Projects

Current

• Neighbours (Workshop)

Future

• When The Killer Mutant Lizards Attack
• Habitat

Past

• 2009 Fem Fest: One Night Stand
• Life in a Box
• Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare
• Saint Joan
• Billy Bishop Goes To War
• Paper Jack
• Identity.com

 Current Projects

Neighbours is a story of fun. A story of community. A story of familiarity.  And now it’s your turn to visit the neighbourhood! 

See the staged reading of neighbours, the remarkable original musical by Manitobans Craig Cassils and Robin Richardson when White Rabbit Productions produces a workshop presentation of the show on January 27 at the Park Theatre. 

Join boy-next-door Michael, his little sister Monica and the rest of their neighbourhood gang as they welcome and learn to accommodate Jill, the new girl in town. 

There’s Michael’s best friend Jason – who is more interested in ants than playtime – and playground tormentor Ronald, always flanked by the always ambitious and game-loving Perry. Then there’s Queen Margie and her princesses Judith Ann and Helen Louise, who are determined to make the neighbourhood bow down to their rule. 

But where does Jill fit in? Where do any of them fit in? 

Take a glimpse into their neighbourhood and watch them learn about tolerance, friendship and family. Maybe even learn a thing or two about your own neighbourhood – all through the magic and wonder of a powerful, insightful script and catchy, fun original music! 

Starring: 
Wes Rambo - Michael
Stephanie Sy - Jill
Mallory Schellenberg - Monica
Nelson Bettencourt - Jason
Brent Hirose - Ronald
Connie Manfredi - Margie
Felicia Perron - Judith Ann
Robyn Pooley - Helen Louise
Sheldon Atts - Perry 

Creative Team:
Craig Cassils - Composer, Co-Writer
Robin Richardson - Co-Writer
Carson Nattrass - Dramaturge, Co-Director
Jeffrey Kohut - Co-Director, Project Manager
Cary Denby - Band Leader, Pianist
James Reynolds - Drums
Rafael Reyes - Bass/guitars

________________________________________________________

This staged reading of neighbours, an original Canadian family musical by Craig Cassils and Robin Richardson, is the result of a two week workshop facilitated by acclaimed Actor/Director/Writer Carson Nattrass.

This step marks the latest in White Rabbit's 3 year journey towards producing the musical in full in September of 2010.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the first public reading of neighbours are available for $10 or $30 for a family pack of four. Email info@whiterabbitproductions for tickets or reserve then online at
http://www.whiterabbitproductions.ca/neighboursreadingtix.html

 Future Projects

From Stupid Gumball Dispenser Productions comes Brent Hirose's latest one man show-
When the Killer Mutant Lizards Attack!

In the near future the city of Brighthope, population some six hundred thousand souls, is sudden attacked by a rampaging pack of gigantic killer mutant lizards, causing massive destruction in their wake. Then, mysteriously, they retreated back to the depths from which they came, never to be seen again. Now the stories of this national tragedy have emerged and will be told so that we might all learn the lessons we paid so dearly for when the killer mutant lizards attacked.

Coming off the success of last year's Life in a Box, WTKMLA is currently set to play at the 2010 Winnipeg Fringe festival, with possible performances at the Saskatoon, Edmonton and Victoria Fringe festivals, TBD. Watch this space for more information as it becomes availible!

Habitat

by Judith Thompson, directed by Arne MacPherson

April 29 - May 8, 2010
Aqua Books - 274 Garry Street

Tickets $15 (regular) $10 (student/senior)
Pay What You Can Performances - April 29 (8pm) & May 1 (2pm)

   

Life is good for the residents of Mapleview Lanes ... until Lewis Chance buys a house on their street to open a group home for troubled adolescents.

Two worlds collide in Judith Thompson's disturbing look at our modern "not in my backyard" politics.

 Past Projects

Sarasvàti Productions and FemFest present

ONE NIGHT STAND
Experience the future of local theatre

Instant gratification, immediate feedback. Selected readings from new works in progress by Manitoban playwrights. A chance to experience the future of local theatre.

Plays by:

Loretta Basiuk — Payoff
Muriel Hogue — Scar Tissue
Anita Lebeau — Coats
Anne Nesbitt — Grey Owl Pilgrim of the Wild
Talia Pura — Confessions of an Art School Model, too 

Featuring: Dorothy Carroll, Donna Fletcher, Ti Hallas, Brent Hirose, Talia Pura and Martin Wilson 

Tuesday, September 29 at 8:30 pm
Tickets $10

CANWEST CENTRE FOR THEATRE AND FILM

(AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG, 400 COLONY STREET)
www.sarasvati.ca
204.586.2236

 

Geoffrey, a misanthropic office clerk, becomes obsessed with the story of Brian, a young boy raised in a sealed chamber, safe from the hostile world outside. Manic reporters, renegade cops and self-absorbed siblings collide as Geoffrey’s pursuit threatens to unravel his own life. 

