Countries Shaped Like Stars 2012

Countries Shaped Like Stars - COUNTRIES SHAPED LIKE STARS RETURNS TO OTTAWA Hot off the heels of a cross Canada tour, Mi Casa Theatre is returning to Ottawa with their 2010 sell out Fringe hit Countries Shaped Like Stars with a special fundraising performance for the Ottawa Lumière Festival on Saturday April 7, 2012 at 7:30 pm, at the CCCC’s New Edinburgh House, 255 MacKay St. Tickets are $20 each, available through the CCCC. In Countries Shaped Like Stars we meet Gwendolyn Magnificent and Bartholomew Spectacular - a duo whose love story is best heard through a tin-can telephone. With water glasses, whirly winds, a mandolin and performer operated lighting, they create the images and sounds of a landscape forever altered by regret. This clown inspired piece of theatrical storytelling has played all across Canada, winning awards and selling out houses wherever it goes. After premiering in June 2009, Countries Shaped Like Stars has won Outstanding Fringe Production (Ottawa Fringe and Rideau Awards - Ottawa's Sterling Award) and Rideau awards for Outstanding New Creation and Emerging Artist, putting the company in high demand. With an interest in performing in non-traditional spaces, they have performed to sell-out crowds in bars, cafes, living rooms, a high school drama classroom as well as theatre spaces in Ottawa, Wakefield, Toronto, Vancouver and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The show’s songs have been recorded on a CD with the help of local folk-rocker Rolf Klausener, of The Acorn. They have also made a storybook version of Countries Shaped Like Stars illustrated by Winnipeg visual artist Joshua Pearlman. The creative team behind Mi Casa - Nicolas Di Gaetano and Emily Pearlman credit their whimsical DIY aesthetic to the clashing of their disparate training – with Calgary’s One Yellow Rabbit, Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, and the Simon Fraser Contemporary Arts MFA program all figuring prominently. They are joined by University of British Columbia MFA director Patrick Gauthier and multi-award winning designers Lynn Cox and Sarah Waghorn. “Young, smart and attuned to the grace that resides in both the fantastical and the ordinary, the company augurs well for the future of Ottawa theatre.” notes Ottawa Citizen's Patrick Langston. The interest in the fantastical, and DIY magic have attracted welcome but unexpected audience members at a recent Ottawa remount as people began coming back to the shows for a second time and bringing their kids. “It allows adults to feel like children and children to feel like they are privy to something for adults. ” says Pearlman. Kiki Cliff 255 MacKay St