Death and the Maiden - Red Sandcastle Theatre

GUEST REVIEW BY SHANNON MAGUIRE

Red Sandcastle Theatre’s production of Ariel Dorfman’s three-hander political thriller about the aftermath of dictatorship, Death and the Maiden, playing from February 27-March 3 at 922 Queen Street East is worth the trek. The intimacy of the space lends an intensity to the dramatic action, which involves the machinations of torture, the gendering of power, and the limits of truth-telling in the context of a country transitioning from dictatorship to democracy in which all citizens are traumatized and in which democracy might just be a mask upon continuing systems of domination. 

Director Deborah Ann Frankel (who also designed the set and lighting) emphasises, sometimes subtly and sometimes overtly, the nuances of gender and the limits of power in her blocking and staging in what I consider an effective interpretation. The minimalism of the set and lighting works well for the impoverishment and devastation that any country pulling itself out of dictatorship faces. Of the numerous questions that Frankel lists in her Director’s Notes, the most poignant, and the one most thoroughly investigated in this production is: “How can those who were tortured coexist in the same land?” 

Amber Mackereth gives a raw and sometimes hilariously wry performance as Paulina Lorca, a woman approaching middle age who was part of a radical student-run press during the dictatorship and who survived torture and refused to give up the name of her partner (and now husband). In Mackereth’s hands, Pauline is a brassy survivor who managed maintain a passion for life and who takes decisive action and refuses to bend to the wishes of either her husband or her apparent torturer (and now captive), who both paint her as a “crazy bitch”—that old sexist trope. It might seem unusual to laugh in a play on such a serious topic but there are moments that are truly cackle worthy—in the best way— and they all involve Mackereth’s choices. 

Andrew McGillvary gives a tender performance of Gerardo Escobar, the man for whom Pauline endured torture to protect and to whom she is now married. As a lawyer newly appointed to a (flawed) commission on torture set up by the new democratic government, Gerardo is caught between his idealism, his moral inertia, and his love for his wife and McGillvary does a good job of exposing this character’s fatal flaws while charming us. 

Scott McCulloch gives a powerful performance as Doctor Roberto Miranda, the man that Pauline accuses of torturing and raping her. In McCulloch’s hands, a mild-mannered doctor can transform into a salty-mouthed power fiend and back in a split second, a chilling portrait of how power-lust and relations of domination can hide in plain sight. Cliff Saunders’ deft fight choreography was the glue that tied the physical performances to the emotional quagmire of the piece. All in all, it was a thought provoking night of independent theatre. 

PRESS RELEASE:

First performed on stage in 1991, Ariel Dorfman’s political thriller Death and The Maiden is the dramatic exploration of a country’s uneasy transition from dictatorship to democracy.  

One dark night, the husband’s car breaks down and he is given a lift home by a friendly stranger.  His wife believes she recognizes the stranger‘s voice— is he the torturer who raped her some years before?  She subdues the stranger and puts him forcibly on trial for crimes against the state.    

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN 
AT RED SANDCASTLE THEATRE UNTIL SUNDAY MARCH 2ND

The play asks hard questions about compatriots living in a restored democracy: How can those who tortured and those who were tortured co-exist in the same land?  What of justice and equality in a military dictatorship?  How do we forget the past regime without risking its recreation in the future? Is it legitimate to sacrifice truth to ensure peace?   

The play also asks a universal question about humanity: How do we reach the truth when lying has become a habit?  

Death and The Maiden is a pertinent and important piece today. How may we as Canadians discourage military sanctioned violence and torture abroad if we do not recognize torture in our  own society? How many women, children and men have been tortured, yet our state accuses their perpetrators only of abuse?  

Death and The Maiden warns us of what happens when democracy fails and torture becomes a political tool. 

Event Contact Details:

416-84509411

General@redsandcastletheatre.com

http://www.redsandcaastletheatre.com

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/events/386334288812533/

interview with Shannon Litzenberger

WORLD AFTER DARK

https://vimeo.com/292611469

"Inspired by Christopher Dewdney’s Award-winning book Acquainted with the Night, WORLD AFTER DARK explores the relationship of the physical and metaphorical night. From the three stages of nightfall to the science of the cosmos; from the birth of nightlife to the empire of dreams; from the biology of nocturnal creatures to the mythology of the night sky, Dewdney’s compelling poetic reveries and scientific explanations journey us on an epic voyage through the mysteries of night."

db Could you talk a little about your first response to the Christopher Dewdney book, and some specific examples and/or aspects of the writing that may have inspired the movement from the writing to the dance performance...

sl Dewdney’s text is comprised of 12 chapters, each associated with an hour of the night. He begins on a hypothetical night at 6pm (sunset) and ends at dawn. The ground he covers in between is rich in poetry and scientific fact about all things related to the night. 