A brand new one-man show from Brent Hirose, directed by Matthew Tenbruggencate.

 

The show was originally performed at the  2009 Winnipeg Fringe Festival and was very well recieved both critically and commercially. Media responses include:

“Hirose is a gifted and compelling actor” – CBC Manitoba
“an unconventional and exceptional drama… Hirose is a dynamic performer” – Uptown Magazine
"Four Stars!" - Hot103

The show then played at the 2009 Edmonton Fringe Festival and received more great reviews.

“a touching and funny play all about what happens when the stories we've created won't stay on the page. ****” – Vue Magazine

All in all, a fantastic run! Thanks to all who saw it!

 

Up the close and down the stair,
A but-and-ben with Burke and Hare.
Burke’s the butcher,
Hare’s the thief,
Knox the boy who buys the beef.

Robbing graves for medical science is backbreaking work. So why dig up corpses when you can create your own? A brand new musical by Joseph Aragon.

www.whiterabbitproductions.ca

 This show played at the 2009 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, winning Best of Fest for the venue, the Canwest Center for Performing Arts. It also won Joseph Aragon his second Harry Rintoul award. The cast was as follows:

 

Derek Leenhouts	as	William HARE
Murray Farnell	as	William BURKE
Heather Jordan	as	MARGARET Hare
Felicia Perron	as	HELEN McDougal
Brent Hirose	as	THOMAS Warton Jones
Bob "perkins" Hopkins	as	Sir William RAE
Mitch Krohn	as	Dr. Robert KNOX
Simone Pamplin	as	MRS. LAWRIE
Kami Desilets	as	JANET Brown
Dorothy Carroll	as	MARY Paterson
Andrea Houssin	as	ABIGAIL Simpson
Joshua Bouchard	as	JAMIE Wilson
Sheldon Atts	as	William FERGUSSON
Bernie Pastorin	as	Chief Constable BLACKWOOD
Keri-Lee Smith &	as	CHORUS
Dexter Barcellano

Crew

Sharon Bajer	-	Director
Joseph Aragon	-	Writer and Composer
Simon Miron	-	Assistant Director
Julian Vanderput	-	Musical Director
Jeff Kohut	-	Project Manager
Ken Perchuk	-	Technical Director
Kathryn Ball	-	Stage Manager
Ray Padua	-	Production Assistants
Annette Kohut
Alana Penner
Julie Horbal	-	Media
Ryan Schultz	-	Digital Media

 

SAINT JOAN

by Bernard Shaw

Directed by Debbie Patterson

June 18-20, 24-27
8PM
June 20 & 27
2PM

Theatre de la Chapelle
825 St. Joseph St
St. Boniface

Who was Joan of Arc? 
Warrior or temptress?
Strategist or schizophrenic?
Hero or fanatic?

A political thriller exploring the relativity of truth and the temptation of idealism.

Tickets are $10

Seating is limited, reservations strongly suggested

Call 943-9573 or e-mail theatrebytheriver@gmail.com to secure your seat

By Donation performances: June 18th (opening night) & June 20 (matinée)

 

 

 

Billy Bishop Goes to War 

Written and Composed by John Gray with Eric Peterson
Directed by Rod Beifuss
Starring Brent Hirose and Patrick Keenan

Our young, Owen Sound boy must "fight! fight! fight!" for King and Country in the dog fights of World War One. Kill the enemy at all costs because that's what he's trying to do too! The madness of war meets the music of vaudeville in the crown jewel of Canadian theatre.

This show was performed from Oct 29th to November 14th at the Ellice Cafe and Theatre to great reviews in Uptown Magazine and the Uniter-

Uptown

"B+

Anchored by the pleasantly capable performance of Brent Hirose, Theatre by the River's production of Billy Bishop Goes to War is a puzzling pleasure. 

Billy Bishop... is the kind of play one expects to be relegated to community theatre revues or seniors' homes. Chronicling the story of the Canadian World War I pilot hero, it's a quaint musical that could easily dismissed as old-fashioned nostalgia with little to offer audiences in the 21st century. 

In some ways, this may be true. While Billy's story itself is classic - ne'er-do-well young man finds meaning in fighting the war and becomes a hero in the process - its execution is sometimes belaboured and trite. No matter the talents of wonderful local musician Patrick Keenan, whose perfectly coifed hair and moustache could have him walking straight out of a Jeeves and Wooster caper, the musical component of the show is sometimes just plain exasperating. Although there are some genuinely fun musical moments such as the rousing Empire Soire, the music tends to make the show a bit too cloying, despite its serious subject matter. 

