October 2024 | Volume 68
THE HAT GAZETTE
THIS ISSUE: Under the HAT with ANju Virick | THE CRONES CREW | HOLIDAZE
UNDER THE HAT: ANJU VIRICK
TOM: Hi Anju!!! Welcome to under the HAT! For those who may not be familiar with your work, can you start us off with a brief rundown of your relationship to the arts?
ANJU: I’ve always loved the arts as a fan, my mom would take us to shows and concerts whenever she could. But except for piano lessons when I was a kid I never thought I’d be on stage. Tell Your Story was my first time onstage and I think I was turning 50! Since then I’ve been in Christmas Carol for 3 years, A Comedy of Errors and Cheers to 10 years. I still can’t believe it.
TOM: Not to mention CRONES!!! This is quite the fall for you! Your first time having your full length play produced, you’re starring in it as well, and you are just a few weeks into your new position as our Interim Education Director at the HAT Academy. We are SO happy to have you on the team. How have these first few weeks been in all these new roles?
ANJU: It’s been, shall we say, a lot! I would be freaking out more if it weren’t for the amazing teams of people taking care of me. The HAT crew is so dedicated and helpful. The team behind Crones is absolutely magical and of course, I have to say that the support from my family means home is the absolute oasis I need to recharge.
TOM: I want to rewind a bit, I know it’s been a journey to the mainstage with Crones but I don’t think I know all the specifics. My understanding is it all started with Tell Your Story back in 2021, is that correct? Where did the spark for this creation come from?
ANJU: I’m not sure if it was a spark of creation or just a desire to outwit the winter blues! I saw an ad for the HAT Academy’s Resident Company online and was assured that one needed no experience nor talent. The thought of not doing it was scarier than not doing it so I joined. Wes says that's how I landed on their radar for Tell Your Story. Covid shut that down for a while and when things opened up I took a creative writing class with Andy Gouthro at the HAT Academy. That’s where I wrote the first act of what ended up on stage when Tell Your Story was resurrected.
TOM: What did the play look like at that point, and what was the moment where it became clear it may not be the end for your piece?
ANJU: During the process of creating Tell Your Story everyone took turns bringing in their pieces. I was in a sea of creative, generous artists and was kind of freaking out internally, because I didn’t have a piece that was MY STORY. Finally, on the last day, I sheepishly shared what I had written and this group just ran with it. Our co-director Robyn-Lee Seale rallied the troops behind the piece and everyone stepped up to turn it into what you saw onstage. I guess it was well received because Wes offered me a spot in the playwright’s unit at the Academy. I was shocked at the thought of it turning into a real play!
“Like life, it’s a little dark, a little absurd and I hope, a lot funny.”
TOM: For those who may not know, the Playwright’s Unit is a huge part of the HAT’s work supporting Cape Breton Playwright’s get their work made and produced. Plays and musicals that have gone from there to be produced on our the mainstage include See Jane Run, The Proletariat, and The Beloved. So you join the Playwright’s Unit, what did that next step look like once you and Wesley decided to move forward with developing it into a full length play?
ANJU: It was a wild process! Wes enrolled me in a writing group with a teacher, Marcia Johnson, whose prompts and processes helped me pull interesting things out. Then Wes connected me with another teacher, Santiago Guzman, who challenged me to take my disparate pieces and mash them into something with a beginning, middle and end. Then a table read where I got to hear my words in someone’s voice that wasn’t my own. Lastly, a workshop with Jeanette Lambermont-Morey (now Director of Crones) this spring that really shaped and cut the script down to something stage-worthy.
TOM: What a truly delicious smorgasbord of humans to have throughout this journey. This is a two for one question but, in what ways has the show evolved and changed since that initial seed of an idea, and what audiences can look forward to from this world premiere coming up at the end of October?
ANJU: The process that worked for me was to write everything, and I mean everything and then “frankenstein” the pieces together. So it was very long and unfocused with points that were be-laboured and repetitive. It’s not a bad process because it gave us a lot to work with. But we challenged and questioned and clarified and cut. Now I feel it’s clear and tight and says what I want to say without anything extra.
The audience can expect kind of a wild time! Three actors on stage the whole time, no intermission…there’s a relentlessness to what the characters must go through and we’re bringing the audience along for the ride. But there are surprises too which I will NOT share here (even though I’m dying too!) Like life, it’s a little dark, a little absurd and I hope, a lot funny.
TOM: There is so much meaning and humour and humanity poured into the pages you’ve created. I hope you are feeling so proud of yourself and I’m so excited for the audiences to receive this. Is there anything you’d like to say to anyone who may be on the fence about attending?
ANJU: Thank you so much for that. If someone is on the fence about this show I would say, it’s like nothing you’ve seen before. And I know the story may seem to target a specific demographic, but I think if you come with an open heart and mind, you’ll find that there are seeds and threads that we all share.
