The Yoko Ono Project

Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto, ON, CANADA M5T 2P3 http://www.passemuraille.on.ca

Contact: David Kinsman, 416.504.8988 ext. 33 (davidk@passemuraille.on.ca) or Valerie Sing Turner 416.898.2705

Theatre Passe Muraille and Loud Mouth Asian Babes present

Characters/Stage Play by Jean Yoon
with instruction poems, texts and music by Yoko Ono
Directed by Jean Yoon and Marion de Vries
Featuring Bruce Beaton, Denise Fujiwara, M.J. Kang, Keira Loughran, Lee Pui Ming, Glenn Marc Silot
Set Design by Vikki Anderson • Lighting Design by Bonnie Beecher
Costume Design by Joanne LeBlanc • Sound Design by Jonathan Rooke
Original compositions by Lee Pui Ming • Choreography by Eryn Dace Trudell
Video/Media Design by Chris Clifford• Stage Management by Tanya Greve

Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue
Previews January 11 & 12. Runs January 13 to February 6, 2000
Tues – Sat 8:00 pm; Sun 2:30 pm (PWYC) • Box Office: 416 504 PLAY (7529)
Previews: PWYC; Tue - Thur: $19; Fri - Sat: $28; Sun: PWYC

Theatre Passe Muraille and Loud Mouth Asian Babes presents the eagerly-awaited world premiere of The Yoko Ono Project. Five years in development, this bold and provocative mixture of performance, music and multi-media promises to explode myths and challenge perceptions about the woman John Lennon called "the most famous undiscovered artist in the world."

Playwright Jean Yoon (Sliding for Home & Boarders, LMAB), who is also directing the piece with Marion de Vries (Rhubarb!’s Dreaming Elsewhere, Blyth’s Wilber County Blues), has combined her own stage play and characters with instruction poems, artwork, texts and music by Ono in a re-examination and celebration of her art, strength, wit, and boundless imagination. The production has received the support of Ms. Ono who has generously given permission for the use of her work.

Three women played by dancer/choreographer Denise Fujiwara (Elle Laments, Sumida River), M. J. Kang (YPT’s The Other Side of the Closet, Die in Debt’s Oedipus), and Keira Loughran, (Equity Showcase’s The Libertine, TPM’s 1837: The Farmers’ Revolt), gather at a Yoko Ono art exhibition. The exhibition triggers revelations and debate about the North American Asian experience as refracted through the prism of Ono, her work and pop image. Joining them are Bruce Beaton (Die in Debt’s Megatropolis, YPT’s Flippin’ In) as the obligatory white boyfriend, and Glenn Marc Silot (YPT’s Naomi’s Road, Shakespeare in Action’s Shakespeare’s Mirror) as the sexy but embittered Asian guy.

Presiding over the gathering in the role of Singer/Yoko is renowned pianist/composer Lee Pui Ming, whose original music is an integral part of the production. Pui Ming is one of the most compelling improvisers on the North American new music scene today. Trained in the classical European tradition, her work is a fascinating blend of jazz, Chinese traditional music, new concert and experimental improvisation. Her most recent CD, Taklamakan, has been garnering rave reviews.

The impressive artistic team behind The Yoko Ono Project includes set designer Vikki Anderson (Buddies in Bad Times’ Howl, Tarragon’s Cheri), lighting designer Bonnie Beecher (COC’s La Traviata, Tarragon’s The Memory of Water and Good Bones), costume designer Joanne LeBlanc (Design Assistant for Honoria Project’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession, DNA’s Artaud and His Doubles: Prelude – Can’t), sound designer Jonathan Rooke (TPM’s The Drawer Boy, Blyth’s Wilber County Blues), choreographer Eryn Dace Trudell (Company of Siren’s The Destruction of Eve, Froth’s/TPM’s Quartet), and video and media designer Chris Clifford (VideoCabaret’s The History of the Village of the Small Huts, Company of Siren’s Media Madness). Stage management for the production is by Tanya Greve (Factory’s A Short History of Night, The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum).

The Yoko Ono Project runs from January 13 to February 6 with previews on January 11 & 12 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace. Performance times are Tuesday to Saturday at 8:00 pm arnd Sunday at 2:30 pm. Ticket prices are PWYC for previews, $19 Tuesday to Thursday, $28 Friday and Saturday, with PWYC performances on Sunday afternoons. Tickets at the box office or call (416) 504 PLAY (7529).

The services of Valerie Sing Turner were made possible through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program, funded by the Ontario Arts Council.