East end actors explore 'free love' in The Open Couple.
Husband and wife Greg and Toni Ellwand are producing and starring in a production of, 'The Open Couple', about the consequences of a poly-amorous relationship. (Feb. 9, 2012)
Staff photo/JOANNA LAVOIE
Partners in life, Toni and Greg Ellwand will soon star as partners on stage in an upcoming production of The Open Couple.
The Leslieville-area couple, who have lived near Gerrard Street East and Jones Avenue for about 20 years, recently decided to mount a show together at the 50-seat Red Sandcastle Theatre at 922 Queen St. E., just east of Logan Avenue, in Leslieville.
Longtime Riverside resident Rosemary Doyle, a 32-year theatre professional, opened the unique and versatile storefront space last spring.
The Ellwands have known Doyle for years as their children had been members of the Riverdale Youth Singers.
Late last year, the couple started vetting possible scripts for plays they could stage on a micro-budget.
They eventually chose The Open Couple, a 1983 production by Italian playwright and satirist Dario Fo and his wife Franca Rame.
The Ellwands started rehearsing (in their home's living room) earlier this month for the play, which explores the consequences faced by a couple who chooses to enter into a poly-amorous relationship.
"It's a play that deals with drafts increasing when the door to the marriage is open," Greg said.
"You'll be taking the jigsaw pieces apart and trying to figure out what happened."
Being already married has had its advantages when it comes to staging The Open Couple, they both smiled.
"There are lots of physically intimate moments and it's much easier to be close to my husband. It's one less thing to worry about," Toni said.
Having an "intoxicatingly attractive" female lead has its benefits, Greg pointed out.
"There's no suffering with unrequited feelings," he joked.
Toni Ellwand (nee LoRaso) was born in Sicily, Italy and came to Canada when she was five years old.
She said she knew from a young age she wanted to get involved in the arts, but coming from a poor immigrant family there just wasn't extra cash for such "frivolous" things.
"My high school drama class was my secret little pleasure," said Ellwand, who grew up in the west end and attended St. Joseph's College School on Wellesley Avenue.
She credits her drama teacher, Mrs. Smith, for encouraging her to audition for York university's Theatre School.
"The minute I got accepted, that was it. It was like a sign," laughed Ellwand, who has gone on to star in countless film, television and theatre productions including Bomb Girls, Flashpoint, Queer as Folk, Traders, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She's also done extensive voice-over work and has produced and written a number of plays.
Her husband Greg, the son of British immigrants, was born in British Columbia, but grew up in Aylmer, Quebec.
Unlike his wife, Ellwand (who is also an accomplished visual artist) didn't think too much about acting until he was a teen attending boarding school in Nairobi, Kenya.
His father, also an artist, had landed a job in the east African nation and the family lived there for a time.
At the all-boys school, Ellwand said pupils were shown the importance of being well-rounded individuals who benefitted their community.
He'd auditioned for the school play, but didn't land a role. Instead, he helped build the sets and only performed in one minor role.
Once back in Canada, Ellwand continued to help out as a member of the technical crew for the shows his high school's drama club produced.
The following year, he was invited to audition for the lead role in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
He landed that role and many others along the way while completing his studies at the University of Ottawa.
Ellwand then went on to study at Montreal's National Theatre School in Montreal and, like his wife, has acted in several productions including The Graduate, Paul Quarrington's Heart in a Bottle, and the Half of It, for which he won a DORA award for the role of Jacob.
"I can't imagine my life being anything other than the arts," said Ellwand, who is currently working on an original production called BREAD! for this summer's Fringe Festival.
A solo exhibition of Ellwand's original oil and acrylic paintings is currently being held at the neighbouring K and S Family Restaurant at 893 Queen St. E.
The Open Couple will be staged at 8 p.m. on Feb. 21, 22, 23 and 27 and at 2 p.m. on Feb. 25 and 26 at Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen St. E.
Tickets, which cost $22 for adults and $15 for seniors/students, can be purchased by calling 416-845-9411 or by emailing redsandcastletheatre@gmail.com