MEDIA KITFor immediate release

TRACESPRODUCED BY THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME PRESENTED FROM JANUARY 31 TO FEBRUARY 11, 2012AT STUDIO 16 - 1545, West 7th Avenue, Vancouver

SYNOPSISEmerging from a period of mourning, Daniel returns to the museum he curates to discover it is on the brink of bankruptcy. As he searches for the next big idea to bring his workplace back to life, he finds a video wherein Catherine, one of his employees, describes her memories of a work which is no longer on show to a group of school children. This anecdote triggers an exhibit, and the exhibit becomes a huge hit.

A meditation on perception, image and the marketing of intimacy, Traces explores with humour the grey zone between reality and fiction, art and the products it inspires, as well as privacy and its place in the media.

Mobilizing their respective artistic points of view, Craig Holzschuh and Anita Rochon till a fertile ground where a romanticized reality full of shadows, illusions and half-truths makes everyone both plundered and plunderer. Because while contemporary artists draw inspiration from reality for the material they can’t invent themselves, the average North American uses fiction in abundance in order to ease or improve their existence, be it in their living room, at work or on YouTube.

BOX OFFICE / INFORMATION

TICKETS : $24-27$8 student tickets available at the door on show nights only604-736-2616www.seizieme.ca

CONTACT

ESTHER DUQUETTECommunication and Administation Director, Théâtre la Seizième604-736-2616communications@seizieme.ca

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With the support of

CREDITSProducerTHÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME / Created by CRAIG HOLZSCHUH and ANITA ROCHON / With JESSICA HEAFEY and JOEY LESPÉRANCE / Creative collaborators JESSICA HEAFEY, JOEY LESPÉRANCE and GILLES POULIN-DENIS / Dramaturge BRIAN DOOLEY / Set design JULIE MARTENS / Lighting design JEREMY BAXTER / Sound design STEVE CHARLES / Video CORWIN FERGUSON / Stage Manager NOA ANATOT / Surtitles GENEVIÈVE BOLDUC

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THEY SAID...“ Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” - John Lennon

“And yet the only exciting life is the imaginary one.” - Virginia Woolf

“A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” - Oscar Wilde

“ Reality is stranger than fiction” - Mark Twain

EXCERPTS“ If someone could capture this moment, first day back after going through hell, two people just trying to figure out how to make their lives work, if someone could catch this, well, I’d give them a show at the gallery.”

JOEYYou know they just have to figure out that a gallery that would really do well would be the kind that just shows things you can’t look away from.

JESSLike what?

JOEYLike animals having sex.Someone slipping on the ice, you can’t look away from that.Seeing a strong person cry.An underdog who becomes a hero…

“ The best art is made in times of war, the best novels are written after heartbreak. If it’s going to matter at all, it’d better be desperate.”

***

“ Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life.” - Simone Weil

“ Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” - Stephen King

“ Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” - Albert Einstein

We started this project four years ago, sitting face to face, talking about everything that crossed our minds. And with each subsequent meeting, a throughline emerged, and brought us to examine the shadowland between reality and fiction, a zone where there was much to discover yet so much to contend with.  How do we create something when our perceptions of reality dominate so much of what we imagine?

Several versions came to be, one after another, followed by readings, workshops with other artists, discussions about the basis of the play and its optimal form, the occasional argument - all guided by the notion that these ideas would meet an audience one day.  Little by little, the need to work on the text with the actors’ input became obvious, at which point Joey and Jessica were invited to pick up their pens and share their own stories.By integrating reality and fiction in this way, we opened doors that, as artists, both fascinated and frightened us.

It is our hope that you will enjoy your time in the shadowland as much as we have.

Craig and Anita

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A WORD FROM THE CO-CREATORS

BIOGRAPHIES

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Craig Holzschuh CO-CREATOR

For the past 18 years, Craig has worked as director, playwright, actor and designer.  Some of his favourite directing credits include Cendres de cailloux by Daniel Danis, Mathieu Mathématiques by Michael Gauthier, La vue d’en haut by James Long, Le périmètre by Frédéric Blanchette (all for Théâtre la Seizième) as well as The Good Person of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht (Theatre at UBC). He is the recipient of several awards, including the Sydney J. Risk Award (1998) and a Jessie Richardson Award for outstanding Artistic Creation for directing Mathieu Mathématiques (2004).

Since 2001, Craig has been Artistic and Managing Director of Théâtre la Seizième and from 2006 to 2010, he was the president of ATFC (Association des Théâtres Francophones du Canada), the national association of French theatre companies outside of Quebec.  He has also taught extensively at UBC in the theatre and opera programs, the University of Ottawa and the Vancouver Academy of Music. Craig is a graduate of UBC and the University of Ottawa.

