Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON – Coming off an extraordinary year of development, with 7 workshops, 2 outreach programs, and a free community festival, Cahoots Theatre (Cahoots) presents its 29th season of staging diversity.
• World premiere of They Say He Fell by Nir Bareket and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard in October 2015 (in association with Pandemic Theatre)
• World premiere of Ultrasound by Adam Pottle in May 2016 (in co-production with Theatre Passe Muraille)
• Deaf Artists & Theatres Toolkit (DATT) – a research and compilation project alongside Ultrasound
• Hot House, our in-house development unit for 7 creators, all season
• Crossing Gibraltar, our outreach program for Deaf and diverse emerging artists in November 2015
• LIFT OFF! Festival 2016, our free festival, featuring workshop readings & masterclasses in June 2016
The definition of diversity and culture has shifted and evolved since Cahoots was first founded almost 30 years ago. As we look to our 29th season, Cahoots’ role remains the same – to bring unique cultural perspectives to the stage with excellence, innovation and courage. For 2015-2016, we look to the core ideas of COMMUNITY, CREATIVITY and COLLABORATION as our guide as we engage with our theatre partners, our artists, and our audiences. In addition to our return to a two production season, this year will also see workshops, mentorship, in-house readings, residencies and a festival – Cahoots has a full dynamic season ahead! Hope you will join us on this journey.
~ Marjorie Chan, Artistic Director
They Say He Fell co-written by Nir Bareket and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard is being produced by rising independent company, Pandemic Theatre in association with Cahoots Theatre, premiering in the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. Based on a true story, They Say He Fell shares Nir Bareket’s personal journey and meditation on mourning as it navigates through the fragmented memories surrounding the death of his brother during the tumultuous and disputed reparation of British Palestine.
After intensive development, Cahoots and Theatre Passe Muraille (TPM) are pleased to debut their co-production of Ultrasound by award-winning Saskatoon writer, Adam Pottle. The play tells of the struggle of a young couple: Miranda, who is hard-of-hearing, and Alphonse, her Deaf husband, who wrestle with the identity of their potential family. Will their child be hearing or Deaf? Complications arise when their personal perspectives toward Deaf culture brim to the surface. Ultrasound will be performed in English and American Sign Language (ASL) with integrated surtitles and video projection.
Alongside the production of Ultrasound, Cahoots will be compiling the Deaf Artists & Theatres Toolkit (DATT) which aims to increase the feasibility of collaborations and engagement between professional theatre companies, Deaf artists and Deaf audiences. The toolkit will become publicly available in late 2016 and disseminated as a resource for the Canadian theatre community-at-large.
This season, Cahoots’ in-house development unit, the Hot House, features returning playwrights from 2014-15, Amanda Parris, Flerida Peña, Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, and Playwright-in-Residence Suvendrini Lena. Additionally, Cahoots proudly welcomes Leah-Simone Bowen, Rafael Antonio Renderos, and Donald Woo. These emerging and established creators will develop their work throughout the season under the guidance of Artistic Director, Marjorie Chan.
Crossing Gibraltar is Cahoots’ adaptive outreach program bringing arts access to marginalized communities through integrative and innovative projects, in alignment with the seasons’ programming. This year’s program is geared toward emerging artists of colour and emerging Deaf artists, and explores theatrical projection design, inspired by the techniques in staging Ultrasound by Adam Pottle. The program will run for three consecutive weeks in November with a public presentation component during the run of the production in May 2016. It will be co-facilitated by Catherine MacKinnon and Gein Wong.
The season will culminate in the end-of-year LIFT OFF! Festival 2016. This festival will feature Playwright-in-Residence Suvendrini Lena’s powerful debut play The Enchanted Loom, which is slated for the stage in Cahoots’ 30th anniversary season in the fall of 2016. In addition to readings, this free community festival will also feature masterclasses, forums, and a community reception celebrating the end of our 29th season.
Cahoots Theatre 2015-2016 Season
They Say He Fell – October 2–18, 2015
By Nir Bareket and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Directed by Jivesh Parasram
Designed by Cameron Davis
Starring Steven Bush, Tom Arthur Davis, Maxine Heppner, Chala Hunter, En-Lai Mah and Christopher Stanton
Pandemic Theatre in association with Cahoots Theatre Production
Theatre Passe Muraille, Backspace
Photographer Nir Bareket was well-known in theatre circles having photographed many landmark productions. Based on a true story, They Say He Fell began with Nir’s loss of his brother, at a young age, which he explored later in his life through his writing. Now, together with award-winning playwright Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, the play dynamically navigates through the fragmented memories surrounding his brother during the tumultuous and disputed repartition of British Palestine. Meditating on two family photographs, one as a complete family, and one taken shortly after his brother's death, Nir, through the play, questions the futility of language and the parallels of photography and time in describing the events.
