Screaming Flea

Fleas, Freaks and Fear

2006-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Tying The Knot is this week's Straight Choice in the Georgia Straight. Show must close Saturday April 29th. No holdovers. See it now.

April 25 - 29th @ The Waterfront Theatre

2006-03-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Have you seen
the new neighbours yet?
There’s an old woman there
living with a younger man.
What a scandal.

They’re probably doing strange perverted things.
I was up all night thinking about it.

Critically-acclaimed, award-winning
Screaming Flea debuts an original work
about mayhem, the media and marriage

Part of of the See Seven Series
Tickets available at Festival Box Office

Our Caravan Farm Residency

2006-03-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

We have recently returned from our exciting residency at the Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong, B.C. During our stay we workshopped our latest creation Tying The Knot. We are extremely grateful for the warmth and hospitality offered. Thanks to Estelle, Ami, Jane, Chris, Kim, Cameron, and all the other associates who helped make our stay so wonderful.

This July, Caravan Farm Theatre will be presenting Macbeth. Do yourself and your loved ones a favour and plan a road trip to Armstrong to watch it. The Caravan is one of B.C.'s great cultural instutions. Their productions are legendary. Check it out and you'll see why.

Screaming Flea is honoured to be the first group to participate in such a residency at The Caravan. Tying The Knot, part of See Seven, is playing at The Waterfront Theatre from April 25th-29th. Purchase tickets here.

For more photos and news from our stay at the Farm, click here.

COMING SOON - TICKETS ONSALE NOW

2006-01-19T03:30:00.000-08:00

Tickets available at Festival Box Office.

Part of the See Seven Series.

The See Seven Pass is your passport to the hottest professional theatre in Vancouver.
Featured in Vancouver Sun's Spring Arts Preview

2006-01-19T03:24:00.000-08:00

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

2006-01-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists

“Mallory Catlett directs a superb cast of seven.”

Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier

“the actors deliver performances of sometimes astonishing delicacy… intense”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

“Some strong acting, particularly from Bloom as the Chair, Whidden and Ribeiro as two of the engineers, and Wong, whose elegant performance made me wonder why I haven’t seen this guy on a local stage for years.”

Jerry Wassmerman, The Province

Conversation At Night with a Despised Character

“a wild theatrical trip… brilliant”

Leanne Campbell, The Westender

“completely engrossing… the relentless stretching of theatrical possibility by Screaming Flea is heroic.”

Alan Hindle, Terminal City Weekly

“one of the most innovative, intelligent companies in town”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

This Room is Moving

“absolutely sizzles…fascinating”

Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier

“See this evening of theatre if you can… it’s important.”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

The Dwarfs

“Takes the Pinteresque elements of rhythm and ritual to delicious extremes… stylistically excellent”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

DARK AND STORMY NIGHTS

2005-12-04T16:50:00.000-08:00

Friends! We hope you can make one of the thunderous evenings...
sincerely,
the fleas

PRESS RELEASE: DARK AND STORMY NIGHTS

2005-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

DARK AND STORMY NIGHTS
An evening of one-acts exploring addiction and arch rivals, produced by screaming flea theatre

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Heather Lindsay
778-881-7152
screamflea@yahoo.ca

Crack

Written and Performed by Rob Baker

Dramaturged and Directed by Andrea Donaldson

It's a long walk (16 blocks each way, I've calculated.) This is the third time you and I have made this trip tonight (96 blocks in all.) Probably the fortieth time in the last two and a half months (1280 blocks!) No one can tell me the addict doesn't get his exercise.

Rumble
Written and Performed by Paulo Ribeiro

Dramaturged and Directed by Heather Lindsay & Billy Marchenski

They made us play inside because it was, snowing like crazy outside and we were like, wimpy. But the real reason is when anyone did play outside, they came back bleeding from gravel and ice. Despite whatever words were said, the reason why was clear: It’s a war out there and we’re not ready.

Saturday December 17 Sunday December 18 @ 8pm

The Office – 68 Water Street, Gastown, Vancouver (beside Sonar)
Pay What You Can
Tickets and information: 604.258-0265, screamflea@yahoo.ca or
www.screamingflea.blogspot.com

PRESS

- for Crack -
The 27th Rhubarb! fest is now history, though some of those early shoots may grow again…Certainly, some of the productions should get more stage life…Standouts that week were Rob Baker 's Crack , directed by Andrea Donaldson , which took us deeply, upsettingly into the life and head of a crack addict. JON KAPLAN, NOW MAGAZINE FEB 2005

- for screaming flea -
Reason can never answer the deepest questions of the spirit. Art doesn't always answer them either, but it can pose them in a compelling way- as it does here.
COLIN THOMAS, THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT AUG 2005

BIOS for DARK AND STORMY NIGHTS

2005-12-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

ROB BAKER
Rob is an actor, improviser, writer, dramaturge and educator originally from East Vancouver. He is currently a member of Bad Dog Theatre’s main-stage cast and part of the Neutrino Video Project Toronto. Also, he is one half of the comedic duo HATZENBAKER. Recent theatre highlights include Crack as part of the Rhubarb! Festival and The Possibilities as part of Summerworks.

