Das Ding (The Thing)

Das Ding (The Thing)

A Sharp-Witted Social Comedy

September 9 - 25
Firehall Theatre

"...when we think this is the end, it’s also a new beginning."

 

 

 

By Philipp Löhle
Translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte
Produced in association with Theatre Smash, Toronto, ON
and Canadian Stage, Toronto, ON
Directed by Ashlie Corcoran

  • A talking Cotton Fiber goes on a great adventure and provides a searing look at our global economy.

    Philipp Löhle’s highly ambitious social comedy DAS DING spans an interconnected world that binds the fates of an African named Siwa, Chinese business people, Romanian pig-breeders and two young newlyweds, Katrin and Thomas. Featuring five actors, playing fourteen characters in nine different locations, this fast and funny play has dazzled audiences around the world.

    Provocative, political, and sexy content.

    “In a highly comical, breakneck fashion, Philipp Löhle illuminates the mechanisms of our globalized, technologized, rapidly changing world.”
    - Deutsches Theater, Berlin


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  • Firehall Theatre Logo

    Playing at the Firehall Theatre
    from September 9 - 25

    Firehall Theatre Performance Times
    All Tuesday performances start at 7:30 pm
    Wednesday to Sunday at 8:00 pm
    Matinees Friday and Saturday at 2:30 pm (starting the Friday after opening)

    Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes (no intermission)

  • Cast

    Kristopher Bowman - Thomas / Wang
    Krista Colosimo - Katherine
    Qasim Khan - King Manoel I / Li / Guy
    Philip Nozuka - Fela / Patrick
    Naomi Wright - Journalists / Magellan / Siwa

    Creative

    Director - Ashlie Corcoran
    Set Designer - Drew Facey
    Costume Designer - Jung Hye Kim
    Lighting Designer - Nick Andison & Graeme Thomson
    Sound Designer - John Gzowski
    Projection Designer - Denyse Karn
    Stage Manager - Natasha Bean-Smith
    Stage Manager - Chantal Hayman
    Apprentice Stage Manager - Kelsey Rutledge



    NICK ANDISON
    LIGHTING DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: As Assistant Lighting Designer: No Great Mischief
    Elsewhere: As Co-Lighting Designer: Mustard (Tarragon Theatre). As Assistant Lighting Designer: Wormwood, The Valley, No Great Mischief (Tarragon Theatre); True West, Farther West (Soulpepper Theatre). As Lighting Designer: Steampunk Gala 2016 (National Ballet School). As Technical Director: EUNOIA (Fujiwara Dance Inventions). 

    Nick Andison designs lights for theatre, dance, corporate and architectural installations. He is an Honours Graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School.

    NATASHA BEAN-SMITH 
    STAGE MANAGER

    For the Playhouse: Blithe Spirit, Dear Johnny Deere, The Ugly One, Salt-Water Moon  
    Elsewhere: As Stage Manager: Within the Glass, The Bakelite Masterpiece (Tarragon Theatre); Macbeth: Walking Shadows, Richard III, Two Gents (Shakespeare in the Ruff), Durango (Theatre Smash/fu-GEN Theatre), Das Ding (The Thing), The Ugly One (Theatre Smash). As Assistant Stage Manager: Orpheus and Eurydice, The Magic Flute, Der Freischütz (Opera Atelier); Billy Elliot the Musical (Mirvish Productions). Concert manager for Tafelmusik, and tour manager for Opera Atelier’s residency at the Opéra Royal, Château de Versailles, France (2012, 2014, 2015).
    Upcoming: Opera Atelier’s Dido and Aeneas, Sequence (Tarragon Theatre), Kiss (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage).

    Natasha is a Graduate of Performance Production at Ryerson University. 

    KRISTOPHER BOWMAN
    THOMAS / WANG

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: As Writer and Producer: Wargasm, No Problem Too Big to Ignore, The Deported.

    Kristopher Bowman is a television, film and stage actor, an improviser, a voice performer and a puppeteer. Based in Toronto, he has been performing for over 20 years. A Second City Tour co-alumni, Kris can be seen performing improv at Comedy Bar, Bad Dog and The Social Capital or doing sketch within his critically acclaimed duo Men With Mustaches. Most recently he performed Das Ding (The Thing) for Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage and is very excited to reprise his role here at the famous Thousand Islands Playhouse.  

    Follow him on Twitter @UrbanRaccoonTO or on Instagram at Urban_Raccoon.

    KRISTA COLOSIMO 
    KATHERINE

    For the Playhouse: Blithe Spirit, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Boeing Boeing 
    Elsewhere: On Top (Tarragon Theatre); Don’t Dress for Dinner (WTC/Gateway Theatre); The Seagull (Segal Centre); Boeing Boeing (WTC); Misalliance, His Girl Friday, When the Rain Stops Falling, Candida, The Doctor’s Dilemma, The Entertainer (Shaw Festival), Ivor Johnson’s Neighbours (Theatre North West), The Penelopiad (Nightwood 4x4 Directors Lab).

