jordanhall.ca

February 6, 2013

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:38:20 +0000

I’m thrilled to announce that Zoe Green and I have just won the Ottawa Little Theatre’s National One-Act Playwright- ing Contest for The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez! From April 17-21st Possible Lives will be developed at the OLT’s Playwright’s Week, culminating in a reading on April 20th– In honour of which, click on the image for me performing an excerpt of Possible Lives entitled “The Pleiades” at FemFest 2012, courtesy of Sarasvati Productions.

In addition to that shiny news, there’s been a bevy of reads and development happening this winter, and carrying on right into late spring. Selections of the new draft of Travelling Light had their first outing at the PTC AGM, with the inimitable Heidi Taylor, Jeremy Waller and Jenn Griffin reading. Out in Toronto the invariably awesome Devin Upham read Duncan in Poison Candy Hearts (one of two of my monologues featured in the City Voices Anthology) at the City Voices Launch Party as well as live on the radio. And my second short film for the Humber AFTV Showcase, the time-travel comedy Do Over, screened at the Bell Lightbox in November– I’m waiting with baited breath for my copy of the DVD so I can pull screencaps!

In other news, The Enpipeline was one of rabble.ca‘s picks for one of the best books of 2012, and a healthy cheque from its sales has already headed to West Coast Environmental Law to help fight the Northern Gateway and other environmentally destructive projects. City Voices had a fun “School Picture” photospread in Product Magazine– it was great fun to set up for, and an honour to be featured along with so many other young, talented writers.

And finally, some very exciting news for the next few months: Travelling Light has been invited to SPC for their Spring Festival, so Heidi and I will be working like mad scientists to get the next draft ready to go– (there’s a particle accelerator in Saskatoon, and I get to visit!) while for all you folks who’ve been complaining that Kayak has never seen a production in BC, Alley Theatre is taking Kayak to the rEvolver Festival with Rachel Peake at the helm– I can hardly wait!

November 6, 2012

admin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:00:52 +0000

Just a quick pre-holiday update before Christmas descends with all its fat geese: It’s been a busy fall, with readings of Kayak at Dapopo Theatre in Halifax, and the fabulous New West Doc Fest here in Vancouver, as well as a jam-packed weekend in Winnipeg to read The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez at Femfest 2012. Meanwhile, my short monologues “Alex” and “Poison Candy Hearts” are going to be published in an upcoming anthology about Toronto, entitled City Voices. If you’re in TO, save December 19th for the anthology Launch Party at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre— should be a terrific party!

As I’m writing this, I’ve just returned from a stellar retreat at The Only Animal‘s lovely cabin up in Joe Creek— made some terrific headway on the next draft of Travelling Light— and if you’d like to hear some of it, make sure you come out to the PTC AGM on December 3rd, where I’ll be reading new selections.

Finally, in February, I’m very excited to announce I’ll be leading an EcoArts Salon at the Roundhouse for the Community Arts Council of Vancouver, where I’ll be facilitating a discussion about the intersections of environmentally-themed writing, populist appeal, and strategies for developing, writing and thinking about staging public performances and interventions. See you there!

August 13, 2012

admin — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:42:51 +0000

It has been an absolutely jam-packed summer, with a second staging of The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez at Sage Theatre’s Ignite! Festival, a terrific read of Kayak at the Khatsalano! Street Festival with the lovely Arianna McGregor and Timothy Wallace, and the first workshop read of Travelling Light at PTC run by the wonderful Heidi Taylor— fun with particle physics!

In short film news, Run Dry was well-received at both Reel Earth 2012 and The Female Eye Film Festival, and I’ve just received my copy of Love Sucks, the short that screened in the 2011 Humber AFTV Showcase.

Meanwhile, the Foundry Theatre Production of The Hearing of Jeremy Hinzman by Oonagh Duncan & Josh Bloch (for which I was the development dramaturg) has been getting great reviews at the 2012 Summerworks Festival, and The Enpipeline has been getting great press across the board, with coverage in both BC Bookworld and rabble.ca.

This September, in addition to the second workshop for Travelling Light, I’ll be headed to Femfest 2012 in Winnipeg for a reading of Possible Lives courtesy of the Canada Council, and then an October retreat out at Joe Creek to continue work on Travelling Light– It’s shaping up to be an exciting fall!