ANDREA DONALDSON
Andrea is a Dora award-winning performer, a director, dramaturge and theatre creator. Presently based in Toronto, she is collaborating on Housebound, working toward completing her play Garden developed last year as part of Buddies’ Antechamber Playwrights’ Unit and beginning a mentorship in set design under Shawn Kerwin and David Skelton. She has recently returned from New York where she trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI. With her Toronto/Vancouver-based company seventeenth floor, Andrea has created/performed in projects that have toured across Canada and abroad. This summer she will return for her third season as a guest artist at the Blyth Festival, this year as director of the Young Company’s collective creation.

HEATHER LINDSAY
Heather is an artist, producer and accountant who grew up in Kelowna. As a co-artistic director of screaming flea, recent credits include Carla in Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists and designing Conversation at Night with a Despised Character. Other performance highlights include Suzy, a member of the good lookin’ roller-skating team in Radix Theatre’s Half a Tank and creating/performing, touring and being ‘sexy’ with her Vancouver/Toronto based company seventeenth floor, across Canada and New Zealand. This spring, Heather can’t wait to be collaborating with the fleas as a part of their See Seven debut in Tying the Knot, and helping to make Theatre Under the Gun happen again…

BILLY MARCHENSKI
Last seen in the Tomorrow Collective's Brief Encounters at the Office. Billy is developing newworks with dj Darren Woodhead of Saunasessions, and with Screaming Flea for their See Seven debut, Tying The Knot. Recent highlights include playing Junior's Father in Pi Theatre's Carnage, Jaroslaw in Michael Springate's Feature Film Katya, and David Lenowski in the Flea's latest byte, Fragments Of A Farewell Letter Read By Geologists. Billy would like to thank the fleas, Andrea and Rob for their generosity and skill.

PAULO RIBEIRO
Paulo is an actor, writer, dramaturg and director who grew up in East Vancouver. He co-founded screaming flea while attending SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Favourite past roles include Victor in thir$ty (Headlines), Orson Welles in War of The Worlds (Rumble), for which he earned a Jessie Nomination, Richard in The Soldier Dreams (Shifting Point) and Cassilly in Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read By Geologists. (screaming flea). TV credits including DaVinci’s Inquest, Touching Evil, and Tru Calling. Next up: Tying The Knot, a new comedy about restrainers of all kinds.

UP NEXT: SPRING 2006

2005-12-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

image by Billy Marchenski and Paulo Ribeiro

SEE SEVEN: TYING THE KNOT

2005-12-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Screaming Flea presents Tying the Knot
Apr 25-29, 2006
Waterfront Theatre 1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island Vancouver 604.685.1731
Sat matinee, 2PM 2-for-1 Wed
tickets: $18/15
Festival Box Office: 604.257.0366

written and performed by Screaming Flea
Heather Lindsay, Billy Marchenski, Paulo Ribeiro, Paul Ternes, Derek Whidden

Tying the Knot is a broad comedy that satirizes modern media practices, with its particular focus on two families living in a culture of fear, and two children’s attempts to exorcise the effects of their smothering social conditioning. Knot uses human marionettes, drag elements and various types of restrainers to further illustrate the absurd conditions under which its four characters live.

Devised to satisfy the appetites of a group of writers, actors and directors, the Flea has since explored different models of theatre creation in an attempt to challenge the ensemble and their notion of practice. Our projects, like our name, begin with small ideas proposed from a members singular obsession: a play, literary text, new piece of writing, political or scientific thought, an infamous character. The crucible of that small thing is whether it can become a group obsession, whether it will infest our imaginations, scream at us.

Reviews: Fragments of a Farewell Letter. . .

2005-08-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=12071

http://www.vancouverplays.com/theatre/reviews_theatre/review_fragments_letter_2005.htm

http://www.vancourier.com/issues05/081205/entertainment/081205en2.html

This weeks Straight Choice

2005-08-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

http://straight.com/content.cfm?id=11956

2005-07-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

"There he was, serene, watching the end of everything. His arms open, his palms turned toward the water, he was on the other side of eternity waiting for everything to begin again."