    Krista is a graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada Acting Program.

    ASHLIE CORCORAN
    DIRECTOR

    For the Playhouse: Artistic Director since November 1, 2012.  Director for: Into the Woods, Blithe Spirit, The Pirates of Penzance, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Bed & Breakfast, Dear Johnny Deere, The Ugly One, She Loves Me, Driving Miss Daisy, Salt-Water Moon, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Third Floor
    Elsewhere: As Director: Mustard (Tarragon Theatre); Das Ding (The Thing) (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage); Durango (Theatre Smash/fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company); The Gay Heritage Project (Buddies in Bad Times); The Ugly One (Theatre Smash/Tarragon Theatre); The Magic Flute (Opera Philadelphia); Don Giovanni, Le Lauréat, Three Sisters Who are Not Sisters (The Glenn Gould School, RCM); The Bremen Town Musicians, Operation Superpower, The Brothers Grimm, Isis and The Seven Scorpions, Cinderella, The Bear (Canadian Opera Company); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Western Canada Theatre). As Artistic Producer & Director: Tiny Dynamite, Tijuana Cure, A Boy Called Newfoundland (Theatre Smash). 
    Upcoming: Second Nature, The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company); Kiss (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage); Bed & Breakfast (Centaur Theatre); Me and My Girl (Shaw Festival).

    www.1000islandsplayhouse.com/ashlie-corcoran/

    DREW FACEY
    SET DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: In a Blue Moon, Into the Woods, The Pirates of Penzance, Waiting for the Parade
    Elsewhere: Evita, Stickboy, Sweeney Todd (Vancouver Opera); Merry Wives (Bard on the Beach); Das Ding (The Thing) (Canadian Stage/Theatre Smash); Deux ans de votre vie, À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou (Théâtre la Seizième); Romeo Initiative (Touchstone); Whipping Man (Pacific); “Art” (Gateway); Little Brother Little Sister (Caravan); Indian Arm, Penelope (Rumble); Educating Rita (Arts Club); Broken Sex Doll (Virtual Stage); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Western Canada). 

    Drew was also the Exhibition Designer for Future Worlds, an interdisciplinary theatrical event at the University of British Columbia. He is the recipient of eleven Jessie Awards for Outstanding Design and twenty-six nominations. 

    www.drewfacey.com

    JOHN GZOWSKI 
    SOUND DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: In a Blue Moon, Bed and Breakfast, The Ugly One, Salt-Water Moon
    Elsewhere: A Woman of No Importance, The Adventures of the Black Girl in her Search of God (Shaw Festival).

    Composer, sound designer, musician, occasional foley artist and instrument-maker John Gzowski has played banjo for opera in Banff, studied Carnatic classical music in India, and played oud and guitar in jazz and folk festivals across Canada and Europe. His theatre work has won him six Dora Mavor Moore Awards for companies like Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Luminato Festival, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Arts Club Theatre Company, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper, Dancemakers, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre, and Young People’s Theatre in about 200 productions. Gzowski has played on numerous CDs, including recent releases with Patricia O’Callghan, Tasa, and Autorickshaw, as well as a Juno Award nomination with Maza Meze.

    CHANTAL HAYMAN
    STAGE MANAGER

    For the Playhouse: Dear Johnny Deere 
    Elsewhere: The Last Donnelly Standing, The Birds and the Bees, The Wilberforce Hotel, Mary’s Wedding (Blyth Festival); Late Company (Why Not Theatre), Butcher, The Boy in the Moon, This is War, Heroes, Facts, The Drawer Boy & Coma Unplugged (Great Canadian Theatre Company); Midwinter’s Dream Tale, Shakespeare’s Dead (A Company of Fools); You Fancy Yourself (Contrary Company); Arms and the Man, The Game of Love and Chance (Odyssey Theatre). 
    Upcoming: Prom Queen: The Musical (The Segal Centre); The Lion in Winter (The Grand Theatre).

    DENYSE KARN
    PROJECTION DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: You Will Remember Me (Tarragon/Studio180); The Mountaintop (Grand Theatre - London); The Watershed (Crow’s Theatre/Porte Parole); Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, NSFW (Studio 180); Her2, The Carousel, The Penelopiad, Happy Woman, The List (Nightwood); Twisted, Stop Heart (Factory Theatre); The Winter’s Tale (Canadian Stage); Top Girls (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre).

