This performance was presented on Facebook on July 11, 2020.

About the project

”Two Canoe” tracks a conversational dance between two rowers who debate whether they are paddling along in the same boat, or whether their separate boats are merely heading in the same direction. The virtually side-by-side performances both undermine and epitomize the confusion and heart ache at the core of this work: in what ways are the rowers very much together, and quite entirely apart? In a format that alludes to closeness while underscoring blatant separation, simultaneously streamed performances by the actors promise simulation of spatial nearness, veracity in temporal alignment, and true play within the closeness of being (almost) close.

Watch the project here: https://two-canoe.herokuapp.com/

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artists

Meagan Woods (Choreographer/Director)

About the project

Lorena is working with a group of immigrant women of different ages doing a mask workshops and storytelling workshops as a first phase of the project that has been completed.

Inspired by the stories of 4 women from different parts of the world, Brazil, Mexico, Chad, Algeria, Afghanistan, she created 4 characters and tries to portray in image and video the 4 stories of arriving to Canada in a poetical way…

Working in outside spaces due to COVID-19, Lorena makes use of masks and costumes to introduce you to these 4 different characters.

Meet the characters:

Bridge

Parking Lot

Numbers

Tracks

Look at Femmes d’ailleurs: (UN)D0CUM3NT3D‘s photo gallery below

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artist

Lorena Trigos studied dance, singing and arts in Mexico, finishing a degree in Interior Design, specializing in set design and events design. She is a graduate from the one-year program of Visual Arts in Emily Carr University in 2011 and graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada’s Set and Costume Design program, designing The Caucasian Chalk Circle directed by Michelin Chevrier, and Electre et Oreste directed by Sebastien David.

Lorena has designed in Montreal and Mexico and worked in several theatre projects in France and South America developing an artistic and social collective called Sin Palabras, non-verbal communication, where the use mask making and theatre of the oppressed to work with different vulnerable groups. In 2016 she developed a workshop called Caminando en el vacio one-month exploration with body masks, and puppets in Mexico City with La Quinta teatro theatre company and The Other Theatre with Stacey Christoldou based in Montreal. After that in 2017 going to Paris working in Centre France Terre d’ Asile giving a workshop with young migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Sudan, Nigeria and other countries.

She has designed for Theatre La Roulotte Les Docoulottes directed by Isabel Leblanc, Minuit for theatre Denis Peltier Salle Fred Barry directed by Lilie Bergeron, productions ondinnok, Tlakentli, directed by Yves Sioui, Theatre Lac Brome, and has been for 4 years Associate Program director for the program ARTISTA with Imago Theatre.

She is now working on a project through the DemArt program at CAM with Imago Theatre first creating-writing theatre piece using the social context and experiences she is living in her actual job at Macadam Sudas a street worker in Longueil, and the different reality of women and society just 10 minutes away from Montreal.

About the project

Becca Willow Moss is a Jewish actor, singer, writer and visual artist based in Toronto. In this piece, she explores the performativity of mourning in the context of her Jewish upbringing. Through mishigas*, Mourner’s Kaddish, mortality, and music, Shiva is inspired by Becca Willow’s one-woman show: Fried Onions.

*craziness

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artist

Becca Willow Moss is an advocate for using artistic outlets to express the emotional landscape contained within the body. As a singer, actor, writer, director, and photographer, she employs all art forms to communicate with others. Becca Willow is a classically trained soprano, having performed in North America, Europe, and Israel. After being nominated as an upcoming actor and writer on Canadian screens, sha has produced original works in Toronto, New York, and San Francisco. After graduating from university, her recent short films have brought her to festivals in New York and Los Angeles. Currently, she focuses on working with elderly members of various communities and exploring her heritage. Maintaining her mandate to tell honest stories, Becca Willow hopes her personal experiences will resonate with others.

About the project

A Waiting Space is an experimental 360-degree project that brings storytelling into the night sky through the stars. We spend a lot of time waiting but what are we waiting for? This video explores the idea and symbols of waiting.

