Salt-Water Moon Summer, Sleeping Beauty Christmas

I got to spend June and July this year in Rosthern, SK, acting in a production of David French's Salt-Water Moon.  If you don't know the play, or the playwright - look into it.  French was among the elite playwrights in Canada, he has had his plays produced around the world - most notably Leaving Home - which (I believe) Oxford named one of the most important plays in the English Language. It was such a pleasure sharing this rich piece of Canadiana with audiences as well as with my lovely wife, who co-starred in the production with me.  We had a blast working on your Newfoundland dialects together with the help of dialect guru Dorothy Ward.

It was also great to finally get an opportunity to work with Ms. Johnna Wright, who directed the show. Johnna is a very skilled director who cares a great deal for the integrity of her work - while at the same time enjoying it immensely.  It was a treat.

It was quite funny walking into the first day of rehearsal - it was a bit of a reunion of a show I produced called The December Man by Colleen Murphy - because your lighting designer David Granger and our  set designer Jenna Maren had been signed on to this project as well - Fantastic to be surrounded by good people.

Up next for me, is a new adaptation of Sleeping Beauty to be done at The Globe Theatre in Regina.  I'm very much looking forward to working with some old pals as well as meeting a few new ones along the way.  Though I have been acting professionally in Saskatchewan since 2005, this will be my first production at The Globe - I feel very fortunate!

I'm working with Live Five Independent Theatre as a board member (www.livefive.ca).  This season looks like it will be phenomenal - some great shows and some great talent are rolling in.  I'm also involved artistically as I will be directing Sam Shepard's True West, which opens in May.

All the best,

A

Fall 2011-Winter 2012

It's almost been a year, I guess I'll write something.

What is new? My production of Dying City by Christopher Shinn was nominated for and received 3 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards (SATAwards) this past September. Two performance awards and a directing award. I am very proud of all of the work that we all put into that show and grateful to all of my peers who were so supportive.

Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company is undergoing a renaissance right now with a new artistic director, general manager and board of directors. I think that this company has one of the most unique and important voices in the arts in SK - I can't wait to see them soar. I got to work with them recently on a workshop for a Christmas play called Kohkoms in Toyland. It was a blast.

My most exciting news - and what I am most looking forward to career-wise is my upcoming project co-produced by Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary) and Green Thumb Theatre (Vancouver). I will be performing in a hip-hop musical called Ash Rizin' in ATP's PlayRites' Festival. This is a brand new Canadian script written by Michael P. Northey with music by Sweatshop Union's Kyprios. The subject matter of the script is sort of a blend of 8 Mile and The Wire but it is set in and around the suburbs of Vancouver. If you get a chance, check out the Facebook Page- Ash Rizin' at ATP and click 'like' also check out the video clips, artist bios, etc at www.atplive.com

After Ash Rizin' concludes I will be resurrecting Fire in the Hole Productions for a Governor General Award-Winning play called The December Man - which coincidentally was originally produced at ATP. Great play. Really looking forward to finally bringing that one to life.

Between these blips of employment I am also working on a few writing projects which I hope one day see the light of day. If they do, who knows, maybe I'll write about it on here... more likely I'll just tweet about it. Which brings me to this: Follow me @aaronhursh

Cheers....

Mash...

Faulty Towers

From Robin Hood to ZOMBIE! to The Pillowman

Well! this is a procrastination entry...I have work to do...I'll get to that...


DYING CITY went extremely well. I was really happy with the response that we received from audience members as well as our peers. It's great when you get to choose who you get to work with and what you get to work on - it gives you ownership and makes you want to succeed even more. I put some photos up at aaronhursh.workbooklive.com if you want to check them out.

After closing, I had a couple weeks off before starting rehearsals for THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. It was a cast made up of nearly all Saskatchewan actors - which in a small theatre community is really nice - especially around Christmas. I really liked working with director Kevin McKendrick as well as fight director Adrian Young - a couple of Alberta fellows who were recruited to...you know, tell us where to stand and to not kill each other with swords. Something that was really cool about this show was that I shot a real arrow from the audience into the Sherriff of Nottingham's throne every night. There was a bet placed that I would miss and put an arrow through the cyclorama - but I disapointed them by hitting the target every night...not to brag, but...

Robin Hood Closed on the 19th and the plan was to head out to Vancouver Island for Christmas - So, I was looking forward to a couple days of sleeping in and packing etc... BUT, things happen. Stephen Huszar of Hulo Productions (http://www.hulo.ca/ for a video clip) gave me a shout to come audition for a short film called ZOMBIE! written and directed by Paul Kell. Um... got the part! So my relaxing and packing turned into a frantic, long-houred two-day shoot. 6 or 7 locations - interior and exterior - and if you've never been in Saskatchewan for winter, lemme tell you - you made sure that you nailed those outdoor scenes in as few takes as possible.

