In Your Eyes Projects Performance Arts/Theatre in Sault Ste. Marie/Performing Arts in Northern Ontario
Girl in the Goldfish Bowl | Sault Ste. Marie | In Your Eyes Projects
Huge thank you to all who came out and watched Morris Panych 's Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.
Girl in the Goldfish Bowl
"What is achieved here is remarkable on so many levels and ranks as one of the finest productions we’ve seen on a Sault stage." Robin Waples (Sault Star)
The Author
Morris Panych
Playwright, actor, and director Morris Panych is a man for all seasons in Canadian theatre. He has directed over ninety productions across Canada, and written thirty plays that have been produced throughout Canada, Britain, the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in a dozen languages.
He won the 2004 Governor General's Award for Drama for Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, and the 1994 Governor General's Award for Drama for The Ends of the Earth.
He has directed nearly one hundred theatre and opera productions, including most of his own works, and the Prix Italia nominated The Overcoat, plus several music videos and Da Vinci's Inquest.
The Story
As Morris Panych’s comedy opens, we hear Iris, a precocious girl of ten, proclaim, “These are the last few days of my childhood.” The death of her goldfish, Amal, she is sure, has been announced by the air-raid sirens during the day’s school drill. For Iris, there remain a few more days of life in a universe that is inherently ordered, where the spirit of her departed and ritually interred goldfish can, of course, be reincarnated in a lost and amnesiac drifter (Mr. Lawrence) given to rhetorical questions of seemingly deep philosophical import.
It is into the goldfish bowl of this dysfunctional family of lethargic piranhas, existential bottom-feeders, and aggressive guppies that the audience peers with incredulity, acute recognition, hysterical laughter, and an overwhelming sense of the creative healing power of the imagination.
Warning: This play contains strong language and mature themes and is not suitable for young children.
"Arguably Morris Panych’s best play.”
Canadian Literature
“An uncommon, quirky blend of humour and compassion.”
National Post
“A quirky cocktail consisting of equal parts Pinter, Orton, and Disney, shaken by author-director Morris Panych in his own distinctive style.”
Richard Ouzounian, Variety
Winner of the 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Award General Theatre: Outstanding New Play (Tarragon Theatre)
Winner of the 2004 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama
Scenic Design
Michael Burtch
Michael Burtch, a graduate of Queens University in Kingston, is the retired Director-Curator of the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Art History and Research Associate with the Nordik Institute at Algoma University. He is a sculptor and a sound artist with an extensive exhibition history.
As an art historian Burtch has published numerous articles and catalogues on artists including J. Barry, David Bierk, Ken Danby, John Howlin and Evan Penny and most recently he contributed his curatorial essay to the Art Gallery of Algoma's “One Hundred Years of Art in the Sault”. His book “Hymn to the Sun” about the early work of Jack Bush accompanied a national tour of the artist’s work.
He was engaged in a major research project with Gary and Joanie McGuffin on the Group of Seven. The project entailed extensive research and field study with the goal of identifying, documenting and interpreting exact sites in Algoma and Superior’s north shore where members of this famous group of artists painted their iconic works. A documentary film, commissioned by TVO and produced by White Pine Pictures, was released in October 2015 for broadcast. In 2017 the film won a Canadian Screen Award, the Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research. (see news article here and here.)
Notable artist, art historian, sculptor, percussionist and curator, Michael Burtch to be awarded city's highest honour: 2017 Medal of Merit recipient. See articles here and here.
Photo by Dan Nystedt
The Cast
Marc is a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and attended Ryerson University’s Theatre Program. Having worked with In Your Eyes Projects two years ago on God of Carnage, he is delighted to once again be a part of this innovative company.
Recent local stage credits include Noises Off with Shot in the Dark Productions, Don’t Dress For Dinner with Family Life Theatre and Greetings, Lucy and Frozen (no, not the musical) with Sault Theatre Workshop.
“Theatre is a voyage into the archives of the human imagination. A passport to all the what if’s”-Natasha Tsakos
At the age of 15, Rj attended an in-concert version of Sault Opera's production of South Pacific, and was immediately bitten by the theatre bug.
Over the past 40 years, RJ has done incredible work with various companies in Sault Ste. Marie. His last film project was The Book of Nightmares. His theatre credits include: the Lover in Tommy, the title character in Purple Man, Mr. Stimpson in Our Town and Felix in Incorruptible.
He is excited to be back on stage, after a 3 year absence, with In Your Eyes Projects and honoured to be a part of such a wonderfully talented cast and crew.
Originally from Prince Edward County, the land of infinite wine, Darielle, or commonly known as Dee, has always been immersed in the world of arts. Arriving to the Sault in 2014 Darielle made her debut with Shot in the Dark's Production of Tommy, following with West Side Story, Cabaret and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
This summer Dee was active in the Sault’s Fringe Festival, where she played Rivy in River Rat and Cat directed by Loretta Durat. Her most recent acting credit is The Musical Comedy Guild's production of Anne of Green Gables in the autumn.
Dee is now studying at Algoma University for a BA in Classical Music, so she may one day live life as a minstrel.
Sandra is excited to be working once again with In Your Eyes Projects. She studied at Etobicoke School of the Arts and is a graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada.
Selected film and television credits include This is Wonderland, Covert One: The Hades Factor, Flash Point, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, Who is Clark Rockafeller and Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster. Sandra recently had the pleasure to work on the “TIFF Top Ten” short film 0 Negative, written and directed by long-time friend and fellow Saultite Steven McCarthy.
Sandra’s stage credits include the world debut of Toronto the Good at The Factory Theatre and recent local appearances in Last Christmas, God of Carnage and Noises Off.
Penny attended her first local theatre production at the age of thirteen when her brother performed the role of Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables and became smitten with the stage. After many years of watching both her brothers in community theatre performances, as a young mother, finally conjured up the nerve to audition for a role herself and secured the part of the Wicked Stepmother in a pantomime version of Cinderella.
A passion for the stage developed and she has become an integral part of the theatre scene in Sault Ste. Marie both performing and working backstage in the makeup room. Her acting credits include Noises Off, Mary Poppins, The Melville Boys, Footloose, Our Town and most recently, Anne of Green Gables, as well as appearing in the chorus in many other productions. Penny is most thankful for her theatre family, who provide such great support and allow her creative energy to flourish.
Creative Team
Directors: Loretta Durat & Joseph Lauzon
Scenic Design: Michael Burtch
Producers: Thomas Brandstetter
& Bob Cooper
Technical Director: Rob Rock
Properties: Stephanie Maione
Costume Consultant: Peggy Cooper
Stage Management: Megan Wigmore
House Management: Carol Rowland-Vas
