FRANCES-ANNE SOLOMON PUTS ...Toronto Fringe Fest on Lockdown

FRANCES-ANNE SOLOMON PUTS ...Toronto Fringe Fest on Lockdown

Trinidad Guardian

Published: 28 Jun 2009

This July, CaribbeanTales, in association with Leda Serene Films, will stage the world premiere of award-winning director Frances-Anne Solomon’s new theatrical production Lockdown. The staging will take place during the 2009 Toronto Fringe Festival which runs from July 1-12.

Lockdown’s explosive fictional story traces the fortunes of a diverse group of young people held hostage during a high school lockdown. The play’s script picks apart the violence that threatens to undermine their dreams. It stars Jamaican film and theatre icon Leonie Forbes (What My Mother Told Me, Lord Have Mercy, A Winter Tale) and rising Toronto star Michael Miller (A Winter Tale, Get Rich or Die Trying), alongside an ensemble of young actors selected from city-wide auditions held across Toronto. The script was developed over the past year, through a collaborative improvisational process with the entire team. Produced with the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Toronto Police Services Board, Lockdown’s Fringe theatre performances will take place at the George Ignatieff Theatre, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 15 Devonshire Place.

A special launch event was hosted by CaribbeanTales took place at the TOTA Lounge 592 Queen Street West last Thursday. Guests were treated to a sneak preview of selected scenes from the play, and got an opportunity to meet and talk with the actors. As the city’s largest theatre event, the annual Toronto Fringe Festival embraces more than 100 theatre companies from Ontario, across Canada, and around the world. With more than 12 days of stage performances, the festival offers full accessibility to all members of the community, while enabling emerging and established artists to present their ideas regardless of content, form and style. Lockdown follows the success of Solomon’s highly acclaimed feature film A Winter Tale.

Among many prestigious, international awards, most recently at FESPACO 2009 (Africa’s Oscars held biannually in Burkina Faso, West Africa), A Winter Tale was nominated for and won Special Mention in the Paul Robeson Diaspora Award category. As founder and artistic director of CaribbeanTales, Solomon is an accomplished filmmaker, writer, director and producer whose recent projects also include Heart Beat — a documentary series profiling Caribbean-Canadian musical creators; Literature Alive, a multi-facetted multimedia project profiling Caribbean authors; and the Gemini-nominated sitcom Lord Have Mercy.