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Anita RochonCO-CREATOR

Anita Rochon is a Vancouver-based director who has been involved in the development of more than 20 new pieces of theatre, ranging from movement-based works, to verbatim theatre, to traditional scripts. She is artistic director of The Chop Theatre with Emelia Symington Fedy, who recently produced KISMET one to one hundred and How to Disappear Completely. In 2009 she graduated from the Directing program at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Among many other projects there she choreographed and directed Now he belongs to the ages (angels) which was showcased at the Theatre Centre in Toronto. In Vancouver she frequently works with Théâtre la Seizième, Rumble Productions and at her alma matter Studio 58. She has toured nationally and internationally with Theatre Replacement’s BIOBOXES and co-directed their latest show, Dress me up in your love which will tour to Germany in this spring. She recently had the opportunity of working with Neworld Theatre, Rumble Productions, Boca del Lupo and the Electric Company Theatre when she directed Community Dinner, a re-imagining of dinner theatre created with recent newcomers to Canada.

Joey LespéranceIN THE ROLE OF DANIEL

“ My life began in a theatre. A surgical theatre, but a theatre nonetheless.”

Joey has worked with Théâtre la Seizième for many years, having performed in several productions for adults and young audiences alike. His work in both L’Enfant-Problème (2011) and Comment devenir parfait en trois jours (2010) garnered him acting nominations at the Jessie Richardson Awards.  He has also been seen in Lentement la beauté (2009), La vue d’en haut (2008), À la gauche de Dieu (2006), Les Voisins (2004) and Cendres de cailloux (2002). Joey’s work was recognized in Flying Blind for the Arts Club Theatre, a show invited to perform in Australia at the Sydney Opera House; he has also had the pleasure of performing in three productions of Edmonton’s L’Unithéâtre: Cowboy poétré (2005), Fort Mac (2007), and Des fraises en janvier (2010).  

In September 2007, Joey received the prestigious Prix d’excellence from the Fondation pour l’avancement du théâtre francophone au Canada.  He is a graduate of Studio 58.

Jessica HeafeyIN THE ROLE OF CATHERINE

“ Yes, I’m in love with a young man.  But our parents don’t get along. (...) And then a few days ago, the young man I fell in love with accidentally stabbed my favourite cousin, Tybalt.”

Jessica has been performing on stage, television, as well as film, in both French and English, for nearly 15 years.  She has worked from one end of the country to the other and especially in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.  Among other projects, we’ve seen her perform in Molière plays at the Théâtre français de Toronto and contemporary plays at Théâtre la Seizième such as Les voisins and Cendres de cailloux.  It was for her work in this last play that she received a Jessie Award for the role of Pascale.

In her lead role in the CBC- and Radio-Canada-produced TV series Ciao Bella, we were able to confirm the ease with which she works in both official languages.  Since then, we’ve seen her act in film and TV in Supernatural, Around the Bend, A Night for Dying Tigers, MVP – The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives, Mordu, Perennial, Metropia and Earthstorm. 

More often than not, Jessica lends her talent to acting.  In the last few years, however, she has also worked as voice and dialect coach for stage and televi-sion, as well as producer and director for voice-overs, videos and commercials.

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Gilles Poulin-DenisCREATIVE COLLABORATOR

Gilles Poulin-Denis was born and raised in Saskatoon. He pursued his acting studies at l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Over the past years he has worked with quite a few directors, among them Alain Fournier, Alexandre Marine, Antoine Laprise, Craig Holzschuh, Henry Woolf, Mark Von Eschen, and Philippe Lambert. In 2010 he was nominated at Vancouver’s Jessie awards for his lead role in Le Périmètre.   Gilles is also a playwright. His first full-length play Rearview was produced in Saskatoon in 2009. It has since toured the country, making stops in Edmon-ton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal. In 2009, Gilles received the award for ‘Outstan-ding achievement in new playwriting’ at the Saskatoon and area theatre awards for Rearview. The play was also nominated in 2010 for the Governor general’s literary arts award. Gilles has written short plays and monologues that have produced in different thea-tres in Montreal. He also works as a dramaturge and as a translator. Gilles is currently working on two new plays.

Julie MartensSET DESIGN

Traces marks the 13th collabora-tion between Julie Martens and Théâtre la Seizième. Her set and lighting designs for La Vue d’en haut, as well as her lighting design for Apocalypse à Kamloops earned her Jessie nominations.  Her recent work includes: L’Enfant-Problème for Théâtre la Seizième (Set Design); The Gathering Light for Raven Spirit Dance (Lighting Design); My Fair Lady for Western Canada Theatre (Lighting Design); the Vancouver Opera (Lighting Design Assistant); Oklahoma! for Chemainus Theatre (Lighting Design); and The Full Monty for Patrick Street Productions (Lighting Design). Julie stage-managed the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics for Sirius Pyrotechnics as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Paralympic Games for Patrick Roberge Productions.

