User:JulieDoom/Sandbox

PROJECTproject is a Toronto-based company that has produced improvised theatre, comedy and performance events since June of 2007. In addition to their regular shows, the company is also responsible for the PROJECTproject COMBUSTIONfestival featuring collaborations with performers from across North America, held in May.

From September 2007 to May 2008, PROJECTproject produced a weekly Wednesday-night show at a tiny underground venue in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood called Unit 102 and described as “the sort of place where the French Resistance would hide out”. What was originally intended as a 5-week preview run at Unit 102 turned into a 37-week stint as the company waited for their new venue to be built.

Following their inaugural PROJECTproject COMBUSTIONfestival in May of 2008, the company took up residence at Comedy Bar – a comedy venue owned by Gary Rideout Jr. of The Sketchersons (with business partner James Elksnitis).

PROJECTproject’s weekly show features a variety of improv formats and concepts. Generally, each show features two 15-25 minute showcase slots (sometimes called “mixers”) and one soloset (wherein an improviser takes to the stage by themselves) followed by a rotating series of longer or more involved projects in the second half of the show, usually prominently featuring the company’s core cast of 12 improvisers. PROJECTproject shows are characterized by a casual party atmosphere and a willingness by performers to collaborate and work outside of their comfort zones.

COMBUSTION FESTIVAL:
In the last week of May, PROJECTproject hosts a festival of improvised and interdisciplinary collaborations with improvisers and artists from across North America. The festival features 5 programs, each loosely inspired by a method of combustion:
 * FAST - shortform improv (shorter in length, not in quality)
 * SLOW - longform improv (not that the speed of it need be slow)
 * COMPLETE - heavily structured improvisation, loose sketch and scripted work with room to play
 * INCOMPLETE - new configurations of people; forms-in-development
 * SMOULDERING - radical/non-traditional improvisation

2008
Festival artwork by Joe Sciglitano (Australia).

Guests:

 * Picnicface (Halifax): Mark Little & Andrew Bush
 * !nstant Theatre (Vancouver): Alistair Cook & Rene Dellefont
 * The Doug Dank Project (Atlanta): Rene Dellefont & Amber Nash (with:  Sean Tabares & Kurt Smeaton)
 * A.K.A. Improv (Vancouver): Aaron Read, Andrew Chen & Kayla Lorette
 * Buckshot’N’Benny (New York/Vancouver): Kaitlin Fontana & Louie Pearlman
 * Uncalled For Improv (Montreal): Dan Jeannotte, Anders Yates, Nic Wright & Caitlin Howden
 * Crush Improv (Ottawa): AL Connors (& guests)
 * The Sketchersons (Toronto): Gary Rideout Jr., Pat Thornton, Craig Brown, Bob Kerr, Norm Sousa, Cole Osborne, Tal Zimmerman, Laura Cilevitz, Inessa Frantowski, Andy Hull, Josh Saltzman & Jared Sales
 * Bad Dog Theatre Co. (Toronto): Lisa Merchant, James Gangl, Kris Siddiqi, Kirsten Gallagher, Kevin Matviw & Alastair Forbes
 * The Renaissance (Toronto): Julian Frid, Georgea Brooks-Hancock, Shauna Jean Doherty, Claire Salloum, Liam O’Doherty Adam Ward & Karen Stern
 * Semi-formal night/project guests: many of the performers above plus Vivieno Caldinelli, Rob Baker, Peter Stevens, Daryn MacIntyre & more.

Ongoing projects:

 * [game]show – an gameshow incorporating improvised scenes, trivia, penalties and challenges (influenced by Japanese and North American gameshows & board games)
 * The Condo Show – a directed one-act improvised play, with a director chosen at random from the cast and one player randomly challenged with some sort of restriction (referred to as the skull-and-crossbones) (conceived by Mark Andrada)

Occasional/developing projects:

 * Dinner with Someone from History – a recurring series of spaghetti dinners with Pat Thornton and a variety of audience-suggested historical figures played by Sean Tabares
 * Burning Bright – inspired by the John Steinbeck play-novelette of the same name (conceived by Kayla Lorette)
 * Perfect Strangers – a piece making use of improvised illustration projected onto/behind the actors in the scenes using an overhead projector (conceived by Mark Andrada)
 * Post-apocalyptic project – genre exploration (conceived by Kayla Lorette)
 * Epicene girls/epicene boys – projects featuring the core cast divided along gender lines

Past projects (could return):

 * The Kid is Hot 2night – a 6-month long ongoing longform elimination tournament wherein the initial field of 30 seasoned improvisers was eventually narrowed (through audience voting) to a group of 6 improvisers who were featured at the 2008 COMBUSTIONfestival (conceived by Bob Banks)
 * Slimfit – a serialized improvised sitcom set in the world of high fashion modeling (conceived by Alana Johnston)

previous:

 * 2007 Toronto International Improv Festival (as PROJECTproject: epicene project)
 * 2008 University of Toronto Improv Festival (showcase guests)

upcoming:

 * 2008 Victoria International Improv Festival
 * 2008 Vancouver International Improv Festival

Core cast members:

 * Mark Andrada
 * Bob Banks
 * Adam Cawley
 * Jason DeRosse
 * Julie Dumais
 * Sarah Hillier
 * Alana Johnston
 * Bita Joudaki
 * Kayla Lorette
 * Tatiana Maslany
 * Sean Tabares
 * Alex Tindal

Guests:
Pat Thornton, Gary Rideout Jr., Norm Sousa, Craig Brown, Cole Osborne, Rob Baker, Aurora Browne, Caitlin Howden, Jan Caruana, Lauren Ash, James Gangl, Lisa Merchant, Kris Siddiqi, Daryn McIntyre, Peter Stevens, Claire Salloum, Georgea Brooks-Hancock, Alice Moran, Liz White, Mack Lawrenz, Rob Baker, Chris Tindal, Sarah Hennessey, Deborah Etta Robinson, Brian Barlow, Carmine Lucarelli, Kevin Gillese, Michal Grajewski, Katie Bowes, Arlen Konopaki, Kjartan Hewitt, Chris Craddock, Sandra Battaglini, Rebecca Addelman, Kristen MacGregor, Tal Zimmerman, Steph “Tony” Tonietto, Simon Pond, Dave Morris, Aaron Read, Andrew Chen, Mark Little, Andrew Bush, Dan Jeannotte, Anders Yates, Matt Goldberg, Taz VanRassel, Eric Hart, Rob Norman, Andy Hull, Meags Fitzgerald, Fraz Weist, Ian Rowe, Steph Tolev, Allison Hogg, Ian MacIntyre, Lisa Farlow, Megan Fraser, Renna Reddie, Mark Cotoia, Kevin Patrick Robbins, Julia Lane, Rob Chodos, Brad Sayeau, Laura Cilevitz, Adam Ward, Steve Hobbs, Sean Magee, Wayne Molinski, Kevin Williams, Isaac Kessler, Michael Balazo Luis Fernandes & more.

REFERENCE:

 * http://www.eyeweekly.com/comedy/article/28242
 * http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/429656

EXTERNAL LINKS:

 * http://www.projectproject.ca
 * http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6736071060
 * http://vault.mtv.ca/blog/?p=118
 * http://www.edge.ca/Blogs/BTsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10000562
 * http://www.globalimpro.com/2008/05/combustion-festival-en-toronto.html