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artist

Originally from Barrie Ontario, Elizabeth is a theatre creator specializing in stage management, lighting, and video design. As a multidisciplinary artist, she is interested in creating thought-provoking work across theatrical disciplines. She has a special passion for the visual manifestation of design elements on stage and loves to help facilitate the creation of magic, both on stage and off. Whether working in design or stage management, she is dedicated to telling the story in the most impactful and meaningful way possible. Through her career, Elizabeth’s goal is to give voice to as many stories as possible, inspiring, transporting, and challenging audiences and fellow artists across the country.

About the project

Can Lit Can Suck It is a play that confronts the white settler-centric narrative that has dictated the course of Canadian literature for years. The play seeks to challenge the cultural memory that surrounds the Canadian literature canon and ask questions about whose voices we hear and why.

Set in a hastily prepared virtual classroom in March 2020, a young TA is stuck teaching an exam review class. With the professor away, the students have a space to communicate their own opinions and feelings regarding the syllabus. Part comedy, part activism, part immersive theatre, Can Lit Can Suck It aims to call Canadians everywhere to think critically about what we as a country choose to remember and why.

Official poster of the show

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artists

Isabela Solis Lozano , Director & Producer (Co-Creator)

Isabela Solis-Lozano is an emerging theatre creator based in the liminal space between Toronto and Ottawa. She has developed plays with various playwriting groups such as the 2019 Emerging Creators Unit, funded by the Ottawa Arts Council, and Writers: Taking Flight through Fly the Nest Productions theatre company in Toronto. As a theatre director, Isabela has brought new, exciting works to life at the Youth Infringement Festival in Ottawa, and has adapted Sammy Paul’s short film, One Another, for the stage. Isabela graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts with Majors in English and Theatre in June 2019. Most recently, she has been pursuing a career in arts management . She has interned and worked on small projects for several theatre companies such as Nightwood Theatre, Qaggiavuut Performing Arts, and Soulpepper Theatre. Currently, Isabela is exploring the wonders of working from home at her first ”big-girl job” as the Toronto Fringe Festival’s new Emerging Festival Producer.

Ryan Pepper as the TA, playwright (Co-Creator)

Ryan Pepper is an Ottawa-based arts journalist and theatre critic turned playwright. He worked twice as the Arts and Culture editor at The Fulcrum, the University of Ottawa’s independent English-language student newspaper, as well as an editor at Apartment613, an award-winning arts and culture blog. Ryan has also written several theatre reviews for Capital Critics Circle. On three separate occasions Ryan participated in NASH, a four-day conference for student journalists hosted by the Canadian University Press. Ryan recently completed his degree at the University of Ottawa with an Honours Bachelor of Arts with a Specialization in English in December 2019 and will go on to start his master’s degree in English in September 2020. Within the Department of English, Ryan is the outgoing Vice-President, Internal Affairs for the Undergraduate English Students Association, as well as a founding member of Rhombus 19, an experimental sound poetry group. After years of seeing and reviewing plays, Ryan is currently writing his first-ever original play, set to debut at the 2020 Ottawa Fringe Festival.

Alicia Plummer as Donna

Alicia is an actor based in Toronto. She also enjoys playwriting, writing poetry, and writing music. She has had the pleasure of performing her own original songs at Dark Day Monday’s Boys, Amirite?! this past November. Some of her acting credits include: 20/20: Vision and 20/20: Golden Standard with Can’t Stand Sitting Productions; Rayna, In Your Hand with Mixed Company Theatre; Monique, How We Breathe at the Paprika Festival; and Territorial Tales with Canadian Stage. Alicia is very excited and thankful to be playing Donna in Can Lit Can Suck It with Other(ed) Productions this Spring!

