Ocean Fox by Castlereigh Theatre Project – July 27/28 Intrepid Theatre Club

Castlereigh Theatre Project returns to Victoria for the première of their newest docu-drama Ocean Fox July 27^th and 28^th.

Last seen at the YOU Show (Intrepid Theatre Club) in 2011 for a staged reading of their controversial work Castle in the Sky, the brother-sister playwriting duo of Jude Thaddeus Allen and Francesca Albright have been assiduously pursuing their storytelling vision.

Ocean Fox is verbatim theatre, based on hundreds of hours of interviews not only with the protagonist, Bahamian dive-master Jef Fox, but with a multitude of individuals connected to his life.

Allen and Albright originally met Fox while on vacation in the Bahamas on the remote Harbour Island.  He seemed to have the perfect life – for over 30 years he’d done exactly what he wanted, surrounded by the sea and miles and miles of pink sand beaches.

The duo were captivated by his stories – they’d found their next subject.  Originally hesitant, Fox later gave permission for his life to be examined and dissected, the storyline teased out.

“It’s the story of a man who inexplicably refused to change; he’d achieved his concept of what paradise was”, says playwright Jude Allen.  “All things evolve and he didn’t”.

“The play touches on themes of island life, family, communication, the passage of time and legacy.  Fox asks ‘what was all this for anyway?’ It’s a unique play and part of the world that speaks universally.”

Allen and Albright’s roots were not originally in the theatre but they have attracted some significant collaborators to their projects over the years. They met their dramaturge, Gordon Pengilly, award-winning playwright, at an Alberta Playwright’s Network workshop in Calgary. Ocean Fox director, Peter Boychuk, is also a playwright, author of Fortunate Son (produced at both the Victoria and Vancouver Fringe Festivals in 2011) and a sessional instructor at the University of Victoria.  Actor Rhys Finnick is a Langara film arts and Studio 58 graduate with a long list of writing and performance credits.

Castlereigh Theatre Project was formed in 2007 with the initial purpose of writing Castle in the Sky.  “In order to get things done, we had to do them ourselves”, claims Allen.

Based on the tragic 2006 murders in Medicine Hat Alberta of three family members by their 12 year old daughter and her much older boyfriend, it examines incidents around the event, and the aftermath as the community tries to heal. Workshopped in Victoria, it was then produced to some dissent in Medicine Hat and at Sage Theatre’s IGNITE! Festival in Calgary.  Gordon Pengilly is currently adapting Castle in the Sky for the screen.

Another project, The Dublin Play, tells the tale of a playwrighting brother-sister duo, visiting Dublin and writing a play.  For this “almost true-to-life account” they worked with the celebrated Gúna Nua contemporary theatre and presented The Dublin Play in 2009.

Allen and Albright’s work demonstrates a deep desire to push the boundaries of what many have come to consider the theatre-going experience to be.  I’m excited to have the opportunity to see Ocean Fox and curious as to the outcome of Jef Fox’s story.

Castlereigh Theatre Project proudly presents

OCEAN FOX: (a work-in-progress)

A Play by Francesca Albright and Jude Thaddeus Allen

Directed by Peter Boychuk

Dramaturgy by Gordon Pengilly

Starring Rhys Finnick

Stage Managed by Gina Readman

July 27 + 28^th, 2012
8 pm (doors at7 pm), reception to follow.
At Intrepid Theatre Club, Victoria, British Columbia (1609 Blanshard Street.)
Tickets: $10 and available thru ticketrocket.org or info@castlereigh.com or phone/text (250) 858 6870

 Disclaimer: I will be attending Ocean Fox as a guest of Castlereigh Theatre Project. As always, I retain full editorial control of all content on my blog.