LAZZI LAZZI

Uh-Oh. Lazzi Lazzi is back for more Commedia shenanigans this season. Led by intrepid Ottawa actress Alix Sideris, this company of 10 Ottawa actors will again charm local audiences with its delightful event animation and original performances. Already scheduled for this season is a major gig at the National Gallery on May 28th. The troupe will present an original piece inspired by Goldoni's The Fan, as well as provide event animation.

If you have an event that you would like to have Lazzi Lazzi perform at, call our office at 232-8407.

After her schooling, she served as administrator for the Small Theatre Administrator Facility (STAF) and as Fundraising & Development Coordinator for Puppetmongers Theatre. Caroline was on her way to Vancouver when we had the good fortune to lure her back to her home town. Caroline says, "I'm excited to be leading Odyssey into its third decade and I can't wait for what promises to be an exciting and challenging first summer!"

WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE

We are extremely pleased to have accomplished Ottawa playwright, director, dramaturge and teacher Janet Irwin as our Writer-in-Residence for our 20th season. She is a gifted writer who has created works and adaptations for the National Arts Centre, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, and the Upper Canada Playhouse. Her extensive résumé includes directing theatrical and operatic works staged by the National Arts Centre, Opera Lyra, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Easy Street Productions, Upper Canada Playhouse and the Manitoba Popular Theatre Alliance. Odyssey fans will remember Janet's delightful direction of our 2002 production The Barber of Seville. Her current interests include integrating elements of Commedia dell'Arte with Opera. Janet's original script for masked Commedia characters, inspired by the Mozart/da Ponte opera Così Fan Tutti, will extend the frontiers of our theatrical medium by incorporating elements of opera and performance traditions of the past. As writer-in-residence, Janet will receive dramaturgical support and attend rehearsals for our mainstage production, new play workshops, performance labs and training workshops.

Odyssey Theatre has a busy schedule of new play development workshops, which help writers develop their scripts and prepare them for future production by seeing them rehearsed with a cast.

In May the company will hold a one-week workshop for our original adaptation of Scapin.

In late August, Laurie will work with distinguished Montreal mask and puppet designer Louise Lapointe in a one-week workshop for their original play inspired by Franz Wedekind's King Nicolo. This play traces the journey of an overthrown king as he travels through a nightmarish land, eventually realizing that his only talent in this degraded world rests in his ability to ingeniously satirize the trappings of power and the vanities of the powerful. Laurie and Louise are developing their play to be performed by a host of puppets. Friends of the Theatre will receive an invitation to an open-rehearsal.

In September, Odyssey will hold a workshop for Bungsu and the Big Snake by 'Maggie Basset' award-winner Lib Spry. Lib's work-in-progress, inspired by an Indonesian folk tale, revolves around a mysterious island that has lost its mysticism to the corruption of modernity. It is up to one young woman to try and regain its past magic. Lib's play promises to be magical and provocative.

Artist Development Workshops

Even though our mainstage production wraps up in late August, these final weeks of summer are still bustling with activity. We have exciting workshops planned in Commedia dell'Arte, mask and puppetry through which we will enrich the training of professional actors in Ottawa.

Odyssey and Youth

This season we have two exciting programs for youth.

Youth Theatre Apprentice Program - This exciting program for students aged 13-18 is a great way to spend some time in the summer, make new friends, and learn a whole lot about the world of theatre. A unique initiative in Ottawa, students decide what they want to learn and choose one of these areas for focussed training: directing; performance; design; production; or, arts administration. During the summer they receive training and mentorship, and participate in mask and Commedia dell'Arte workshops while undertaking placements in which they will work side-by-side with professionals for our summer production of Scapin. Add to this an honorarium and school credit for volunteer hours and you have an exciting summer vacation, full of valuable learning opportunities.

Our Youth Theatre Explorer Series features a one hour interactive adaptation of our summer production specifically designed for children aged 5-12. There will also be demonstrations on Odyssey masks, Commedia dell'Arte, and fight choreography, after which we will hold a question and answer session. The performances are held on Wednesdays at 1pm during the production run and cost $4 for children 12 and under, and $10 for adults.

JOYCE CONGER FUND FOR THE ARTS

As part of our ongoing series to acknowledge our sponsors, Odyssey offers this profile of the Joyce Conger Fund for the Arts.

There is a love story behind the Joyce Conger Fund for the Arts.

Joyce and Stuart were married for 45 years when they were told that she had incurable cancer and would live for no more than three years. The prediction was very accurate and during the interval, Stu wondered how he could best honour Joyce and decided to set up a fund to support the arts as Joyce had displayed a lifelong love of art, drama and music. As an Occupational Therapist she had produced and directed plays acted by mentally ill patients, and as an actress she had played to critical acclaim in such roles as the mother-in-law in Butterflies are Free.

In 2000 Stu established Joyce's Fund which grew to $350,000 thanks to contributions by him, their daughter Jane Low and many other relatives and friends. Stu did not tell Joyce about the fund for fear that out of modesty she would insist that he not name it after her. Only a week before she died, when she could not see or speak but could understand spoken words, did he tell her what he had done knowing that she could not instruct him to rename the fund.

Joyce died in January 2001 and since then the Joyce Conger Fund for the Arts has provided $100,000 to arts groups including Odyssey Theatre, The School of Dance, The Young Artists Program of the National Arts Centre, the Eastern Ontario Drama League Foundation and the National Gallery.