Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit is remounting its hit 1995 show Permission, beginning November 25.
This is the same company that produced The Vile Governess, Serpent Kills (in a co-production with Toronto's Crow's Theatre) and Ilsa, Queen of the Nazi Love Camp, a title which has always offended me and a play which did not.
Most of One Yellow Rabbit's scripts are written or co-written by Blake Brooker and this has resulted in an international reputation for dance dramas infused with quirky, dark, humour; in Permission Brooker shares authorship with Denise Clarke.
The show's title is a cheeky reference to the history of this dans macabre. Brooker and Clarke went after the rights for Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but they were denied permission. Unbowed, they fashioned a dance drama based on the play's stage directions. The result is a funny and fiercely physical exploration of Albee's themes of love, lust, wickedness, game playing and death.
Permission toured the States and Mexico, where it represented Canada at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. The creative team includes composer Richard McDowell, visual artist Chris Cran and the One Yellow Rabbit ensemble; Andy Curtis, Michael Green and Elizabeth Stepkowski.
Permission opens November 27 for a limited engagement at the Big Secret Theatre. Call 403-299-8888 for tickets.
--By Mira Friedlander
Canadian Correspondent