Free Biscuit Theatre

Fundraiser for Fringe/SummerWorks 2008!!!

2007-11-24T16:08:00.001-08:00

Hello online world!
Thom here! FBT has been quite busy what with the shifting of the seasons and all. Our fundraiser for Toronto Fringe/SummerWorks 2008 is in the works, and will likely take place the first week of January at The Press Club in Toronto.

In other news, FBT member Mark Purvis just finished a production of Yasmina Reza's "Art" with Hope Theatre Projects in Kingston, Ontario.

There's a glowing review in the Kingston Whig-Standard, which can be reached via their website. Details below. Congrats, Mark!

FBT is also currently in talks to present scenes at a coming Academic conference on Victorian Literature.

As for the fundraiser, check back within a week. All right, Seacrest out.

www.hopetheatre.com

Reading with Pivotal (Arts) Theatre

2007-11-02T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, everybody. Thom here. Just wanted to write a short note to say that Pivotal (Arts) Theatre Company will be presenting a 30-minute reading from my piece The Curative this coming Friday, November 9th at 8PM. There are four pieces being presented, each 30 minutes in length. We'll be at The Rhino which is located at 1249 Queen Street West. It's PWYC, but there is a suggested donation of $10 in order to support Pivotal. Hope to see you there!

Tasty Treats For All!

2007-09-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!

It's been ages since I've posted anything, so I'll start by saying oops, once again.
Members of FBT have been up to an absolute tonne of stuff during the summer months.

Matthew completed the 3-Day Novel Contest (on live television!) over Labour Day weekend, while Steph had a piece read as part of Nightwood's Write From the Hip playwrighting group, titled Now, with Sweetness. Rebecca is being published in Ars Medica, with a story called "At the End of Breath. Mark has landed a plum role in a production of "Art" by Yasmina Reza. As for me, The Curative, a piece read at SummerWorks, will be workshopped by a company in March called Pivotal Arts.

All in all, a most productive couple of months...find links to the different projects at the bottom of the post.

Next up is writing some short monologues to present in early December. Thanks for reading, yo!

-thom.

http://www.ars-medica.ca/subscribe.htm
www.nightwoodtheatre.net
www.3daynovel.com

www.pivotalarts.ca

SUMMERWORKS READING TOMORROW!!!

2007-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'All!

Thom here. Come one come all to our brand spanking first professional reading as a company

THE CURATIVE. Our posters are above. FBT would love to see you!

This WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8TH, at 3PM, as part of the SUMMERWORKS THEATRE FESTIVAL, there will be a reading at the FACTORY STUDIO THEATRE of a new script written by myself, The Curative. The Youth Reading Series is free, although donations will be gratefully accepted. Details below. Come on out, and spread the word...we'd love to have your support!

The Curative by Thom Bryce.
Directed by Stewart Arnott.
Starring Thom Allison, Jack Grinhaus, Marjorie Chan,
and Araxi Arslanian.

Free/PWYC reading at Factory Studio Space Wednesday
August 8th, 3PM.

Synopsis: Set in the not-too-distant future, The Curative presents a world gone mad in the face of biomedicine. Cameron, Aubrey, and Nora, three twentysomething friends, are forced to examine the desires and emotions that rule their lives when a major pharmaceutical company announces a new medication that can "cure" adult homosexuality in both males and females.

For more info, go to www.summerworks.ca.

Awesome news! And photos!

2007-07-13T02:17:00.001-07:00

Hey there everybody!

Thom here at the helm of an early morning post. Well, this should have been up here earlier, but just a quick note to say...

We've been selected for a workshop with the SummerWorks Theatre Festival! That's right, our submission, titled _The Curative_, will be workshopped for four hours with professional actors and a director. Afterwards we get a reading, methinks. Rock on, FBT!!! More info about the day and time will be posted as soon as they become available.

Also, this past month FBT performed with Henry Svec at the Tranzac Club. Posted above are some photos of the event. It was H-O-T...special thanks to everyone who came and contributed to the show! Cincopadders, professional!

Poster for tonight's show!

2007-06-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Show tonight!

2007-06-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all you FBT supporters!

Free Biscuit is having a show tonight at the Tranzac Club starting at 10PM with the Boy from E.T. (AKA musician Henry Svec)!!!
It's PWYC...everybody should totally check it out! The Tranzac is located at
292 Brunswick Avenue in downtown Toronto. Hope to see you there!

Creation Workshop this Sunday!

