SOLOMON'S LOCKDOWN CHALLENGES THE CONSCIENCE.

THE GLEANER EXTRA, JULY 2-8TH 2009.

by FRANCINE BUCHNER, TORONTO:

‘LOCKDOWN’ is a disturbing, must-see, fictional theatrical performance based on the realities of high school life in Toronto, Mississauga, Scarborough, Brampton.
After watching this performance no parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, teacher, friend can say, they ‘didn’t know’.

Set in present day Jane Street and Finch Avenue, this urban tragedy was written and directed by award-winning film director, Frances-Anne Solomon. Solomon’s cast of new and seasoned actors “traces the fortunes of a group of young people held hostage during a high school lockdown” and reveals the shocking heights of R-Rated/adult distractions that follow these 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 year-old children into schoolyards, hallways and classrooms, void of
PG-Parental Guidance and resulting in ‘force-ripe’ teenagers.

We do not hear about the Rosedale crimes because the parents of those children have bail money, but what happens to those whose parents do not have bail money - getting guns, girls pimping each other, buying and dealing drugs, family and teacher situations are
tackled in this play.

During a preview of selected scene enactments last Thursday at the TOTA Lounge in downtown Toronto, Solomon said the idea for the play came from the death of grade 9 student, Jordan Manners of C.W. Jeffery Collegiate Institute.

City-wide auditions were held and together with the findings of Human Rights lawyer, Julian Falconer’s report and the actual experiences of the young actors, the script was workshopped over a year, through a collaborative improvisational process.

RAW PERFORMANCE
This raw performance will force you to confront your conscience and show you how
poverty, wealth, multiculturalism, the immigrant experience is challenging the safe and comforting illusions of the Leave it to Beaver, Happy Days and The Cosby Show culture.

You are in for a treat with this play, starring Leonie Forbes as Miss Higgins and Michael Miller as Mr. Wright. 'Lockdown’ is showing at the 21st Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival from July 1-12, 2009 inside the George Ignatieff Theatre. Tickets are $10 each
and are available via the Fringe Hotline: (416) 966-1062 or www.fringetoronto.com.