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Listen to Marichka Melnyk from CBC talk about the play (3Mb Mp3)


See the archived page
of the 2003 production of
The Aleatory Project

The Aleatory Project
an experiment in fate

Thought for Food Productions presents The Aleatory Project
by Helen Juvonen

"A man. A woman. A hotel room. Everything else is left to chance."

Thought for Food presents an experiment in fate, exploring the themes of choice vs. chance and fate vs. free will.
Inspired by concepts developed by the late composer John Cage,
The Aleatory Project is a play with many potential variations.

The play opens with a man and woman trapped together in a hotel room. Who they are, how they feel about each other, and what they talk about are chosen live in front of the audience. During each performance random elements, such as a coin toss, will give the actors directions to guide them through the play – as they are performing.

No two shows will be the same.

The show is also an experiment in live theatre music soundtrack. The real-time reactive score will be performed live using custom software developed by Toronto’s Silvershard Music.

directed by Steven Arkle
starring Helen Juvonen and Jordan Van Dyck
sound design by Andrew Clark

Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace - SummerWorks Festival
August 5 – 14, 2005

Fri. August 5, 9:30pm • Sun. August 7, 2pm • Mon. Aug 8, 11pm •
Tue. August 9, 8pm• Thu. August 11, 6:30pm • Fri. Aug 12, 9:30pm
Sun. August 14, 9:30pm

tickets: $10 / No latecomers admitted

For more information, call Thought for Food at (416) 617-6020 or the Festival Hotline at (416) 410-1048, or email aleatoryproject@yahoo.ca

Show Log

Fri. Aug 5, 9:30pm

The Cards: 7 Hearts, 8 Spades , 2 Hearts, 3 Hearts, King Spades, Ace Spades, Ace Hearts, 8 Hearts, 7 Clubs, 9 Hearts, King Diamonds, 5 Spades, Jack Clubs

The Plot: Jordan played A, Helen played B, an stranger. There was a moment of violence, but in the end B left.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 10:02 pm
Ending:

Sun. Aug 7, 2pm

The Cards: 4 Spades, Jack Spades, Jack Clubs, King Diamonds, 6 Diamonds, 7 Diamonds, Queen Spades, 9 Spades, 5 Spades, 10 Spades, 7 Clubs, Joker, 4 Diamonds, Queen Hearts

The Plot: Helen played A, Jordan played B, a stranger, though the roles were reversed half-way through. There was a moment of violence, but in the end B stayed.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 2:29 pm
Ending:

Mon. Aug 8, 11pm

The Cards: 2 Diamonds, Queen Spades, Jack Diamonds, 7 Clubs, 4 Hearts, Ace Spade, 10 Hearts, 3 Hearts, 2 Spades, 3 Diamonds, 2 Hearts, 9 Spades, Ace Hearts, Queen Diamonds

The Plot: Jordan played A, Helen played B, A's lover. There was a moment of passion, and in the end B stayed.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 11:34 pm
Ending:

Tue. August 9, 8pm
The Cards: Jack Spades, 3 Clubs, 4 Clubs, Queen Hearts, Queen Spades, 8 Hearts
Ace Clubs, 9 Spades, King Hearts, 5 Diamonds, 2 Clubs

The Plot: Helen played A, Jordan played B, A's. There was a moment of violence, and in the end, B left.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 8:35pm
Ending:

Thu. August 11, 6:30pm
The Cards: 10 Hearts, 9 Clubs, King Clubs, 8 Diamonds, 2 Clubs, 7 Diamonds, 5 Clubs, Ace Hearts, King Spades, 6 Diamonds, 6 Clubs

The Plot: Jordan played A, Helen played B, A's lover. There was a moment of violence, and in the end, B stayed.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 7:02pm
Ending:

Fri. Aug 12, 9:30pm
TBA

Sun. August 14, 9:30pm
The Cards: 10 Clubs, 4 Spades, 9 Diamonds, 2 Hearts, 9 Spades, 8 Clubs,
Queen Clubs, Queen Diamonds, 10 Hearts, 7 Spades, King Spades

The Plot: Helen played A, Jordan played B, A's lover. There was a moment of passion, but in the end, B left.

Relationship:
Time on the clock: 9:59pm
Ending:

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The Players

Helen Juvonen as A (or B)
Helen is the founder and Artistic Director of Thought For Food Productions.
A graduate of the Drama Studies Program at Glendon College , Helen has been active as an independent producer/director/actor for many years. She produced and directed several TFF productions including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead , Agnes of God and The Birthday Party . At the 2004 Toronto Fringe Helen appeared in the premiere of another of her plays, a little faux pas . Other acting credits include Volpone , The Mousetrap , Macbeth, The Memorandum, Love's Labour's Lost and Spring Awakening.