TOM: Thank you so much for squeezing this into a very busy time Anju!
ANJU: Thank you!
Crones runs October 24th to 27th with Pay-What-You-Choose tickets available on the 24th, and Radical Access Tickets available for each night while supplies last.
What PATRONS Are Saying about:
“Show was absolutely brilliant. I laughed, I cried and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Another successful night at the HAT. BRAVO!!!!”
— MB
“From hilarious to poignant to heart-wrenching, TomorrowLove pulls all our emotional strings. Not sure if this show is for you? Well, it's for pretty much everyone.”
— PLM
“This is one of the best shows I have seen at the HAT. Great writing and performances. Provides lots of food for thought, always a good thing. Intense conversations at times.”
— DH
HALLOWEEN FILM SERIES
All films available free to all radical access donors of $25.00+/monthly or $300.00+/Annually
Call or email to book your complimentary tickets today
THE OCTOBER RADICAL ACCESS
TICKET LOTTERY
Each month we hold a draw exclusive to RA donors to remind you how amazing we know you are. The draws are completely random and all donation levels are included.
This month’s prize?
2 tickets to THE BRITISH LEGENDS LIVE!
WINNERS
Kathryn Cogswell
Denis Lanoe
Samantha White
NEXT UP: CRONES
Written by Anju Virick
Directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey
A mythological, wise-cracking, and ageless take on the myths and cracks of aging.
A not-so-shocking mid-life revelation leaves Beth literally floored, drenched in caesar salad, legs and skirt akimbo, and revealing flesh-coloured spanx to the entire world (not her flesh colour, but someone's, she supposes). This harbinger of doom is heralded by the caw of a solitary crow, the entourage of Dhumavati, Hindu goddess of failure and disappointment.
Starring: Anju Virick, Ellora Patnaik, and Terrance Murphy
"Hang onto your Spanx, Toots!"
A World Premiere developed through the HAT Playwrights Unit and Tell Your Story
with support from the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC) and the Canada Council for the Arts
TRAILER
CAST & CREW
-
Anju Virick (she/her) - BANDHAVI & PLAYWRIGHT
Favourite HAT Credits:
Tell Your Story, A Comedy of Errors, A Christmas Carol, Cheers to 10 Years!Other:
She is a teacher by day, a yoga teacher by evening and now, thanks to luck and generosity, a performer by night. Her husband and 2 incredible teenagers are very supportive if slightly baffled by this turn of events. -
Ellora Patnaik (she/her) - DHUMAVATI
Favourite HAT Credits:
HAT Debut!Other:
Ellora Patnaik is a Toronto-born actress. Ellora grew up a dancer and specializes in Odissi classical (Indian) dance. She first trained under her mother, Chitralekha Patnaik, and was later hand-picked by the head of the Orissa Dance Academy to continue her studies in India. A professional dancer from her early teens, she quickly became one of the most notable Odissi dancers of her generation with hundreds of performances and more than a dozen choreographies to her name. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC), where she was company member in her graduating year. Recent film and TV projects include Sort Of (for which she was nominated for a CSA award), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Calorie, One Small Visit, Kim’s Convenience, Ginny & Georgia and Schitt’s Creek. Her on-screen successes in no way detracted from her love of stage, however: Ellora has performed in a diverse array of theatre productions, including A Christmas Carol, Standing On My Knees, Nagamandala, Umrao Jaan Ada, The Penelopiad, Romeo and Juliet, Acha Bacha, Her2, Much Ado About Nothing, and Free Outgoing. She has performed as a voice artist for several audio books, plays and video games. Ellora is friend and ally of all animals, always and everywhere. -
Terrance Murphy (he/him) - BILL
Favourite HAT Credits:
Mamma Mia (HAT/Savoy)Favourite Credits Elsewhere:
Jersey Boys, Dear Rita, The Legend series (Savoy), Angus "GIANT" MacAskill, Geranium Ward (Dangerous Dreamers), Frankenstein, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Oliver (Boardmore Playhouse)Other:
Terrance has been acting and singing (and acting like he's singing) for 40+ years all over the Maritimes. Having only once been on the HAT stage (because he went through the wrong door and ended up backstage during a mic check for Funny Girl) he is absolutely tickled to have Crones as his first actual play for The HAT!
too soon?
Hello again! It’s been a non-stop, FULL couple of weeks for everyone here. We are so ecstatic to have our new website launched and our brand new ticketing system. We hope you are enjoying both and we thank you for all your patience as we continue to integrate these new systems into our existing processes.
I’m not sure I can express the joy I experienced booking tickets and not thinking to myself “how the heck did I end up here?” - a common experience of mine and I’m sure yours with our prior ticket service.
There is so much coming up to be excited about, some of which is featured here, and some soon to be announced (like our 2025 Winter/Spring Season)... stay tuned readers!
SHOWING IN NOVEMBER
