Wildside Festival

The middle of January in Montreal is not traditionally the most rocking time in town. However all is not lost, there is one spark of light on the snowy, frozen, horizon. The city’s largest English-language theatre, The Centaur, has taken advantage of the seasonal downtime to produce the Wildside Festival, one of the more interesting theatre festivals in Montreal.

The middle of January in Montreal is not traditionally the most rocking time in town. However all is not lost, there is one spark of light on the snowy, frozen, horizon.
The city’s largest English-language theatre, The Centaur, has taken advantage of the seasonal downtime to produce the Wildside Festival, one of the more interesting theatre festivals in Montreal.
This year’s festival runs from Jan. 13 to 25 and the pickings appear far from slim. There is a rock n’ roll theme to a few of the shows, so music lovers will be smitten.
Festival coordinator Andrew Shaver is optimistic that people will brave the cold and come out to see the shows. “The festival has proven itself, this is the 12th year and people do turn out for this.” The attendance numbers have increased over the years and the decision was made this year to add on two more shows to the festival.
“It’s really a result of the quality and amount of good work going on in Montreal,” Shaver explains.
The shows are selected by Shaver and the Centaur’s artistic director, Roy Surette.
Kicking off the fest is the show that took the Centaur’s best of the Fringe award ‘Off The Main’ this past summer, Die Roten Punkte – German for The Red Dots.
“I don’t know why we keep ending up in theatre shows, we are a rock band, and we do concerts,” joked band member Astrid Rot.
While she claims to be unsure as to whether or not this is cool, her band mate and brother Otto apparently has no trouble with crossing into live theatre, ” Otto is so happy when people laugh during our concerts,” she says. “People are always laughing at us in Canada.”
Die Roten Punkte have just arrived from a series of shows in New York City that were so popular that chairs had to be added to the venue to handle the crowd.
The festival also features six other shows, with productions hailing from as far as Australia and Vancouver. The offerings vary in theme from one man’s memories of Auschwitz, to a tale of optimistic adventure from Africa.
Tickets are cheap at $10 or $12 for students, but the other option, if you’re a hardcore fan, is the Wildside pass ($40 for students), which gets you into all the shows.
The Centaur started the festival as an effort to encourage smaller theatre companies by offering their stage, their PR team and their crew to selected productions, who are given a guaranteed fee for performing and 75 per cent of the box office revenues. In return, the theatre has the opportunity to develop up-and-coming talent and attract an audience that may not normally frequent Montreal’s grand dame of theatre.

Featured Plays

Sahara Crossing
Local actor and Wildside veteran Paul Van Dyke tells the tale of his (perhaps misguided) trek from Morocco, through the Sahara and into Egypt. The tale of his trials and tribulations promises to be a trip in itself.

Zeppelin was a Cover Band
This show looks at the huge success of legendary rock-band Led Zeppelin and who they ripped off to accomplish the sound that was once credited as being uniquely theirs. A mini rock history lesson, this piece examines the blues, and folk music and how those genres made Zeppelin – Zeppelin.

The Sputniks
An inside look at a family of escaped Soviet spies who come out from behind the iron curtain and have to cope with an unfamiliar world. This show won rave reviews and was called “superb, insightful and intelligent” by CBC television.

The Shape of a Girl
A timely piece tackling the issues of escalating violence and bullying in teens. The Shape of a Girl is one teen’s moral struggle to weigh the importance of acceptance by her peers and do the right thing.

The Ballad of the Young Offender
Rounding out the rock n’ roll theme, the Ballad of the Young Offender is a tribute to the sixties, Socrates and the strength of music as a power that can mobilize and inspire the masses.

Die Roten Punkte – Super Musikant
This piece won the Centaur’s Off The Main award at last summer’s Fringe, awarded by a group of theatre professionals who see each show in the festival and pick the best. The winners have historically been a sure bet. The story is of a German (no kidding) punk band that visits Canada to celebrate their latest album’s release SUPER MUSIKANT.

The Invisible Life of Joseph Finch
For those of you who prefer heavier fare, The Invisible Life of Joseph Finch is a one-man show encompassing the memories of an Auschwitz survivor who chooses to focus on the love in his life, rather than dwell on the hate and how his experiences affect his son, Joseph Finch.

Check out the website for more details and the festival’s
schedule. www.centaurtheatre.com

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