Armon Ghaeinizadeh as Sam

Armon Ghaeinizadeh is a Toronto based Actor, Director, Choreographer, Producer and Creator. A recent graduate of the University of Toronto’s Drama Centre and the Artistic Director of New Story Productions. Most recently Armon performed as Mahyar in Winter of 88 (NNNNN) with Nowadays Theatre at the 2020 Next Stage Festival, as well as Prince Charming in TYT’S Cinderella for which he was also the choreographer. Favourite credits include Simon Marwane in Scorched Directed by Djanet Sears, Brown Boy in LEMON LEMON produced by New Story Productions, Ali Baba in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves at Globus Theatre and THOMAS in One Small Step. At the 2019 Toronto Fringe Armon recently Directed and Produced DEEP END a site specific production with New Story Productions and also performed in OFF THE ISLAND. Armon could not be happier to be joining the OTHER(ED) Productions team for his first ever virtual production for Can Lit Can Suck It.

Jaimie Henderson as Bayley

Jaimie Henderson is a graduate of the UC Drama program at the University of Toronto. She has been acting, singing, dancing and choreographing since she was three. She has danced and sang her way through the worlds of: Anne & Gilbert, Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Legally Blonde, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a classically trained actor Jaimie has also explored the complex lives of Nina (The Seagull), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), and Imogen (Cymbeline). With the world in the middle of a great pause, Jaimie is so excited to be able to ”play” even in a virtual space, which this group of artists.

Jill Goranson as Emilie

Born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta, Jill Goranson is a singer, dancer, and creator who is passionate about physical theatre, clown, and creating new works. Since graduating from Sheridan’s Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance Program, Jill has developed one-night-only Art Pop-Ups in Toronto with her colleagues Alexa MacDougall and Micheal Derworiz. Some of her recent creations include her one woman show, Sweaty, Bloated, and Stressed , and two physical theatre pieces performed at the Art Pop-Ups: blue and RED . Due to the spread of COVID-19, Jill has returned home to Alberta to be with her family and is so grateful for this team that is finding new ways to create within these strange times.

Linus Holmes as Colin

Linus Holmes is an actor from Gloucestershire, England. He has acting credits in such plays as Inherit the Wind, Another Country, Richard the Third, and Our Country’s Good.

Click here to watch a recording of the live performance!

About the project

After This is a show about loneliness, about being alone with yourself — within a community or without. Part audio documentary, part verbatim theatre production, After This is a creative compilation of phone interviews with students, parents, professionals and seniors in Canada and abroad. These interviews were conducted by playwright Katie Clarke in April and May 2020, during the period of social isolation prompted by COVID-19. This theatrical short film asks us to consider what it means to be alone, to be lonely and to be isolated. After This also examines community: its creation, the different forms it may take and how it is sustained. While we are alone, while we stay at home, what does it mean to be in a community? When does a community, or company, become claustrophobic? What does it mean to escape — and where will we escape to?

This project received financial support from the National Theatre School of Canada via the Art Apart program, an emergency fund for emerging artists who are affected by physical distancing due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

About the artists

Katie is a playwright and poet living in Halifax. She studies Psychology and Contemporary Studies at the University of King’s College as a LORAN scholar. Passionate about women’s rights and mental health, she uses poetry and playwriting as a site for social change and difficult dialogue. Katie has written two full-length plays, both of which focus on conflicting narratives of sex, sexuality and identity. Women’s Issues, Katie’s first play, was staged at the University of King’s College in January 2019 and was restaged at Halifax Fringe in September 2019. Her second play, Will You Taste Our Blood, is a feminist re-examination of Euripedes’ The Bacchae which addresses hook-up culture, sexuality and sexual violence. Will You Taste Our Blood was first staged at the University of King’s College in March 2020. In After This, Katie uses verbatim theatre, documentary audio and film to investigate themes of community, care, discomfort and loneliness.

Benjamin Burchell

Benjamin Burchell is a twenty-year-old Halifax local studying Theatre and Acting at Dalhousie university. This is the second production Benjamin has taken part in under the direction of Katie Clarke with the first being Will you Taste Our Blood; a play in which modern rape culture is juxtaposed with the sexualized cults of ancient Greece. Benjamin made his post-secondary acting debut at the University of King’s college with his role as King Aegeus in the King’s Theatre Society’s production of Medea directed by Adrianna Vanos. Benjamin was initially excited to partake in a production in this format with the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and hopes to be a part of more unique productions like this one.

