Sandra Shamas: Big Girl Panties

When you reach a certain age, you earn your …

BIG GIRL PANTIES

Starring, Written and Produced by Sandra Shamas

March 20 to 30, 2014

Tallulah’s Cabaret • Buddies In Bad Times Theatre

Sandra Shamas returns to the stage with a fresh new show, straight from the farm. BIG GIRL PANTIES is an honest piece of theatre, handcrafted especially for audiences wondering what's next. Mining her organic life, again, Sandra shares what she has harvested so far at Tallulah’s Cabaret in Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto. This is a work in progress.

When we last saw Sandra it was in 2011 at the Winter Garden Theatre in Love Life, the concluding show of her Wit’s End trilogy that chronicled her life after leaving the big city, settling on a farm and dealing with big life changes.

Three years later, Sandra picks up where she left off with BIG GIRL PANTIES. But this isn’t just another continuation. In fact, it is a Brand New Start.

In BIG GIRL PANTIES, Sandra has decided to join a different snack bracket. She sees herself as a late bloomer, a slow cooker, taking her time so that she can better appreciate all that life has to offer.

In the show, she is 55 years old, but a very different 55-year-old than her mother's generation ever were. She finds that 55 is not the end; in fact, it is an exciting new beginning. Yet, she notices that as far as mainstream media is concerned, especially in advertising, women are barely visible past 55. It’s like they cease to exist, and Sandra asks the question, why is that?

One of Canada’s most celebrated comic artists, Sandra Shamas came into her own as a performer, writer and producer in the mid 1980s with My Boyfriend's Back and There's Gonna Be Laundry. From its very first performance at the Edmonton Fringe, the show was a smash success, eventually touring the country and even playing the legendary Old Vic Theatre in London, England (the first Canadian show to have that distinction in the theatre’s long history). Two more Laundry plays followed, each playing to sold-out houses across Canada. The Laundry trilogy was eventually published and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award and the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. Sandra won a Gemini Award in 1991 for Best Performance in Comedy, and won the Best Theatre Award at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in March 2003.

After some time away from the spotlight, Sandra returned to performing with Wit’s End, a show that chronicled her move to country living. It played 11 sold-out weeks at the Winter Garden and then toured to major theatres across the country. It was followed by Wit’s End II: Heart’s Desire and Wit’s End III: Love Life, both of which enjoyed similar success.

BIG GIRL PANTIES

March 20 to 30, 2014

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 PM

Tallulah Cabaret, Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto

Tickets $25