December 11, 2002
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Toronto’s cutting edge theater company da da kamera performs its Obie Award winning play In On It at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• da da kamera
• In On It
• Toronto’s cutting edge theater company
• An Obie Award-winning play
• Written and starring acclaimed playwright/actor Daniel MacIvor
• Saturday, January 18 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General: $25/$22, UCSB students: $19/$16
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

da da kamera, Toronto’s cutting edge theatre company, performs In On It, its latest electrifying production, a two-actor, multiple character play about fate, romance and our need for narrative, on Saturday, January 18 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. This clever show braids three plots: a dying man makes plans for the end, a pair of lovers tries to make their relationship work and two men make a play. Winner of a 2001 Obie Award (Village Voice Off-Broadway Theater Award), In On It is entertaining theater that runs the emotional gamut from giddiness to grief with admirable grace. It was written by and stars Daniel MacIvor, with James Allodi. The Los Angeles Times called the show “a must-see event” while the Times (London) wrote, “da da kamera are currently at the forefront of English-speaking Canada’s dynamic theatre scene and In On It is evidence of what is to be gained from their trade-mark meticulous months of rehearsal: the actors speak volumes in a few sparse syllables, and the events portrayed seem all the more real for their shadowy complexity.”

Two characters, This One (Daniel MacIvor) and That One (James Allodi), act out a series of interlocking scenes to bring the multiple narratives of In On It to life. In one story a middle-aged man hears a terrible diagnosis from his doctor, but that’s merely the beginning of his problems. In a second narrative two men fall in and out of love, their relationship begun with an endearingly goofy soft-shoe to Lesley Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.” The third story is the very creation of In On It itself, or at least a fictionalized version thereof, as That One often criticizes the way This One structures the drama, crafts a line or delivers a gesture. Intertwined these strands examine whether events in peoples’ lives are accidental or intentional. “There’s an idea to all of it,” MacIvor has said in an interview, “Is it better to know where you’re going or to just be going? Is it better to have the information or is ignorance bliss?”

da da kamera was founded by Daniel MacIvor and producer Sherrie Johnson in 1986 and has become a fixture in Canada’s drama scene. As the major writer for da da kamera, MacIvor has twice won Canada’s prestigious Floyd S. Chalmers New Play Award (in 1992 for House and 1997 for Here Lies Henry) and is a six-time nominee. In 1992, he received an unprecedented three nominations for the Chalmers Award in one year (for Never Swim Alone, 2-2-Tango and the winner House). With a string of strikingly impressive plays behind him,“ claims the Halifax Chronicle Herald, ”MacIvor gives every sign of being one of the most original and brilliant dramatists Canada has ever produced.“ As an actor, he has been seen on the small screen in Don McKellar’s brilliantly funny series Twitch City (which ran in the U.S. on Bravo) and on the big screen in Jeremy Podeswa’s art house hit The Five Senses (1999), a performance for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Genie (Canada’s Oscar).

The audience is invited to remain after the performance to take part in a Meet-the-Artists discussion. In Arts & Lectures’ on-going effort to make our events accessible to all who wish to enjoy them, In On It will be a signed performance. Sign language interpretation is made possible by the California Arts Council in collaboration with the National Arts and Disability Center and by the Santa Barbara Foundation’s Access Theatre Endowment Fund.

da da kamera is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by The Santa Barbara Independent. Tickets are $25 and $22 for the general public and $19 and $16 for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.