Tessa Hill

Tessa is a second-year student majoring in English and Contemporary Studies at the University of King’s College and an artist who works in various mediums. Her short films have screened and garnered recognition internationally. During her time at King’s, she has gotten involved in the theatre community, acting in a production of Euripides’ Medea and Katie Clarke’s piece Will You Taste Our Blood. Tessa is very excited to be a part of After This and its vision of pandemic theatre-making!

Adriana Loewen

Adriana Loewen is an actor and director living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A recent graduate of the Theatre program at Dalhousie University, some of her favourite past projects have been performing in Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes (KTS 2018), Women’s Issues (Halifax Fringe 2019), and Concord Floral (DMV 2019).

David Woroner

David Woroner is an actor and director who has worked in theatre and film for several years. David’s most recent work includes An Orchid and Other Such Lilies and Lies (BodyCube Art’s Collective) at Toronto Fringe and the Atlantic Fringe Festival, Women’s Issues (Dir. Katie Clarke) at Atlantic Fringe, Concord Floral (DMV Theatre), as well as many other credits as both an actor and director with The King’s Theatrical Society and other independent companies. David has also acted in several films, most recently The Lockpicker (Dir. Randall Okita) which premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2016. David recently graduated with a joint degree from The University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies with honours, and a minor in the Early Modern Studies Program. David is also starting a Master of Fine Arts in Directing at the University of Alberta this fall.

Jessica Hannaford

Jessica Hannaford is a second year student at the University of King’s College. She was very involved with her high school musical theatre productions. She played Little Red in her high school performance of Into The Woods in 2016 as well as Mrs. Corry in Mary Poppins in 2018. Last Year, she was part of the chorus in her university’s performance of Euripides’ Medea. She also played Clark in Katie Clarke’s play, Will You Taste Our Blood. She’s very excited to be a part of another one of Katie Clarke’s productions!

James Ersil

James Ersil is so excited to be a part of their third theatre project written by Katie Clarke. Previously seen in Women’s Issues and Will You Taste Our Blood, they are thrilled to be able to navigate this new theatrical format. An acting student at Dalhousie, they are glad to be a part of any and all theatre during this time of social isolation. They hope that you enjoy After This, and that it brings you some sense of community and comfort.

Hannah Peres

Hannah is entering her fourth year at the University of King’s College, where she is studying Economics and History of Science and Technology. She enjoys acting in and viewing plays produced by the King’s Theatrical Society (KTS) and was cast in a production of “Him”, by E.E. Cummings pre-Covid19 closures in April. This summer, she is spending time biking to Value Village and reading by the ocean. Hannah wants to thank Katie for including her in this project, and for keeping her voice down during the initial phone interviews when they were roommates and she was trying to get a nap in. Thanks Katie!

Moneesha “Misha” Bakshi

Moneesha “Misha” Bakshi is an Indian-American Actor for theatre, film, and voiceover. Originally from Greeneville, Tennessee, Misha has just finished her 3rd year with the Fountain School of Performing Arts, Dalhousie University, where she studies acting as part of her master plan to become a C-list celebrity. Proudly bisexual, and proudly a woman of color, Misha strives to make theatre that reflects the lived experiences or herself and all other marginalized people. Previous Theatre Credits include: EVIL (Halifax Fringe), 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Dal Theatre), Ephemera (FSPA), Onion Play (Villains Theatre).

Marlee Sansom

Marlee is a 20-year-old student currently attending the University of King’s College. There she has been involved in many productions with the Kings theatrical society such as Peter Fechter 59 minutes, Hamlet, Puppet Prince of Denmark and Women’s Issues. Last year she was involved in her first Halifax Fringe festival continuing her role in Women’s Issues, written and directed by Katie Clarke. Marlee is excited for you to see her debut online quarantine theatre performance and hopes you enjoy watching on the comfiest theatre seats yet, your couch!

Keely Olstad

Keely Olstad is an actor/designer/director/wearer of many hats in Theatre and occasionally Film. Recent work includes Little Death (Kings Theatrical Society 2020, Dir. Daniel Halpern), Hamlet: Puppet Prince of Denmark (KTS 2019, Dir. Jack Smith).