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Poster of Coffeehouse Theatre's "The Underpants"
As an emerging artist who once put everything I had into making a grassroots theatre company work, I was delighted to be part of the the audience for Coffeehouse Theatre‘s inaugural Toronto production of “The Underpants”. It is a humourous play adapted by Steve Martin from the original “Die Hose” by Carl Sternheim. The play follows the maelstrom of events that occurs in the household of a woman after her underpants unexpectedly fall down during the King’s parade. What at way for Coffeehouse to start in Toronto! Founded by Evan Harkai in Montreal, he did the courageous act of packing up his project and moving it to Toronto in order to explore the arts scene. It is an extremely bold move when one has existing networks and support.
I think the phenomena of “breaking out” is always on the mind of emerging artists and collectives. We either seek to strengthen our ties with our own communities, and improve the local arts (eg. MT Space), or we are eager to leave to take on the world. It is an extremely important and usually risky choice that defines out artistic futures. Evan has the vision of “national” theatre company, refusing to restrict himself to the various places he’s traveled within Canada to experience and create art. I stand for that. Canada is the only country, as far I know, to have provincially divided stands at World Trade Shows. While local pride is important, it looks embarrassing in the face of other countries. Evan’s broad idea may appear too large for a small company, but all plants have to start somewhere, and he offers unification of theatre presentation in a nation.
Coffeehouse Theatre‘s mission is as follows:
Coffeehouse Theatre aims to continue to work with emerging theatre artists both on stage and off, engaging new audiences with contemporary works that not only entertain, but inspire creativity and an enthusiasm for the arts.
Created by emerging artists for the inclusion of emerging artists, I think these companies are vital for the opportunities of young professionals to begin in the industry. It is a known fact that entering the professional industry after education is an extremely difficult task. Collectives of emerging artists and theatre companies are the perfect way to work in a safer environment and showcase their talent on a professional level . Given first hand experience at how skeptical I find arts funding to be towards these companies, I certainly believe that taking the risk to support them is absolutely essential.
Evan also has a strong concept for the choices of his work. He wants to address socio-political issues normally not touched by the general public. By doing so in a gentler, comedic way, he hopes to “entertain, impact and most of all inspire audiences in a positive, creative and hopeful way.”
There is often a vitality that I see with projects that involve emerging actors, and “The Underpants” by Coffeehouse is no different. There is more at stake, more fear, more raw energy, more nerves, more excitement that I find very beautiful. I certainly felt like the actors were playing, and there’s a great energy in that. Diamonds in the rough are the prettiest when placed in the perfect setting.
Obviously, things need to be ironed out. The venue posed some small logistical issues such as the single bathroom being located behind the wings, and program lacking details about the play itself and the playwright. Criticism shouldn’t really be made, however. It’s not as easy at it looks to prepare a production with low staff numbers. Stage manager Ada Tsang spoke about the tight budget and timeline, and how hard everyone worked to get everything done with extended hours and hard sweat. Evan should be very proud of his team.
Congratulations to Coffeehouse Theatre for your first production, and I wish it all the best in its run.
“The Underpants” continues to run on September 22, 23 and 24 at 8pm | September 24 at 2pm in Red Sandcastle Theatre (922 Queen Street East). Box Office 416 845 9411. Adults $18 | Students $15
