Streaming for free on YouTube.

Conceived by Oliver Ward, Dennis Nicholson and André Sills.

Various episodes written by Oliver Ward, Dennis Nicholson and André Sills

Directed by Dennis Nicholson

Cast: André Sills

Oliver Ward

A terrific YouTube series about two private investigators on the case. Funny, moving and fearless in tackling hard subjects like racism, respect for others, what is the worst film ever made, the ‘N-word’ white fragility and the politics of fried chicken. Brilliant in every way.

Private Idiots is a nine-part YouTube series thatwas conceived by Oliver Ward, Dennis Nicholson and André Sills and is a perfect antidote to COVID-19 and lockdown.

It’s a series of nine short episodes, no more than six minutes each that were filmed for YouTube. The series was created by Oliver Ward (actor and film maker), Dennis Nicholson (who directs the episodes) and André Sills a theatre actor who has done a lot of work at Shaw, Stratford and in Toronto. The three creators also wrote some of the episodes and Oliver Ward and André Sills star in each episode.

The premise is that Boise Jobs (Oliver Ward) and Steve Mann (André Sills) are private investigators who usually spend their time trying to get photos of cheating husbands, etc.

But then they get a contract from a pharmaceutical company for four months work at twice their usual money, to follow a scientist who was fired from the pharmaceutical company and might be shopping the formula of a COVID vaccine to other parties.

Each episode takes place in Steve’s car (it’s also Steve’s private investigating company). Boise is either getting food for the two of them or being reprimanded by Steve for something insensitive that he (Boise) did or said. Boise works for Steve.

Each episode is hilarious. The language is punchy, sharp, irreverent, full of swearing and when you least expect it, literary allusions.  There are also serious aspects to each episode.  We get this right from the first episode, “Code Switching” (written by Oliver Ward). That first episode establishes so much about the characters, their worlds, their concerns and the way the world treats them.  

Boise is bearded, white, easy-going and a bit thoughtless and insensitive. Steve is Black, often impatient with Boise, has a moral centre and is sensitive to racism and any kind of thoughtlessness. For example,  Boise mimics the accent of the people who run the South Asian take-out where he gets their butter chicken etc. Steve berates him saying it’s disrespectful. But then Boise notes that in various phone conversations Steve has, his voice and manner change.  Steve explains that this is “Code Switching”—depending on who he is talking to on the phone, he assumes a different voice:

quiet and obedient when talking to his mother; bright and almost ‘white sounding (formal)’ when talking to the person who hired them, and then in a thick patois slang when talking to a black friend.

Steve says that “Code Switching is when you change your essence depending on who you are with or talking too”. Steve says he usually does this (talk with utmost respect in certain cases) so that “white people feel safe and comfortable.”  Boise tries that chirpy, formality with a new client but Steve suggests that Boise doesn’t have to do that kind of Code Switching performance because he’s already white.

In that first episode Steve laments that he’s tired of the kind of cases they get: lowly, cheating husbands etc. and figured that at this point in his life he would be farther ahead by now. Then Boise remembers that he has a lead for a new case from a pharmaceutical company for a four-month contract at twice their regular rate. It seems the pharmaceutical company heard how Steve and Boise solved another case and wanted them to take on this new one.

Let’s unpack this slowly, shall we? Without hitting us over the head at the inequity of the worlds of whites and Blacks writer Oliver Ward establishes that the pharma company assumes that Boise runs the private investigators company because he’s white and that Steve works for him, because he’s Black. We know the opposite is true. And imagine it: Boise gets the biggest case of the company and he forgets to tell Steve until Steve’s laments about the lowly jobs they get.

I love the subtlety of the writing throughout the series because it’s full of glints of such telling information that just slides into place without fanfare or comment, just waiting for us ‘to get it.”

There is an episode entitled simply “The twenty-fifth of May.” It is the most moving, serious episode. It’s written by André Sills. We all know that is the date that George Floyd was killed. The tone of the episode is somber.

Steve is alone in the car listening to the news of what happened to George Floyd that day.  When Boise gets in the car Steve quickly turns off the radio. Boise tries to awkwardly give comfort: “Steve, my brother….” (Steve): “Don’t do that! Not today. I can’t.”

Boise tries again and says:  “Steve, my friend, I just want you to know, I’ve got your back.” which seems better. But then Steve tries to enlighten Boise about white fragility, racism, and what is going on in the world if you are Black. That episode makes you suck air and let it out slowly.

