AIRPORT SECURITY at Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre – Studio Theatre

[M.T. Al-Mansouri, Ph.D.]

We present challenging, contemporary, politically-charged Canadian theatre for a young, educated, urban audience. We are exclusively dedicated to the creation and presentation of new work, specializing in works by Ottawa artists.

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks. M.T. Al-Mansouri

AIRPORT SECURITY
June 3-12, 2010
Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre – Studio Theatre

HAVE YOUR VALID BOARDING PASS READY FOR AIRPORT SECURITY!
Gruppo Rubato’s newest production takes off June 3, 2010

Airport Security, the newest play by award-winning artist Patrick Gauthier, marks Gruppo Rubato’s return to the Ottawa stage. Presented at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre-Studio Theatre, 1233 Wellington St. West (at Holland Ave), the performance runs June 4-12, 2010, with a special preview performance on June 3rd. Can’t wait that long? Visit our website, www.rubato.ca , to catch the latest installment of our 4-part short film, Airport Security, before we open!

Airport Security exposes our fears and foibles of airport protocol in Rubato’s characteristic witty and political style. Playing on our insecurities and overconfidence in a system destined to both convolute and demystify air travel, from shuttles to baggage carousels, departures to arrivals, Airport Security scans Canada’s growing obsession with “security.”

Written and directed by Patrick Gauthier (2010 winner of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa’s RBC Emerging Artist Award, Rideau Award-Emerging Artist nominee and director of the multiple award-winning production Countries Shaped Like Stars), the production features talented local actors Simon Bradshaw, Kris Joseph, Catriona Leger, Tania Levy and Kate Smith. Sarah Waghorn designs Costume and Props (having previously designed for Rubato’s productions of Listening and The Churchill Protocol). First time design collaborators are: John Doucet (Set), Pierre Ducharme (Lighting) and Original music by Ottawa newcomer, Ann Walton. Emily Pearlman (co-creator of Countries Shaped Like Stars by ¡Mi Casa! Theatre) is production Dramaturg.

Tickets are on sale now through the Great Canadian Theatre Company Box Office, in person or by phone [phone]). Show times are 7:30 p.m. with a Pay-What-You-Can Matinee on June 6 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 ($20 for students). For more information, visit our website at www.rubato.ca.

Gruppo Rubato was founded in 2002 by Patrick Gauthier and Tania Levy, and includes core members Kris Joseph and Gavriella Silverstone. Rubato presents challenging, contemporary, politically-charged Canadian theatre for a young, educated, urban audience. We are exclusively dedicated to the creation and presentation of new work, specializing in works by Ottawa artists.

Gruppo Rubato is dedicated to creating challenging, contemporary theatre for a young, educated, urban audience. The core members of Gruppo Rubato are passionate about political theatre: work that challenges audiences to reflect on their ethical and moral standpoints; work that calls for action on issues that are important to Canadians. We are exclusively dedicated to the creation and presentation of new work, and we are committed to encouraging the fertility of the local arts scene by focusing on plays written by Ottawa artists. Gruppo Rubato seeks to increase the visibility of the Ottawa theatre community’s creativity by sharing its work through touring its productions, and by inviting artists from other communities to take part in our creative process.

Since its founding in 2002 by Patrick Gauthier and Tania Levy, Gruppo Rubato has produced seven original plays, four of which were presented at Fringe festivals in six major Canadian cities. This track record of new creation is unique among Ottawa-based theatre companies. The company currently consists of four core members – Patrick Gauthier, Kris Joseph, Tania Levy, and Gavriella Silverstone – and has become known for its dark humour, biting satire, and stylized performance. Rubato shows are always highly anticipated, regularly playing to packed houses and critical acclaim.

In 2003, Gruppo Rubato was invited by Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company to produce a show for their Great Canadian Late Night Series, while from 2004-2007 the company toured nationally on the Fringe Festival circuit (winning multiple awards and praise in the process). In 2007 Rubato’s The Churchill Protocol was invited to participate in the Magnetic North Theatre Festival’s Industry Series Pitch Session for delegates from across the country, the continent, and the world. Most recently, Ottawa’s Rideau Awards recognized the company’s production of The Churchill Protocol, naming the play Ottawa’s “Best New Creation” of 2007, while the Great Canadian Theatre Company has invited Rubato to participate in the GCTC’s highly sought after Production Mentorship program.

Now six years old, Rubato’s work has been called “dark and provocative” (Ottawa Citizen), “pure delirium” (CBC Ottawa), “relevant and poignant” (CBC Toronto), and “funny, furious, and smart” (Edmonton Journal). In 2004, Denis Armstrong of the Ottawa Sun said: “Some companies are just plain talented. Gruppo Rubato is one of those companies.”

