I can’t remember much before I hit ten years of age, but this memory has stuck.

I have an older sister. Her name is Nicoletta, Niki to her friends, but mostly I call her Ni. She is seven years older than me. She got me to do the dumbest shit when I was growing up. I’m sure we all have similar stories. She was a big Bay City Rollers fan. I remember vividly sitting in front of our TV in the basement taking pictures of the band playing a live tv concert. She took her fanaticism one step further one Saturday afternoon (would have been more poetic if it was a ‘Saturday Night’) and gathered a few of her friends to air band a Bay City Rollers concert in our garage. I was forced to play the drummer. She invited the neighbours. Some came. The whole thing was ridiculous.

Your brother. Remember? is the latest work by Obie Award winning American performer Zachary Oberzan. “The work splices home videos, Hollywood film footage, and live performance. As kids in Maine, Zachary and his older brother Gator loved making parodies of films, most notably Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer, and the notorious cult film Faces of Death. Then twenty years passed. Zack returned to his childhood home to re-create these films, shot for shot, as precisely as possible–but now seen through a twenty-year lens of emotional and physical wear and tear.”

I was fortunate to see Rambo Solo, an earlier work by Zachary, at the FTA in Montreal in 2009. The work was a brilliant retelling of the First Blood story. To understand his intensity as a performer, you have to watch this trailer where Zachary plays all the characters in the Rambo movie from his Manhattan apartment.

Please join us at the Theatre Centre from January 26-28 for the performance.

Franco

P.S.

I wish I had videotaped that Bay City Rollers concert!

Posted: January 10th, 2012 under Franco's Blog, January 2012 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
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Happy new year to all – we hope everyone had a lovely holiday season!

I don’t have any brothers. But I have been thinking about brotherly (and sisterly) love, familial relationships, growing up and apart, growing up in the 80s, Jean-Claude Van Damme and other interesting things a lot recently – all because I have been looking forward to seeing Your Brother. Remember? and participating in the bizzare experiment Zachary and Gator Oberzan put together.

Your brother. Remember? by Zachary Oberzan plays January 26-28 at 8pm.

Your brother. Remember? uses scenes from Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer, cult flick Faces of Death, home videos of Zachary and his brother Gator acting out parts of those films twenty years ago and them acting out the same bits now. Zachary is the sole performer on the stage, complementing the videos with commentary and singing. I am convinced I HAVE to see this show. Are you?

Here is what media and audiences thought of past performances of Your brother. Remember?:

• Goosebumps, one doesn’t receive a gift like that every day in theatre… Clumsy, honest and… unavoidable. (De Morgen, Belgium)
• Intellectually complex but emotionally simple, Your Brother. Remember? is a moving work of experimental drama. (newyorktheatrereview.blogspot.com)
• Your Brother. Remember? is a show that everyone should see – a touching, humorous, serious and twisted piece about brotherly love throughout life’s many battles. (Adresseavisen, Norway)

Tickets are available for sale now! Just call 416-538-0899 or buy from TOtix. Bring your sibling to get a 2-for-1 deal!

Posted: January 5th, 2012 under By Lilya, Coming Up..., January 2012 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
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