A COMIC TRAGEDY FROM ISRAEL ABOUT A SUICIDE BOMBING
About the Oranges
Written and performed by Robbie Gringras
Wednesday, November 18, 8 PM
Six Degrees, 2335 Yonge St (at Eglinton) (MAP/DIRECTIONS)
$15 advance* | $20 door | Ages 19+ only
Advance ticket sales have now closed, but you can still buy tickets at the door for $20 - doors open at 7 PM.
Robbie Gringras immigrated from Britain to Israel 12 years ago and has performed About the Oranges around the world to critical acclaim. This edgy, emotional comic tragedy follows a man who arrives late for a job interview. 35 days late. Why? Well, it all begins with Mohammed. Not the prophet, the baker. Why does a baker become a bomber? What leads a man to defend a terrorist? How can a traumatised lover of Israel keep on loving?
About the Oranges is a hard-hitting, controversial, and intensely moving tragic comedy. Courageous, disturbing, honest and hilarious, Robbie Gringras’ play often moves audiences to tears – not only through the raw unpeeling of the trauma of terror, but also at the pain of a man struggling to hold on to his beautiful yet bloodied dream.
About The Oranges has been performed around the world, in the USA, Israel, UK, Mexico, Australia and Canada, to critical acclaim. In 2004, it played 24 times in 25 days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; enjoyed great success at Vancouver’s Chutzpah Festival in March 2005; and has played at San Francisco's Traveling Jewish Theatre, TheaterJ in Washington DC; Acco Theatre in Israel; and Tzavta Theatre, in Tel Aviv.
The Sunday Times (London, UK) gave About the Oranges four stars and called it "bleakly blackly funny”; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland) called it a "heartbreaking prayer for peace"; The Guardian (London, UK) said Gringras has "stripped the Middle East conflict down to its essentials: pain and comedy"; and The Vancouver Sun called it a "a one-man theatrical border conflict, with Gringras madly stomping across national, political and generational lines – not to mention the jagged one that divides laughter and pain."
Download the Press Release here (PDF).
Click here to purchase tickets, or call 1.888.222.6608
* TicketWeb service charges apply to advance tickets
Group rates available – for more information, please contact Aviva Babins: 416.638.1881 x4381 | ababins@kofflerarts.org
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PLUS: Join us the following night on Thursday, November 19, 7 PM at the Miles Nadal JCC for Staging Struggle - a panel of playwrights discussing projects with cultural clashes, military struggles, and international conflicts on stage. More info here.
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About The Oranges has played theatres throughout USA, Israel, UK, Mexico, and Australia. Summer 2004 it played 24 times in 25 days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and enjoyed great success at Vancouver’s Chutzpah Festival in March 2005. In Hebrew it played at Tel Aviv's Tzavta Theatre, and in Spanish it won Best Monologue in Mexico.
Robbie Gringras is a British-born Israeli living on a hill in the Galilee. In the UK he wrote, directed and performed in shows that played on London’s West End, and throughout the world. In Israel he works as performer, writer, and educator. His first solo show THE GIFT played throughout Israel, UK, and USA in Hebrew and English. SHABBES! has played over 300 times throughout the world in both languages, and he performs THAT'S WHY I'M (STILL) HERE throughout the world. Robbie also runs http://www.makom.haaretz.com/, the site for ‘hugging and wrestling with Israel’ for MAKOM/Haaretz newspaper.
http://www.robbiegringras.5u.com/