Ten Foot Pole Productions was launched in 2007 with the first workshop productions of Rob Salerno's play, Balls, at that year's Ottawa, London, and Hamilton Fringe Festivals. The micro-budgeted production starred Rob Salerno and Adam Goldhamer.
It was a great kick off for the company. That production won the Hamilton Fringe Playwriting Award, the London Fringe Best Original Production Award, the London Brickenden Award for Best Touring Production, and was a Patron's Pick at the Ottawa Fringe.
The following year, Ten Foot Pole was lucky enough to be drawn in the Fringe touring lottery, and took Balls across Canada, playing in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Vancouver. The 2008 production saw Salerno and Goldhamer reprise their roles while Laurel Green was brought on board as a dramaturg and assistant director. The show was a great success, earning 4- and 5-star reviews all across the country.
It was a great kick off for the company. That production won the Hamilton Fringe Playwriting Award, the London Fringe Best Original Production Award, the London Brickenden Award for Best Touring Production, and was a Patron's Pick at the Ottawa Fringe.
The following year, Ten Foot Pole was lucky enough to be drawn in the Fringe touring lottery, and took Balls across Canada, playing in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Vancouver. The 2008 production saw Salerno and Goldhamer reprise their roles while Laurel Green was brought on board as a dramaturg and assistant director. The show was a great success, earning 4- and 5-star reviews all across the country.
The 2009 production of Balls, starring Salerno and Garrett Watson, with Cole J. Alvis directing, also brought the cumulative total of money raised by the show for the fight against cancer to more than $2000. Agencies that have benefited from the show's fundraising include the Saskatoon Cancer Centre, the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the BC Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society (Ontario) and the North York General Hospital.
2009 also saw the launch of a successful collaboration between Ten Foot Pole Productions and lemonTree Theatre creations on a production of the classic prison drama Deathwatch by Jean Genet. That show, in the basement of XPACE Cultural Centre, was a tremendous success, pulling in rave reviews and a near sold-out run. It was selected as an official event of Toronto Pride 2009, and was also a fundraiser for Toronto Pride.
Ten Foot Pole's other major production that year was Salerno's first solo show, Fucking Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Where It Got Me. FSH was developed with the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Young Creators' Unit, and was workshopped at the Rhubarb Festival and the Big Comedy Go-To in London, ON before taking audiences by storm at the Montreal and Toronto Fringe Festivals. FSH is set to play two more Fringe Festivals in the summer of 2010.