March 27, 2012

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:51:16 +0000

Just a quick update before the summer begins: It’s been an exciting spring, with a great read of Travelling Light at Locution (featuring fellow MFA peeps Emily Davidson and Sigal Samuel); a terrific screening of Run Dry at VWIFF 2012; and the super-exciting launch of The Enpipe Line (available here from Creekstone Press) which included poets and activists reading their work in front of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipelines office. Check out this great write-up of the launch in the Vancouver Observer, and get involved in resisting the pipelines and the tar sands!

In playwrighting news, The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez will be seeing its second incarnation as part of Sage Theatre’s Ignite! Festival, while in late April/early May I’ll be hitting the Caravan Farm for a writer’s retreat with PTC peeps Tim Carlson (who just won the Rio Tinto Alcan for his economy of oil piece, Extraction); Jan Derbyshire (Remarkable Woman of Vancouver 2012) and Heidi Taylor (Dramaturg Extraordinaire and Incoming Executive Director of the PTC). And yes, I apologize for the name dropping, but I’m still massively excited to be in such dynamic company.

On the short film front, Run Dry will also be screening at The Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, and at Reel Earth 2012 in New Zealand, where we’ve been nominated in the Best Short Film category! Meanwhile, Do Over has gone into production in Toronto, so keep your fingers crossed for Skipper, the time-travelling waitress!

Finally, make sure you check back here in September/October for exciting news about a project that I’m going to be cruel and keep mostly secret for the time being … except to say that I’ll be working with some of my favourite people on a mad literary experiment! Stay tuned…

December 24, 2011

admin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:41:41 +0000

A quick update for the New Year: Red is fresh off the presses at Signature Editions, in the anthology Out on a Limb (and just look at our gorgeous cover art!); Short and Sweet: Small Plays for Big Ideas, the Vancouver Fringe production that included The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez) had an article in the December Issue of New Internationalist magazine (page 61); and Kayak is a “May Read” in the Samuel French 2012 Calendar! Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on Travelling Light after an amazing trip to Toronto to participate in Nightwood Theatre’s Groundswell Marketplace. I can’t say enough about what Nightwood is doing to support young women in the theatre industry, by the way. Those ladies rock my socks.

If you missed Travelling Light at the PTC AGM, don’t worry, I’ll be reading selections from the work-in-progress for the February installment of the Locution Reading Series.

Meanwhile, the screening of Love Sucks in Toronto went over well, playing to a packed house at the TIFF Lightbox, and Run Dry will be screening at VWIFF 2012 this March.

Finally, Christine has sent the final manuscript for The Enpipe Line in to Creekstone Press, so keep your eyes peeled for the launch party, and for the latest news on the opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipelines.

October 13, 2011

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:08:36 +0000

On the playwrighting front, The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez, which I co-wrote with the marvellous Zoe Green for ACTivist Theatre Collective and Amnesty International, had a great run at the 2011 Vancouver Fringe Festival, along with plays by Trina Davies & Lucia Frangione. We had great reviews, packed houses and even had to put out extra seats for the crowd on closing weekend. And, in addition to Kayak being available from Samuel French, I’m excited to announce that Red is going to be published by Signature Editions for their “Out on a Limb” Collection, edited by Kit Brennan. And of course, this November and December I’ll be diving back into Travelling Light at PTC with the phenomenally talented Heidi Taylor.

In short film news, WIFTV has chosen Run Dry as one of its submissions for the 2011 WIFT International Showcase, which is a real honour for everyone involved. Love Sucks will be screening in Toronto sometime in November (I’ll keep you posted), and I’m just putting touches on the script for a third short, entitled Do Over which will be going into production in early 2012. I can hardly wait to have a reel up on the site.

Finally, In addition to my work as a mentor for Booming Ground, I’ve been working with Christine Leclerc and the stellar collective at the Enpipeline Project to get a collection of the wonderful poems that were submitted to site ready for publication in The Enpipe Line, forthcoming from Creekstone Press. All proceeds of the collection will be channeled into opposition to the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines, so get your copy fresh off the press!

June 2, 2011

admin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:18:58 +0000

Just a quick update before summer swallows me whole: First and foremost, Kayak is hot off the presses at Samuel French, complete with a gorgeous rippling water cover. This means that you can order your very own copy of Annie Iversen’s strange journey (complete with an introduction in which I rant about the election of Stephen Harper) right from the Samuel French online catalogue. Back in May I also did a public reading of “The Three Noahs” from Kayak for NeverMined at the Rhizome Cafe to help kick off the Mining Justice Week protests here in Vancouver, and was so impressed by the wonderful crowd, as well as fellow writers and performers Ray Hsu, Steven Collis and many others.