Ultrasound – April 28–May 15, 2016
By Adam Pottle
Directed by Marjorie Chan
Starring Chris Dodd and Elizabeth Morris
A Cahoots Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille Co-Production
Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace
Award-winning Saskatoon fiction and poetry writer Adam Pottle’s works are provocative and gritty, offering views of Deaf culture, disability and otherness in startling and contrasting lights. In Ultrasound, his debut play, he explores a subject much closer to home. Setting the play within the complex Deaf and hard-of hearing community Adam asks difficult questions of Miranda, who is hard-of-hearing, and Alphonse, her Deaf husband who struggle with the identity of their potential family. Will their child be hearing or Deaf? Complications arise when their personal perspectives towards Deaf culture brim to the surface.
Ultrasound will be performed in English and American Sign Language (ASL) with integrated surtitles and video projection.
Deaf Artists & Theatres Toolkit (DATT)
Supported by both the Toronto Arts Council (Open Door) and the Canada Council for the Arts (Cultivate), the Deaf Artists & Theatres Toolkit aims to increase the feasibility of collaborations and engagement between professional theatre companies, Deaf artists and Deaf audiences through the creation of a multi-media toolkit. This toolkit will be informed by Cahoots Theatre’s development and production of Ultrasound by Adam Pottle, as well as our Crossing Gibraltar integrated projection workshops. The toolkit will be publicly available and disseminated as a resource for the theatre community-at-large to hopefully, inspire and empower both theatres and Deaf artists alike. Cahoots has engaged Anita Small and Catherine MacKinnon as Project Manager and Deaf Community Consultant, respectively.
Hot House Unit
This year’s Hot House consists of 7 artists with works in various stages of progress. The unit exists to jumpstart creation, nurture stories – as well as the voices telling them – and see the creation through from vision in mind to product on the page. It is a place where artists can be each other’s support system; an environment that encourages creative curiosity, artistic collaboration, the exchange of theatrical ideas and exploration of different creation processes. Whether works are interdisciplinary, or text-based, or are only in an idea stage, or production ready, Cahoots endeavours to support the artists in their process. Returning for the second consecutive year are Amanda Parris, Flerida Peña, Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, and Playwright-in-Residence, Suvendrini Lena. 2014–2015 Artist-in-Residence and former Associate Producer, Leah-Simone Bowen and former Associate Artistic Director, Donald Woo switch gears and return to Cahoots as playwrights. Additionally, Cahoots welcomes emerging artist Rafael Antonio Renderos. Over the course of the season, creators will develop their work under the guidance of Artistic Director, Marjorie Chan.
CROSSING GIBRALTAR: ULTRASOUND November 14, 21, 27, 2015 & May 7, 14
In 2006, Cahoots created an adjunct theatre training program for refugee and newcomer youth in response to our play about transmigration, The Sheep and the Whale, by Ahmed Ghazali. Cahoots worked with 20 refugee and newcomer youth, eventually hiring 5 young participants in the production as the Chorus. Based on this success, Cahoots continued to develop dozens of arts access programming, serving hundreds of newcomers from across the city of Toronto and beyond. The program has evolved to include artistic collaborations with a diverse range of marginalized communities, serving youth, emerging artists, adult creators and more.
For Crossing Gibraltar: Ultrasound, our desire is to encourage the form of theatrical projection design for 3 Deaf emerging artists and 3 emerging artists of colour, through a series of integrative video design workshops held in our state-of-the-art Creation Studio. The program will explore projection design itself, as well as how movement and live stage action can be incorporated into a performance. In the winter, the participants will attend an appropriate interpreted theatre performance. The program will culminate in the spring with a pre-show showcase during the run of Ultrasound, along with a reception. All the participants would additionally receive travel subsidies, and honorariums. This program is supported by Ontario Arts Council and Theatre Ontario.
Co-Facilitators - Catherine MacKinnon and Gein Wong, Assistant Facilitator - Jasmine Chen
LIFT OFF! Festival 2016 – June 17–18, 2016
A free community festival featuring excerpts, performances, workshop readings and masterclasses. Originally conceived in 1993, LIFT OFF was a series of new play readings ready for the stage. In 2006, Cahoots toured to Hong Kong to present a reading series from Chinese-Canadian writers. In 2013, Cahoots revived the festival, with the intention of showcasing new plays, welcoming the community into the Cahoots Creation Studio and offering educational opportunities. Our festival this season will showcase The Enchanted Loom, the powerful debut work from our playwright-in-residence, Suvendrini Lena. Set near the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, this delicate work about a fractured Tamil family will premiere in Cahoots’ 30th anniversary season in 2016–2017.
About Cahoots Theatre:
Now in its 29th season, Cahoots Theatre holds a prominent place in Toronto’s arts community, pioneering programming that reflects Canada’s culturally diverse landscape. Our focus on intercultural encounters, the intersection of cultures and the innovation of the form, contribute to Cahoots’ powerful and enduring vision. Working with artists of colour, and other marginalized cultures, Cahoots gives voice to unique perspectives through the development and production of new works, our mentorship opportunities and our committed outreach activities.
For more information visit www.cahoots.ca.
2015-08-31
Toronto: Cahoots Theatre announces its 2015/16 season