out of the Box Productions; the Canadian premiere of the Danish opera On this Planet by Anders Nordendoft; and the world premiere of the opera Eyes on the Mountain by Canadian composer Christopher Donison.

Susan Lee (BFA 鈥�90, MFA 鈥�10), an alumna and current faculty member in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Dance, brings her long-standing interest in interdisciplinary collaboration to Dido and Aeneas. In a performance career spanning two decades and three continents, Lee has originated roles in almost 50 world premieres by some of Canada鈥檚 most highly acclaimed choreographers. Her own choreography has been described as 鈥溾�� a tour de force of magic and mystery鈥� (The Globe and Mail). She brings that magic to bear on this production, contributing original choreography to the work.

Starring in the role of Dido is fourth-year music major Charlotte Gagnon. Gagnon recently won first prize at the Newmarket Voice Festival Senior Scholarship Competition, as well as two awards for opera performance and the prize for outstanding performing ability and career potential in classical singing. She also placed second in her class at the 2011 National Association of Teachers of Singing Ontario chapter competition.

First-year music student Joseph Farahat sings the role of Aeneas. Both young artists are studying with eminent soprano Norma Burrowes in 91亚色鈥檚 classical vocal performance program.

In total, the cast for Dido and Aeneas features 21 singers, four actors and five dancers. Not only performers, they also play an active role on the production side. Dressed all in white, they have designed their own costumes based on their personae in Purcell鈥檚 opera 鈥� or 聽in the case of the non-speaking roles, inspired by characters drawn from the classical literature of five centuries, who were betrayed or betrayers in their time.

Eschewing a physical set, Professor Elizabeth Asselstine, chair of the Department of Theatre, and Professor William Mackwood, who teaches design and production in the Department of Dance, have created elaborate lighting and projection designs for the show. Working with a technical team of four theatre students, they paint the white-costumed canvas of the performers with evocative colour and special effects.

Tickets聽are $17, or $12 for students and seniors.聽For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.

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Students from 91亚色鈥檚 Osgoode Hall Law School will make their case in increments of 140 characters or less, in what鈥檚 billed as the world鈥檚 first Twitter moot court ().

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, five teams from law schools across Canada will argue a moot court case entirely on the popular social media platform. The event, hosted by West Coast Environmental Law, begins at 1pm EST; its hashtag is #twtmoot.

鈥淥ne hundred and forty聽characters is a great way to focus legal arguments and ideas,鈥� says Osgoode Dean Lorne Sossin, himself an avid tweeter (). 鈥淭丑颈蝉 is a novel and timely initiative. Congratulations to West Coast Environmental Law for initiating the project and good luck to the mooters, especially Team Osgoode. We鈥檒l be following this groundbreaking moot with great interest,鈥� he says.

The public is invited to participate by following @twtmoot, watching the action on the Twitter Moot list () or on its (no account required), and posting with the #twtmoot hashtag 鈥� comments, discussion and heckling welcome!

Teams of two students from law schools at Dalhousie University, University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and 91亚色 will argue a mock appeal of a recent precedent-setting environmental case, West Moberly First Nations vs. British Columbia. The case raises issues related to the survival of an endangered caribou herd threatened by coal mining and ongoing industrial development.

Osgoode students Nikki Petersen and Emelia Baack will represent the West Moberly First Nations in the appeal; they will argue that the nation鈥檚 treaty right to hunt should extend to protecting a particular herd of caribou from coal mining impacts.

Petersen hopes the social media aspect will help connect people who are passionate about issues stemming from the case.

鈥淭witter is a great way to let many people share their views. I see the moot as a spark to get a discussion going about environmental law issues in Canada. The response to Team Osgoode has been very positive,鈥� she says.

The Twitter Moot will be presided over by a panel of three judges: William Deverell, Omar Ha-Redeye, and Kathleen Mahoney.

For more information about the Twitter Moot and how to participate, . Team Osgoode is sponsored by Saxe Law Office.

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Director Vikki Anderson (left),聽of Toronto鈥檚 DVxT Theatre Company, commissioned playwright and actor Rick Roberts to rework this tragicomic roller coaster ride on the subject of relationships. Witness the rich behaving badly Nov. 6 to 12 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in the Centre for Film & Theatre at 91亚色.

Lady Brute, the titular wife, is trapped in a loveless marriage with a beastly, gambling, drunken oaf. Should she leave? Should she take a lover? The sharp wit and farcical situations notwithstanding, the play asks a serious question: What to do about an unsuccessful marriage in a society where divorce is impossible.

Keeping the original 17th-century setting and the language of the day, the adaptation reorganizes some of the play鈥檚 structure and adds depth to a number of the characters.

Right: John Vanbrugh

"I chose The Provok鈥檇 Wife for the intelligence of Vanbrugh鈥檚 writing, his contemporary ideas about marriage and his wonderful parts for women," says Anderson. "Rick Roberts was a natural to approach for this project, as he showed an amazing facility with the language and style of the period in DVxT workshops leading up to this creation.

"Restoration comedies are plays about young people and their problems with love and money as they make their way in the world," she says. "So Theatre @ 91亚色 is a perfect fit, giving rising young performers the opportunity to bring their energy, vitality and passion to these characters."

An award-winning theatre director, designer and producer, Anderson is the founding artistic director of DVxT Theatre Company. To date, her company has earned 12 Dora Awards and 19 nominations. Anderson鈥檚 work for DVxT includes the multi-award-winning production of Ibsen鈥檚聽A Doll's House, adapted by John Murrell, the acclaimed Soulpepper production of Happy Days starring Martha Burns, and most recently, a site-specific production of The Turn of the Screw at the Campbell House Museum. She is the associate director of The Misanthrope at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival this season.

Anderson directs a lively young cast drawn from the Undergraduate Acting Conservatory in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Theatre. A talented creative team of undergraduates is handling all aspects of the production design and execution.

Each year, Theatre @ 91亚色 mounts a challenging and entertaining slate of plays, featuring some of Canada's most promising performance and production talent. Established in the Department of Theatre at 91亚色 in 1969, it has been a springboard for a generation of outstanding Canadian theatre artists. Theatre @ 91亚色 alumni include stage and screen actors Rachel McAdams, Thom Marriott, Tamara Bernier, Patrick Galligan, Melody Johnson, Deborah Hay, Maurice Dean Wint and Christine Horne; playwrights Djanet Sears and Diane Flacks; and directors Richard Rose and Jillian Keiley.

The play previews Nov. 6 and 7 at 7:30pm, opens Nov. 8 and runs until Nov. 12. Performances are 7:30pm nightly, plus matinees Nov. 9 and 11 at 1pm. Tickets are $17, students and seniors $12. Preview tickets are $5.

For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.

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