And while, by the end of the first act, you were wishing writers John Gray and Eric Peterson (now most famous for playing Oscar on Corner Gas) weren't so enamoured with including one more bloody song, the second act pulls up its socks (not to mention the pace) once Billy becomes a high-flying ace. 

With its exploration of heroism, colonialism and the horrors of war, Billy Bishop... touches on timeless topics that its one-person format manages ably, and Brent Hirose is pleasingly adaptable, playing 17 different roles in the show, including a sweet Everyman touch as Billy. The resonance of the themes explains why we still find the show on the stage today, and Peterson and Gray have captured an important piece of Canadian history that could otherwise easily fall into the hazy mists of the forgotten. 

Despite its sometimes painful devices (the full-circle moment when Billy and his son head to World War II is awfully obvious, even if it is true-to-life), there is something to the down-home Canadian earnestness of the show that just can't be denied. It may be difficult to draw parallels to modern life in the play's old-fashioned-ness, but that does not make the story irrelevant. 

And, much like the release of Passchendaele, renewing interest in the horrifying conditions of World War I, a time in which men were sent off into the mud and muck on horseback, should not be dismissed as quaint entertainment - nor should the dream of a young man to fly above it all.

Billy Bishop Goes to War is an entertainingly honest and heartfelt chapter in the Canadian theatre cannon, despite its limitations.
— Barb Stewart"

The Uniter
"Four Stars out of Five

A Haunting and Poignant Portrayal

For another week and a half, local history buffs and avid theatre-goers alike can enjoy the opportunity to see one of Canada's landmark plays performed at Ellice Cafe and Theatre.

Billy Bishop Goes to War tells the World War I flying ace's story as he enlists, goes overseas to fight and eventually returns home.

Likely Canada's greatest hero of the Great War, Billy Bishop was matchless in the skies. He was decorated with medals and served as an inspiration to all on the side of the allies. His journey was one of incredible triumph, of overcoming countless odds and crushing adversity, albeit not without its share of controversy.

His legend continues to live on through the play, and so it is fitting that the show runs through Remembrance Day. Some part satire, some part realism, and completely tragic, the tale of Billy Bishop shouldn't be forgotten anytime soon.

Featuring Brent Hirose as the lead and 17 other characters, Billy Bishop Goes to War is an astounding one-man show sure to have a successful run. Hirose and pianist Patrick Keenan make a remarkable team on stage.

Presented by Theatre by the River, the play's opening performance was an absolute smash. From the soliloquies, to the music and vocals, and even the lighting, everything was brilliantly spot-on.

Hardly a minute into the opening number, I already had goose bumps. Hirose's portrayal of Bishop is haunting and poignant, which is to say nothing of his excellent abilities to master multiple characters. Everything about the play did justice to its weighted history.

Take a classic work of Canadian drama, drawn upon the experiences of one prodigious Canadian war hero, and put it together with the extraordinary talents of Hirose and others, and it all makes for one exceptional theatre-going experience. Billy Bishop Goes to War is undoubtedly a must-see for the Winnipeg theatre community this fall.

- Jennifer Pawluk The Uniter (Nov 6, 2008)"

 

Hidden at the base of the mountains lies a tiny village that harbors a fantastic secret. But now a young girls love threatens to reveal the mystery of Paper Jack...

Written by: Shawn Kowalke

This show premiered at the 2008 Winnipeg Fringe Festival with the following cast and crew:

Directed by: Brent Hirose

Featuring:
Sheldon Atts
Matt Brault
Kami Desilets
Shawn Kowalke
Derek Leenhouts
Raymond Padua
Chelsea Rankin
Keri-Lee Smith

Produced by: Todd Tichon
Music by: Joseph Aragon
Stage Managed by: Kathryn Ball

 

Michael is a twenty something stuck in a dead end job with no romance on the horizon. Emily is his estranged former best friend, still trying to find the right job and the right guy. Identity.com is the latest social networking website, promising to show its members "who they are, on the net!". Michael needs to remake his life, and he thinks he's found just the right tools...

From the writer of Jesus Christ, I'm Sorry (Best of Fest '06), One Last Thing and The History of Theatre comes this funny, sexy and outrageous comedy that examines friendship, love, dating and the digital world.

Written by Brent Hirose

This show premiered at the 2008 Winnipeg Fringe Festival with the following cast and crew:

Directed by Darcy Fehr
Starring Gwen Collins and Brent Hirose
Media by Aaron Zeghers

It was subsequently mounted by the Attic Players for the inagural "Bohemian Rhapsody" festival in Red Deer Alberta with the following cast and crew:

Directed by Kayte Parnel
Starring Matt McDonald and Shelby Reinitz
Stage Managed by Michelle Ang.  

 

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