Almost every night from September 18 to October 7, Rebecca Northan is going on a blind date. Every night, in the quest to find a connection with the possible love of her life, shell expose some of the most vulnerable sides to her personality in the hopes that by sharing with a stranger her aspirations, hell respond in kind.
Well, thats not quite how it will work. Northan is an actress who has created a clown character named Mimi, a Parisian temptress, for a theatre piece called Blind Date. The premise is that every night during the performances run at , shell arrive at the East End theatre for a blind date, only to discover that her date doesnt show up. Since the date must go on, she chooses a man from the audience and there, on stage, they turn those myriad of awkward moments of a blind date into theatre.
Its really, really sweet, says The Cultchs artistic director Heather Redfern. The thing it really talks about the most for me is peoples vulnerability. It talks about being good to one another, especially when youre with a stranger. They wont open up to you unless you open up to them.
By its premise, every night of the show is different. There are some people, however, who believe that its somehow been fixed and come night after night, only to discover that it hasnt been scripted. Northan does, however, mingle with the audience before each nights performance to get a sense of who she can ask on her date. Shes looking for a certain type of openness, says Redfern.
Bravery, too. Its not everyone who will go on a date under the theatres bright lights. But Redfern says not to worry. Mimi is so vulnerable and she creates a safety mechanism for the guy.
Because Mimi and her date get to know each other over a glass of wine, The Cultch has a special permit licence so audience members can share a glass with them.
Blind Date runs Sept. 18 to 23, 25 to 30 and Oct. 2 to 7 at 8pm. There are post-show talkbacks on Sept. 19 and 25. The Cultchs 2012 season continues with White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, when a different actor every night explores Iranian playwrights observations of the Iran/Iraq war (Sept. 19 to 30); Cozy Catastophe, an apocalyptic satirical comedy (Oct. 22 to Nov. 4); Gold Mountain, a story of the joys and tribulations of Chinese Immigrants (Oct. 23 to Nov. 4); Dickens Women, with Miriam Margolyes (Professor Sproat in the Harry Potter movies) portraying 40+ of Dickens characters (Nov. 15 to Dec. 1); the gravity-defying Leo (Dec. 4 to 15); The Christmas Carol Project, Brass Monkeys musical tribute to the Dickens classic; and Blackbird Theatres adaptation of the Moliere comedy, Don Juan (Dec. 26 to Jan. 26). TheCultch.com
