Madelaine Rose is an accomplished Toronto based multi-hyphenated internationally recognized award winning creator. She is an actor, producer and director with experience and training in both film and theatre. You can read a more detailed bio here on IMDB. I saw & reviewed Madelaine Rose in 2017 in Flea in her Ear and had hoped to work with her a few years ago in a production (that didn’t happen) so of course I’m a big fan.

Now Madelaine is doing her one-woman show Passed Down as part of Solo’d Out, a festival of solo plays at Red Sandcastle Theatre that runs April 17-27. Passed Down opens April 19th. I wanted to discover more about Madelaine and Passed Down so I asked her a few questions.

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Barczablog: Are you more like your father or mother?

Madelaine Rose : I often talk about how I feel like I was raised by a village. That village included my parents, but also my siblings, my grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, biological family and chosen family. And I think I’m a little bit like all of these folks that had a hand in raising me.

My Mum is so creative, and I definitely feel like I get that from her, but my Dad is very logical and practical, and I feel like I also get that from him. I feel like my performer hat is from my Mum, and my Producer hat is from Dad.

But also somehow I feel like I’m so much like my grandmother, Pam Hobbs. She’s quite possibly the coolest person I’ve ever known, she is 95 and has truly no clue how old that is, she’s an author, and she spent so much of her life travelling the world and writing articles about the places she travelled to. She’s such a brilliant writer and I always thought the writing gene must have skipped me, until a couple of years ago when I finally started writing plays. Like this one!

BB: What is the best or worst thing about what you do?

Madelaine Rose: I have the same answer for both! The best thing I do, is that I get to wear so many hats in this industry, the worst thing I do is also that I have to wear so many hats in this industry. Theatre and the arts in general feel like they’ve changed so much in the past decade or so since I started. I started my journey in this industry as an actor. But it quickly became apparent to me that that wasn’t enough. I started producing, then I fell into directing and eventually writing. I love all of these different facets of my artistic practice that I’ve fallen into. And I feel like each of them has given me a new love and respect for the other. I love producing and pulling a team together, doing things my way by leading with compassion and care. I also love directing and working with actors in such a meaningful way, finding all of the little nuances in a piece and bringing them to light. I have also found a newer love for writing, for putting jokes into a script, or coming up with just the right word for a character to say. But all of that can also be exhausting, especially when you’re doing so many of those things on the same project!

BB: Who do you like to listen to or watch?

Madelaine Rose: I’ll happily listen to or watch a wide range of genres, and mediums, as long as it’s good, or so bad it becomes good again, or really if there’s something interesting about it! Lately I’ve been watching the newest season of Survivor. I grew up watching it so to see that it’s not only still on but going very strong 20 years later is really captivating to me. I’m also part of a movie club which means I watch a different movie every month and meet with some friends to discuss it. Who gets to pick that month rotates, so I’m forever watching a wide range of genres and movies, some of which I’d never have thought to watch before which is part of the beauty of it!

BB: What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?

Madelaine Rose: I’m not always the most technically inclined, I mean I can pass when it comes to tech stuff, but in the theatre and film worlds I am completely lost past the point of being able to plug things in and knowing the image I’m looking to create. It’s probably for the best though, being able to collaborate and work with others who are more knowledgeable in other areas is one of the best parts of creating theatre and film.

I’d also love to be able to paint, it seems so relaxing and there’s something so lovely about visual mediums where you have such a tangible product at the end.

BB: When you’re just relaxing and not working, what is your favourite thing to do?

Madelaine Rose: Hiking! Being outside in general.

Often after a big project, after I’ve spent so many months working like crazy on something, the best way for me to decompress and ground myself is to go for a long walk in the woods. Bonus points if there’s good company and snacks!

BB: What was your first experience of live theatre ?

Madelaine Rose: I think one of my first experiences with theatre was when I took drama classes as a kid. We definitely needed some sort of outlet as kids, especially me (I was definitely that hyper kid who never stopped moving), and I think the idea of sports bored my Mum so she put us into theatre instead. Little did she know, with me anyways, it would stick! I remember being bummed that I didn’t get cast as the lead, but I also don’t remember ever having stage fright. I don’t think there was ever an ounce of fear in me as a kid at the thought of running onto a stage in front of however many audience members. Those classes ended in a show on one of the biggest stages I’d performed on still to this day, and someone video taped it. I’ve since watched it back and I absolutely flubbed my lines, and yet I loved it! I hammed it up and made the audience laugh. I was like 8.

BB: Tell me about your upcoming solo show Passed Down.

Madelaine Rose: Passed Down was co-written by myself and the brilliantly talented Rosalyn Cosgrove, who is also directing it, and will be stage managed by Monique Danielle. Rosalyn is based in the UK so all of our meetings have been through video chat which has been it’s own fun, quirky experience, but I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else on this play. Rosalyn and I wrote out a short version of it for a 24-hr play writing contest, and decided to expand it for the festival. We’ve had a really great time finding ways to create tension in the play, to add moments of humour and to really dive into this medium of a one-person show.