I was first drawn to the chapters about nightfall, dreams, insects, bedtime stories, nightlife, and demonic possession. I selected excerpts of the text from these chapters and used the words as inspiration for generating movement material that I then shaped into scenic episodes. 

db Could you describe some of the images that manifest in the choreography, as representations of the themes that run through the Dewdney book, and how you personally and professionally responded to those images and themes...

sl The night-inspired themes I was most compelled to explore were about transformation, emancipation, desire and mystery. 

For example, I was drawn to the image of the Luna Moth and its biological imperative to travel toward light. Moths are of course symbols of metamorphosis and so the moth’s choreography is full of effort and becoming. I discovered that long exposure photographs of moth trails under streetlamps at night revealed their extraordinary pathways of travel toward light. 

Another image in the work is that of the nightclub cabaret. Dewdney’s text suggests that at night we can transform into our ideal identities. I was interested in this notion because it evokes the question: What permission does the night grant us that the day denies us? The nightclub scene and all of its physical comedy was a lot of fun to create. 

db The ideas expressed in the brief description of the dance performance (above) are intriguing - has your work explored similar themes in the past around "nocturnal creatures" and "the mythology of the night sky" and "the mysteries of night..."

sl In 2012 I created a short duet called ‘The Den’ that explored the subconscious animal and its effect on our ability to relate in a highly civilized world. My choreography has always been interested in the physicality of the animal body. These images arise often in my work and I enjoy exploring physical material that moves us through both the instinctual and intuitive aspects of our humanity.

db How are "the three stages of nightfall" represented in the work, from a choreographer's perspective? For example, are there particular moments and pacing that reflect each stage of nightfall...

sl I love the way that dance offers the possibility of presenting ideas as embodied action and metaphor. This work is full of symbolism conveyed through the body as well as through the poetic text of Dewndey’s essays. In the show, night is personified as a woman. At nightfall she arrives in a world where she has been forgotten.

WORLD AFTER DARK RUNS AT 

HARBOURFRONT CENTRE THEATRE 

FROM MARCH 6TH UNTIL MARCH 9TH

MULES

presented by THEATREFRONT 

IN ASSOCIATION WITH 

HIT & MYTH

MULES 

BY BETH GRAHAM AND DANIELA VLASKALIC

About two thirds of the way through this darkly exhilarating play one of the characters says to the other character "This is not high school!!!" Indeed, Mules is not about high school. It is about the aftermath of high school, replete with all of the psychological trauma that many people find themselves harbouring throughout their lives - trauma based in class privilege (or lack thereof), gender separation that intersects with class identity, among other things. 

What begins as a hilarious predicament in an airport washroom ends as something far removed from any specific setting as it creeps into our hearts and minds, and reveals the frequently terrifying socio-economic situations that can come about due to the lifelong effects of past histories. 

There are are times when the situations may seem implausible and way too far 'out there' for some spectators, as the odd audience member seemed to grimace agonizingly every now and then. But grimace often turned to laughter within  the darkly comic recognition of basic human functions reserved publicly for a washroom. 

But despite the seemingly odd implausible plot moment, the extreme nature of the situation wipes all incredulity away like the swipe of some pristine sanitary tissue, and shows onlookers that these are frequently very 'dirty' and fully possible scenarios that certain disenfranchised subjects may find themselves within all too often. Playwright's Beth Graham and Daniela Vlaskalic have created a brilliant, layered look at how young people frequently move through the profound trials and tribulations that can gain a stranglehold on their futures, becoming victims and victimizers, saviours and betrayers, in one fell swoop.

Anita Majumdar handles the streetwise character of Cindy with great versatility both physically and emotionally, and can never be fully 'sized up' as a true friend or a betraying desperado. Majumdar's acting moves from believable sincerity into mean spirited betrayal with seamless agility. 

Eva Barrie's Crystal matches her sparring partner as she represents a kind of innocence gone 'wrong' - and yet through no fault of her own - as she tries to regain a lost friend from her frequently distorted memories of their supposed high school camaraderie. Her final moments are heartbreaking and require an incredible intensity that Barrie rises to with great finesse. 

Tim Walker's intervening Troy adds a needed and highly effective contrast to the duelling young women as he skilfully portrays a seemingly innocent guy doing his job, yet gradually revealing himself as a man caught in the complex web of a MeToo moment that Troy is not able to fully articulate, becoming a fraught and offensive figure who appears likeable in his early moments as he stumbles into mayhem.

