Over the years the One Yellow Rabbit Ensemble have had the pleasure of working with a large number of talented and passionate people. This is by no means a complete list but we've got a soft spot for the following writers and artists.
Author of Hunger's Brides
Aside from the monumental 1,347 page Hunger's Brides Paul has also published stories and essays in Australia, Britain, Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Hunger's Brides was published by Random House Canada on September 14, 2004 and was released in the US and UK in Spetember of 2005.
"There are marvels here ... a work of massive scope and grand ambition. ... what the author does ... is let language loose, and the result is startling, at times frightening and often beautiful. Everything and everyone ... becomes raised to epiphany... It becomes clear, through the verbal energy of these passages, that the greatest achievement of Anderson's novel (and perhaps its true subject) is in the evocation of the teeming, sordid pageant of Mesoamerica: its mythic, blood-soaked history, its geography of extremes, the holocaust of its cities and its people. Through Beulah's eyes, Mexico becomes emblematic of Western civilization, and what we have done to ourselves by inheriting the ethos of the conquistadors and becoming technological masters of the planet." Globe & Mail.
More info here on the staged readings of Hunger's Brides performed by the in Canada and Mexico in 1996 and1997.
Information on Hunger's Brides at Random House
Former assistant director and actor with One Yellow Rabbit
David began working with One Yellow Rabbit in early 2001, while completing his MFA in Directing at the University of Calgary. Prior to coming to Calgary, David worked as a director, actor, and dramaturge as part of the artistic ensemble of Kitchener's Theatre & Company.
As part of One Yellow Rabbit, David worked on shows such as Sylvia Plath Must Not Die, Dream Machine, Featherland, Somalia Yellow and Hayride and has appeared in Heavens to Murgatroid and Liberators, Occupiers and Populations.
Recent performances outside One Yellow Rabbit included X-Ray and Picnic (Ghost River Theatre), and Shiny Beast's Frank Zappa freakout, We're Only In It for the Money.
Check out DVB's video postcard from the "Euro Tour" in May, 2005.
Theatre of Marionettes
More information is available through John Lambert and Associates
Ronnie's Theatre of Marionettes was established in 1986. Canada's foremost artist in puppet theatre, Ronnie has been credited with creating some of the world's most elaborate and provocative puppetry.
Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes has stimulated an unprecedented adult audience for puppet theatre and continuous to perform to great critical and public acclaim on Canada's major stages and as a guest company at international theatre festivals.
Ronnie has received numerous awards in the Canadian theatre as a playwright, actor and designer for his work with Theatre of Marionettes. With continued international touring of Tinka's New Dress, Street of Blood and Happy, he is currently writing about forgiveness and unconditional love for Theatre of Marionette's next production, The Madonna of Nutter Gulch, and his first one-man show without puppets, The Likes Of Me.
Artist and Educator
Chris Cran on the Web hosted by Vanity Gallery
Chris is a resident of Calgary, Alberta and a well-known painter and teacher throughout Canada.
A recent feature on the artist in the New York Times stated that Cran "...has built a career on tampering with people's perceptions. Which is what painting is all about." The same article quoted National Gallery of Canada curator Diana Nemiroff on Cran: "He's quite rigorous, very alive, very vital, not an academic artist at all."
Chris is a long-time friend of ours, an instructor during the Summer Lab Intensive and has designed several shows for including Breeder, Permission and Dream Machine.
Ghost River Theatre
Since 1992, Ghost River Theatre has been creating new Canadian performance that is original, innovative and highly theatrical.
GRT have premiered across Canada at Alberta Theatre Projects, One Yellow
Rabbit, The Edmonton Fringe, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, Les 20 jours
du théâtre á risque, (Montreal), The International Storytelling
Festival, The Eastern Front Theatre, (Halifax), and The Magnetic North Festival
in Ottawa.
"This is some of the best of what a new generation of writers is producing."
CBC Edmonton
Former (now part-time) Front-of-house and Bar Supervisor
Anton is a familiar face with One Yellow Rabbit, having 'tended tonics and poured pints' behind the bar of the Future Cocktail Lounge since 2003.
A born and raised Calgarian and an active artist in his own right, Anton is deeply entrenched in the local theatre and music scene. He plays bass with his band WADE who, incidentally, released their full-length debut album (Parenthesis) at the Big Secret Theatre in 2005.
Actor and Director
Zaide on the Web in both Spanish and English
Zaide is a Mexican actress who has appeared in more than 24 films, 30 plays and 18 television dramas. To date she has won 9 national and international awards and has been nominated for numerous others. She is perhaps best known outside of Mexico for playing the lead role of Rosa in Gregory Nava's award winning film 'El Norte."
Zaide will be appearing in Gregory Nava's new film "Bordertown" featuring Jennifer Lopez, Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen. Scheduled for release in September 2007.
Although best known as a film actress, Zaide also works extensively in theatre, television and radio. She has performed in Mexico, Canada and the US, directed theatre productions in Mexico and New York City and published three plays.