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Jeremy BaxterLIGHTING DESIGN

Jeremy has worked in a variety of jobs throughout Vancouver’s enter-tainment industry since 1996.  He is currently the Technical Director for Theatre La Seizième, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Vancouver Folk Music Festival, and the PuSh Festival.  Before that he was the Technical Director at the Roundhouse for five years.  He also enjoys working in lighting design and has done a variety of design work in the community.  He has been the Lighting Designer for the UBC Opera Ensemble for the last 14 seasons and for several produc-tions at the Roundhouse since 1999, amongst other projects.  He is a BFA graduate from UBC’s  Theatre Design and Technology program. 

Outside of his work in theatre and events, Jeremy manages the literary estate for his mother - poet, essayist and short fiction writer, Bronwen Wallace.

Noa AnatotSTAGE MANAGER

Noa is thankful to be working with Théâtre la Seizième again, having most recently stage-managed their production of L’Enfant-Problème. In addition to stage-managing two other productions for the company, Noa has also worked with Urban Crawl, Solo Collective, Radix Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, The Only Animal, Meta.for and Up In the Air, and done an apprenticeship for the past two seasons with Bard on the Beach at their Studio Stage. Noa graduated from UBC in 2006 with a BFA in Theatre Production / Design, where she stage-managed The Cherry Orchard and La Ronde and co-produced The Vagina Monologues.

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Steve CharlesSOUND DESIGN

Recent shows include Folk Festivals, Fringe Festivals and Jazz Festivals across Canada, the U.S., and Europe with bands The Fugitives, Redgrass, Viper Central, and The Redboot Quartet. He has worked as a musical director, composer and musician with The Vancouver Playhouse, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Blue-mouth Inc., Mortal Coil, Musical Theatre Works, The Only Animal, Fugue Theatre, T.U.T.S., Pacifique en chanson, Massey Theatre, Boca del Lupo shows, Vasily the Luckless, The House of Sleeping Beauties, The Perfectionist, and The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces. He was nominated for a Jessie for his sound design and composition for Mesa by Third Street Theatre. He produced Whiskey Hollow Bound, a compilation CD of local bluegrass and old-time music. He is in demand for his versatile and exciting musica-lity on guitar, vocals, banjo, bass and various stringed-instruments.

Corwin Ferguson has illuminated audiences with his projection designs with many companies including: Studio 58, The Virtual Stage, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Arts Club, Neworld Theatre, Chemanius Theatre, Capilano University, Thea-tre Under the Stars, and The Electric Company. Corwin works with The Arts Umbrella instructing youth in Theatre, Digital and Visual Arts. He’s also a co-founder and director of Awkward Stage Productions, a new youth-based theatre company. Professional theatre experience includes acting, projection design, directing, stage management, as well as graphic and props design. Recent projection credits include The Wizard of Oz (Alberta Theatre Projects), Anything Goes & Bye Bye Birdie (Theatre Under the Stars), 1984 (Studio 58/Virtual Stage), and The Hobbit (Capilano University). Corwin is a Studio 58 acting graduate, and completed the Computer Animation Program from Okanagan University College.

Corwin FergusonVIDEO DESIGN

PRODUCERTHÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

Since its beginnings in 1974, Théâtre la Seizième has developed a reputation as an important French-Canadian centre for artistic creation and dissemination. The company presents contemporary, ambitious French-language work taken from the modern repertory in addition to commissioned works.  It strives to enhance its role as an significant dramaturgical and creative company, presenting works from across the country, with an eye to consistently supporting the local artistic community.

Theatre la Seizième provides theatrical experiences for people all ages, offering a three-show season for adults, including one show produced by the company but developed elsewhere in Canada, along with programming for younger audiences. The company reaches its young audiences thanks to tours and performing arts workshops offered throughout the province, from Vancouver to Prince Rupert. Every year, Théâtre la Seizième presents 2 touring productions to more than 80 schools and 15,000 students.

Théâtre la Seizième is regularly recognized for the quality of its work. Since 2000, the company has been nominated 40 times and won 16 awards at the Jessie Richarson Awards, in addition to winning the Masque de la meilleure production franco-canadienne pour its production of Cette fille-là. Among the company biggest successes are Des flocons pour Alicia (Outstanding Design - Theatre for Young Audiences), La vue d’en haut (Outstanding Original Script), Lentement la beauté (3 nominations), Comment devenir parfait en trois jours (3 nominations) as well as L’Enfant-Problème by George Walker, presented in 2011 (nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor and Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress).

Artistic and General Director CRAIG HOLZSCHUH / Communication and Administration Director ESTHER DUQUETTE / Programming Agent HÉLÈNE LEQUITTE / Technical Director JEREMY BAXTER

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