I love that the writers don’t shy away from the awkward stuff, and I loved that there is so much subtle wisdom in each episode.  I love that the character of Steve shows people of different ethnicities respect and reprimands Boise when he doesn’t get it. Over the course of the series we see the issues that Steve has had to endure as a Black man and how he’s savvy about the world he works in. Boise makes strides slowly to be a more sensitive person.

The chemistry between Oliver Ward as Boise and André Sills as Steve is terrific. They banter, spar and lob jokes and insults that is terrific to see. And I can’t remember laughing so hard at anything; doubled over, gasping for air, getting lightheaded, and sobbing as quickly when matters turned serious.

Privae Idiots is wonderful.

Private Idiots streams on YouTube:

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I’ve written often about the endless font of creativity that is Arkady Spivak, the Artistic Producer of Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. Aside from producing some of the best theatre around pre-pandemic, he produced The Plural of She, a festival of plays and productions by women and female-identifying artists, that took place in private back yards last summer; he created a three year commitment to actors that would guarantee them contracts and a wage; he had private readings for actors to give them work and some income; and to provide stimulus for local restaurants he came up with a scheme for dinner and zoomed play reading called Dinner á la Art.

As Arkady Spivak describes it: “People had to either dine in (from the moment we announced to recent lock-down), have delivered, picked up a meal from a locally owned restaurant in Barrie, Collingwood, Orillia or Midland. They could also buy a gift certificate or donate a meal to a stranger at a rest’s choice. Those from away took advantage of the last two options. When they did any of the options and spent at least $30 on the dinner itself, they received a free link (of the reading) from Talk is Free theatre. So the theatre part itself was free.”

The readings took place last week from April 7-11, a reading per evening. The Series was curated by Richard Ouzounian, who also directed and adapted three of the readings. The conditions were that the plays had to be in the public domain and they had to be cut to 90 minutes playing time.

The readings were: Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw, Riot by Andrew Moodie, She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, Bright Lights by Kat Sandler and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The casts were stellar; a combination of notable international names, leading Canadian actors and up and coming artists to keep an eye on; names such as: Ed Asner, Len Cariou, Cyntia Dale, Alexis Gordon, Eric McCormack, Noah Beemer, Brandon Chandler, Glynis Ranney, Mike Nadajewski, Chilina Kennedy, Malindi Ayienga, Gabi Epstein, Colin Mochrie and Amy Keating, among others.    The results were splendid on the whole with a few murky sound issues that were resolved quickly. The readings were accomplished, the stories were clear and the humour and drama were expertly realized. It was a wonderful initiative to help the restaurants of the local areas around Barrie, Ont. and of course to provide these artists with the opportunity to use their skills.

More of these initiatives will no doubt be coming from Talk Is Free Theatre soon. Watch this space for details.

www.tift.ca

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Monday, April 12-25, 2021.

Streaming for free and on demand from the Goodman Theatre, in Chicago

Smokefall

Written Noah Haidle

Directed by Anne Kauffman

Violet is pregnant with twins. The twins in the womb discuss whether or not they want to be born in a perilous world. Violet must also face challenges. A play about the fragility of life and the power of love.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Streaming on the Broadway HD site.

2 Pianos 4 Hands

A Canadian classic by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt about the joys and disappointments of learning to play the piano and eventually loving it.

Heart squeezing.  

Wednesday, April 14-20 2021.

Streaming from Harbourfront Centre.

More Than Dance, We Are A Movement

Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with Digidance, presents the Canadian premiere of More Than Dance, We Are A Movement, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of contemporary Indigenous innovators, Red Sky Performance.The film will stream in Canada April 14-20, 2021.

Recognized nationally and internationally as one of Canada’s most prolific and acclaimed creators of contemporary Indigenous works, Red Sky Performance is lauded for its impactful, interdisciplinary works informed by an Indigenous worldview. Red Sky Performance moves beyond dance to elicit meaningful change surrounding the narrative of Indigenous arts and culture in Canada and beyond.

Including interviews with Executive and Artistic Director Sandra Laronde (she is a powerhouse of creativity) and her company of collaborators, the film offers an intimate and insightful look into the company’s singular artistic vision—creating contemporary works rooted in Indigenous storytelling traditions.

The film premiere features excerpts from two award-winning creations: Trace, a highly kinetic dance work inspired by Anishinaabe sky and star stories, and Miigis, which breathes life into origin stories of travel from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes.

Link for tickets: https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/digidance

Thursday, April 15, 2021, 8:00 pm

Streaming for free from Classic Stage Company in New York.

Tell the Story.