This play is about Persephone, a young woman who inherits her Great Aunt’s Victorian-style home after her passing. It’s the first night in her new home, she’s filled with excitement and can’t wait to make this house her own, she’s invited her best friend over to christen the new place with a fabulous dinner. Through a series of phone calls with her Mums, and digging around she starts to learn more about the family history and wonders if the house is the only thing she’s inherited…

BB: The Eventbrite listing says the following:
This one-person thriller will have you on the edge of your seat for the full 60-minutes, wondering if Persephone is indeed all alone in this house… or even stage.
Be Careful what you inherit!
It makes me want to ask: do you really want to scare us?

Madelaine Rose: I do! My director and I have talked lots about using the space in such a way to make the audience feel like they’re in this house with me, like they’re stuck here too!

BB: What are your favourite scary stories?

Madelaine Rose: Shaun of the Dead is one of my favourite movies, and I love the idea of mixing horror and comedy. I think it’s really smart and a great way to take care of your audience, to sort of make them laugh, then scare the heck out of them!

I also really like the series Haunting of Bly Manor. I like when folks take the classic horror movie genre and turn it into something else, like a TV series, or mix it with comedy, or in my case turn it into a play.

BB: Who are your main horror influences?

Madelaine Rose: I’ve only recently found a love for the horror/ thriller genre. Growing up horror wasn’t really anyone in my village’s thing so I wasn’t particularly exposed to it. However over the years I’ve slowly started getting into the genre as more and more critically acclaimed films from the genre felt like a “must watch,” such as Get Out, or Us. Then about 5 years ago some friends from my improv class started a movie club, and one of the members is a Horror professor, so naturally I began watching more horror, and really finding myself getting into the genre. I don’t know that I have any particular influences but I love a good old school horror, or creature feature. I’m a fan of the Scream series and really anything that has become a cult classic.

BB: Is there a genuine lesson to be learned from Passed Down, noting that your poster says
“Be careful what you inherit“?

Madelaine Rose: You’ll just have to come check it out to find out for yourself! I do think there are lessons to be learned here when it comes to the story, but also when it comes to playing with the genre, and space.

BB: Talk about the excitement & challenge of a solo show.

Madelaine Rose: I have directed two solo shows in the past, but this is the first one that I’ve written and am starring in! I enjoy directing one-person shows, and getting to work one-on-one with an actor, and often times one-person shows can be very personal, so I’m forever grateful to the actors who bring me on to direct their one-person shows and share than vulnerability and authenticity with me. So creating my own felt like it was inevitable, it felt like it was time.

One-person shows definitely come with their own set of challenges. When I direct them I’m always trying to be conscious not to have my actor simply stand there and just spew their lines at the audience. With only one person on stage it can be hard to keep the show moving and dynamic.

As an actor though, there’s a whole host of other challenges that come up. I will be on stage, by myself, for 60 minutes! That’s a long time! Stamina, energy and the ability to talk for an hour straight all come in to play here.

As an artist though I really like to explore the medium I’m working with and the space I’m in. So I think myself and my director have had a really fun time exploring the ins and outs of the one-person play medium.

BB: You’re part of Solo’d Out: a one-person play festival, brought to you by Sigh No More Productions and Mad Butterfly Creative. Who are they?

Madelaine Rose: Sigh No More Productions is actually my production company (created by myself, Kareen Mallon and Natalie Morgan), and Mad Butterfly Creative belongs to Kelly Taylor, who is also the creator of “Thank U, Ex!” one of the other plays featured in Solo’d Out. Kelly and I met in 2017 when she cast me in her show “Ladies Sigh No More,” she was also acting in this show, and our two characters, Ophelia and Desdemona, were to be best friends (you may even see a little nod to this friendship in Passed Down). Well life imitated art because Kelly and I did indeed become good friends, and have worked together on many projects now. I often describe her as my partner-in-art. Kelly has this incredible ability to dive head first into a project and figure it out on the way down, her ability to just go for it is something that I am always in awe of. She’s the one who grabs my hand and says “let’s jump!”

For Solo’d Out, we came about the idea because both of us applied to a well known theatre festival and neither of us got in. She had a one-person show that she’d toured, quite successfully, across Canada and internationally, but never felt like she was able to do it properly here in Toronto. Whereas I on the other hand had ideas for one-person shows but didn’t know where to put them up. We also knew other folks with one-person shows in need of a somewhere to showcase them, so Solo’d Out was born! We applied for grants, and thankfully Canada Council for the Arts was generous enough to fund this idea. We’re so excited to share these solo shows, and all that this festival has to offer with Toronto Theatre audiences. We’re also hosting this festival at The Red Sandcastle Theatre where “Ladies Sigh No More” went up so many years ago. It feels like a really sweet full circle moment for us.

BB: Do you have any influences / teachers you would like to acknowledge?

Madelaine Rose: First and foremost I want to acknowledge Kelly Taylor, she’s been my partner in this festival, but also my partner-in-art and she’s been my mentor for so long now. I truly wouldn’t have accomplished many of the projects that I have without her influence.

I’d also love to acknowledge some of my early career influences like my professor from York University Aleksandar Lukac, he showed me what it’s like to create weird and wonderful art, much like this show!

I’m also incredibly grateful to all of the artists, crew, and supporters of Solo’d Out, and Passed Down, putting this festival up has been a dream come true and it’s only possible because of the amazing team of artists who have put so much work into it!

Passed Down is part of Solo’d Out, a Festival of Solo shows April 17-27 at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen St East. Here’s the Solo’d Out Festival website and the eventbrite link for Passed Down.

You can follow Madelaine Rose on her website.