Remember that time we got to meet Alexis? Remember how she was super into alternative theatre spaces? Well guess what? She’s in a show coming up at the end of May and it sounds like the perfect opportunity for you to experience a show in an alternative venue.
Here’s the run down.
Vacant House Theatre Presents: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, by Terrence McNally.
Here’s the run down.
Vacant House Theatre Presents: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, by Terrence McNally.
The Playwright
Terrence McNally is a decorated American playwright with several Tony Awards under his belt, along with an Emmy and a Pulitzer Prize, just to name a few. This particular play was performed Off-Broadway in 1987, staring Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham. McNally later adapted the play into a film called Frankie and Johnny starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
The Show
Frankie and Johnny go home together after their first date and end up in bed. The play is about what happens after all that. Johnny feels like he’s found his soul mate while Frankie is putting up emotional walls and trying to escape into the TV. The play deepens to discuss what it’s like to be truly intimate and open with someone and to be metaphorically “naked”.
Despite some of the heavy subject matter, Alexis says the play crosses all genres, having comedic moments as well. “I wouldn’t pin it down to just one genre - we can’t do that because that's just life,” she says.
Terrence McNally is a decorated American playwright with several Tony Awards under his belt, along with an Emmy and a Pulitzer Prize, just to name a few. This particular play was performed Off-Broadway in 1987, staring Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham. McNally later adapted the play into a film called Frankie and Johnny starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
The Show
Frankie and Johnny go home together after their first date and end up in bed. The play is about what happens after all that. Johnny feels like he’s found his soul mate while Frankie is putting up emotional walls and trying to escape into the TV. The play deepens to discuss what it’s like to be truly intimate and open with someone and to be metaphorically “naked”.
Despite some of the heavy subject matter, Alexis says the play crosses all genres, having comedic moments as well. “I wouldn’t pin it down to just one genre - we can’t do that because that's just life,” she says.
The Spark
As previously discussed, last year Alexis co-founded her own company, Vacant House Theatre, with friend Karina Milech. Their first show was The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine in the basement laundry room of the The Ottawa Backpackers Inn.
“Last year’s show was a little bit of a zany, rollercoaster ride,” Alexis recalls. “The acting style involved a lot of actor check-ins with the audience and breaking the fourth wall. When looking for the next show for Vacant House, I still wanted something that engaged audience members in a unique space but also something that would give them a completely different kind of experience than last year.”
Alexis attended a workshop on intimacy with Alix Sederis and everything started to click into place. After the workshop, her friend and mentor David Whiteley (who also took the workshop) showed her Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.
“I was really drawn to this powerful love story. This play was the perfect way for us to exercise the new things we were learning about being really truthful and specific,” says Alexis.
The Space
Alexis and the production team are doing the show in an actual apartment in downtown Ottawa on Stewart Street.
The apartment will be transformed to reflect New York in the 1980’s but it will still be used as it’s meant to be used, with the characters actually cooking food on the stove. Aside from being super cool, this means the audience will be brought into the play in a powerful way.
“This text is full of subtlety and subtext, so it is the perfect script for audience members to see up close. By removing the space between the artists and the audience, we engage audience members on a more visceral level,” explains Alexis.
The Process
Alexis has been working with a team of people to really bring this production to life for the audience. She is especially excited to be working with director Peter James Haworth.
“He has decades of experience as an actor on the stage and screen, and is just a beautiful human. His insight and eye for specificity and the exactness of where we are in the world, the time and how that relates to what the characters are saying is going to make for not only some really great theatre but something really different for audiences in Ottawa.”
Alexis also believes that two (or more) heads are better than one.
“My philosophy with making theatre is that I prefer to create as a collective,” she says. “I enjoy working on projects in which everyone feels significantly involved in the creation process and the lines between who does what are a little blurred.”
While Alexis acknowledges this method is not always a cakewalk, she maintains it produces the best results. “It can be a little difficult to manage when you have people butting heads, but in the end you carry each other and help each other grow.”
The Goal
Ultimately, Alexis is hoping the text, acting, and space, will work together to reveal real, layered, and full characters.
“These characters have moments when they’re happy with each other, they have moments where they’re very guarded, they have moments where they’re absolutely shattered. The beauty of watching something like this in an apartment is that we really get a chance to watch two people expose themselves in this way.”
For more info, visit: www.vacanthousetheatre.com
As previously discussed, last year Alexis co-founded her own company, Vacant House Theatre, with friend Karina Milech. Their first show was The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine in the basement laundry room of the The Ottawa Backpackers Inn.
“Last year’s show was a little bit of a zany, rollercoaster ride,” Alexis recalls. “The acting style involved a lot of actor check-ins with the audience and breaking the fourth wall. When looking for the next show for Vacant House, I still wanted something that engaged audience members in a unique space but also something that would give them a completely different kind of experience than last year.”
Alexis attended a workshop on intimacy with Alix Sederis and everything started to click into place. After the workshop, her friend and mentor David Whiteley (who also took the workshop) showed her Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.
“I was really drawn to this powerful love story. This play was the perfect way for us to exercise the new things we were learning about being really truthful and specific,” says Alexis.
The Space
Alexis and the production team are doing the show in an actual apartment in downtown Ottawa on Stewart Street.
The apartment will be transformed to reflect New York in the 1980’s but it will still be used as it’s meant to be used, with the characters actually cooking food on the stove. Aside from being super cool, this means the audience will be brought into the play in a powerful way.
“This text is full of subtlety and subtext, so it is the perfect script for audience members to see up close. By removing the space between the artists and the audience, we engage audience members on a more visceral level,” explains Alexis.
The Process
Alexis has been working with a team of people to really bring this production to life for the audience. She is especially excited to be working with director Peter James Haworth.
“He has decades of experience as an actor on the stage and screen, and is just a beautiful human. His insight and eye for specificity and the exactness of where we are in the world, the time and how that relates to what the characters are saying is going to make for not only some really great theatre but something really different for audiences in Ottawa.”
Alexis also believes that two (or more) heads are better than one.
“My philosophy with making theatre is that I prefer to create as a collective,” she says. “I enjoy working on projects in which everyone feels significantly involved in the creation process and the lines between who does what are a little blurred.”
While Alexis acknowledges this method is not always a cakewalk, she maintains it produces the best results. “It can be a little difficult to manage when you have people butting heads, but in the end you carry each other and help each other grow.”
The Goal
Ultimately, Alexis is hoping the text, acting, and space, will work together to reveal real, layered, and full characters.
“These characters have moments when they’re happy with each other, they have moments where they’re very guarded, they have moments where they’re absolutely shattered. The beauty of watching something like this in an apartment is that we really get a chance to watch two people expose themselves in this way.”
For more info, visit: www.vacanthousetheatre.com