Cupids Cove Chatter

At a press conference at Cupids Haven  in Cupids on April 7th, 2010, plans for the New World Theatre Project were revealed. The 
New
 World
 Theatre 
Project is 
a 
classically 
based
 theatre 
project 
created
 by
 Rabbittown 
Theatre
 Company,
 launching 
in
 the 
summer
 of 
2010.
 Its 
first season
 will 
contribute 
to 
the
 Cupids
 400 
celebrations, 
an 
event 
marking
 the founding
 of 
the 
first 
English 
settlement 
in 
Canada
in
 1610. The New World Theatre Project will explore, present and celebrate John Guy’s England, particularly what settlers may have seen, heard, or written in the London of 1610. Through ongoing dialogue and consultation with institutions such as Shakespeare’s  Globe (UK) and Shakespeare’s Globe Centre of Canada, the project will provide unprecedented artistic opportunities for Newfoundland theatre artists and provide the community with a new and unique cultural experience.

See photos from the press conference > >

For 
its
 inaugural 
season, 
the
 New
 World 
Theatre
 Project
 will 
design
 and 
build
 a 
portable 
interpretation 
of 
an 
Elizabethan 
stage. 
It 
will
 be 
called 
The
 Indeavour (after the 12 ton vessel that the colonists built to sail into Trinity Bay to meet the Beothuk.) 
 This
 summer,
 The
 Indeavour will
 remain 
in
 Cupids;  
however,
 in
 years 
to 
come 
it 
will 
tour 
Provincially,
 Nationally
 and
 Internationally.
  The company
 will 
produce 
two
 plays 
from
 the
 Shakespearian 
catalogue:  
A Midsummer
Night’s
Dream and
 Julius
Caesar,
 and 
three 
original Newfoundland
 pieces: Colony
of
 the
 Heart, 
The
 Tiring
 House and
 Feast
 of
 the Sword.
  These 
plays 
fulfill 
the 
company 
mandate
 to 
produce 
classical 
work 
and
 new
 work
 inspired
 by
 the
 investigation
 of 
this 
work.

The Producers

Aiden Flynn

Aiden Flynn – General Director

Aiden Flynn is a respected and well-rounded theatre professional currently living in St. John’s. He is an actor, director, producer and writer of note in Newfoundland and is also the owner and operator of Rabbittown Theatre Company in St. John’s.  Aiden moved back to St. John’s in 2001, and shortly after, founded Rabbittown Theatre Company, a venue and production company dedicated to the emerging artist and new work from established professionals. In 2008, he received the Patron of The Arts Award from The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council for his ongoing efforts to promote and produce theatre and its practice in the province.  Aiden also sits on numerous arts-focused boards including the St. John’s Municipal Arts Infrastructure Committee, the board of directors for ACTRA in Newfoundland, and the St. John’s Metto Theatre Alliance – an initiative started by Flynn.

Brad Hodder

Brad Hodder – Artistic Associate

Brad Hodder is a native of St. John’s and a founding Artistic Associate of c2c theatre, which has produced over 20 productions since 2003.  A graduate of the University of Alberta (BFA Acting), his work as an actor, director, writer and producer has taken him across the country.  Along with c2c theatre, Brad co-founded Bill’s Bad Dance Production Company with Sara Tilley, has sat on the Board of Directors for Resource Centre for the Arts and served as an Artistic Associate for the Shakespeare By The Sea Festival. He has worked with a number of companies, including CBC, Global, Pope Productions, The Grand Theatre, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Rising Tide Theatre, Resource Centre for the Arts, Shakespeare By The Sea Festival, Rabbittown Theatre She Said Yes! and New Curtain Theatre Company.

Geoff Adams

Geoffrey Adams – Artistic Associate

Geoffrey Adams is the Artistic Managing Director of The New Curtain Theatre Company in Clarenville, Newfoundland.  Prior to this he worked in Vancouver in the film and television industry, as well as the theatre as an actor, director, designer and producer. He also served on the board of Workshops for the Performing Artists. Geoff has worked with a number of Vancouver theatre companies including Presentation House Theatre, North Vancouver Theatre Savage God Productions, Apple Core Productions, Highland Leads Cc-operative, and Down East Productions (of which he was the founder). Geoff was also one of the founding company members of The Norstead Theatre Festival in L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Having started in the theatre industry as a set designer and actor, Geoffs experience has led him to work as production and set designer in film as well, originating from his architectural background where he holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Architecture from the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

The New World Theatre Project Productions

The Indeavour Stage

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

June 19 – July 4, 2010

The Indeavour Stage

“Are you not mov’d when all the sway of earth Shakes like a thing unfirm”’ An assassination plunges the world into violence and instability, thrusting democracy and tyranny into a bloody conflict. Set on the high seas, this fast-paced and dynamic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar explores the complexities of power while upturning the notion of “the ship of state”. What would it take for you to act? What would it take for you to challenge a tyrant?

Feast of the Sword

June 23 – August 21, 2010

Cupids Community Hall

In 1610 it was recorded that John Guy, along with a group of 39 settlers departed from Bristol, England, to make their way across the Atlantic to the New World. Thirty days into the journey as per a secret naval custom, three ships meet in the middle of the harsh Atlantic to engage in Feast of the Sword. What begins as a simple exhibition of swordplay quickly devolves into a dangerous battle for life and death. Laden with exhilarating stage combat, Feast of the Sword is an historical re-imagining of one man’s journey to the New World.

Tbe Tiring House by Chris Driedzic

June 19 – August 22, 2010

The Indeavour Stage

On June 29th 1613, the Globe Theatre in London, England went up in flames during a performance of Henry VllI.  A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. An interactive comedy for the entire family, The Tiring House will use the newly built Indeavour as its stage.

Colony of the Heart by Ben Pittman

July 8 – July 30, 2010

Cupids Legacy Centre

Drawing lines between the lives of the Englishmen and women who settled in Cuper’s Cove in 1610 and the present day Newfoundlanders moving to Alberta, Colony of the Heart is an innovative narrative history of the last 400 years. From who we were yesterday to who we are today.

Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

August 5 – 22, 2010

The Indeavour Stage

“The course of true love never did run smooth ” One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream celebrates the ecstasies and jealousies of being in love. Four young lovers chase each other into a forest, where they ate caught up in the quarrels and games of the King and Queen of faeries.

Well known local performer Andy Jones will be starring as Bottom