by AMY BARRATT

Tony Palermo could sell anything. Even a “classical” theatre festival with precious little classical content. Palermo, a co-founder and executive director of Gravy Bath, which co-produces the New Classical Theatre Festival (NCTF) with the Montreal Young Company, could charm the sandals off a Roman senator—or, more to the point, awaken a love of the arts in a tight-fisted corporate type.

His background in business administration and theatre has served Gravy Bath well. In seven short years, it’s gone from penniless new kid on the block to the most visible independent theatre company in English Montreal, all without government support.

The NCTF, which kicks off on August 15 and runs until September 9, is a forum for new adaptations of classic works, or new works that reference the classics in some way. Unlike last year, when Gravy Bath produced an adaptation of Oedipus Rex, there is nothing Greek or Roman in this year’s line-up. There are, however, two very different Shakespeare adaptations in this festival, which features five shows altogether.

Original works like Au-delà de la ville and Last Call put a strong emphasis on the “new” this year. So maybe the name New Classical Theatre Festival is less a fait accompli than a souhait: Let this be a place where new classics are created.

Prince of bare-bones

If Raoul Bhaneja, who is performing Hamlet (solo) at the NCTF, looks familiar, it may be from his work on TV shows like Train 48 and Ken Finkleman’s At the Hotel, or in features like The Sentinel, with Kiefer Sutherland. Although it clocks in at a brisk two hours, Bhaneja’s one-man take on the Prince of Denmark is not gimmicky, reduced Shakespeare stuff. It is a serious, if bare-bones (pardon the pun, Yorick) interpretation of Hamlet. Under the direction of Robert Ross Parker, Bhaneja plays 17 roles (sundry spear-carriers didn’t make the cut), without benefit of costumes, props or scenery.

“People expect to see me come out with music stands, balloons, hats,” says the Toronto actor, who performed the piece at Theatre Passe Muraille last January, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts earlier this summer. “When they see I have nothing they get a little scared. But the fact that I’ve got nothing means they don’t watch it going, ‘That’s like Olivier,’ or, ‘That’s like the Stratford production I saw.’ People are able to re-engage with the story’s essence. Ironically, they find it clearer without all the props.” Aug. 29–Sept. 9, at Théâtre Ste-Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.), 540-0774

Culture-crossed lovers

Like Bhaneja, Palermo is fundamentally concerned that people come away understanding the story, which in his case is Romeo and Juliet. This adaptation, which he directs, is called Gayanashagowa and replaces the two families with two cultures: Native American and European.

“In the past,” says Palermo, “people would come to see our shows and they’d really enjoy what we did with the Shakespeare, but they would still say, ‘but I still don’t really get the [Shakespearean language].’ Gravy Bath’s is not so much a contemporary translation of Romeo and Juliet as an attempt to make a text that could have been understood 400 years ago but is also clear to modern ears.”

Gayanashagowa (Mohawk for “Great Law of Peace”) is performed in English with a smattering of French and Mohawk. Aug. 15–26, at the Studio Hydro-Québec of Monument National (1182 St-Laurent), 871-2224

What’s the happening?

Au-delà de la ville uses the same pool of actors this time working with a French text. The play grew out of improvised scenes that Palermo crafted into the final text.

“It’s the story of one guy stuck in the middle of the city, at an intersection,” explains Palermo. “There is something going on in the city that’s referred to only as ‘The Event,’ which is something like the Outgames or the Olympics. Everyone this guy meets has some connection to The Event.”

The show has an original soundtrack performed live by the composer, Mark Bond. Aug.16–26, at the Studio Hydro-Québec of Monument National (1182 St-Laurent), 871-2224

Oscar in the court

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde is an English Quebec premiere that marks the culmination of a Wilde trilogy for Gravy Bath, and for actor Don Anderson, seen in The Portrait of Dorian Gray three years ago and also in Gravy Bath’s De Profundis. Gross Indecency is directed by Zach Fraser, a recent transplant from Halifax where he co-founded Bunnies in the Headlights Theatre. The play, by Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project), is based on real documents of the time, whether transcripts of the trials, personal letters or newspaper stories. Aug. 22–Sept. 2, at MainLine Theatre (3997 St-Laurent), 540-0774

Bottoms up

Finally, prepare to get up close and personal with Last Call (see story on this page), a solo play set in a bar and starring that drunken woman who just won’t stop talking to you. Actress Holly O’Brien will only be emotionally naked as she moves from table to table telling her sometimes amusing, sometimes harrowing stories. Aug. 23–Sept. 2, at Balustrade, Monument National (1182 St-Laurent), 871-2224

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