VideoCabaret presents a new play devised from Parts IV & V of
THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF THE SMALL HUTS
CONFEDERATION
written and directed by Michael Hollingsworth

"[THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF THE SMALL HUTS is] the most ambitious project in Canadian theatre... a freestanding monument of wit [with] brilliant ensemble acting and cinematic pacing" -–-TORONTO LIFE

VideoCabaret presents Confederation, a comedic melodrama about the dealmakers behind the fireworks on July 1, 1867 whose dreams of economic expansion and nightmares of American annexation overcame all resistance. Written and directed by Michael Hollingsworth, Confederation is a new play devised from Parts IV & V of his celebrated play cycle THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF THE SMALL HUTS. Confederation opens April 30 for a limited run (previewing from April 25) at The Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West (one block West of Spadina). Box office: 416-703-1725

Confederation follows the action as John A. MacDonald and leading power brokers from the various colonial Canadas (thereafter known as the Fathers of Confederation) prepare to transcend parochial greed in the interest of grandiose greed, and run British North America as a private company (thereafter known as The Dominion of Canada).

Macdonald bestrides the play with a bottle in one hand and a country in the other, beguiling and persuading, promising and trading with Canadian legends such as George Brown, George-Etienne Cartier, Charles Tupper, Leonard Tilley and D’Arcy McGee. The play also introduces two men whose politics will take them to centre-stage in the plays-to-come: Wilfrid Laurier, a staunch anti-Confederationist, who joins the Liberal Party and begins his rise to power; and Louis Riel who prepares for the role of "public enemy" and "traitor" by being born a Western Canada Metis, educated by priests and free thinkers.

Confederation stars Aviva Armour-Ostroff, Elizabeth Brown, Greg Campbell, Patrick Conner, Dylan Roberts, Ostap Soroka and Bruce Vavrina. The powerhouse design team: set and lighting design by Andy Moro based on an original design by Jim Plaxton, costumes by Astrid Janson, props by Shadowland, music by Brent Snyder. The stage manager is Megan Somerville.

The highly original plays of THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF THE SMALL HUTS dramatize Canada's history from Donnacona and Cartier to Mulroney and Bush the First in robust satires that combine comedy, tragedy, pathos and farce. Learning from the bare stages of ancient and renaissance theatre, and by experiments with video-injected plays, Hollingsworth devised a ferociously-paced theatrical style to move scores of characters through years of time and miles of wilderness. These feats of storytelling are accomplished by small virtuoso casts, working with 'Black-Box' lighting, quick-change costumes, and wraparound music. For a small theatre company, the 'History Plays' are unusually grand in scale and scope and packed full of artistic challenges. For their work on The History Plays, the company's artists have received more than 50 Dora Nominations and Awards, a pair of Chalmers and two Harolds.