Set Designer Brandon Kleiman's realistic washroom provides the action with a very versatile and effective performance space that director Vikki Anderson utlitlizes to great success as actors perform in stalls, using toilets as pedestals, rising above the malodorous confines of  a cubicle, giving the overall action great physical variety and comic interaction. 

Costumes by Lindsay Forde have an authentic air of young women just beyond early youth, grappling with adolescent memories in casual and semi-formal attire that reflects both class and gender ID. Crystal's beleaguered party dress becomes a surprising bit of prom night nostalgia, while Cindy's jeans and t'shirt effectively define her rough and ready desperado focus with a late in the play move into a jacket that a gutsy, atypical Barbie might have worn to a demolition derby.

At it's heart, Mules appears to be about a desperate attempt to regain an innocence that never fully existed. The comic plight of young people, approaching adulthood, and finding that their lives did not fully evolve beyond the same restrictions that the corridors of education, class, and gender afforded them. They needed a form of guidance that never found them. And when they end up in the 'can' that innocence explodes in tragicomic ways as they search for a new beginning that threatens to flush itself down the toilet at any moment.

EVA BARRIE (CRYTSTAL) ANITA MAJUMDAR (CINDY) TIM WALKER (TROY)

Good Morning Viet Mom

In a world where Hannah Gadsby is heralded for her authentic and brilliant mix of standup comedy and heartfelt, often tragic, storytelling, Franco Nguyen's GOOD MORNING VIET MOM is a welcome addition to the genre. This solo show, a Cahoots production, is a poignant and hilarious examination of the ways in which a young man in his twenties has come to the realization that his mother is far more complex and worthy of sympathy than he might have realized as a child. 

Sympathy moves back and forth throughout, between mother and child, father and son, coming to no full resolution perhaps due to the fact that the individual inquiring and examining is still very young, very inquiring, and very skilled in the art of combining genres. At 31, the circumstances of his parents lives have begun to come poignantly and hilariously clear to him within the past six to ten years as he examines, through film and narrative, their struggles, their adventures, and their misadventures. Their lives as immigrants leaving Vietnam after the war are woven throughout the hour long show, directed skilfully by Byron Abalos, as Nguyen is guided through a minimalist set, combined with video projections, giving the overall experience a strong multimedia/multi-emotion complexity. 

Nguyen has an immediate onstage charm, infused with a quirky physical and emotional bravado that both strengthens and makes vulnerable his position within the narrative he weaves. His timing is seamless, with effective repetition and pauses that simultaneously heighten the comedy and the audience awareness of the heartfelt queries of a young man digging deeply to understand a complex familial past. Moments of video interaction provide both comic and poignant moments as actual family members speak to the issues at hand, and represent an at times moving, at times comic, rapport with the central onstage character.

And yet the nature of standup, when it is combined with prolonged storytelling, frequently calls out for a bit more narrative throughout the monologue to counterpoint the snappy millisecond form of the jokes and one-liners. The title character of the mother, playing on the Robin Williams film title, could use a little more detail and empathetic play, perhaps referencing the idea that the title suggests - a plea from the front of a historic conflict that has scarred global consciousness and highlighted North American complicity in profound and lasting ways. 

The father character moves in and out of extremely conflicted moments that may never be fully resolved, yet find semi-solace in a very poignant section. This is both a valued strength and a necessary weakness of a show and a young life that move into a theatrical form whereby testimony, comedy, and resolution are always in flux, always in question. Nguyen's entrance onto the standup comedy/storytelling stage is a promising and highly entertaining theatre event within a mixed genre that needs as much diversity as it can get through the stories of Canadians still marginalized by stereotype and complex forms of racism and xenophobia. 

An early section finds extremely funny moments regarding Hollywoods ongoing penchant for reducing Asian characters into a generic brand that fails to distinguish between specific ethnicities. Matt Damon's questionable role choices become a playful-cum-scathing moment of great 'fun.' At times the 'joke's dig very deeply into stock stereotypes, frequently playing uncomfortably with some of the most cliched and problematic racialized sentiments. And of course, this is perhaps the prerogative of the performer's subjectivity, while more detailed examinations of those jokes projected onto/written into that subjectivity could go a little further into a kind of hilarious analytic comic adventure - moving further into that stereotype and attempting to explode its origins.Good Morning Viet Mom is a layered and engaging beginning for a career and a story that has many more components to explore. 