2005-06-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release June 27th, 2005

Screaming Flea Theatre presents

FRAGMENTS OF A

FAREWELL LETTER

READ BY GEOLOGISTS

By Normand Chaurette
Translated by Linda Gaboriau

August 3 – 6 & 10 – 13 Tickets $18/15 at SFU Harbour Centre Downtown Campus

2005-06-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

Screaming Flea Theatre is pleased to announce its upcoming production of Normand Chaurette’s FRAGMENTS OF A FAREWELL LETTER READ BY GEOLOGISTS. A Governor General’s Award nominee and winner of the Prix de l’Association quebecoise des critiques de theatre for Best Play in 1988, Fragments tells the story of the aftermath of a tragic geological expedition in Cambodia. At a public inquiry into the death of the expedition’s leader, the search for answers and facts are quickly revealed to be at odds with the ephemeral nature of memory and, more frighteningly, a fierce reluctance to personal culpability. This Screaming Flea production will be produced in a site-specific setting – a policy room in SFU’s Harbour Centre – in order to heighten the immediacy of an already timely play.

Screaming Flea’s production of Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists will be directed by Mallory Catlett, whose direction of the Flea’s 2003 show This Room is Moving helped garner that production’s 5 Jessie nominations. The cast includes Flea ensemble members Heather Lindsay, Billy Marchenski, Paulo Ribeiro and Derek Whidden, as well as accomplished local actors David Bloom, Tyler McLendon, and Ronin Wong. DD Kugler, who worked on the the original 1992 English language production is our production dramaturg. Olivia Delachanal joins the production team as Assistant Director.

Show Times & Ticket Info

2005-06-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

FRAGMENTS OF A FAREWELL LETTER READ BY GEOLOGISTS

SFU Harbour Centre Downtown Room 2270
August 3-6 & 10-13 @ 8 pm
August 6 & 13 Matinees @ 2 pm
Tickets $18/15
2 for 1 Wednesday August 3

Tickets and additional info call 604-258-0265

MEDIA CONTACT
Heather Lindsay
778–881-7152

screamflea@yahoo.ca
http://www.screamingflea.blogspot.com/

FRAGMENTS Bios

2005-06-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

David Bloom - Chairman Nikols Ostwald
Playwright, director, actor and fight choreographer David Bloom is co-artistic director (with Linda Quibell) of Felix Culpa. Recently he appeared in The Designated Mourner for Felix Culpa, apple and the Governor-General’s Award-winning play Unity 1918 for Touchstone Theatre. Acting and fight choreography have taken him across the country, including work at The Theatre Festival of the Americas, The Shaw Festival, Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel, and almost every company in British Columbia. Television appearances include Da Vinci’s Inquest, Cold Squad, Stargate SG-1 and X-files. Bloom is currently writing an adaptation of The Revenger’s Tragedy for Felix Culpa. His plays have been performed by Green Thumb, Studio 58, Felix Culpa, Carousel, Axis Theatre, Canadian Phoenix and the University of British Columbia. In the fall of 2004 he directed Colleen Wagner’s The Monument for Felix Culpa/Rumble Productions. He has directed shows in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Kamloops, Thunder Bay, Whitehorse and London. David Bloom is a graduate of Studio 58 where he currently on the faculty.

Mallory Catlett - Director/Co-Artistic Director
Mallory Catlett is a freelance director/dramaturg who splits her time working in Vancouver (founding member of Screaming Flea Theatre and Co-Artistic Director of Restless Productions Vancouver an interdisciplinary collective that develops new works of music, dance, theatre and installation art) and in NYC (Artistic Director of Restless Productions NYC and Associate Member of Juggernaut Theatre Company) . She has most recently directed PANEL . ANIMAL at the Collapsible Hole in Brooklyn which is now extending at the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre in Manhattan. Her work has been funded by NY State Council for the Humanities, NYSCA, The Hamber Foundation, ArtsFact, Puffin, Ransom Research Center and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is the recipient of the 2003 Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the HERE Arts Center, NYC and the British Studies Fellow at the Harry Ransom Research Center in Austin. For more info and documentation go to: homepage.mac.com/mallorycatlett

Olivia Delachanal - Assistant Director
With a B.A. and a B.F.A in hand, Olivia finally stepped into the 'real' world last year. Since then she’s directed and produced Connie Gault’s SKY at the Pocket Stage Theatre and Michael Springate’s FREEPORT, TEXAS in the International Village.

