Toronto (August 22, 2017): Dollhouse, created by Toronto’s Bill Coleman with Gordon Monahan, has been selected to be on the shortlist for this year’s prestigious Total Theatre Awards, highlighting the best talent in visual or physical theatre/performance at the 70th anniversary edition of the Edinburgh Festival, currently underway in Scotland.
Dollhouse is the only Canadian production selected for the shortlist and runs until August 27 at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance.
A total of 538 eligible shows were assessed over the first 11 days of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by a curated panel of 28 peer assessors. Seven awards are to be presented.
The shortlisted shows now move to a judging panel where shows are seen by leading arts industry figures from seven countries including critics, academics, artists and programmers. The awards will be announced on Thursday 24 August.
On the home front, as part of Canada’s 150th celebrations, Dollhouse represented Ontario as part of the Canada Scene festival presented by the National Arts Centre this summer. Presented by Canadian Stage in Toronto last fall, Dollhouse was singled out as one of the year’s highlights by both The Globe and Mail and Dance International. It was nominated for three 2017 Dora Mavor Moore Awards including outstanding dance production.
A production that defies categorization, Dollhouse is a whirlwind of sound and movement that blends Buster Keaton, Kafka and Cage. Trailblazing contemporary dance master and choreographer Bill Coleman portrays a figure whose whole world is literally falling in around him. Sharing the stage with avant-garde composer Gordon Monahan, an object-laden room collapses and breaks at the dancer’s every touch. Playing the role of a modern fakir, Coleman suffers through what at times are almost comic situations on his way to sonic and and visual pandemonium. Dollhouse is both eye-popping spectacle and unique score.
Performing to packed houses in Edinburgh, Dollhouse was picked by Vogue magazine for what to see at the festival.
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