Now, what am I avoiding? I am sitting in an apartment downtown Vancouver working on my script for THE PILLOWMAN - which is probably in my top 5 favourite plays that I have read. It's about a writer in a totalitarian state who is being interogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of child-murders happening in his town. We've got a fantastic team. Stephen Drover, Ryan Beil, Ashley O'Connell, Mike Wasko, as well as a ton of talent behind the scenes. Check out http://www.wildgeesecoop.com/ for dates, bios, and more info. If you are in or around Vancouver, don't miss out on this!

I'm going back to work now!

DYING CITY

Wow. I am the world's worst blogger. I think my last entry was a year ago...? I suppose that I could just look and see but... bla bla bla...

It is Monday - the theatre's day off. I have just finished the first week of DYING CITY by Christopher Shinn which I am acting in as well as co-producing as an Equity Co-op under the name 'Fire in the Hole Productions'.

The play is centred around a young therapist called Kelly who is dealing with the grief of her husband's mysterious death in Iraq - who is side-swiped by her husband's identical twin brother who arrives at her New York apartment unannounced and with an agenda of his own.

This is my first time producing a show and I am extremely proud of the work that we have done as a team. I am playing Peter and Craig - twin brothers - one of whom is a gay actor, the other a war veteran and a Harvard post-graduate. Heather Morrison is playing Kelly, who is the young therapist and Craig's wife. Jim Guedo is directing, Caitlin Vancoughnett is stage managing, Carla Orosz did our costume design and Jacklyn Green is our dresser (So that I can switch between brothers at a miraculous speed).

The response to the play has been overwhelmingly positive - people are leaving the theatre asking the right questions and appreciating the work that we have put in to making this script come alive. I think that this has to be one of my favourite experiences in the theatre to date - I have received numerous emails from colleagues who were very complimentary.

The play runs for another weekend (October 7th-10th) and we are contemplating adding a matinee on Saturday - since we were fortunate to sell out two of our three performances so far. Go to www.livefive.ca for tickets - if you read this in time, don't miss out!!

I think I mentioned previously a short film that I was working on called 'Sins of the Father'. If you YOUTUBE it (is that a verb yet?) you can see a clip from it - I think that we did the script justice. I have only seen the whole film (20 mins long) once the whole way through. I found it quite uncomfortable to watch - I don't play a very nice person in the film... but again, I think that that was what the script was calling for.

It's looking like I will be having a pretty exciting fall/winter season. DYING CITY- which I've already mentioned as well as THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD at Persephone Theatre - where I will be playing.....Robin Hood! The last time that I was on the main stage at Persephone I played Keno in THE FULL MONTY - which was a ton of fun, but not exactly intellectual gymnastics. I am thrilled to get to play the title role of one of my favourite stories, ever!

2011 is still up in the air, but I am very hopeful about a couple of prospects that I have on the horizon.

Until next time,

Aaron

busy is good

Dear, whoever is reading this - most likely to be me. It has been approximately two months since my last entry...wow, this is starting off like some sort of weird confession... segue, GO!

I've been busy! It's been fantastic, post Persephone Youth Tour, I jumped right into rehearsal for Theatre Ecstasis' production of 'Bad Jazz'. For those of you who did not see it, this is where I would put up the 'Spoiler Alert' but since you didn't see it, nuts to you for your lack of support! I kid because I love... mostly...

Never in my wildest imagination did I picture myself on stage being anally rended while singing 'Any Dream Will Do' from 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' in a Scottish dialect - wait for it - ......with my mother in the audience! Talk about supporting your son in his artsy ventures! Needless to say, but I'm going to say it - it was a wild show. It was really great to work with not only Angela and Josh - who have been acting and producing professionally for about a decade, but with Jules and Janessa - who were a year behind me in University. It was a sort of 'I've been there, I'm going there' kind of feeling. Couldn't ask for a nicer group to spend time with. The icing on the cake though, was getting the chance to work with Jim as a director. I had taken two acting classes with him and two directing classes, but had not actually worked on a show with him before. To be able to do that in the professional world was an eye-opening experience. The amount of detail that can be gleaned from a script and translated in to strong choices and character subtleties is vast when someone as experienced and committed as Jim is at the helm is immense. It was like a master class on good acting....or maybe 'Better' acting - that's an in-joke...

After 'Bad Jazz' closed, I had a week off - where I went to the booming metropolis of Swift Current to spend some time with a good friend and to get the Duck out of Fodge for a while. Never did I expect to be waiting in line to pay cover at a dance club in Swift Current... I kept thinking "aren't I better than this?" the answer is no. haha...

Saskatchewan Playwright's Centre' Spring Festival was how I spent my next week. I got to run the sound and lights for all of the staged readings that took place - not my favourite thing to do, but I got to meet some great directors and see some brand new plays test their legs. Most notably, Mansel Robinson's 'Two Rooms". Heart-breaking. Can't wait to see it on stage for real. Also, a play called 'My Rabbi' by Joel Bernbaum was quite good - and I definitely think I will see it again somewhere.