DD Kugler – Dramaturg
Dramaturg and director. Co-author, with Richard Rose, of the play Newhouse, and the stage adaptations of Michael Ondaatge’s Coming through Slaughter, and Timothy Findlay’s, Not Wanted on the Voyage. Extensive work across Canada in new play development. President of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (2000-02); Production Dramaturg with Necessary Angel Theatre (1987-98); Production. Artistic Director of Necessary Angel Theatre (1993-98). Teaches dramaturgy, directing and theatre history.

Heather Lindsay - Carla / Co-Artistic Director
Heather Lindsay is a multi-disciplinary working in Vancouver and Toronto. Most recently with Screaming Flea Theatre, which she is also a Co-Artistic Director; Heather designed Conversation at Night with a Despised Character. Other highlights include working with Radix Theatre (Half a Tank) and the Playwrights Theatre Centre's The Assimilation of Eddie Mosiac. Heather is also a Co-Artistic Director of 17th performance company, where her credits include Lil in Living Room (Toronto and Vancouver Fringe Festivals), Petunia in The Triplets of Bellville’s Barbershop for Ladies Only (Theatre Under the Gun 7), the direction of Never Swim Alone (Vancouver Fringe Festival), and Pricilla in ssshhh…(Toronto/New Zealand/Vancouver). Next, Heather will be collaborating with ‘The Fleas’ once again, as a part of their See Seven debut, next Spring.

Tyler McClendon – Ralph Peterson

Born and raised locally, Tyler McClendon graduated from the SFU Theatre program in 2000. Since that time, he has worked consistently as a theatre and film actor in Vancouver. His latest stage performance was as Ben, a sixty year old corporate president, in Michael Springate’s Freeport Texas. He has also played such stage roles as Queensberry in Moises Kaufman’s Gross Indecency, Jerry in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Jason in Medea, and Frank in Daniel MacIvor’s Never Swim Alone. Tyler is excited to be joining the Screaming Fleas cast in this original Canadian play.

Billy Marchenski – David Lenowski/Co-Artistic Director
Billy Marchenski is an actor, writer, director and dancer working in Vancouver for the past five years. Recent highlights include playing the part of Richard in Sodium Glow’s FreePort: Texas, dancing in Battery Opera’s 2nd draft of Cyclops, appearing as The Guru in Grimm Prospects for Theatre Under The Gun 7 with Screaming Flea, and Gideon in 17th Floor’s production of Livingroom, part of last year’s Fringe Festival. Billy is working on a new play, Preserved which he hopes to present in the upcoming year. He is also in the creation phase of a new collaboration with Screaming Flea as part of their See 7 debut, next spring.

Paulo Ribeiro – Jason Casilly/Co-Artistic Director
An actor, writer, dramaturg and director, Paulo was last seen with screaming flea in Theatre Under The Gun 7 and in Conversation At Night With a Despised Character. Paulo is pumped to once again perform with the fleaz, especially since we haven’t had so many of us all in the same city since This Room is Moving. Favourite past acting roles include Victor in thir$ty (Headlines), Orson Welles in War of The Worlds (Rumble), for which he earned a Jessie Nomination, and Richard in The Soldier Dreams (Shifting Point). TV credits include Davinci’s Inquest, Tru Calling, and Touching Evil. Future projects include tinkering in the dungeon with the fleas to create our new show inspired by our Theatre Under The Gun 5 piece Tie The Knot as part of See 7. Paulo is a graduate of SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts.

Derek Whidden – Lloyd MaCurdy/ Co-Artistic Director
Derek is a local actor who – to gain inspiration from the great Travel Muse, has spent the better part of the past year traveling through the Caribbean. Prior to that he was involved with Screaming Flea’s This Room is Moving, playing dual roles as well as acting as co-dramaturg. Trained at Simon Fraser University, past roles have included Lord Alfred Douglas in Moises Kaufmann’s Gross Indecency, Henry in Samuel Beckett’s Embers, and Kabe in Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare. Derek is thrilled to be involved with Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists and equally excited to be reunited with the Screaming Flea ensemble for this topical show.

Ronin Wong – Xu Sojen

Ronin is excited to work for the first time with Screaming Flea Theatre. In the past, he has performed in more than 50 stage, film, and television projects. Highlights include three plays at the Firehall Theatre – Powder Blue Chevy, F.O.B., and Age of Iron. Ronin’s TV roles include appearances on the series Outer Limits, Millenium, Da Vinci’s Inquest, Cold Squad (recurring role), and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (guest star), as well as supporting lead parts in the TV movies Secret of Giving, Spenser for Hire: Walking Shadow, and The Spring. Ronin has also acted on the feature films Mystery Date, Romeo Must Die, and Along Came A Spider. He feels very fortunate to have acted with such luminaries as Morgan Freeman, Reba McEntire, Jet Li, Jo Mantegna, and Ethan Hawke.

