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听& 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听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听 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鈥榮听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 听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听are $17, or $12 for students and seniors.听For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Phillip Silver is set, costume and lighting designer for Soulpepper Theatre鈥檚 production of The Price by Arthur Miller, currently in previews and opening tomorrow.

(BA '92) has assembled a diverse team of 91亚色 talent to bring to life a theatrical, grown-up version of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev鈥檚 Peter and the Wolf. Previews begin tomorrow and opening night is Tuesday at The Theatre Centre.

The Price

This is the second time Silver, theatre professor and former dean of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts, has worked on The Price. The first was听more than听40 years ago at Edmonton鈥檚 Citadel Theatre.

Set in the crowded attic of a Manhattan brownstone in the 1960s, this family drama centres on two estranged brothers arranging to sell the contents of their dead father鈥檚 house.

听听听听听听听Above: Phillip Silver's set model for The Price听

This time around, 鈥渕y life experience has made me more aware of the currents that run through a family,鈥� said Silver. 鈥淚 appreciate this work much more in my sixties than I did in my twenties.鈥�

With the set and props for The Price being largely family heirlooms, including some antiques, Silver鈥檚 work as designer involved less set building and more shopping. Sourcing items to represent the lifestyle and personalities of the family and evoke their memories in the crowded attic room took him as far as Barrie, Woodstock and Cambridge 鈥� as well as to eBay.

That wasn鈥檛 the only challenge. Since Soulpepper runs several plays in repertory, the stage needs to be cleared daily, with sets stored to make room for the next show. Silver had to make less seem like more and devise clever ways to pack things away as compactly as possible. For example, a 鈥渟tack鈥� of chairs under a drop cloth is actually only one chair plus a wooden skeleton that gives the appearance of a number of chairs underneath. An array of smaller items is stacked inside that skeleton when it is moved into storage following each performance.

The Price will run to Oct. 6 at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto鈥檚 Distillery Historic District. For tickets, visit the 听website.

Peter and the Wolf

Above: An illustration for Theatre Rusticle's Peter and the Wolf

For Peter and the Wolf, contract faculty member (BA '90) has assembled 听actors, dancers and an eight-piece chamber orchestra to present a physically robust, poetic and musically stirring re-invention of the children鈥檚 classic as part fairy tale and part dream. It is produced by her award-winning company, Theatre Rusticle, and features a cast that includes Professor Emeritus David Smukler, Wesley Connor (MFA 鈥�09) and听Matthew Romantini (BFA 鈥�05), dancer Viv Moore (BFA 鈥�90, MA 鈥�07) and a chorus consisting of theatre students Susannah MacKay and Liam Hanebury, and Jamie Ebbs (BA 鈥�11). Katy Murphy (BA 鈥�11) serves as assistant director, former theatre student Renna Reddie is associate producer and Michelle Ramsay (BFA 鈥�97) designed the lighting.

Peter and the Wolf continues to Sept. 11 at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen St. W. For tickets, visit 听online.

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