Greenhouse Effected is an experimental theatre piece to be created based on Exxon Mobil’s greenhouse gas study, which was internally disseminated in 1981 and released to the public in 2015. A mix of contemporary classical music, choral speaking, absurd and poetic text, and a fusion of technical designs will submerge participants in the conscience of a climate researcher who, despite their responsibility for the greater good, chooses to keep quiet about their discoveries regarding climate change.

The performance will explore the relationship between corporate greed and the push for individual responsibility for climate change rather than a collective fight. Greenhouse Effected will be a chance to collectively mourn the health of our planet and dream of ways we can come together to fight our climate impact as a society.

Ryan Wilcox is a queer, multidisciplinary artist with a love of collective creation. Their goal in theatre is to create a catalytic environment for new Canadian work that focuses on the voices that have yet to be heard and the questions that have yet to be answered. Through their training in production design and technical arts (NTS, 2020), they hope to enhance the creative companies they work with by using collaborative approaches that see beyond the traditional structures of theatre. Before attending NTS, Ryan completed Dalhousie University’s Technical Scenography program.

While at the National Theatre School, Ryan trained under the guidance of inspirational artists such as David-Alexandre Chabot, Brian Kenny, Maria Popoff, Craig Putt, Andrea Lundy, Rick Rinder and Debashis Sinha, among many others. On productions, Ryan has worked as a stage manager, lighting designer, and sound designer while collaborating with such acclaimed directors as Eda Holmes, Danielle Irvine and Krista Jackson.

Ryan worked on sound design for Little Thing Big Thing (Neptune Theatre), Penny’s Home Projects (Alinea Theatre), and The PEACE Project (Transitus Theatre). Ryan was also an apprentice stage manager for the Festival Antigonish and a stage manager for The Colour of Courage (Anthony Sherwood Productions).

She/They was produced at Nextfest in June and in the Edmonton Fringe in August. It is a two-hander, and Madi performed in it alongside a local artist from Edmonton. The play was part of Nextfest’s MainStage lineup, which guarantees three performances at that Festival, and will receive 7-8 performances at the Fringe.

Synopsis

Famed feminist author Agnes Arnold has been cancelled and doxed. Gender studies major Pearl Arnold has been dumped and shattered. Pearl has no time to process their breakup because Agnes, their grandmother, is moving in. Full of hope that her grand-“daughter” will validate her outdated and bigoted opinions, Agnes is shocked when Pearl pushes back. Soon, they launch into a debate about feminism and gender, but as the political becomes personal, both Agnes and Pearl confront the truth that they are far from ready to admit.

In this project, a group of 10 students (ages eight to 16 years old) will be invited to participate in several parts of a puppetry design and workshopping process. Students will learn puppet-building techniques and be introduced to part of a theatre creation process conducted by a collective of theatre professionals. Theatre students will gain first-hand experience of the process of creating a work of puppetry, including theatre-making, writing and performance workshopping. They will also get hands-on experience in the design and creation of large puppets. Their contributions to the creative process will help make the show a hit with young audiences.

Murdoch Schon is a theatre maker, director, and puppeteer who graduated from the NTS Directing program in 2020. Winnipeg-born, they have been involved in the Montreal English theatre scene for almost a decade. Murdoch is fascinated by provocation, vulnerability and the role of risk and failure in art-making. Murdoch believes that theatre rises to its true power through the practices of ritual liminality, community and imagination. Murdoch is enamoured with scale, the breadth and sweep of history. They insist on the wondrous nature of theatre as a transformative space where rulers can fail, heroes can rise, and monsters seem more familiar than angels.

Mentors at NTS: Jackie Maxwell, Tanja Jacobs, Lezlie Wade, Michael Wheeler, Sarah Garton Stanley, Clea Minaker, Dean Fleming, Seana McKenna, Jean Asselin, Eda Holmes, and Rose Plotek.

Their directing credits include it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now by Lucy Kirkwood, The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter, Celestial Serendipity by Russell Wiitala, The Woods Witch by Murdoch Schon, and Little One by Hannah Moscovitch. Murdoch also has a BFA specialization in theatre and development from Concordia University.