Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Pandemic Theatre in association with Cahoots Theatre Company is pleased to announce the world premiere of They Say He Fell, written by the late Nir Bareket and Governor General's Award nominee Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. They Say He Fell is a memory play about loss, based on Bareket’s personal experience surrounding the death of his elder brother during the repartition of British Palestine. The play premieres October 7, 2015 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (16 Ryerson Ave).
The story is told through a series of recollections as narrated by the present day character, Nir (aged 68), who guides the audience through a meditation of mourning in his attempts to reconcile the realities of past events.
Directed by Jivesh Parasram (My Gaza, ‘tis of Thee), this epic, personal and emotional journey makes use of puppetry by Michelle Urbano and an elaborate projection design by Cameron Davis (Life, Death, and the Blues) to piece together Bareket’s recollections of the past, with Steven Bush (Blood Wedding), Tom Arthur Davis (Birth), Maxine Heppner (Across Oceans), Virgilia Griffith (Salome’s Clothes), En-Lai Mah (Served) and Christopher Stanton (Tragedy: A Tragedy) re-enacting his memories.
Nir Bareket was a professional photographer for 50 years, whose breadth of work spanned commercial, industrial, architectural, portraiture, documentary and photojournalism. He was also one of the most influential photographers of Canadian Theatre from 1976-2014, whose photographs “provide evidence that these plays existed, that they happened at all, keeping for posterity the magic of theatre,” notes Michael Wallace, executive director, Theatre Museum Canada.
This project has been made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Additional support from Canadian Stage as the 2014/15 RBC Emerging Artist Company in Residence and from Suitcase in Point Theatre Company through the Ontario Arts Council Theatre Creator Reserve Program.
“If we knew our sons could stumble on blocks laid for our enemies,
we would spend a lifetime on our knees, removing every stone from the road.”
About Pandemic Theatre
Founded in 2009, Pandemic Theatre is a Toronto-based company mandated to create, develop, and produce work from critical and underrepresented perspectives that engage social and political themes. We strive to create spaces where political discourse is not only possible, but also encouraged.
Official synopsis: They Say He Fell is a memory play by Nir Bareket and Governor General's Award nominee Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. A photographer, “Nir,” aged sixty-eight navigates through the fragmented memories surrounding the death of his brother, “Yossi,” during the tumultuous and disputed repartition of British mandatory Palestine into the would-be state of Israel. Meditating on two family photographs, one as a complete family, and one taken shortly after Yossi’s death, Nir questions the futility of language and the parallels of photography and time in describing the events. The narrative takes us from quiet moments in the present, to the memories of a happy childhood growing up in a crowded bomb shelter – to the repetition of the events and scenarios that took Yossi’s life, and its rippling affect on the family. It is a meditation on death and mourning, and a dirge for those lost in conflict. But most importantly, it is the story of a child losing his brother, and finding hope again.
Run time: 60 mins
Performances & ticket information
Friday, October 2 at 7:30pm (Preview)
Saturday, October 3 at 7:30pm (Preview)
Sunday, October 4 at 2:00pm (Preview)
Wednesday, October 7 at 7:30pm (Opening)
Thursday, October 8 at 7:30pm
Friday, October 9 at 7:30pm
Saturday, October 10 at 2:00pm
Saturday, October 10 at 7:30pm
Sunday, October 11 at 2:00pm
Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30pm
Thursday, October 15 at 7:30pm
Friday, October 16 at 7:30pm
Saturday, October 17 at 2:00pm
Saturday, October 17 at 7:30pm
Sunday, October 18 at 2:00pm
Previews: $15
Oct 7-11: $25 , Oct 14-18: $30
Sundays: PWYC
Tickets: http://passemuraille.ca/box-office
Cast & Crew
Nir Bareket & Donna-Michelle St. Bernard (playwrights)
Jivesh Parasram (director & sound designer)
Cameron Davis (projection & lighting designer)
Elizabeth Wong (stage manager)
Michelle Urbano (puppetry designer & coach)
Get social
Facebook: /pandemictheatre
Twitter: @pandemictheatre
Photo: Steven Bush. ©2015.
2015-10-02
Toronto: Pandemic Theatre presents "They Say He Fell" October 2-18