Sarah Thorpe plays decent Catholic Fay McMahon in the upcoming production of Loot; this is Sarah’s first production with Bygone Theatre.
Bio: Theatre artist and creative core member of Soup Can Theatre. BAH Theatre from York University. Created and performed in the award-winning one-woman show Heretic, a modern retelling of the story of Joan of Arc, in 2015. Acting credits: Gut Girls (Alumnae), Titus Andronicus (Seven Siblings), Behold, the Barfly! (Spoon Vs. Hammer/TO Fringe 2016/TO SketchFest 2017), The Comedy of Errors (Confidential Shakespeare Project), The Loyalists (Single Thread), Canadian premiere of Bare (Waters Edge), The Nightwood (Luminato), inaugural production of Tomson Highway’s Pimooteewin/The Journey (Soundstreams). Soup Can credits: directing Love is a Poverty You Can Sell 1 & 2 (TO Fringe 2010 & 2013, Best of Fringe 2010, Next Stage 2012), No Exit, Marat/Sade; producing Circle Jerk, A Hand of Bridge/No Exit double bill, Antigone (TO Fringe 2012). Producing elsewhere: Let’s Go! (DMT), Gut Girls, Behold, the Barfly!. Recent recipient of two OAC grants: mentorship in directing with Alan Dilworth through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program, and a recommender grant through Volcano Theatre to create a play about Maud Wagner, the first known female tattoo artist in the US in the early 1900s. Facebook.com/SarahThorpeArtist • SoupCanTheatre.com
What made you want to be a part of Loot?
I love the satire in Loot. Nothing is sacred. It’s like a Monty Python episode in that way – everything is on the table to poke fun at.
How do you feel about your character? Do you relate to them at all? Share any of the same traits?
Without giving too much away, Faye is a master manipulator but she finds herself in a situation where those skills may not be enough to help her get what she wants. We’ve all been in situations where we find ourselves in over our heads and scramble to try to get the situation back in our control.
What’s been your favourite part of the rehearsal process so far?
It’s just a really fun room to be in. It’s a farce, so I think it’s important that the atmosphere we work in is light and absurd, in a constructive way of course.
What’s your favourite thing to have come out of the 1960s?
Lots of music: David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Marianne Faithfull, I could go on….
Are you working on any other projects at the moment/ What might we have seen you in recently?
I recently received a recommender grant from the Ontario Arts Council (recommended via Volcano Theatre) to create a piece about Maud Wagner: a circus artist who became the first known female tattoo artist in the US in the early 1900s. I’ll be creating this piece with two friends and colleagues, one a circus artist and one a tattoo artist. Once Loot‘s run is over, I’ll be jumping in to that!
Why should people come out and see the show?
Need a break from reality and a couple of hours to just laugh and enjoy some ridiculous hi-jinks? Get your butts to bygonetheatre.com to get your tickets!
Anything else you want us to know?
I’m not a natural blonde 😉
See Sarah onstage March 8-17th at Alumnae Theatre. Tickets on sale now.
Bygone Theatre 