City of Wine
The City of Wine project is a seven-play cycle by Kingston playwright Ned Dickens that Nightswimming is developing in a special partnership with more than 200 students, artists and educators at seven theatre training institutions across Canada.
This national project is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students to participate directly in the development and production of a major new work, in partnership with leading theatre artists and their fellow students across the country. To accomplish this we have established relationships with seven theatre training programs: Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (Corner Brook, Nfld); Concordia University (Montreal); George Brown College Theatre School (Toronto); Humber College Performance Training Program (Toronto); York University (Toronto); Studio 58 (Langara College, Vancouver) and Simon Fraser University (Burnaby). In addition, the National Theatre School (Montreal) has contributed four playwright residencies for Ned Dickens.
City of Wine is Ned Dickens’ theatrical cycle about the ancient Greek city of Thebes – best known as the home of Oedipus. The cycle comprises seven plays: Harmonia, Pentheus, Laius, Jocasta, Oedipus, Creon and Seven. The plays are written to complement each other and form a rich tapestry when performed together. They are timely commentaries on leadership, ideal for large ensembles and schools – plays that combine the traditions of classical theatre with the dynamism of contemporary writing.
This three-year project is bringing together students from across Canada to develop, rehearse, produce and present Ned’s seven plays. A central element of this initiative has been Ned and Nightswimming staff Brian Quirt and Naomi Campbell visiting each school to workshop the plays with the students, and in doing so to offer the students an opportunity to participate in the creation of City of Wine as part of their training.
This collaborative educational process will culminate in 2008-09 when the seven plays will be produced by seven of the schools (Grenfell College, Humber College, George Brown College, York University, Concordia, Studio 58 and SFU). The City of Wine Festival at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille, May 5-9, 2009, will then bring the seven productions together for two performances of the complete cycle, in sequence, for the first time ever.
NED DICKENS
As a Playwright Ned’s staged credit’s include: OEDIPUS (Under the Gardiner Expressway by DIE IN DEBT; two Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding Production); BEO’S BEDROOM (YOUNG PEOPLE’S THEATRE, GRAND LONDON, NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE, & THEATRE NEW BRUNSWICK; Dora Award, Chalmers Award nomination); ICARA (ANANKE THEATRE; Dora Award nomination; NOW Magizine’s top ten of 2000); THE STAR CHILD (libretto for THE CANADIAN CHILDREN’S OPERA CHORUS, Harbourfront Centre. John Greer, Composer); HORSE (THE THEATRE CENTRE). For Television: six episodes of the highly successful ROLL PLAY series (Treehouse). For CBC Radio Drama: BEO’S BEDROOM, LUKE AND THE BIG CIRCLES (Gold Medal, The New York Festivals), CHEESE MAGIC, and LUKE AND THE TERRIBLE THING. Ned was, for a while, a regular contributor to RICHARDSON¹S ROUNDUP on CBC Radio 1. Ned taught high school for seven years. He has also taught Creative Writing at St Lawrence College, served as Playwright in Residence at the National Theatre School and at Nightswimming, amongst others, and designed and delivered innumerable workshops for groups including the Toronto District School Board, Queens University, George Brown College, the Green Party of Canada, and various corporate clients. He lives in Kingston with his wife and two children.
CITY OF WINE
The epic story of the citizens and city of Thebes –
birthplace of wine and home of the god Bacchus
Ned’s plays tell one of the most important stories in Greek mythology. But few are aware of the rich and provocative story of Thebes that begins with the founding of the city by Cadmus and Harmonia. City of Wine traces its development from community to society to culture and concludes with the last gasp of Theban civilization. Ned’s most exciting innovation is his rejection of the Greek chorus in favour of a representative community of Thebans. As we progress through the plays we repeatedly return to a tavern where a collection of Theban citizens react to and argue about the actions of the city’s famous rulers.
Harmonia – Harmonia is the daughter Ares and Aphrodite and husband to the mortal Cadmus, with whom she founds the city of Thebes. This play follows them from their first meeting in the kitchens of Mount Olympus, where Cadmus has been enslaved by Ares. Surrounded by the lusty desires and petty games of the gods, Cadmus wins the love of their daughter and as they flee Olympus, they vow to found a great city dedicated to equality and truth.
Pentheus – Two generations later, their grandson Pentheus struggles to maintain their lofty ideals of civilized behaviour in the face of Thebes’ increasing allegiance to extreme religious fanaticism. A free version of The Bacchae from Pentheus’ perspective, the play introduces us to the magical characters of Tiresius and Bacchus.
Laius – Trained for battle and raised with the entitlements of royalty, then humiliated and driven into exile following a civil war, Cadmus and Harmonia’s great grandson Laius festers in bitter self pity and loathing until he becomes capable of a crime which horrifies the gods and precipitates the curse which will plague Thebes for generations. This play is central to the cycle’s exploration of leadership: how do we create our leaders and what do we demand of them in return?
Jocasta – This play illuminates the story of Jocasta, one of the great figures of ancient mythology, tracing her wedding to the returning Laius, her pregnancy and the descent of Thebes, under Laius’ rule, into dictatorship and fear. It becomes a love story in Act Two, as Jocasta and Oedipus find a magnetic connection and restore peace to Thebes. The play concludes with their happy wedding.
Oedipus – Oedipus’ attempt to relieve Thebes of a plague – and the curse that brought it to his city – brings the story of Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus to its disastrous, horrifying conclusion.
Creon – A stranger visits Thebes and is asked to play Creon in a reconstruction of the story of Antigone. A central and controversial story about the city’s leadership is reevaluated, and Thebes’ fate, and that of all of its citizens, is explored.
Seven – Set around a meagre campfire on the windy plains before Troy, seven soldiers, the very last of the Thebans, receive orders to lead a suicidal attack in the morning. Each struggles to make sense of their situation: Are they heroes, victims, or pawns?
Oedipus was commissioned and produced in 1994 by Die in Debt Theatre and received a Dora Award for Outstanding Production. Nightswimming commissioned Harmonia, Pentheus, Jocasta, Creon and Seven, co-commissioned Laius (with the National Arts Centre) and has workshopped the plays. They have been further developed in partnership with the Stratford Festival of Canada, which presented staged readings of Jocasta in 2003 and Oedipus in 2004. Creon was produced by Humber College Theatre School in 2002 and by Toronto’s Stone Circle Project in 2007; Jocasta received a production at the University of Alberta in October 2004; and Oedipus was the subject of a National Theatre School workshop in 2005.
