Old Growth
by Alex Eddington
See the Forest! Two troubled young musicians travel to the Queen Charlotte Islands to perform for a murdered spruce tree. Two troubled young musicians travel to the Queen Charlotte Islands to perform for a murdered spruce tree. Award-winning playwright/composer Alex Eddington (The Fugue Code) and acclaimed Ottawa flutist Aura Giles weave together fact, fiction, magic and music into a unique story about an eco-prophet for our time. “Brilliantly theatrical…****” – Eye Weekly “A must-see…superb…****” – Edmonton Journal
June 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Find out more about the show, see photos, and follow the “Old Growth” BLOG at http://www.AlexEddington.com/oldgrowth.html !!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
And I should also follow up (after Brad’s article about adult-content shows at the Fringe reminded me) with the note that “Old Growth” contains
nudity (non-sexual),
violence
AND
coarse language.
The trinity! Let’s hope Brad’s prediction that nudity sells proves true (even when it’s not done for shock value alone…)
But please don’t bring persons under 14 years of age to “Old Growth”…
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
REVIEW by MelissaHK (online). June 21, 2008
Old Growth by Alex Eddington (Acky-Made, Toronto): Everywhere you turn these days there is something about the environment. It’s in politics, in our schools and places of work, it’s on the Net, and it’s in our art. But this play asks what is environmentalism? It’s not a political platform or a religion, but rather, it is us. This play asks us to stop consuming the world around us because we are in fact consuming ourselves. Overall, I did enjoy this production. It was a little scattered, much like me and my hippie friends were back in 1997 (when the resurgence of hippiedom hit my then-home Fredericton), when the play is set. But I think that signifies and reflects our needing to process the state of the world in which we live and how big of an issue were are trying to come to terms with with respect to our existence and our home. http://www.AlexEddington.com
[http://melissahk.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/ottawa-fringe-reviews-from-death-to-growth-and-the-70s-in-between/]
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Joni says: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone!”
C’mon all you tree-huggers and climate change skeptics alike, go see “Old Growth” before it’s gone. If you saw Alex’s “Fugue Codes” last year, you know you’re in good hands. Local flautist Aura Giles will be kind to your ears. Just get that bottom of yours in a seat!
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
An interesting show, with an important message. The music was effective, and the script was very carefully paced. Became a little unfocused towards the end, but overall it was enjoyable.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 am
I truly enjoyed the Fugue code last year, so was greatly looking forward to Alex’s new work, but I started to cringe inwardly a little when I found out it was going to be an environmental show. Everything with a green message is en vogue right now, and I’m a little tired of it now. I’m a terrible person, I know! I like my air-conditioning and I ask the grocery store clerks to double bag my heavy stuff so I don’t lose it half-way home.
The show thankfully, was not all about preaching about what terrible people we all are, it had more story, albeit a hard to follow one a times, especially with the flautist was the one speaking, as I’m not sure you could hear her past the edge of the stage, let alone into the audience.
The use of the music was interesting, and often worked very well. The magic tricks were fun to watch, though I’m still not entirely sure how they contribute to the play itself, aside from perhaps trying to emphasize Alex’s trickster-self?
Clearly feeling very mixed about this show. I hope they are able to keep tweaking it to improve it throughout their travels.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
REVIEW: Alvina Ruprecht – CBC Ottawa Morning [unofficial transcript] - June 23, 2008
This is an ecological ritual, I would say, called “Old Growth”.
Serious theatre this is, not comedy, aimed at changing our way of seeing the world – and I think it works, actually. Created by Alex Eddington and Aura Giles, who also plays a beautiful flute – two people from Toronto.
Apparently in 1997, a fellow on the west coast felled a sacred Golden Spruce tree, one of the last of its species, and the world changed. Moved by this event, these two young musicians are touched by the need to spread the word that growth on this earth is not eternal.
So Alex becomes a shaman, actually, as an actor. He’s inspired by west coast Haida traditions, and he goes on an anger-driven pilgrimage. And he begins this onstage in the middle of this transcendental circle, where he calls up the spirits of the earth. And it’s quite amazing to watch him – you really get carried away.
He doesn’t preach, he communicates his passionate relationship with nature, and he hopes it will rub off on us, and it was actually quite moving. And it seemed real, really real.
So that’s “Old Growth” at Academic Hall – be prepared to be carried away.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:59 am
Alex doesn’t do anything unless he’s going to be a hundred percent down in it. I remember him discussing the seeds of this show last year on tour, and looked forward to the results of his explorations. Old Growth certainly didn’t disappoint, and it’s clearly an intense labour of love. Although Alex remains at the centre, whirling and twirling at full-tilt, this show is unlike any of his other work. And he’s not alone this time…his whispery muse Aura Giles is a fantastic foil for Alex’s enormous energy.
Old Growth is a trip…an amazing trip, full of magic and honesty and yearning and anger. The anger is important…the message is delivered to us very aggressively, at the end…but this piece is not an indictment of society. It’s not a didactic environmental shout-out for you to ignore. It’s a dance, a wish, a ceremony built out of love for the world and the people who live in it.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Everywhere you turn these days there is something about the environment. It’s in politics, in our schools and places of work, it’s on the Net, and it’s in our art. But this play asks what is environmentalism? It’s not a political platform or a religion, but rather, it is us. This play asks us to stop consuming the world around us because we are in fact consuming ourselves. Overall, I did enjoy this production. It was a little scattered, much like me and my hippie friends were back in 1997 (when the resurgence of hippiedom hit my then-home Fredericton), when the play is set. But I think that signifies and reflects our needing to process the state of the world in which we live and how big of an issue were are trying to come to terms with with respect to our existence and our home.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Not content to merely put on yet another incredible production, Acky-Made has gone one step further, choosing to leave out the traditional flyering in favour of a paper-free campaign. It’s rare to see such a high level of commitment to the message of a Fringe play — and rarer still to see it attached to such an evocative piece of theatre. Go see it and be mesmerized!
June 26th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Old Growth is a piece delivered in signature Acky-Made style, with lots
of words and attention to detail. See also: “The Fugue Code” from 2007.
Alex doesn’t get out quite as many words as TJ Dawe does in Totem Figures;
but, he speaks much more clearly and delivers a true Theatre piece that
actually uses set, props, and movement. Thank you for pronouncing!
Alex weaves sleight-of-hand magic tricks with his poetic words, and my
brain can’t always process both simultaneously at the speed that Alex can
deliver them. When I’m marvelling at the magic, a dozen words slip by
and I can’t always rewind my verbal memory far enough (or fast enough)
to fully grasp what was said before we’re on to the next topic.
Aura provides flute music, questions, and an opportunity for dialogue.
I liked the music pieces, and wanted more, if just to give my right brain
a rest and let my left brain carry my attention. (If you put someone with
a Masters’ degree in flute performance on stage - feel free to use them!)
Aura’s calm was a good foil to Alex’s high energy.
Part Theatre and part Ritual, one audience member rightly said that
clapping after the show seemed inappropriate. But we did anyway.