Jordan Van Dyck as B (or A)
After a two-year absence from the stage to pursue his film career, Jordan has returned to his rightful home.  A graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy/NYC (integrated program) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art/London (Shakespeare program) Jordan has worked on stage and in independent film for the last five years.  His most recent stage appearance was in Thirteenth Knight's cross-gendered Love's Labour's Lost as Maria/Mario at the Tribeca Theatre in New York .  His favourite roles include Laertes in Hamlet  and Jonathon in Arthur Kopit's Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad .  Look for Jordan 's appearance in the short film Declaring Genius at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Said the Fairy to the Prince "If you can imagine me then I must be possible; and if I am possible then I can imagine that I must be me." And thus, possibility was created. 

Special thanks to Elisabeth Hampton for being my rock.

Production Team

Steven Arkle (director)
Steven is pleased to join in the Aleatoric fun a second time. Previous directions include Grotowski's Head for ShipBrecht at the 2002 Fringe, Hamlette and  Much Ado About Nothing   for IRF and Possible Worlds, Zastrozzi  and The Monument  for Love of Louis. He thinks he might be a Character B who talks like a Character A - or perhaps the other way around.

Andrew Clark (sound designer)
Andrew has written music in many genres, including incidental music for previous Thought For Food productions The Memorandum and The Universal Wolf, however his main interest lies in adaptive music software. He is a leading researcher in the fields of interactive and adaptive music. He has written and published articles on the subjects and has been invited to speak and perform at various conferences and festivals. Andrew's book "Composing Music for Video Games" is scheduled to be released by Charles River Media in the summer of 2005. Andrew is currently working as an Adaptive Remix Artist on the soundtrack of a next-generation console title for a major game publisher (details not yet public) with Toronto-based video game development company Pseudo Interactive Inc. Andrew also performs live under the pseudonym pir8-x and under that name he has recorded and released an indie CD entitled Metamorphoses. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition from the University of Toronto.

Marie Martin-Roche (stage manager)
Marie's passion for working in theater continues. She has recently worked as Production Assistant for the play Perfect Life: The Musical and in Marketing Relations for the play La Dispute . Marie has for several years now been volunteering for The Fringe Festival as well as the Toronto Film Festival. She is currently working for TVOntario. Marie would like to thank Lionel and Helen for this wonderful opportunity, and, of course, Steve, Jordan, and Matt for being such a great team to work with!

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Synopsis

A man and a woman are trapped in a hotel room. Are they strangers or lovers or something else? Who they are and how they feel about each other will be determined live on stage through the use of random elements – a coin and a deck of cards.

As the characters await their fate, they pass the time playing a “get to know you” card game. One of the pair maintains that “if you talk to anyone ... long enough ... you will find that you are connected to them in some significant way”.

What will these characters learn about each other during the course of their card game, and how will their hidden connection be resolved? Find out... as the actors do!

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a “get to know you” game

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The Company

Established in 1994, Thought For Food began as a summer project for university and high school students. Eleven years and ten productions later, the company remains dedicated to showcasing the talents of emerging artists. The Aleatory Project premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2003.

The Cause

Originally just a play on words, in 1997 the company decided to live up to its name. To date the company has collected over 250lbs of food for various Toronto area food banks by offering discounted tickets in exchange for donations.

The Shows

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The Music

Andrew Clark (Silvershard Music)
Toronto-based Silvershard Music specializes in adaptive music research. Silvershard’s custom CarpeDM “live P.A.” performance software leverages Microsoft technology originally developed for interactive video game music playback. Designed for real-time remix and spontaneous composition performances, the tool has proved remarkably effective for mixing responsive theatre soundtracks live. “This kind of flexibility is proving invaluable in the context of The Aleatory Project’s non-linear script,” says owner and video game industry veteran Andrew Clark.

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The Press

Thought for Food’s 2002 production of The Universal Wolf was
EYE magazine’s “Best Bet”, January 24, 2002

EYE magazine called Steven-Arkle-directed Grotowski’s Head “a savvy and hilarious play” - 4 stars

Listen to Marichka Melnyk from CBC talk about the 2003 production of the play (3Mb Mp3)

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Complete show credits

Cast
Helen Juvonen as A (or B)
Jordan Van Dyck as B (or A)

Director
Steven Arkle

Stage Manager
Marie Martin-Roche

Sound Designer
Andrew Clark

Sound Operator
Matthew Allard

Fight Choreographer
Christopher Mott

Graphic Design
Lionel Tona

For SummerWorks

Lighting Designer
Mickey Wagg

House Technicians
Ryan McDougal
Shanna Miller

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