Over at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Theatre Erindale will examine a collection of true life stories about black widows of the human persuasion with a stage adaptation of Frank Jones' non-fiction novel Murderous Women. It opens on Friday and continues until Nov. 22 in Erindale Studio Theatre.
The production explores and attempts to answer the question of how our society responds to women who take another person's life.
For example, what caused Madame Marie Fahmy to stalk and murder her husband, Egyptian prince Ali Fahmy Bey, in the elegant Savoy Hotel in 1923?
Was it race, sex or something else that caused Clara Ford to shoot Frank Westwood – a young, white man from a prominent Toronto family – in 1894?
Could Betty Jones, who saw one too many gangster movies before embarking on a killing spree across the English countryside, really have believed the celebrity she so craved could be found through murder?
In the production, vicious crimes from a half-dozen women, from Victorian England right up to the present, are explored. Other women's stories in the show include Jean Harris and Florence Bravo.
The student actors have created a series of short vignettes weaving together the multiple stories. The production is accompanied by a series of jazz selections that cover ragtime right up to Wynton Marsalis.
Marc Richard, who previously directed Theatre Erindale's Women of the Klondike, returns to direct.
"A collective is a very unique experience for all involved; the coming together of many minds and talents with the sole purpose of creating a piece of theatre," said Richard. "It's wildly exciting and stimulating, especially with a group of artists as dedicated and hungry as these third-year students."
Show time is 8 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 22.
Tickets cost $9-$14 and be purchased through the Erindale Studio Theatre box office by calling 905-569-4369.
The season continues with a presentation of Michel Tremblay's Bonjour La Bonjour. The show, rife with adult themes and situations, follows a dysfunctional family living in Montreal in the 1970s. Terry Tweed directs. It runs Jan. 29 to Feb. 7.
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is next on the troupe' list. The Bard's controversial farce is a gender-switched production with women playing the male roles and vice-versa. Mimi Mekler directs. It runs Feb. 26 to March 9.
Closing out the year is John Fletcher's sequel to The Taming of the Shrew, The Taming of the Tamer. Also known as The Tamer Tamed and The Woman's Prize, it follows the widowed Petruchio, who marries again. Theatre Erindale's artistic director Patrick Young directs. It runs March 19-28.
For more information, visit www.theatreerindale.com.
cclay@mississauga.net
