Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Buddies in Bad Times’ 39th season kicks off in October with a timely and exciting collaboration between Buddies artistic director Evalyn Parry and Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. A concert and a conversation, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools is the meeting place of two people – and the North and South of our country – at the confluence of colonial legacies and a changing climate.
Williamson Bathory and Parry met on a ship on an Arctic expedition from Iqaluit to Greenland, and now share a stage at Buddies. An experiment in form as much as content, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools sees these two artists grapple with and reclaim the sharp tools of art and tradition that have been handed down to them – Parry’s unique style of musical storytelling, alongside Williamson Bathory’s Uarjeeneq. This Greelandic mask dance, which audience members will recognize from Williamson Bathory’s performances with Tanya Tagaq, asserts Inuit identity through expression of sexuality, humour, fear and joy. In a time when parts of the world we know are beginning to melt, Williamson Bathory and Parry chart new territories and relations in this polyformal reflection on identity, nation, ancestry and land.
Parry (SPIN, Gertrude and Alice) and Williamson Bathory (Tulugak Means Raven) are joined for this production by an impressive group of artists. Directed by Erin Brubacher (Concord Floral, 7th Cousins), Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools features live video and projection by Elysha Poirier (Seeds, BOBLO), live music by Parry and Juno-Award-nominated musican Cris Derksen, lighting design by Rebecca Picherack (The 20th of November, Tom at the Farm) and set design by Kaitlin Hickey (Counting Sheep, John and Waleed).
Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools is the latest offering in an ongoing project in development by Parry since 2013, To Live in the Age of Melting, which has been presented in various incarnations at the Summerworks Festival, The Planet in Focus Festival, and as part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s BUZZ series. This mainstage show is being produced in partnership with Theatre Passe Muraille as part of a new initiative between the two companies to share resources and introduce their audiences to work being done on other stages in Toronto. This partnership continues in January 2018, when Acha Bacha, a new play by Bilal Baig (Buddies Emerging Creators Unit 2017) about the intersection of queerness, gender identity, and Islam, premieres on Theatre Passe Muraille’s stage.
Accessible Performances
Buddies and Theatre Passe Muraille will be offering relaxed and audio-described performances of Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools.
Relaxed performance:
Sunday, October 29, 2:30PM
Pay-what-you-can tickets available at the door
Audio-described performance:
Sunday, November 5, 2:30 PM
Pay-what-you-can tickets available in advance for patrons wishing to access audio-description services. Please call the box office at 416-975-8555 to reserve a headset.
A Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraiile co-production
Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools
written and performed by Evalyn Parry + Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
directed by Erin Brubacher
live video by Elysha Poirier
music by Cris Derksen + Evalyn Parry
lighting design by Rebecca Picherack
set design by Kaitlin Hickey
Previews: October 24 & 25
Opening Night: October 26
Closing Performance: November 5
Runs: Tues-Sat 8pm, Sun 2:30pm
Tickets: PWYC - $40
Box Office 416-975-8555 or buddiesinbadtimes.com
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto ON
Photo: Evalyn Parry and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory.
2017-08-10
Toronto: "Kiinalik: these Sharp Tools" premieres at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre October 24-November 5