Thursday, April 15, 2021.

Stratford@Home

The Stratford Festival offers archival films of past productions, plus wonderful initiatives such as:

Undiscovered Sonnets where three sonneteers listen to the love story of real couples and fashion a sonnet at the end of the ‘show’.

Up Close and Musical is a concert series created and directed by Richard Ouzounian. Past singers have been Cynthia Dale, Vanessa Sears, Marcus Nance, Robert Markus, Alexis Gordon, Robert Ball and Chilina Kennedy.

Please check the Stratford Festival website for details at www.stratfordfestival.ca

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Streaming until April 25 from Prairie Theatre Exchange.

By Hannah Moscovitch

Directed by Thomas Morgan Jones

Set, props, costumes by Brian Perchaluk

Lighting by Scott Henderson

Sound by jaymez

Filmed by Ice River Films

Cast: Alicia Johnston

Kristian Jordan

Arne MacPherson

Stephanie Sy

Observation: While this pandemic has closed our beloved theatres for in person playgoing, it has provided those resourceful theatre-makers with a chance to make their productions available digitally. I’m grateful to have seen digital productions from the National Theatre in London, various productions from the Dublin International Theater Festival, Under the Radar Festival in New York, Lincoln Center Theater productions, also in New York.  

But I’m happiest to be able to see so much from across Canada because of new technology.  Bravo to the Belfry in Victoria, B.C. for creating Being Here: The Refugee Project; the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for its Grand Acts of Theatre; The Stratford Festival for its @Home offerings of Up Close and Musical, Undiscovered Sonnets, Leer Estates and various archived productions; the many panels and smart readings from (Dinner á la Art—readings of Heartbreak House, Riot, She Stoops to Conquer) Talk Is Free Theatre in Barrie, and Katharsis, Yvette Nolan’s wonderful ode to the theatrefrom the Prairie Theatre Exchange.  Prairie Theatre Exchange is also presenting Hannah Moscovitch’s new play Post-Democracy until April 25.  

A bristling examination of the murky world of big business when money seduces everybody and ethics and integrity are kicked to the curb, written by Hanna Moscovitch whose laser vison doesn’t miss a thing.

From the play information: “Welcome to the world of the 1%, the corporate elite, the “C-suite” – the “king-makers” whose influence flows through every aspect of our lives virtually unnoticed. When a CEO and his top executives are on a business trip for a major deal, a damaging sex scandal at the company is unearthed back home. As the pressure to complete the deal mounts, more secrets come to the surface, endangering the CEO’s company, his family, and his legacy. What happens to morality when human beings have limitless power?”

The Story. Bill is the CEO of a large company. Lee is his COO. Bill’s adopted daughter Justine, the company’s CFO, is also there, as is Shannon, a public relations person with the company. Lee is her boss and he’s attracted to her, although Bill has warned Lee about not giving into his urges with Shannon. They are in a poor South American city to sign a deal and buy a manufacturing company named Systemus. There is trouble at home. Bill keeps checking his cell-phone for information. It seems a Brand Manager has been sexually harassing or compromising his female assistants and the issue must be contained even though the press seems to know about it.

At the same time Bill learns that although Lee just arrived the evening before, he had sex with a young woman who was sent to his room, and who probably was underage. When this information is revealed, Lee doesn’t see any problem as it is a third world problem and the young woman was just a whore. Justine appears to have a moral compass. She does extensive charity work in Africa. She is aware of the toxic company culture and is intent on stopping it. To that end she wants her father Bill to fire Lee. Bill won’t do it for reasons that are eventually revealed. Justine is appeased in a way that is all too familiar in such cases. Everybody knows everybody’s secrets and either ignore them or use them for their own advantage later.

For Hannah Moscovitch to name the company they want to buy, Systemus, is Moscovitch winking at how close it is to the word “systemic’ which is how pervasive the rot is in Bill’s company and the company he wants to buy.  

The Production. Brian Perchaluk has designed a set that adheres to COVID protocols for safety for the cast.  There are three separate platforms on which the four characters will engage. When two actors have to be on one of the platforms at the same time, director Thomas Morgan Jones stages them so that a lot of space separates them, for the most part. The furnishings are minimal but suggest a high-end hotel. There is a large, black leather chair on the stage-left platform, a well-stocked drinks trolley on the middle platform and two padded benches on the stage-left and right platforms.

Scott Henderson’s lighting illuminates the bases of the platforms in many colours. It is both garish yet striking. Bill and Lee wear suits; Justine and Shannon wear form-fitting dresses and heels. They all dress for success and business.

