Building Our Play On An Earlier Script

The 60-minute production that we are taking to Edinburgh, entitled HEAD OVER HEELS, is a collective performance piece featuring original writing by the students - as well as work by several prominent authors, including storyteller, Stuart McLean and poet, Roo Borson.  We chose a particular prop – SHOES – upon which to base our show (after all, everyone wears them and actors are given to ‘walking in the shoes of others’).  Our director, Angela Boychuk, initially introduced to the students a short script she had developed in class a few years ago.  We took this earlier version and have been building on it since last October (taking a break in between to rehearse our main-stage show – Peter Pan and Wendy).  Here is how we describe our show:

Over the centuries, shoes have enjoyed a colourful and controversial history.  How they were made and who wore the shoes can, curiously, reveal a lot about a person.  Shoes have also been the subject of numerous children’s stories - ‘Cinderella’ being the most famous and widely interpreted.  Drawing on an array of scene and choral work, storytelling, poetry and movement, Elmwood Theatre’s all-female cast from Ottawa presents Head Over Heels - a playful and, at times, absurd peek into the lives of an assortment of characters and the shoes they wear.