In short film news, Run Dry was one of the six official selections of the 2011 Crazy8s Competition, and much of March and April went into getting ready and filming it in 8 wild days between March 27 and April 3, and then taking it to the Gala Screening at the Vogue Theatre with the five other amazing official selections. With any luck I’ll have selections from both Run Dry and Love Sucks available on the website later this year.

This summer, in addition to getting down to brass electrons with Travelling Light at PTC, I’m collaborating with the marvellous Zoe Green and ACTivist Theatre Collective to create The Possible Lives of Dolores Garcia Rodriguez for Amnesty International at the 2011 Vancouver Fringe Festival and doing a little of the old dramaturgy for Tommy Taylor and The Original Norwegian on the G20 inspired You Should Have Stayed Home at the 2011 Summerworks Festival. Last but not least, I’ll be staying on as a mentor at Booming Ground for another year, helping emerging writers in Playwrighting, Screenwriting and Fiction.

February 1, 2011

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:59:55 +0000

Some big news for the (almost) beginning of 2011- Kayak has taken home not one, but two national playwrighting awards: The PGC’s Post-Secondary Playwrighting Contest and Samuel French’s 2010 Canadian Playwrights Contest. This, in addition to our Honourable Mentions for The Contra Guys Award for New Work and Rosemary’s Honorable Mention for The Spotlight Award for The Original Norwegian‘s stellar production at 2010 Summerworks Festival. Amazing.

In short film news, my funny little Twilight-fan satire, Love Sucks, is headed to production with Humber College’s School of Acting, while my post-apocalyptic fable, Run Dry, is now one of twelve finalists in Vancouver’s 2011 Crazy8′s Competition. Cross your fingers for us!

And in the digitalia: My poem for the Enpipe Line, The Wolf in The House is up, as is my review of Jessica Grant’s Come, Thou Tortoise (in which I continue my love affair with everything JG has ever written) on the PRISM website. The titles are linked- so go visit them.

August 18, 2010

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:19:03 +0000

Just back from The Original Norwegian‘s run of Kayak at the 2010 Summerworks Festival, featuring the wonderful Rosemary Dunsmore. Kayak was a NOW Magazine Critic’s Pick (NNNN), Lynn Slotkin called the play “thoughtful” and Rosemary’s performance “gripping, heartbreaking” on Here and Now, while Dave Deveau for Plank Magazine praised the play’s “stellar, insightful writing”.

And the most exciting part? If you’re in Winnipeg this September, you’ve got another chance to catch Kayak at Femfest 2010, in an exciting remount directed by Sarasvati Productions‘ own Hope McIntyre. Or you can drop into the Vancouver Public Library on September 20th, where I’ll be reading selections from Kayak and talking playwrighting and dramaturgy courtesy of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and the PGC.

In dramaturgical news, this August to April, I’m working as a mentor for UBC’s Booming Ground program, offering one-on-one consultations for emerging writers along with fellow literary up-and-comers Sarah Tsiang and Krissy Darch; and in December Ginette Mohr’s Fish Face will be headed to The Cultch in Vancouver for a well-deserved encore.

Perhaps most exciting of all, I’ve been invited to join the Playwright’s Theatre Centre for their inaugural Associates Program. For the next three years I’ll be developing pieces with their support, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

June 7, 2010

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:01:14 +0000

April was a busy month, with Red premiering at UBC’s Brave New Play Rites Festival, in a lovely production directed by Zoe Green and featuring Claire Hesselgrave and Sean Tyson. Meanwhile, the always stalwart Phil Rickaby helmed the first production of The Second Last Man on Earth at Monkeyman Productions’ Banana Festival to an overwhelmingly positive response.

And there’s more to come, with a remount of Red at Up In The Air Theatre’s Walking Fish Festival in July; the North American premiere production of Kayak at the Summerworks Festival in August courtesy of The Original Norwegian, with my favourite partner in crime, Tommy Taylor, paddling the boat; and another production of Kayak in Winnipeg as part of Femfest 2010. And for those of you looking to get a taste of Kayak in Vancouver, I’ll be doing a public reading at the Vancouver Public Library on September 20th.

In dramaturgical news, The Belle of Winnipeg scored three Dora nominations! So you’ll have to keep your fingers crossed for us come June 28th; and Oyster’s Trial of Jeremy Hinzman had its first reading with the fine folks at Foundry Theatre.