2007-05-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Thom here. This SUNDAY MAY 13TH from noon to five, Free Biscuiters are gathering at the Harbourfront Community Centre in order to create and explore for our musical debut at Henry Svec's Tranzac show on June 13th! We look forward to creating and laughing, y'all, 'cause we ain't no hollaback kids. Can't wait! We're rehearsing indoors this time so we can avoid another case of this...

All together now...

OUCH.

New Workshop!

2007-04-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

Hi there, wee babies!

It's Thom on the FBT radar. FBT is planning its latest workshop for this coming Sunday, April 29th from noon to 4PM. We're gonna be reading some scenes from The Curative and doing some character creation for an upcoming show. Hope everybody's swell! All right, this camper is headed to bed. It's 2:30AM in tha T dot!

Love t.

Rebecca and Adam

2007-04-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, cats, I'm Rebecca, a member of Free Biscuit and sometime classmate of Thom's. He's been encouraging us all to post here, and I'm happy to, though I have little to say (this has never stopped me before, cf. http://rebecca-rosenblum.blogspot.com).

Since I have nothing further to say about myself, I'll tell you about the film I saw on Friday, Reign Over Me, instead. Anthony Lane said in The New Yorker that he would nominate this film as one that might me worth your time, which is faint praise but enough for me--I got off the cross-trainer after reading that, took a shower and went to the theatre. I was already predisposed to do so, I must admit, as I really enjoy Adam Sandler, whatever he does. Other than Mr. Lane, I've heard nothing but dismissals of this movie, often from people who hadn't seen it, based simply on the fact that those people do not enjoy Sandler. Fair enough--if you hate him, you'll hate this movie, despite the fact that he does a pretty stellar job. It's still an Adam-heavy flick.

Reign Over Me is, in my mind, a film about modern masculinity, a topic on which Sandler always has a lot to say, as does the director, Binder (first name escapes me). Back in 1990, my brother and I spent a Sunday afternoon with the brotherly bickering of Coupe de Ville and loved it. Fraternal banter between Sandler and Don Cheadle is what props up Reign as well--I can't say I gave a toss about any of the female characters and their assorted issues. But Sandler plays, as always, the weak and powerless (not synonyms) male on the verge of rage with total honesty (he did it in Punch Drunk Love too, a film that gave me a stress migraine, but in the best way possible). I don't know Don Cheadle's other work (I wussed out on Hotel Rwanda because I am...a wuss) but I thought he played another semi-castrated modern male here, and he was great, charming and tense (strangely reminded me of early Tom Hanks??)

Ok, it wasn't perfect, Sandler relies on catatonia in lieu of several emotions, the romantic plotlines make no sense and the ending is too cheery, but as a real moving non-sensational narrative about 911, I haven't seen anything better.

And because I love Adam Sandler, to me it was frickin' funny!

RR

Bearing Biscuits

2007-04-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

Steph on the Radar!

Here's a Biscuity Recipe I found wandering in Cyberspace. I've been lusting after Choco-mint style baking for a few months now, and I thought I'd share my discoveries in that realm with the world. In all honesty, I haven't tried this formula, but I have faith in Chocolate... and zucchini, apparently. Woot!

My guess is these ones will be somewhat unusual, due to their "health" factor/status. Is this a metaphor for Free Biscuit's art?

peut-etre.

Here goes:

Fudgy Cocoa Mint Cookies
Biscuits - Chocolate - Make this your favorite recipe - Upload a new picture for this recipe

INGREDIENTS

* 3 cups unbleached or whole wheat flour or 1 1/2 cups of each
* 1/4 cup cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
* 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Beat the oil, sweetener, zucchini and peppermint extract together with a mixer. Add the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in the walnuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets and bake for about 12 minutes.

FBT Update 6.4.07 mailed out

2007-04-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Heeeeeeey Yooooooooou Guuuuuuuuys!

Our latest FBT newsletter was mailed out this afternoon to those lucky people on the FBT mailing list. Don't let this bitter April cold snap let you get grumpy and frumpy, like this old lady pictured above. To get on the Biscuit Bus, send a blank e-mail with "Subscribe" in the Subject line to our company e-mail: freebiscuittheatre@yahoo.com. Happy Easter/Passover, y'all!

-Thom.

Steps Back, Steps Forward

2007-04-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody!

