{"id":6989,"date":"2013-05-15T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2013-05-14T11:08:36","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T18:08:37","slug":"6989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2013\/05\/15\/6989\/","title":{"rendered":"Uno Fest takes one-person plays to new levels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can you imagine one performer playing more than 20 different characters? At Uno Fest, solo performers from across North America play many different characters in innovative and cutting-edge theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Uno Fest started in the humble beginnings of a hotel basement 17 years ago; now Uno is North America\u2019s longest-running festival of solo performance. Many performers wish to participate in the Uno Fest, but only a few will be given this honourable opportunity to be on the stage.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6991\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6991\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/The-Six-Wives-of-Henry-VIII-CREDIT-tara-travis.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6991\" alt=\"Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII promises to be a zany time (photo by Tara Travis).\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/The-Six-Wives-of-Henry-VIII-CREDIT-tara-travis-300x255.jpeg\" width=\"300\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/The-Six-Wives-of-Henry-VIII-CREDIT-tara-travis-300x255.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/The-Six-Wives-of-Henry-VIII-CREDIT-tara-travis-180x153.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/The-Six-Wives-of-Henry-VIII-CREDIT-tara-travis.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6991\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><i>Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII<\/i> promises to be a zany time at Uno Fest (photo by Tara Travis).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe were encouraged by the general manager of Intrepid Theatre to apply,\u201d says Tara Travis, the solo performer of <i>Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII.<\/i> \u201cLo and behold, we were selected, and we are honoured to be part of this festival; it\u2019s such an incredible festival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although all the performers get involved in Uno Fest for different reasons, most are grateful to seize the opportunity to participate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had another show in the Uno festival five years ago,\u201d says Brian Fidler, creator and performer of <i>Broken.<\/i> \u201cWhen I had talked to [artistic director and festival producer] Janet Munsil about the show that I was developing called <i>Broken<\/i> about Alzheimer\u2019s, she asked me to apply again when it was done. So I did. I went to the selection process and they chose the show. I was grateful and excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some performers this year heard about Uno through other performers and were encouraged to apply for this year\u2019s program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard about Uno Fest last year. I have other friends and co-workers who have performed,\u201d says Christopher Hunt, performer in <i>When That I Was.<\/i> \u201cI thought it would be a great opportunity to come to do this play there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each Uno Fest show has different themes, including some that are very personal. <i>Broken<\/i> is one of them. Fidler, who has a grandmother with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, wrote the play based on his personal experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a story about a grandfather and a grandson, and they experience the grandfather losing his memory and living with Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d says Fidlar. \u201cOn stage I play both the grandfather and the grandson and also play a narrator, so I speak directly to the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Travis plays six different wives in her play, <i>Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are all meeting in a room in the afterlife. They have all died. Some of them are meeting each other for the first time,\u201d explains Travis. \u201cThere are sessions where all six characters are having a conversation with each other. I am running back and forth because I need to say each one\u2019s words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u2019s Hunt, who plays 25 different characters in his play, <i>When That I Was.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe story takes place in 1650 in London. At the time, the Puritans have shut down all of the theatres. If people were caught doing plays, they were flogged publicly and put in jail,\u201d says Hunt. \u201cThe play is about an old man who, when he was a little boy, performed a girl\u2019s part in Shakespeare\u2019s company. The old man is remembering better times and that great time in western civilization when all those great works of literature and theatre were written and first performed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The performers encourage people in Victoria to come and see not only their own productions but also other performers\u2019 shows. They all agree that this is a tremendous opportunity to enjoy unique theatre.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an incredible showcase of national and some international work,\u201d says Travis. \u201cI am actually familiar with several works being presented this year. I am so thrilled that they are being brought to Victoria. I am staying a few extra days so that I can see as many shows as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hurt says the festival is a great opportunity for students to come see some live theatre, with many different options available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe plays are wildly different and have been chosen for a really broad range of appeal,\u201d says Hunt. \u201cIf you like something new, edgy, weird, historical, or theatrical, it\u2019s a great opportunity to pick and choose and see one and two or all of them, if you have time. It\u2019s a great chance for students of literature, theatre, or life in general, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Uno Fest 2013<br \/>\nWednesday, May 22 to Saturday, June 1<br \/>\nMetro Studio and Intrepid Theatre Club<br \/>\nintrepidtheatre.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can you imagine one performer playing more than 20 different characters? At Uno Fest, solo performers from across North America play many different characters in innovative and cutting-edge theatre. Uno Fest started in the humble beginnings of a hotel basement 17 years ago; now Uno is North America\u2019s longest-running festival of solo performance. Many performers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-may-15-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6992,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions\/6992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}