Sarah Baumann and Ashlie Corcoran, the Artistic Producers behind Theatre Smash, are dedicated to creating theatre with a provocative, global context, and their latest show fulfills both ideals. Norway. Today is the story of a 19 year old girl who announces her plans to kill herself in a chat room on the internet. A man named August responds to her challenge, and they form a suicide pact, meeting atop Pulpit Rock in her native Norway. On a rock higher than the CN Tower, the two spend their last night on earth joined only by Julie’s video-camera, and the weight of their promise to one another. “The way the play is written,” say Baumann and Corcoran, “it’s pretty dark. It’s pretty blunt. [But] this is how people communicate.” The play takes the circumstances of Julie and August’s meeting in a chat room, and utilizes that as a commentary on human relationships today. “[Writer Igor Bauersima] really tries to tell the story through the media that we are all addicted to. People text, and take pictures of things before they really look at them.” The play’s dark and honest subject matter raises many questions, both obvious and difficult, and forces the audience into a confrontation with a part of the human psyche usually avoided. This unique subject matter suits Baumann and Corcoran very well. They take turns in producing and directing Theatre Smash’s productions, “which is totally unique, I think.” This time, Baumann is directing and Corcoran takes the reigns as producer. The girls are also very inspired by their travels, and much of the connection to this play comes from time spent in Berlin. “The bluntness, the way the questions are asked, the philosophical questions, feels very German.” An international script also provides an international perspective, a new way of exploring an issue, and a new artistic language with which to tell a story. And Toronto is the perfect place to bring together all the elements that make Norway. Today possible. “It’s a true multicultural city, [and] everyone’s really open to working with people of different mediums.” Ultimately, though, it’s the strength of this material that inspired Baumann and Corcoran to stage Norway. Today’s Canadian premiere. “For all the work that we do, the first thing we look for is good writing, and it’s so hard to explain what good writing is, but it has to be something that both of us connect to.”

Sept 5th-21st @ Tarragon Extra Space

Starring Steven McCarthy and Ieva Lucs