Company BIOS

PATRICK GAUTHIER (Artistic Director)

Patrick Gauthier is a multiple award winning Ottawa-based theatre creator. Playwriting credits include Tourist Things (Theatre la Catapulte/Magnetic North Theatre Festival), 8 Words That Ruined My Relationship (Gruppo Rubato), The Churchill Protocol (w/ Kris Joseph; Gruppo Rubato), The Man Who Went to Work One Day and Got Eaten by a Bear (Gruppo Rubato). As a director, Pat’s recent credits include Criminals in Love (Encore! Theatre), Conservatives in Love (Leave the Pants at Home Equity co-op), The Learned Ladies, The Maids, and Agatha(all at Theatre UBC) and Edward Albee’s Listening (Gruppo Rubato).

In 2007, Pat’s production of The Churchill Protocol was named “Best New Creation” at Ottawa’s Rideau Awards; and in 2005 his short play Dawn of the Dad won the Magnetic North Theatre Festival’s “Magnetic Words” playwriting contest. Pat is a founding member and Artistic Director of Ottawa creation-company Gruppo Rubato, and is a member of GCTC’s 2008/09 Playmaker’s Society. He holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Ottawa and an MFA in Directing for the Theatre from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

KRIS JOSEPH

Kris Joseph is an Ottawa-based artist with more than 15 years of performance experience. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Zucchini Grotto Theatre Company, which produces a mix of musical theatre and cabaret events, and has been a core member of Gruppo Rubato since he appeared with the company in a Fringe production in 2003. Some of his favorite, most recent performance work includes The Changeling (National Arts Centre English Theatre), How The Other Half Loves and Doubt (Gladstone Productions), A Midwinter’s Dream Tale (Company of Fools), Zadie’s Shoes (Great Canadian Theatre Company), The Ark 2008 and Macbeth (NAC English Theatre). He was nominated for a Rideau Award for his work in SevenThirty Productions’ The Good Father, and shares a Rideau with Patrick Gauthier for their collaboration on Gruppo Rubato’s The Churchill Protocol. Kris has a deep love of Shakespeare and dreams of eventually performing every play in the canon; in addition to Macbeth he has also appeared Merchant of Venice, As You LIke It, Measure for Measure, and The Taming of the Shrew. This fall, Kris is thrilled to be joining National Arts Centre’s 40th Anniversary Resident Acting Company, where he will be appearing in A Christmas Carol and Mother Courage and Her Children.

TANIA LEVY

Tania Levy is a bilngual theatre creator/performer born, raised and working in Ottawa. Tania has created with many local companies in English and French. She has performed as an actor, improviser and site animator. She was a member of the inaugural season of Third Wall Theatre’s Shakespeare Ensemble in the fall of 2008. Her recent performance credits include Top Girls, Henry V (Third Wall Theatre), Turcaret, the Financier (in a staged reading with Odyssey Theatre). Most recently, she performed in Trash/Rebut as part of the Rideau Project/Projet Rideau (Théâtre la Catapulte) featured at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival and returns to this production at Festival Zones Théâtrales in the fall. She has performed in virtually all of Gruppo Rubato’s productions to date.

She directed Patrick Gauthier’s 8 Words That Ruined My Relationship as part of the Meta Schmeta event (mutatis mutandis). She was an Intern in Directing on Théâtre la Catapulte’s highly successful production, Safari de banlieue. Tania wrote and directed Rubato’s inaugural production …and what she found there. She has written and performed two solo shows The Jewish Princess Diaries and The Opposite of Infinity, touring the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit from Ottawa to Vancouver. She holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Ottawa.

GAVRIELLA SILVERSTONE

Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Gavriella Silverstone moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 2001 to attend the University of Ottawa, where she completed her BA in Theatre. Some of Gav’s other training includes six years of Israeli Folkdancing, Acting for the Camera (SIFT) with Michael Riley and Improvisation workshops and performances at The iNSTiTUTiON with Ken Godmere. She is a core member of Ottawa theatre company Gruppo Rubato, and has toured across the country on the Fringe Festival circuit. Other stage credits include: The Vagina Monologues, Jean McCormack in Plaza Suite (Vision Theatre), Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Tibor Egevari and Jabberwocky directed by Eric Paul Parent (U of 0), as well as The Wife in The Jewish Wife and She in Edward Albee’s Counting the Ways, both directed by Patrick Gauthier. Gavriella has appeared in Odyssey Theatre’s In The Works festival, and was most recently seen at the Meta Schmeta festival in Patrick Gauthier’s 8 Words That Ruined My Relationship. Gavriella now holds an MA from Concordia University and is proud to be able to call herself a Dramatherapist. She is currently working with immigrant and refugee families in Israel.

“Some companies are just plain talented. Gruppo Rubato is one of those companies.”

– Denis Armstrong, Ottawa Sun