Well, the results for the SummerWorks 2007 Festival were announced yesterday, and sadly, FBT won't be taking part this year. However, we learned a lot about ourselves and about the application process, and are looking forward to a General Meeting tomorrow night where we'll discuss our latest script, The Curative, and fundraising opportunities for the upcoming summer. We're choosing to look at this not as rejection, but as one of the many necessary steps in becoming an emergent Canadian Company. Long live the Biscuit!

-Thom.

FBT does LaBute!

2007-03-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

Why, hello, kittens!

This past Monday, some FBT Founding Members hit up Theatre Best / Before's Canadian premiere of the Neil LaBute short play cycle Autobahn. For those of you who (like me) have only heard of LaBute from films such as In the Company of Men or Possession, yes, he does write plays. And they ain't half bad, either.

They're also not for everyone. One scene involved a gut-wrenching cuckold narrative that made me semi-nauseated. Still, there were moments of levity and humour, and I heartily recommend reading some LaBute.

Theatre Best / Before's acting and direction were impeccable...for a reading, you almost couldn't do better. Theatre Best / Before is a Toronto-based company dedicated to providing a forum for emergent artists. As soon as I get their web info, I'll post it here so you can check 'em out. Later, darlings.

-Thom.

FBT's First Workshop

2007-03-20T16:35:00.001-07:00

Hey, everybody!

Just wanted to write a lil' blurb about the company's first workshop, which took place Sunday March 11th. It was a total blast! Each member contributed an exercise, and much food was consumed. Here's a sampling of what we did:

-Lots of stretching.
-Voice and Movement exercises.
-Choral Script Work.
-Collective Breathing exercises.
-A "Broken-telephone"-style game that was a laugh riot!
-Mime Work.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who prepared stuff...I'm getting goosebumps thinking about the next one!

-Thom.

The Queens Work It

2007-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Lena Over and Justine Touch interview a very pleased Katherine Jones. Incidentally, you'll be seeing more of Katherine in upcoming publicity stills.

Pic your pic

2007-02-21T19:34:00.000-08:00

Hey there folks!!!

Just thought I would post some pictures from our super duper successful fundy. Special thanks to Justine and Lena for all their help, and to Matthew Trafford for his numerous prize donations.

From top to bottom:

1) Party hardy supporters Matthew Trafford, Max McQuinn, and Meg McCluskey.
2) A group of happy FBT supporters.
3) Weirdo Thom during the number "Lollipop".
4) Saucy FBT Founding Members Steph Berntson, Jessica Grant, and Mark Purvis

It was great to see everyone; I'm so excited for our workshop!

Love thom.

COME ONE, COME ALL!!!

2007-02-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hey there kids!

Just a reminder for our fundraiser, taking place TOMORROW NIGHT at 8PM at ZELDA'S. (542 Church Street). There will be Jell-o shots, an Extra Special Version of the Cheap Show, hosted by the infamous queens Justine Touch and Lena Over, a chance to win a Gift Certificate to Theatre Books as well as other fabulous prizes, and much much much more!

Hope to see everyone there!

Love thom.

Poster-licious

2007-02-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!

Just wanted to share the amazing poster for our fundraiser, created by photographer Meghan Hall. It's pretty incredible, if I do say so myself.

UPDATE: SummerWorks App. Sent!

2007-02-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!

Just a quick note to say that we submitted our SummerWorks Application yesterday. We should find out sometime in late March whether we're hot to trot. I'll keep you posted. Wish us luck, and remember we can be reached at freebiscuittheatre@yahoo.com.

Hope everyone has a swell Groundhog Day.

Bic Bic Bic

2007-01-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

I searched "biscuit" and found this weird pic. Enjoy!

-thom.

We're On Our Way!

2007-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody!

Welcome to Free Biscuit Theatre's official (For now, anyway) website. We are proud to be up and running, and hope that you'll check back often for new works, workshops, productions, fundraising info, or just to send us a line. If you would ever like to contact us directly, or join our mailing list, please send us an e-mail at freebiscuittheatre@yahoo.com.

My name is Thom Bryce, and I'm Free Biscuit's Artistic Director and Acting Company Producer. In the coming months we will

1)Hopefully be admitted to the prestigious SummerWorks Theatre Festival 2007, held in Toronto, Ontario

2) Fundraise through a party being held at Zelda's Bar

3) Produce our first production, tentatively titled The Curative

4) Host our first workshop in early March 2007.

Come along with us as we begin this exciting journey, and long live the biscuit!

Woot woot woot!

2007-01-30T02:04:00.000-08:00

Free Biscuit Theatre: Long Live the Biscuit!