Passe Muraille to collaborate with indie theatre groups in 2008-9 season

Andy Jones plays the crusty fisherman in the one-man show An Evening with Uncle Val. (Andy Jones)

Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto's leading alternative theatre company, announced a 2008-9 season on Monday that includes several collaborations with emerging theatre troupes.

"I want to reinvigorate [the theatre's] role as a seed bed for the many artists and independent companies working in Toronto and across Canada," said Andy McKim, who is presenting his first season as artistic director at Passe Muraille.

Theatre Passe Muraille will be working with Victoria's up-and-coming Atomic Vaudeville on Legoland by Jacob Richmond, a vaudeville-like routine about the infamous Lamb siblings, who use ukulele, puppets, multimedia and gangster rap to present the story of their encounter with a beloved pop celebrity.

It also plans collaborations to develop new work in-house with The Exchange Rate Collective, Contrary Company and Theatre Smash, all of Toronto.

The season includes the world premiere of Them & Us by Second City alumnus Tracy Dawson, a series of darkly comic vignettes on the subject of love and our delusions about it performed by four actors.

Andy Jones, a veteran of the Newfoundland comedy troupe CODCO, presents An Evening with Uncle Val, in which he plays a sarcastic 70-year-old retired fisherman driven from his outport home. He has performed the show across the country.

There also will be a series featuring one-act plays by young Canadian artists including:

Pyaasa, the story of an 11-year-old untouchable girl written and performed by Anusree Roy. It has two Dora nominations in the independent theatre category. The Misfit, the story of a classical Indian dancer who also performs English-language pop songs, written and performed by Anita Majumdar. Trudeau Stories, telling tales of the former prime minister's days in Montreal after his retirement, written and performed by Brooke Johnson.

The collaborative projects include new plays such as:

Appetite, produced with The Exchange Rate Collective and Volcano, a blend of clowning and dance that looks at carnal appetites. You Fancy Yourself, a tale of playground politics by Maja Ardal produced with Contrary Company. Tijuana Cure, about a middle-aged man's trip to a Tijuana health clinic, by Layne Coleman produced with Theatre Smash.

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