In 1997, along with Canadian composer Richard McDowell, she founded the performance theatre collective 'Mundo Canela' in Mexico City which has since produced four original and award-winning works: Journey to the Land of Green Shadows by Danish writer Finn Methling, Sola! by One Yellow Rabbit's Denise Clarke, Conversation Amongst The Ruins by Emilio Carballido and La Luna Vista por los Muertos by Daniel Rodriguez Barron.
Actor, Writer, Director, Pochsy...
Karen Hines is an award-winning performer, writer and director, and is the artistic director of Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions. She is the creator/performer of Citizen Pochsy: Head Movements of a Long-Haired Girl, Pochsy’s Lips, and Oh, baby (Pochsy’s Adventures by the Sea) which have been presented across Canada and in the U.S. at venues including One Yellow Rabbit, Factory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Dallas Theatre Centre and Alice’s in New York.
Karen wrote the Chalmers and Dora-nominated musical play Hello... Hello (A Romantic Satire), and co-composed it with her long-time collaborator Greg Morrison. Also a long-time collaborator with Canadian horror clown duo Mump & Smoot, Karen has directed all of their productions to date including Caged, Ferno, Something Else and Flux; from the Fringe Festivals to Yale Rep.
Karen is a series regular on Ken Finkleman’s award-winning series The Newsroom (CBC/PBS), co-starred in his mini-series Foreign Objects (Rhombus) and in his teleplay Escape from the Newsroom (CBC). and starred in his cult hit Married Life (Comedy Central/Atlantis), for which her performance was nominated for CableAce and Gemini awards.
Other credits include The Second City, Angels in America (Canadian Stage) Swollen Tongues (Necessary Angel), The Drowsy Chaperone (Mirvish Productions) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Killer Films).
Visual Artist, Curator
Allan Harding MacKay has had a long and multifaceted career in the visual arts as a gallery curator/director and as a professional artist. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and his works have been acquired by public galleries, corporations and private collectors in Canada and Switzerland. He has served as visiting artist (in Residence) at several Canadian universities, art colleges and public galleries and has been awarded numerous Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council grants.
Beginning in 1988 the Allan established Source/Derivations a series of exhibition projects based on art and artifacts of other artists. Since 1993 his Somalia experience with the military has been featured prominently in his art practice and his "Somalia Yellow Series” has produced videos, drawings, collages, prints, video images contributed to the Atom Egoyan opera "Elsewhereless" and a collaboration with the One Yellow Rabbit theatre ensemble in re-staging the Somalia Yellow performance in April 2002 in Calgary and then again in October/November 2002 in Prague and Glasgow.
In 1996, a CBC documentary on MacKay's Somali experience, "Changing Perspectives" aired on national television. The artist spent 4 years at the Banff Centre for the Arts and now works as an artist and curatorial consultant in Kitchener, Ontario. His work is represented by Paul Kuhn Gallery and Art Placement Gallery.
Canada's gift to the Czech Republic
Ewan is a stage director and producer from Calgary who lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic. We know him as the “Czech connection.”
Over the last twelve years or so Ewan has directed many plays such as Total Eclipse, Hitting Town, and A Number, working mostly in Czech. In Prague he has also produced theatre and dance works from Canada, the U.S., France, and Italy, and consulted in many ways on the presentation of English-language works to Czech-speaking audiences, and vice-versa.
From 1999 – 2001 Ewan came home to Calgary to work hard with us as producer of the High Performance Rodeo. During his tenure with us the Rodeo expanded considerably and got to hone it's international edge, presenting works from the UK, Australia, and Israel. He has also had a hand in developing and managing tours of Thunderstruck, Doing Leonard Cohen, and Somalia Yellow to Philadelphia, Scotland, and Central Europe.
Recently Ewan became producer of MOTUS
/ the Alfred ve Dvore Theatre in Prague.
Billed as Prague’s “stage for new theatre”, the Alfred specializes
in developing non-verbal, physical and visual theatre works.
Former Associate Producer of the High Performance Rodeo
Kirk Miles is a writer, a clown, and an arts administrator. His poems have been produced on CBC’s Alberta Anthology and both his poetry and short stories have been published by several journals in western Canada. As a playwright and as a past member of One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre’s writing team he has had eight plays professionally produced and received a playwriting award from Alberta Culture for co-writing the critically acclaimed Juggler on a Drum.
As an arts administrator, Kirk was the first general manager of One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre and, following training at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1987, gave up that full-time job to take a four-month seasonal position as the sales manager for the Calgary International Children’s Festival. Kirk held that position for eight years
Kirk is a long standing board member and has also sat on the board of the Alberta Playwrights’ Network. He is a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and was the co-poetry editor for Blue Buffalo magazine from 1992 - 1999.
Mr. Doing Everything
Peter is the owner of Calgary's longest lived independent graphic design outfit Egg Press. He's also an infinitely talented musician/performer and has been involved with or been around the Rabbit’s since their inception.