After a two-year absence, I am thrilled to be back at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan this summer for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Antony & Cleopatra'. I am in rehearsal right now and am using this blog to distract me from working on my lines - temporarily.

I'm shooting a movie! I've been asked to play a lead role in a Danish-produced film called 'My Baby the Butterfly' with Zentropa Entertainments. It's going to be about 30 minutes long and be entered in film festivals internationally. I'm really excited to start working on it - we will be shooting during off-days from Shakespeare, so it looks like I'm procrastinating to avoid more than one thing right now.

On that vein, I have two auditions coming up for Persephone Theatre - it would be great to nab one of these ones and spend some time on the main stage.

Last Friday I had laser eye surgery. It was exceptionally bizarre to be awake and aware that someone is cutting a flap off of your eye, zapping you with lasers and then putting the flap back on. Weirder still that you can smell the laser burning your eye tissue... too much? It has been one week, and I no longer need glasses or contact lenses to see - though I still feel like I should be taking them out or off before going to bed.

That's all for now.

imminent uncertainty

There is a wonderful feeling that comes with knowing where your next gig will be.  There is a tremendous low knowing that a show that you enjoy is ending.  It is very exciting and very taxing knowing that you will not be doing the same thing forever.  I just finished up Persephone Theatre's 2009 Youth Tour that took me from Saskatoon to La Loche, Lloydminster, Maple Creek, Gravelbourg, Moosomin, Regina, Cabri, Wakaw, Morse, Martensville and on and on...  We toured two productions - one for high school students called 'Shakedown Shakespeare' - which is essentially King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth all squeezed in to 55 minutes and made more than a little goofy.  The other show, for younger audiences is Dennis Foon's ever-running 'New Canadian Kid', which has been produced in many countries in many languages.  I had a blast, the cast was a pleasure to be around and work with.  

I now have seven days off before I start rehearsal for my next project.  I will be performing as Ben and Ewan in Theatre Ecstasis' production of 'Bad Jazz' by Robert Farquhar - which is, to say the least a bit of a jump from children's theatre.  It is a challenging piece of theatre - for me as an actor as well as (I hope) for the audience.  What makes this even better though, is that I get to work, once again, with some of my favourite people.  That's what really makes all of the difference.

End of January, Beginning of Employment

It has been quite the couple of weeks...ok I realize this is a very oblique way to start to say something, but you're here - you might as well spend some time.  It started where everything starts...my email account.  An innocent-looking email from...holy cow, Stratford.  I have an audition in Winnipeg... scheduled for the last week of rehearsals of the Persephone Youth Tour... where we are rehearsing two shows - in which I am involved in nearly every scene.  Can I get the day off?  Long story short, No.  Dear Stratford Audition Co-ordinating Lady, any chance there are auditions on a Saturday somewhere?  Dear, Actor Who Is Going to be a Hassle to Deal With in Terms of Scheduling:  The only Saturday audition we have is in Halifax.  Dear Air Canada and Westjet, Can I fly from Saskatoon to Halifax and back without missing rehearsal?  Dear, Actor Navigating our Websites in and out of Wireless Coverage along the #1 Highway from Brandon to Saskatoon: Kind of, but we are going to whack you with an insane lay over resulting in a 10.5 hour flight which will get you to Halifax by 10:30am - Possibly in time for your audition at noon.  Dear Aaron's Brain, can we feasibly expect to fly to leave rehearsal on Friday, get to the airport, fly to halifax via Calgary and Toronto, arrive 45 mins outside of Halifax, drive to Neptune Theatre, perform an audition that makes the first lady of Canadian Theatre think that you are worth her time and some, fly back to Saskatoon and be ready to go for the opening week of the tour????  Dear, Aaron: Hell if I know...but if you don't go try you know what's going to happen.  

It's a good thing I've been working on some pieces...

Ring!  Come shoot a music video this weekend.

Ring! Come audition for an indie film being shot locally for which the trailer is being shot in the next couple of weeks.

Ring! Can you send me an audition tape of the sides I've emailed you?

Absolutely! Click, click, click.

Aaron's Brain:  Have you looked at your Youth Tour Scripts recently?

Aaron: Must...work...on...Shakespeare...monologues...HEY!  That's a pretty colour!! FOCUS!!!  

Aaron's Brain:  It'd be cool if you got that part, you would be on IMDB!

Aaron: that WOULD be cool!!! FOCUS!!  My Liege, I did deny no prisoners, but I remember when the fight was done, when I was dry with rage and extreme toil.........List a brief tale and when 'tis told O that my heart would burst!  The bloody proclamation to escape that followed me so near (O our lives' sweetness that we the pain of death would hourly die rather than die at once) taught me to shift into a madman's rags.......

Aaron's Shoulder: Look!  I grew a weird hair!!!

Aaron: Hey, that IS cool!!! FOCUS!!  Breathe.....relax....go to bed.  Goodnight...