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Coming up! David is directing for the Toronto Fringe Festival this July: Featuring: Rob Bird
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Scarlet O'Neil has photographed the acting classes at the studio! Some of the photos have been put up on this site. Check out more from the class, and other examples of her lovely work here.
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by Tennessee Williams Upper Canada Repertory Theatre August/September 2008 |
Disciples
by Robert Fothergill, directed by Mark Wilson
Summer 2007
Disciples dramatizes the first encounter between the apostles Peter and Paul in about the year 36 CE (current era) and is set in the home of Peter in Jerusalem. It’s an intense 50-minute conversation, a crucial debate over the meaning and future direction of the new messianic religion .Fothergill says he was inspired to write the play after reading Charles Freeman’s The Closing of the Western Mind, which has a chapter on the crucial influence of Paul on the development of Christianity.
Along with Fothergill, everyone connected to the production of Disciples is affiliated with York. The director of Disciples is Mark Wilson, a professor of acting and directing in York's Theatre Department; the designer is Andrea Mittler (BFA '02); and the rolesof Peter and Paul are played by Michael Armstrong (MFA '07) and David Matheson (MFA '05). Stage manager Jessie Shearer (BFA '06) and lighting designer Siobhan Sleath (BFA '03) are also York theatre grads.
David Matheson as Paul and Michael Armstrong as Peter in Disciples
Wordsmyth Theatre
William Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar
Spring 2006
Adapted for four actors by David Matheson
Innovative, imaginative, intense, Julius Caesar was the debut production of Wordsmyth. In this fast-paced adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, four actors brought an empire in crisis to life. A war was waged between ambition and conscience, the bonds of loyalty and friendship were tested, and we saw how hidden desires and self deception led to a fall from grace.
Incorporating theatrical masks and a zest for language, Wordsmyth Theatre's Julius Caesar introduced a fresh voice in Toronto's vibrant theatre community.
(Left to right) David Matheson, Craig Stanghetta, Josh Jacobson, and Christine Horne
Craig Stanghetta as Cassius and David Matheson as Pandarus
Josh Jacobson as Cinna the Poet
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Recent Work |
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Watch David as Detective Tim Nesbitt in Episode 8 of Cold Blood, this summer on Global TV!
Seneca College has started a new program in Acting for the Camera and Voice, and they have invited David to join the faculty! It is a very exciting and unique program. David will be teaching the first term Acting for the Camera.
Seneca College, Acting for Camera and Voice
BluebeardToronto Fringe Festival
June/ July 2008
Review from Jon Kaplan in Now Magazine
Review from David Balzer from Eye Magazine
Review from Jory Brophy at The Gate
Review from Daina Valiulis at Mondo Magazine
The Seagull
by Anton Chekhov
Spring 2007
Director's Notes
“You are right to demand that the author take stock of what he is doing, but you are confusing two concepts: answering the questions and formulating them correctly. Only the latter is required of the author.” – Anton Chekhov
The mythologist Joseph Campbell once responded when asked why we tell stories: “If you want to help the world, teach people how to live in it.” I think Anton Chekhov would have approved of this statement. His work eschews easy categorization of comedy or tragedy and absolutely resists attempts at moralizing. Instead Chekhov paints a landscape – one that allows us to see the absurdity of being human. While he doesn’t give us answers, he formulates the questions so well that we forgive him.
Wayne Ward as Trigorin, Guy Doucette as Medvedenko, Melee Hutton as Arkardina, David Smukler as Sorin, and Christine Horne as Nina
"All I wanted was to say honestly to people: "Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!" The important thing is that people should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite different, quite unlike our present life. And so long as this different life does not exist, I shall go on saying to people again and again: "Please, understand that your life is bad and dreary!" – Anton Chekhov
In the Seagull, Chekhov presents a cast of characters with competing passions. They carelessly damage each other, blinded by self-interest. One person’s victory leads to another’s tragedy. The result is both tragedy and comedy - in equal measure and sometimes in the same instant.
Melee Hutton as Arkardina and Craig Stanghetta as Treplev
“I am writing a play which I probably will not finish until the end of November. I am writing it with considerable pleasure, though I sin frightfully against the conventions of the stage. It is a comedy with four female parts, six male, four acts, a landscape, lots of talk on literature, little action, and five tons of love.” -- Anton Chekhov
We are tremendously proud of this work. I believe that we have matched Chekhov’s five tons of love with another five to bring this to you.
Set Design by Andrea Mittler