Mac thespians bring ‘Tasteless’ to Hamilton Fringe Festival
'Our ultimate goal with Fringe is to find a wider audience outside McMaster and build our reputation,' says Dylan Duarte, a recent McMaster graduate and co-writer of 'Tasteless.' Left to right: Claire Shingleton-Smith, Nicole Clarke, Zac Williams, Rowan Traynor, Danny Johnston and Taylor Yanke.
A production of Tasteless featuring a cast of McMaster undergraduates has opened at the Hamilton Fringe Festival.
The dark comedy was written and directed by three McMaster Theatre & Film students — Nick Kozij, Dylan Duarte and Ian Wilush — for their fourth-year thesis project.
“We were very nervous leading up to the opening of Fringe, but also very excited,” says Duarte, a 23-year-old Hamilton native who graduated from the University last month.
The play focuses on the shaky and, at times, controversial relationship between surveillance and popular culture. The writing team wanted to explore the public’s right — or lack thereof — to document, dissect and obsess over the day-to-day happenings of the world’s most popular stars.
Purchase tickets for Tasteless
Tasteless debuted at McMaster’s Robinson Memorial Theatre in March, as part of the School of The Arts’ annual Honours Performance Series. The play ultimately won Best Overall Production and Best Script during a peer-voted awards gala at the end of the spring term, setting the stage for a trip to Fringe.
Peter Cockett, an assistant professor in the School of the Arts, delivered the good news to the team just a few weeks prior to the festival’s opening.
Duarte, who hopes to pursue a career writing scripts for both stage and screen, says he’s “honoured and humbled” to be involved in this year’s edition of Fringe.
“Our ultimate goal with Fringe is to find a wider audience outside McMaster and build our reputation,” he offers. “Theatre can be a very raw medium, and when you accomplish something like this it’s really exciting and rewarding.”
Tasteless will run at Theatre Aquarius until Saturday, July 25. Tickets are $10 when purchased with a Fringe Backer Button.
A full synopsis, cast-list, production team list and performance dates and times can be found online.
More than 300 performances from 40 theatre companies will take place at this year’s Hamilton Fringe Festival, the 12th edition of the annual theatrical showcase.