GOOD MORNING VIET MOM 

RUNS AT 

NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ARTS /

DANIEL'S SPECTRUM, AKI STUDIO

UNTIL MARCH 3RD

photos by David Hou
BLOOD TIDES

Emerging from a huge mesmerizing upstage eye-like set piece, and frequently gravitating toward a downstage arrangement of elegant ceramic vessels, an ensemble of women dancers evoke a strong and powerful sense of camaraderie, meditation, ongoing struggle and celebration in the current Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Six Nations/Toronto) production of Blood Tides. The gender politics of the overall work are concisely set out in the program, and manifest onstage in a gorgeous sweeping mediation as the choreography gives rhythmic and physical 'voice'  to an ongoing anti-colonialist struggle that finds elements of profoundly conflicted masculinity within its textual and aesthetic discursive strategies;

"There is the way that the #MeToo movement has not quite spread to Indian Country, for fear that speaking out about abusive indigenous men will reinforce racist ideas about our communities. There is the way that women's voices have been largely silenced by Indigenous men, who have taken the toxic masculinity of colonial Canada and used it to their strategic advantage in a country that always prefers men to women...

Kaha:wi Theatre's Blood Tides is a moving, visceral piece that ultimately acts as a balm for all the Indigenous women it was created for."

Performance Notes by Guest Writer Alicia Elliott

A seamless collaborative team (see below) brings the complete experience together with precise and varied tones,deftly supporting the overall stage pictures and the choreography with spectacular set pieces, accompanying projections, beautifully designed costumes, lighting, sound and  original music that adds to the power and beauty of this wonderful piece of dance theatre. 

Santee Smith - Managing Artistic Director/Concept for Blood Tides

curator's note

With a rich and strong artistic vision, Santee Smith has crafted a ritual, theatrical experience to awaken memories and propose possibilities for women in our time, and 
for generations to follow.

Mimi Beck, danceworks


"When ceremonies have been put into a colonial sleep how can we reawaken them?"

Santee Smith

"How can women occupy space from internal to external? How does this reflect societal expectations of how women can move and the energies she can embody?"

Santee Smith

_____________________________________________

following material from DanceWorks online source:

DanceWorks presents Six Nations’ Kaha:wi Dance Theatre in 

Toronto premiere of Blood Tides

- conceived and directed by Artistic Director Santee Smith -

TORONTO (January 10, 2019):  DanceWorks proudly presents the highly acclaimed Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (KDT) in the Toronto premiere of Blood Tides, conceived and directed by KDT Artistic Director Santee Smith of Six Nations of the Grand River territory. Blood Tides delves into sacred space to retrieve women’s ancient knowing and rites of passage. Blood Tides runs for 3 nights only – Thursday, February 14 through Saturday February 16 – at Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre. 

Illuminated by elemental and ancestral forces, Blood Tides activates sacred alignments from cosmos to womb. Its imagery and energies span the wide range of what is woman: warrior, leader, mother, divine goddess, creator, huntress and thresholder of life and death. With an ensemble of four Indigenous women, Blood Tides acknowledges the magnificence of woman in all of her phases and ages. 

Through the power of the feminine voice and body, Blood Tides opens a sacred space with an inter-generational, inter-cultural and interdisciplinary performance featuring song and dance of earthworld, underworld and universe for a rematriation to the house of humanity.

This visual and sonic feast is performed by Marina Acevedo (Mexico/Zapotec), Julianne Blackbird (Kahnyen’kehàka Nation /Mohawk Nation), Santee Smith (Kahnyen’kehàka Nation /Mohawk Nation), and Jahra ‘Rager’ Wasasala (Fijian/New Zealand), with dramaturgy by Monique Mojica (Guna and Rappahannock Nations). The recorded musical score by Cris Derksen (mixed Cree Nation) features Pura Fé (Tuscarora and Taino Nations), Ngāhuia Murphy (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana, Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, New Zealand), Semiah Smith (Kahnyen’kehàka Nation /Mohawk Nation), and others for an international Indigenous women’s emotive landscape where Lightning Woman, Mother of Mothers, and Clay Woman come to tell their story, gather strength and activate power.

View a 1:30 min excerpt for Blood Tides at https://vimeo.com/290677073 . 

Blood Tides is the second production in Santee Smith/Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s triptych performance series: Re-Quickening (2016), Blood Tides (2018, St. Catharines’ FirstON Performing Arts Centre premiere, co-presented by Celebration of Nations) and Skennen (slated for 2020), all created through Indigenous process and from a Konkwehon:we (Indigenous woman’s) perspective and research. 

“Blood Tides opens up space to question, retrieve pre-colonial Indigenous women’s knowledges, and weave her narratives and experiences. The embodiment of her divinity and humanity united, owning and navigating space, Blood Tides activates women’s ceremony and cycles remembering Indigenous matrifocal ways of being,” notes Santee Smith.

