Whetstone announces world premiere of Wingˆ©d - April 29 - May 8

A radical, fearless interpretation of three mythical beings: Icarus, Lucifer and Phoenix.

Toronto, March 2, 2010-  Whetstone Productions presents the world premiere of Wingˆ©d, a radical, fearless interpretation of three mythical beings: Icarus, Lucifer and Phoenix. Poetic, surprising and irreverent, Wingˆ©d is written and performed by David Tomlinson and directed by Whetstone Productions' Artistic Director, Diana Kolpak.

Comprised of three monologues, Wingˆ©d runs at the DeLeon White Gallery from April 29 - May 8, 2010 amidst a special exhibit of paintings, photographs and sculpture curated by Jessica Cimˆ„ that, as an integral part of the piece, resonates with the play's themes.

As the layers of myth that have enveloped these stories are peeled away to source their raw power, Wingˆ©d inspects and dissects relationships between fathers and sons, friends and lovers, predator and prey‰Ýand serves up a clarion call for the transformation of humankind. "Only by examining the stories and archetypes that shape us can we expect to evolve and survive," says Tomlinson.

Icarus is a wounded dreamer and poet who comes to understand the costs of emotional detachment.  Lucifer, literate, sarcastic but surprisingly compassionate, challenges our ideas about evil and accountability. A manic and unstable Phoenix demonstrates that we can be our own higher power.

In Sunstroke: Icarus Speaks, Icarus ruminates on sons who dare fly past their fathers.  Lucifer works through the unexpected transition from favourite to feared in Red Eye Open: The Lucifer Illuminations.  In Rise: Song of the Phoenix, a man answers an astonishing call in his right hip, and discovers the burning, yearning God within.

Sunstroke: Icarus Speaks debuted to much acclaim at the 2006 Rhubarb Festival, sparking four years of innovative development by Tomlinson and Kolpak. Balanced on a foundation of powerful poetic writing, Wingˆ©d utilizes a highly physical performance style blended with original artwork and live projection to create an emotionally bold multi-media experience.

Whetstone Productions is a Dora Award-nominated theatre company founded in 1994 by Diana Kolpak. Dedicated to developing and presenting theatre that is stimulating, unexpected and fearless, Whetstone aims to challenge and heighten audience experience through the presentation of eclectic and ground-breaking works. Past productions include Diana Kolpak's Lionheart, the clown ballet The Gorgonetrevich Corps de Ballet Nationale in 'Bethany's Gate', Drew Carnwath's Total Body Washout, and the Canadian premiere of Ines de Castro by John Clifford.

Wingˆ©d is generously supported by: The Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Davies Howe Partners.

Whetstone Productions presents the world premiere of

Wingˆ©d

Written & Performed by David Tomlinson

Directed by Diana Kolpak

Lighting Design by Sharon DiGenova

Video & Imaging by Jacob Niedzwiecki

Environment Design by Sharon DiGenova & Jacob Niedzwiecki

Exhibit Curation by Jessica Cimˆ„

April 29 - May 8, 2010  - The DeLeon White Gallery, 1139 College Street

Wednesday- Sunday 8pm. Tickets: Wed-Sat $20 ($18 for Students/Seniors/CAEA); Sunday Pay-What-You-Can.

Box office: 1-800-838-3006 or www.whetstoneproductions.com

Warnings: adult themes and language

BIOS BELOW.

Diana Kolpak (director) is always telling stories, whether on stage or on the page. She has directed and helped develop more than a dozen original productions that have been performed from Victoria to Montreal, as well as directing Canadian premieres (Ines de Castro), modern classics (Endgame, Man is Man) and Shakespeare (King John, All's Well that Ends Well, A Midsummer Night's Dream).  Her first script, Bedtime Stories was published in Ontario Playwrights: Eight Short Plays and excerpted in Taking the Stage: Plays by Canadian Women. Other writing credits include her one-woman show Lionheart, Fables for the Modern World, (excerpted in Another Perfect Piece: Monologues from Canadian Plays), and Starfall, a children's book about one clown's quest to re-light the stars, created in collaboration with photographer Kathleen Finlay. Diana received an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Learn more at www.whetstoneproductions.com

David Tomlinson (writer & performer) is an accomplished writer, performer, and creative alchemist who is one half of the manic Canadian Comedy Award nominated sketch duo GLYPH that played to standing room only crowds from Vancouver's Sketchfest to Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival. David writes and performs much of his own work; stage works include Cordelia (with Ryan Kelly - Rhubarb! 2010), Sunstroke: Icarus Speaks (Rhubarb! 2006), The Dead Sea (with Sonia Mills - Rhubarb! 2005), Murdering Godot (Rhubarb! 2004), Keyed (Rhubarb! 2003), and The Gorgonetrevich Corps de Ballet Nationale in 'Bethany's Gate' (with Diana Kolpak).  David has also appeared in Hope Thompson's She Walks the Line and Tyrolia, Toronto Masque Theatre's The Tears of a Clown, and Sky Gilbert's Rope Enough and Happy. Always popular on the cabaret circuit, he has performed at pandemonium machine, The Keith Cole Experience, Cheap Queers, Homo Night in Canada, The Needle Exchange, The Toronto Festival of Clowns, Lunacy Cabaret, The S.P.A.C.E., Clown Chowder, and Cirque du Poulet.  He is additionally a writer of feature films, television, and radio drama (Canadia: 2056).  Media performance credits include the feature film Grey Gardens, and the television series Howie Do It, Beautiful People, Train 48, Queer As Folk, and The Newsroom. David studied improvisation with Second City and clown with John Turner and Michael Kennard.

Jessica Cimˆ„ (exhibit curator) is a dramaturge and performance artist appropriated by the gallery system, or perhaps lending herself to adoption by it right now. She recently completed her studies at the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto, where she also earned a degree in English Literature.  Entering this curatorial project within Wingˆ®d, her interests lie in the contrast between the spatiality of text, silence and speech, and the spatiality of layout, and how visual art can infiltrate the once private world of the drama.