theatre

The Next Best Thing

 

Premiered at The Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival (Tarragon Theatre Mainspace) from July 3rd through to the 9th of 2002, also with a premiere production at the Italo Canadian Hall in Fort Erie from June 1st through to the 6th of 2004.  

By Michael Reinhart

The show follows four actors faltering through rehearsals of a doomed production of Waiting for Godot. Thrust into an absurd world of disintegrating scruples and blurred identity, where alarm clocks and newspapers dictate the turn of events, the actors are left to fumble the lines of reality, all in the shadow of a tree that was never even there.  
As Michael, the show’s unscrupulous producer, finds funding in the arms of a wealthy philanthropist, the two actors rehearsing Vladimir and Estragon’s roles discover they are losing the distinction between self and the characters they portray. The odd man out is Peter, a disillusioned actor whose days are regulated by an alarm clock with a mind of its own and a newspaper that counts down the number of days left to “the end.” While the actors rehearse for a play that they believe has no audience, one of them begins to question whether or not this assumption is entirely true…

Cast

Vladimir Michael Reinhart (2002,2004)

Estragon Daniel Jade Levia (2002,2004)

Peter Peter Madden (2002,2004)

Michael Michael Lazarovitch  (2002)

Lisa Raha Javanfar (2004)

Crew

Director (2002)  Konrad Nespiak

Director (2004) Michael Reinhart

Assistant Director (2004) Raha Javanfar

Stage Manager (2002) Kinnon Elliott

Stage Manager (2004) Ryan O'Shaughnessy

Assistant S.M.(2002) Jenn Lau

Assistant S.M. (2004) Mark Aikmen

T.D. (2004) Raha Javanfar

LX/SFX (2002) Raha Javanfar

LX (2004) Ian Ball

SFX (2004) Ryan O'Shaughnessy

Producer (2002) Michael Reinhart & Michael Lazarovitch

Producer (2004) Michael Reinhart