***

Santee Smith is from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River, Haldimand Treaty territory. She is a multidisciplinary artist, award-winning producer and Managing Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre which she founded in 2005 and which has grown into an internationally renowned performing arts company. Exploring the intersection of Indigenous and new performance, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s works feature visually stunning, visceral, and thought provoking performance conceived and devised through Indigenous knowledge, process and methodology. https://kahawidance.org/ Facebook & Insta: @kahawidance

Santee Smith trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, completed Physical Education and Psychology degrees from McMaster University and an M.A. in Dance from York University. Her body of work includes 13 productions and over 12 short works. Her independent commissions include collaborations with National Arts Centre Orchestra, Fall for Dance North, Canadian Opera Company, North American Indigenous Games - Opening Ceremonies, Stratford Festival, National Film Board of Canada and Yokohama Noh Theatre, among others. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the K.M. Hunter Award for Dance, Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award, Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography for Susuriwka – willow bridge, and the 2017 REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award, among others. 

DanceWorks began as a collective of independent dance artists in 1977 and has grown to become Toronto's leading presenter of independent dance. DanceWorks offers seasons of eclectic, exhilarating choreography programmed to intrigue, challenge and enthrall. DanceWorks adds to the theatrical experience with Carol's Dance Notes and post-performance conversations with artists. http://www.danceworks.ca

DanceWorks presents the Toronto premiere of
Blood Tides

from Six Nation’s Kaha:wi Dance Theatre

Conceived and Directed by Artistic Director Santee Smith

Thursday, February 14-Saturday February 16 at 8pm
Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
207 Queens Quay West, Toronto
For tickets call 416-973-4000 or purchase online at http://danceworks.ca

Dynamic Ticket Pricing - the earlier you purchase, the more you save:

Prior to the week of the show - $36; During the week of the show - $40; Day of Show - $42

Discounts: Seniors - $28, Arts Industry - 20% discount, Students - $15 and Groups of 10+ - $23

Follow DanceWorks on twitter @DanceWorksTO and friend on Facebook @DanceWorksTO
Info: www.danceworks.ca/news/ 

BLOOD TIDES 
runs at the Fleck Dance Theatre (Harbourfront) until February 16th

RHUBARB FESTIVAL 2019

40TH ANNUAL RHUBARB FESTIVAL

BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR MEL HAGUE

Canada’s longest-running new works festival returns for a 40th year. Rhubarb transforms Buddies into a hotbed of experimentation, with artists exploring new possibilities in theatre, dance, music, and performance art. Rhubarb is the place to see the most adventurous ideas in performance and to catch your favourite artists venturing into uncharted territory.

Rhubarb is a space for artists and audiences to experiment together by trying new things and testing their boundaries. You always get to see more than one show (often 3 or 4) in one night, and no two nights of Rhubarb are ever alike. So come out and see what’s happening.

The Rhubarb Festival is funded, in part, by the Government of Canada | The Rhubarb Festival est financé en partie par le gouvernement du Canada.

photo of Makram Ayache, Ammanuel Solomon, Kate Lushington + Simon Bracken by Tanja-Tiziana

AND for full info on the fabulous Rhubarb Festival see;

http://buddiesinbadtimes.com/show/the-40th-rhubarb-festival/

AND and for a teaser for this weeks activities - 

FRIDAY NIGHT AT 10PM DO NOT MISS;

THE BRICKS & GLITTER CABARET AT THE RHUBARB FESTIVAL 2019

A Trouble of Queers: The Bricks & Glitter Cabaret

Friday, February 15
10:00PM
In the Cabaret

Bricks & Glitter, Toronto’s DIY summer QTBIPOC festival, brings their queer magic to Buddies for an evening that includes performance art, queerlesque, comedy, and an avant-garde slop queen.

Brock Hessel + Vince Rozario / curators
Mikiki Burino / host + performer
Carolina Brown, Sedina Fiati, Monica Garrido + Coco La Creme / performers

AND 

FROM BROCK HESSEL, CO-CURATOR OF BRICKS AND GLITTER;

BROCK HESSEL

A Trouble of Queers: 

"The Bricks and Glitter Cabaret is a teaser of what’s 
to come at this year’s Bricks and Glitter Festival 
(Aug. 23-Sept. 1, 2019) and a kind of reenactment of last year’s festival. 

So, for RHUBARB, the Bricks and Glitter Cabaret is basically a 9-month-old 10 day QTBIPOC arts and culture summer festival squeezed into one hour of a 40-year-old queer theatre winter festival. 

It’s a big joyous, quivering, and campy “fuck you” to gentrification, white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism, heteronormativity, and  compromise."