RESEARCH & DRAMATURGICAL MATERIAL FOR FRAGMENTS

2005-05-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.fleaz.blogspot.com/

2005-05-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

2005-05-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Review of Screaming Flea's Theatre Under the Gun 7 Piece

2004-11-23T00:51:00.000-08:00

screaming flea: “Always a lot of intensity with this Jessie Nominated group. Intellectual and darkly comic.”

"Grim Prospects";
line: “I understand what you're saying, but the dancing confuses me,” provided by Mr. Alan Hindle, Now Magazine’s Arts Editor; a sound clip from an old radio series of a telephone conversation between a married woman and her lover who has gotten her into trouble; prop: two tiny baby dolls; New Yorker cartoon of the Grim Reaper arriving on the mountain ledge inhabited by a Guru.

This group used their inspiration package exclusively - very little else was added to the scene that did not directly relate to the material they were provided. By doing so, they focused the story, as well as our comprehension of the material presented and its genesis.

Death arrives on the ledge of a mountain to end the life of a Yogi. But as he lifts his arm to smite the man, he finds himself incapable of completing the act. The yogi pleads for a delay, as he had just found two tiny babies which were being raised by mountain wolves. 'Why not give them back to the wolves?' asks the grim-faced working man. The teacher explains that this would not be fair to the children, sentencing the children to a life of asking themselves why they do not fit in with the other children: ‘Why don't I have a tail? Why can't I grow more hair on my back? I ought to be more excited by a full moon, shouldn't I? Why isn't Jack London writing a novel about me?’

The Grim Reaper explains that he actually took over the job from someone else about 800 years ago, and the Guru seizes on this as the answer to the problem - he will take up the career and the stressed-out Reaper will retire. Scoffing, Death asks the Holy Man if he has ever killed anything. “I was a non-vegan for a time, yes,” he replies. The man who was once the simple sheep-herder named Dimitri relents and passes the yoke office to the other after a hip-hop/house dance number which attempts to show the principle moves of the job, which brings forth the line provided.

After an honestly touching moment of farewell to his adopted children, the newly appointed Grim Reaper feels the energy sizzling through his arm, and - just as the lights drop - he raises his hand to smite the 800-year-old former shepherd, and we have the completion of a perfect story arc. Simply brilliant story-telling, a wonderful short one-act, and an amazing accomplishment of 48 hours. Kudos to the two creator/performers. We need to see more from this company as soon as possible.

By Ian Alexander Martin - From http://www.theboards.bc.ca/2004-10-27.html
Ian Alexander Martin is a Vancouver-based theatre commentator, who also occasionally directs and acts. He is currently researching the reason that the cats which live with he and his wife are so daft. Visit his web-site at iamiam.ca

2004-06-07T03:53:00.001-07:00

About Us

2004-06-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

Flea Bites (Critical Acclaim)

Past Productions

2004-06-07T03:52:00.002-07:00

Production Snapshots 2

Past Productions

2004-06-07T03:52:00.001-07:00

Production Snapshots 1

2004-06-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

Company History

Mekong Delta

2004-06-04T00:45:00.000-07:00

Travel Description
Tales of Asia - Mekong Delta
Mekong Flooding
Mekong Delta 2000 Flooding
Using Remote sensing to learn about the riverbed
Using remotely sensed data to detect changes of riverbank in Mekong River, Vietnam
Mekong Delta satmap
World Guide - Satellite Image - Tonle Sap (Cambodia) and the Mekong delta (Vietnam)
Children are the main victims of the flooding
KryssTal : People Photos - Children in the Mekong Delta

2004-06-03T02:37:00.001-07:00

2004-06-03T02:37:00.000-07:00

2004-06-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

inspirational material for Beat, Act 2 of This Room is Moving

2004-06-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

This Room is Moving gets 5 Jessie Nominations

2004-06-01T04:02:00.002-07:00

bios 2

2004-06-01T04:02:00.001-07:00

bios 1

2004-06-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

Georgia Straight Review, May 2004

2004-06-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Terminal City Review, August 2004, Page 2 only

2004-06-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

Courier Review, August 2003, Page 2

2004-06-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

Courier Review, August 2003, Page 1

2004-06-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

Westender Review May, 2004

2004-06-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

conversation poster

2004-06-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

infesting the imagination

2004-06-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

This Room is Moving Poster