Works with include - The Dream Machine, The History of Wild Theatre, Mata Hari, These Girls and Barbarians.
Some selected theatre works include X-Dimensia, Mistero Buffo (generic theatre); Mom, Dad I'm Living With A White Girl (Edmonton Sterling Award for Original Sound Design); Ilsa Queen of the Nazi Love Camp (Workshop West); The Carrot Warrior Seminar, Paranormal, and The Cruise (Ghost River Theatre).
He has played with musicians running the gamut from Eugene Chadbourne to Gil Scott Heron to Alejandro Escovedo. Of late he’s been involved in creating songs and sounds with Calgary musician Kris Deameanor. He also plays with Calgary’ s punk/acid/bluegrass band Great Uncle Bull, and is a permanent fixture as Peter Rat with the legendary Dead Rats.
Our pal the polymath
- Officer to the Order of Canada
- Member of The Alberta Order of Excellence
- Artistic Director/Executive Producer of Theatre Arts at The Banff Centre for The Arts
- John is one of the most frequently produced of all Canadian playwrights.
- Following his retirement as executive artistic director of performing arts at The Banff Centre on September 15, 2007, John Murrell will take on the new role of emeritus artist-in-residence, a position created to recognize his enormous contribution to the Centre as an artist and a leader.
Mr. Music please
A multi-award winning composer and writer, David has been involved in the creation of a number of Canadian music theatre successes most notably with Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit.
These include Ilsa - Queen of the Nazi Love Camp, Mata Hari: Tigress at the City Gates and most recently, Dream Machine, One Yellow Rabbit's highly acclaimed musical based on "The Beats".
Other musicals include Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bawdy, (an award winning musical on 17th century erotic poetry, The Tooth Fairy with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop and An Eye for an Eye with Ghost River Theatre, (Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Musical 2001).
David lives and works in Calgary, AB, Canada
Zappa anyone?
Founded in 1997 by Co-artistic Director Michael Green, and Art Ranch Artistic Director Ken Cameron, Shiny Beast is a sprawling, community-based project designed to explore a performance terrain we call Jazz~Theatre.
Improvised music of Afro-American origin, is a synthesis of elements from African folk music and European art music.
A) a story written for or presented as a dramatic performance; drama.
B) a stage, radio, television, etc. performance of such a story.
The concept behind the jazz~play might most easily be defined through circumspection. The jazz-play is not necessarily a play with jazz music. Nor a tribute to a jazz icon in which actors portray various historical figures or archetypes. It need not be a jazz concert where the musicians speak text like the beat poets or the modern spoken word artists. It might, however, be all of these things (at the same time) and more!
The jazz~play is perhaps more akin to performance art. Like theatre, it is an interdisciplinary form that relies on structured conventions like storytelling, character work and theatrical design. Like jazz music, it is a synthesis of its sources and influences.
- Minnie Mouse and the Tap-Dancing Buddha - By Michael
McClure
June 21 – 30, 1996 at the Big Secret Theatre - Zertrummerung - By Michael Green
June 19 – 28, 1997 at the Big Secret Theatre - Martian - Created by the ensemble
June 17 – 27, 1998 at the Big Secret Theatre
Frank Zappa 10th Anniversary Memorial Freak-Out – music and libretto by Frank Zappa: December 4 – 6, 2003 at the Ironwood Stage & Grill
We’re Only In It For The Money – music and
libretto by Frank Zappa
September 19 – 21, 2002 at the Big Secret
Theatre.
- Concept and Stage Direction by Michael Green
- Directed by Simon Dekker
- Featuring the Whip It Out Ensemble:
- Vocals - Andy Curtis, Onalea Gilbertson, Ty Semaka and David van Belle
- Musicians - Jeff Drummond, Brent Van Dusen, Dave Foley, Dan Meichel, Peter Moller, Chipp Robb, David Rhymer and Craig Soby
- Freaks - Michael Green, Anita Miotti, Katie Sanders
Tom Andriuk, J.P. Bjuis, Taro Bremner, Jay Bryden, Shawna Lori Burnett, Ken Cameron, Tim Campbell, Tara Charron, David Clarke, Chris Cran, T. Crane, Andy Curtis, Doug Curtis, Jeff Drummond, Michael Fijal, Adele Furness, Onalea Gilbertson, Lyle St. Goddard, Michael Green, Jarvis Hall, Brian Hansen, Moni Janssen, Richard Kolke, Jim Leyden, Richard McDowell, Doug McLeod, Michael McClure*, Ann McRae, Dan Meichel, Terry Middleton, Anita Miotti, Peter Moller, Heather Moore, Laura Parken, Shandra Pritchard, David Rhymer, Chip Robb, Katie Sanders, Ty Semaka, Craig Soby, Spider, Lyle St. Goddard, Elizabeth Stepkowski, Peter Stinson, Gary Stromsmoe, Brad Struble, David van Belle, Brent van Dusen, Windsor Viney, Derek Waite, Beverley Wooding, Frank Zappa*
*script and/or musical material