{"id":38319,"date":"2022-02-25T01:58:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T09:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=38319"},"modified":"2022-02-23T16:06:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T00:06:10","slug":"ominous-sounds-premieres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/ominous-sounds-premieres\/","title":{"rendered":"Ominous Sounds premi\u00e8res"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kerry Sandomirsky co-stars in Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing by Jason Sherman, which has its world premi\u00e8re at Performance Works March 6-13. (photo by David Cooper)<\/em><\/p>\n

Who is permitted to tell stories? This is the main theme of Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing; or, Another F–king Dinner Party Play<\/em>, playwright Jason Sherman told the Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The world premi\u00e8re of Ominous Sounds takes place March 6-13 at Performance Works on Granville Island. Not only is Sherman a member of the Jewish community, but so are cast members Alex Poch-Goldin and Kerry Sandomirsky and lighting designer Itai Erdal. The production is being staged by Touchstone Theatre, whose artistic director is Roy Surette.<\/p>\n

Ominous Sounds<\/em> is described as \u201ca provocative and darkly comedic piece of metatheatre that dives into hot-button issues including the ethics of representation, climate responsibility, and social power in a reality marked by colossal cultural shifts and blurring meanings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn exploring the central theme,\u201d said Sherman, \u201ccharacters in the play reject a number of storytelling approaches, old and new, notably the dinner party play, of which there are many fine examples, to be sure, but which one of our characters is desperate to escape from. The play keeps returning to various versions of a dinner party play, interspersing it with attempts at other forms of storytelling, before finding a synthesis in a new story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Playwright Jason Sherman (PR photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The launching point of Ominous Sounds<\/em> was a planned follow-up to Sherman\u2019s play Patience, which Surette directed some 20 years ago. Patience is \u201ca contemporary retelling of the story of Job; the new play was to pick up with news of the death of the earlier piece\u2019s main character,\u201d said Sherman. \u201cBut I found myself balking at returning to the earlier story \u2013 for reasons of both form and content \u2013 and instead incorporated some of its elements into what would become Ominous Sounds<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erdal described some of the considerations in lighting a play like Ominous Sounds<\/em>. \u201cIn a naturalistic play,\u201d he said, \u201cthe lighting usually wants to be invisible; it should move the story forward and set the mood and the tone for the scene but it should do all that without pulling any attention to itself\u2026. In an abstract play, the lighting doesn\u2019t have to be justified \u2013 it can be part of the architecture and the dramaturgy of the piece. This play is about making theatre, so it moves between the two approaches \u2013 sometimes the lighting is invisible and sometimes it can be very dramatic and noticeable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a brilliant projection designer,\u201d he added, \u201cand many of the locations will be done with video projection, so I will have to \u2026 work closely with the projection designer to determine which scenes will be done with lighting only and which scenes with lighting and projections. We are still very early in the process so a lot of those decisions are still being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Poch-Goldin spoke with the Independent<\/em>, there had been only three days of Zoom rehearsals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit exhausting using that format, but very enlightening,\u201d he said. \u201cThe writer, Jason, was part of our rehearsals and he was able to clarify things for us, which was very helpful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people will come see the show now that things are opening up. While COVID is hovering in the background, I have to be optimistic. I want to share this play with people. I want to work with other actors without masks on and I want a sense of normalcy to prevail. I\u2019m not nervous about having restrictions loosen and a full theatre appreciate the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandomirsky echoed this last sentiment. \u201cWe have all been inside now for two years, many of us living on a diet of Netflix and Skip the Dishes,\u201d she said. \u201cThis play does what theatre does best \u2013 engages in the cultural conversation of the moment in a provocative, entertaining way. It\u2019s an opportunity to see theatre that you will keep discussing post-show. It\u2019s an opportunity to leave your bubble and safely let a group of experienced actors delight and enrage you. You don\u2019t need to go to New York. You can hear a script that has intelligence, humour and heart right here, on Granville Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Poch-Goldin and Sandomirsky play more than one character.<\/p>\n

Among Sandomirsky\u2019s roles, she said, \u201cis a 50-something actor trying to navigate the minefield of what stories she is and is not allowed to tell. Is her voice still relevant?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe start as numbered entities and then we start to play other characters in little plays along the way, but always return back to our numbered entity,\u201d explained Poch-Goldin. \u201cMy character starts vulnerable and becomes quite strident and outspoken, longing for the good old days, when theatre was something he understood. As for the other characters I play, Peter is a bit of a wisecracking dad who is trying to be a better person and facing a lot of struggles. I also play the character of Ruben, who is someone who has passed away and comes back in a flashback to talk about his struggles, and to learn to accept himself and his failings. I love all the characters, they\u2019re profound and reflect many things I feel about the changes in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poch-Goldin has been busy since the pandemic began. He moved to Winnipeg two years ago and has been doing a lot of TV and film, he said. For example, the premi\u00e8re of the series The Porter<\/em> started on CBC Feb. 21, and Poch-Goldin is in five of the eight episodes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also just finished writing a new play called The Trial of William Shakespear<\/em>e,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter three years of development, we\u2019re finally starting to share the script after several workshops. I also have a play called The Great Shadow<\/em>, about the first film studio in Canada in 1919. It\u2019s going to premi\u00e8re this summer at 4th Line Theatre, which is an outdoor theatre in Millbrook, Ont.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Sandomirsky continued to teach acting for film and television at Langara\u2019s Studio 58.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gathered a group of friends and directed A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> on Galiano Island in a field,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was an opportunity to have experienced Bard on the Beach actors mix with local islanders and create a bit of magic on a few warm August nights.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well, she, her son Ben (who is in Los Angeles shooting The Mysterious Benedict Society<\/em>) and her mom (who lives in Saskatchewan) \u201cstarted doing nightly themed Zoom sessions to amuse ourselves and stay in contact. We\u2019d choose a theme and then give ourselves half an hour to whump up costumes and props using only what we had at hand.\u201d They shared photos with friends and \u201cbegan to take thematic requests and covered everything from Bergman to Batman to Brueghel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next for her is the play Courage Now<\/em> at Firehall Theatre.\u00a0 Written by Manami Hara, it\u2019s a piece about Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara, who helped thousands of Lithuanian Jews flee Europe. \u201cThe director, Jane Heyman, is herself a descendant of a family saved by Sugihara\u2019s actions,\u201d said Sandomirsky.<\/p>\n

For tickets to Ominous Sounds<\/em>, visit ticketscene.ca\/series\/926<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kerry Sandomirsky co-stars in Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing by Jason Sherman, which has its world premi\u00e8re at Performance Works March 6-13. (photo by David Cooper) Who is permitted to tell stories? This is the main theme of Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing; or, Another F–king Dinner Party Play, playwright Jason Sherman told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[21263,5349,21264,2123,21262,21266,21265,6208,1268],"class_list":["post-38319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-alex-poch-goldin","tag-itai-erdal","tag-jason-sherman","tag-kerry-sandomirsky","tag-ominous-sounds","tag-performance-works","tag-social-issues","tag-theatre","tag-touchstone-theatre"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}