    Denyse has been designing sets, projections and costumes in Canadian theatre for over 30 years. She is a graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School and has her BFA from NSCAD University. She has received many Dora Mavor Moore nominations and awards, a Chalmers Award and four Merritt Awards (Nova Scotia Theatre Award) for Outstanding Set, Projection and Costume designs. 

    www.denysekarn.com

    JUNG-HYE KIM 
    COSTUME DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: A Grand Time In The Rapids, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Driving Miss Daisy, Third Floor
    Elsewhere: Armstrong’s War (Canadian Rep Theatre); Durango (Fu-GEN Theatre and Theatre Smash); Small Axe (Project Humanity and The Theatre Centre); Minotaur (YPT); Pacamambo (Canadian Rep Theatre); Passion Play (Outside the March, Convergence Theatre and Sheep No Wool Production); Boblo (Kitchenband Production and The Theatre Centre, Dora nomination for Outstanding Set Design);The Great Mountain (Red Sky Performance with YPT); Pub Opera (Tapestry New Opera); After Akmatova (Tarragon Theatre); Montparnasse (Theatre Passe Muraille and Groundwater Theatre, Dora nomination for Outstanding Costume Design); The Middle Place (Canadian Stage, Project Humanity, Belfry Theatre, GCTC); The Big League (Young People’s Theatre); If We Were Birds (Tarragon Theatre and Groundwater Theatre).
    Upcoming: Snow Queen (Theatre New Brunswick); Kiss (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage).

    QASIM KHAN
    KING MANOEL I / LI / GUy

    For The Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: Hamlet, All’s Well That Ends Well, Das Ding (The Thing) (Canadian Stage); Alice Through The Looking-Glass, Anne of Green Gables-The Musical, the workshop of A Night In The Country (Charlottetown Festival); Alligator Pie, The Crucible, The Royal Comedians, Dirt (Soulpepper Theatre); A Craigslist Cantata (Acting Up Stage/National Arts Centre/Alberta Theatre Projects/Citadel Theatre); Beneath the Banyan Tree (Theatre Direct); the workshop of Later I Can Tell You About Jesus (Studio 180); Shannon 10:40 (Videofag); For Film and Television: Riftworld Chronicles, Little Mosque (CBC); Saving Hope, Dan For Mayor (CTV); Nikita (CW).
    Upcoming: Alligator Pie (Soulpepper National Tour); the workshop of Acha Bacha (Theatre Passe Muraille); The Election Project (Common Boots); The Millennial Malcontent (Tarragon Theatre).

    Qasim is a Dora Award nominee, an International Actor Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe, and is a graduate of the Soulpepper Academy, and the University of Toronto/Sheridan College Acting program.

    PHILIP NOZUKA 
    FELA / PATRICK

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: Durango (fu-GEN Theatre Company/Theatre Smash); Das Ding (The Thing) (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage); Banana Boys (Factory Theatre – nominated alongside cast for a 2016 Dora Mavor Moore award for best ensemble). For Film and Television: Degrassi: Next Generation; ​Disney XD’s Aaron Stone; Cosmopolis, directed by David Cronenberg; Kimberly Pierce’s remake of Carrie.

    Philip is a Dora Award nominee and graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada. 

    KELSEY RUTLEDGE
    APPRENTICE STAGE MANAGER

    For the Playhouse: Into the Woods
    Elsewhere: Stage Manager: Slip (Circlesnake Productions); Trout Stanley (Severely Jazzed Productions); The Real McCoy (4th Line Theatre). Apprentice Stage Manager: The Unplugging (Factory); Miracle on 34th Street (Sudbury Theatre Centre); Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival).

    Kelsey is a graduate of Humber College’s Theatre Production Program and holds a BFA degree in Theatre Performance from Laurentian University.

    GRAEME THOMSON
    LIGHTING DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: No Great Mischief
    Elsewhere: The Heart of Robin Hood (Mirvish Theatre), Mustard,  Wormwood & The Valley (Tarragon Theatre), True West & Farther West (Soulpepper Theatre).  

    Graeme is the recipient of Five Dora Awards, including Outstanding Set Design for The Castle and Outstanding Lighting Design for Remnants.

    NAOMI WRIGHT
    JOURNALISTS / MAGELLAN / SIWA

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: Das Ding (The Thing) (Canadian Stage/Theatre Smash); Pride and Prejudice (The Arts Club); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Othello, Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet (Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach – 5 seasons); Elektra and Cymbeline (Stratford Festival); The Ugly One (Theatre Smash/Tarragon); The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar (Canadian Stage); Talking Heads (Precisely Peter Productions); A Room of One’s Own (Bloomsbury Collective), 39 Steps (Persephone Theatre); Bird Brain (Carousel Theatre); Life Savers (Ruby Slippers Theatre); Stupidity (Theatre Conspiracy); Absurd Person Singular (Arts Club Theatre Company); Cat and Mouse/Sheep, The Dissociates (Sea Theatre); The Man Who Shot Chance Delaney, The Island of Bliss (WCT); Thy Neighbour’s Wife (Theatre North West). 
    Upcoming: Kiss (Theatre Smash/Canadian Stage/ARC).

    Naomi has been nominated for six Jessie Awards, two Dora Awards, and a SATAward for performance.    

  • Photos

    Photos by Stephen Wild.

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    Videos

    Click image to watch video!

    [embed width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvE1tUNnJyM[/embed]

     

    [embed width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-W7JSfg6Oo[/embed]

     

     

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