Now Toronto 2001: Matthew MacFadzean (Tony Reese in "Shock of the New" and "Deadly Desire")
Summerworks Previews: Popping Culture
By Jon Kaplan
solo RICHARDTHESECOND written and performed by Matthew MacFadzean, directed by Rebecca Brown. Presented by Nation of Aslan at Artword. August 2 at 11 pm, August 5 at 8 pm, August 6 at 3:30 pm, August 9 and 11 at 6:30 pm, August 12 at 5 pm.
Matthew MacFadzean's created the perfect theatre piece for audiences hooked on film and TV screens. And, surprisingly, he's brought Shakespeare into the mix.
richardthesecond is the tale of an inveterate raver seduced into an experiment that could shatter both his self-image and the makeup of society. Its springboard, in part, is the Bard's work about the king who was a pretty good poet but a pretty bad ruler.
"What I like most about Shakespeare is that each play mirrors an era, and Richard II seems to be ours," confides writer/performer MacFadzean, who spent two years at Shaw and whose Toronto work includes Shopping And Fucking, A Buncha Young Artists and The End Of Dancing.
"Like Shakespeare's creation, my modern Richard is increasingly self-aware. By the end, he's wondering if all the cool stuff in his life really contents him.
"I also want to deal with the overwhelming nature of today's technology. Ironically, I think the show can bring in a wider audience, a youth culture that's used to looking at images everywhere. I think of it as a techno-opera."
MacFadzean has brought in artists from different backgrounds, including DJ Iain Miller, filmmaker Brendan Steacey and Collon Brown, who provides visuals for raves.
Working on the classics at Shaw sparked a desire in MacFadzean to do something crazier, more dangerous.
"I realized I might as well make it as big and scary as I could. The more difficult it is, the more I learn."
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