What is beauty? How do we see ourselves and others through the human face?
Theatre @ 91亚色 launches its 2012-13 season with , British playwright 鈥檚 powerful and sensual exploration of vanity, desire and identity. Directed by Geoffrey Hyland, the production runs Oct. 21 to 27 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre at 91亚色.
In a series of comic and tragic narratives that are both poetic and provocative, Wounds to the Face examines the many faces we present to each other.聽 It explores the pain and humour we experience in discovering that these features can be changed, obliterated or simply accepted as indelibly our own.聽 It challenges our understanding of what beauty is, how we see ourselves and others, and the elusive quality we call identity.
鈥淚 think it would be very difficult to argue that the face isn鈥檛 central to who we are,鈥 said Hyland. 鈥淚n Barker鈥檚 intense, highly theatrical style, he explores why we enhance our faces with makeup or plastic surgery; how faces of great heroes, villains and celebrities are burned into the public consciousness; and what it means to 鈥榣ose face鈥 鈥 both literally and metaphorically.鈥
An alumnus of 91亚色鈥檚 (MFA '94), Hyland is professional director for theatre, opera and dance. He teaches in the Drama Department at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and is an associate teacher with Toronto鈥檚 Professional Actors鈥 Lab. A longtime champion of Barker鈥檚 work, his credits include the playwright's Kissed by Brel in London, UK (2009); Judith:聽A Parting from the Body in Cape Town, South Africa for the Howard Barker 21 for 21 International Festival (2009); and (Uncle) Vanya (2003) and Women Beware Women (1993) for Theatre @ 91亚色.
Geoffrey Hyland
Hyland says he鈥檚 happy to return to his alma mater to helm Wounds to the Face, calling 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Theatre 鈥渁 home away from home鈥 and praising the high quality of Theatre @ 91亚色 productions. This marks the sixth stop on a global directing tour聽that has seen him touching down in England, Ireland, New Zealand, and directing two shows in South Africa, including Heathcote Williams鈥 Sacred Elephant for his own company, Cockpit Theatre, and the world premiere of Between by Oskar Brown, which went on to Germany after its engagement in Dublin.
In Wounds to the Face, Hyland directs a lively young cast drawn from the Undergraduate Acting Conservatory. 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鈥檚 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.
Previews are聽Oct. 21 and 22 at 7:30pm. The play聽opens Oct. 23 and runs to Oct. 27 at 7:30pm nightly, plus matinees Oct. 24 and 26 at 1pm. The play is staged in the聽Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre, located in the Centre for Film & Theatre at 91亚色's Keele campus.
Tickets聽are $17, or $12 for students and seniors. Previews tickets are $5.聽For tickets, contact the at 416-736-5888.