CHEX Weather Analyst Mike Judson spent 48 hours living on the streets of Peterborough to help raise awareness about homelessness (photo by Pat Trudeau)
Walk through downtown Peterborough on any day of any week and you’ll see it. At the entrance of your favourite coffee shop or on the curb near a shopping mall, you’ll spot it: homelessness.
It’s a real issue for Peterborough and questions are often raised if we’re doing enough as a community or if we’re doing the right things to help people in need. Well, this past weekend, CHEX Weather Analyst Mike Judson spent 48 hours living on the streets of Peterborough to help raise awareness on the issue.
At Hour 24, actors are on stage performing five plays written in a mad frenzy of overnight creativity (photo by Ray Henderson)
The 24 Hour Project was brought to the Peterborough theatre scene as a seed of an idea back in 1998.
Local actor Ray Henderson planted that seed and it’s blossomed into what is the 27th event, which takes place around the city this weekend. The event culminates in a dynamic collection of performance at the Gordon Best Theatre on Saturday, November 3rd.
Bringing together a mix of some of the city’s brightest theatre stars, cross-pollinated with people new to the craft, The 24 Hour Project injects a hefty sense of the unknown into the theatre mix for a short but memorable journey from story inception to final performance before a live audience. Early in the morning of Day 2, actors are assigned by directors and start rehearsing (photo by Ray Henderson)
This is how the day “plays” out!
Friday at 8 pm is when a gaggle of writers gather to begin crafting the various pieces to be performed the following night. Working in teams, it’s anyone’s guess what will be cooked up. This process takes all night, and takes place in various homes and venues across the city. Imagine what the creative process is like, as the wee light of Saturday begins and tired writers find their third wind.
At 6 am, the directors meet at Showplace to coordinate who’s taking on what work. This group looks at the varied pieces that were created through the night and, in what must be a wild game of drawing straws, choose the selections and move forward to the task — choosing talent. On stage anything can happen ... "and usually does" says Ray Henderson (photo by Ray Henderson)
This brings us to 7:30 am when the actors meet for breakfast at the Spill Café. This is the pivotal moment where the casting takes place. People are sorted and given roles (which they likely had no concept they’d be playing the night before).
Throughout Saturday, the actors rehearse the works in a very compressed time frame, all with an eye to performing them before a live audience that very night. For each piece, all the players get to work with a crew on the stage of Showplace — giving stage folks a chance to lend their skills to what is being created before their eyes.
It’s a pretty gutsy event, both for the actors and for those behind the scenes. Literally anything could happen and, according to Ray, it usually does. There have been some pretty exciting moments over the years and this Saturday should prove to be quite memorable.
Billed as “5 Plays Written, Rehearsed and Performed in 24 Hours”, expect the unexpected. Add this fun night to your calendar and prepare yourself for a night to be remembered! The final performances of The 24 Hour Project – Edition #27 takes place at the Gordon Best Theatre this Saturday, November 3rd at 8pm; tickets are $10 at the door (see our event listing for details).
If you like what you see, and you want to get involved next fall for Edition #28 — consider the seed planted for you, find Ray and pass along your name for consideration next time.
Ray Henderson’s Top Five Reasons to Attend Saturday’s Performances
Not your typical theatre – It’s filled with people taking big chances, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, always entertaining.
Improv – If you know Ray at all, you know he’s a big supporter of the local Improv Acting scene. He’s a member of regularly performing group The Citiots.
Energy – If you like your energy high or nervous, you’ll love the culminating process of The 24 Hour Project.
Surprise – Anything can happen and, as the saying goes, probably will.
Community – These are some of the Peterborough area’s greatest creative risk-takers, and the chance to see them letting it all hang out is not to be missed.
Industry Canada has approved the location of a new cell tower beside the Calvary Church flagpole (photo by Pat Trudeau)
You know, I’ve written in the past about politicians and governments operating in non-democratic ways, but this week a division of our federal government took things a step further.
Holly Bennett is the author of six teen novels: Redwing, The Bonemender fantasy series (The Bonemender, The Bonemender’s Oath, and The Bonemender’s Choice) and two novels inspired by Irish mythology: The Warrior’s Daughter and Shapeshifter.
Holly is also a freelance writer/editor and editor of Education Canada magazine.
Paul and SuzanneLeroux enjoy serving a wide spectrum of customers their famous hand-made pasta and sauces
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Paul and Suzanne Leroux enjoy serving a wide spectrum of customers their famous hand-made pasta and sauces
“Welcome to The Pasta Shop, where we serve real Italian Food.”
Owner Paul Leroux means it.
He and his partner Suzanne have dedicated more than 21 years to perfecting recipes for hand-made pasta, gourmet sauces and prepared meals.
Physical media is currently in a state of unprecedented transformation. Technology that was once only tangible in science fiction has now become merely another way of obtaining the latest episode of Breaking Bad or reading the new Dan Brown novel. The demand for at-home accessibility to every imaginable facet of our media diet is greater than ever.
Follow Elaine’s simple rules to make Turkey Time stress-free!
Being married to a chef and being a not bad cook myself, around this time of the year our phone starts to ring.
It starts off with a little chit chat and then, out of nowhere, our friends will ask “So I’m having Thanksgiving this year, what do you suggest?” or, my favourite, “I have this bird in my sink, what should I do?”
The Patch Cup embodies a commitment to community and respect and love for the game of hockey
This Saturday (October 6), 96 players hit the ice for the 8th Annual Patch Cup Hockey Tournament.
The event takes place from 1 – 10 p.m. at the Peterborough Memorial Centre and is considered a favourite in the Hockey Association of the Arts (H.A.A.) calendar.
Dean Del Mastro, MP - Peterborough (photo by Conservative Party of Canada)
It’s been a tough year for Dean Del Mastro, largely because he spent most of it with his foot in his mouth. Luckily for him, the public venom seems to have lost strength since Parliament Hill returned from summer vacation, which may be because MP Del Mastro has been largely silent — until Thursday that is.
This week, a private member’s bill was tabled with the intention to create a government committee to review the Criminal Code of Canada’s definition of when a child’s life begins. Not a big deal, right? Well, it’s bigger than you may think.
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