Bill spends most of his time peering into his cell-phone checking e-mails and texts or replying to them, while Lee tries to get his attention. As Bill, Arne MacPherson is taciturn, watchful, and cool. It’s a nice touch from Thomas Morgan Jones to have Bill looking down at his phone, while Lee, played with barely concealed impatience by Kristian Jordan, waits. Bill called the meeting for 6:00 am and Lee has had a bad night. Lee is edgy, pushy, monosyllabic. He wrangles with Justine, played with moral outrage by Stephanie Sy, is insulting to her in front of Bill. It’s obvious Lee has no conscience. Rounding out the cast is Alicia Johnston as Shannon, a woman with a family history who should, one thinks, be receptive to protecting the women in the company from the predators such as the Brand Manager. But Alicia Johnston plays her with the grit and clinkered gaze of someone who goes after what she wants.

Hannah Moscovitch’s characters in Post-Democracy speak in blunt language. Lee’s dialogue is a sting of monosyllabic words that jolt out. These are people who don’t converse in paragraphs because their communication is generally from a cell-phone screen. At times the dialogue is reminiscent of David Mamet, but with Mamet his characters are inarticulate. With Moscovitch her characters are in a hurry for the deal and power and don’t have time for chit-chat.

Thomas Morgan Jones has created a cool, controlled production in which every gesture is a way of getting control over somebody else by keeping them waiting to speak, wanting someone to fire somebody else, and getting an edge.  

Comment. Hannah Moscovitch has written a devastating play in which she puts her laser perception and focus on the toxic culture in big business; where money is more important than morality; conscience, integrity and ethics are laughed at in favour of making a deal at all cost. Moscovitch so immerses you in this world you might want to take a shower after seeing it. The power of the play is that you will be thinking about it long after you see it, and you should see it.

Post-Democracy streams through Prairie Theatre Exchange until April 25.

For tickets click: https://www.pte.mb.ca/performances/Post-democracy

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Part of the Factory Theatre free Satellite Season, Audio Drama series called You Can’t Get There From Here.

Written by Matthew Mackenzie

Directed by Nina Lee Aquino

Cast: Christine Horne

Craig Lauzon

The First Métis Man of Odessa by Matthew MacKenzie, is the second audio drama from Factory Theatre’s audio dramas series called You Can’t Get There From Here. Three more audio dramas will play over the next three weeks; five dramas in five weeks all together.

After hearing Sisters by Anusree Roy last week, and The First Métis Man of Odessa this week, it’s clear that the line, “You Can’t Get There From Here” must appear in each of the five audio dramas. The lines seem innocuous but then they become vivid when you hear them in their different contexts.

The First Métis Man of Odessa is about Matt, a Canadian playwright who is in Ukraine for a project and meets Masha, an actress who is involved in the project. Sparks fly. There is an attraction. They spend a lot of time together along with the rest of the cast while he is in Ukraine, But Matt and Masha always seem to end up talking long after their colleagues leave. When the project is over Matt has to return to Canada. Matt and Masha keep in touch. She comes to visit him in Tkaronto—Toronto and they get closer.This is a year ago in March. When she returns home she realizes she’s pregnant. Matt is determined to marry Masha but then COVID happens and they are separated.

This audio drama illuminates the absolute determination, hilarity and frustration of a modern romance in COVID times. How can this be hilarious? This is Matthew MacKenzie writing. He’s got a sly sense of humour and a quirky way of looking at the world. Please reference his other plays: Bears, After the Fire and The Particulars for evidence of the man’s gifts.

So while he leaves you breathless with all the complications of getting flights to Ukraine, hoping the papers are in order, not being stopped by COVID, getting the papers to marry Masha, getting Masha’s papers in order to bring her to Canada to give birth, and getting her health card before the baby is born, he is funny and sweet and cheerful in meeting every single complication.

And it’s a true story.

It’s about Matthew MacKenzie’s adventures in Ukraine where he met his future wife (he changed the name to Masha for the purposes of this piece). As an audio drama it starts leisurely enough, and then goes like the wind.

Craig Lauzon plays Matt. Christine Horne plays Masha. They alternate lines so that each gives their own perspective on the story.

Nina Lee Aquino directs this with meticulous attention and a swift pace as matters become more and more fraught—will Masha be allowed in the country—will she be allowed in the hospital—the emergency door seems to be locked.

It’s a sweet story of love and determination. And to find out what happens give a listen…..

The First Métis Man of Odessa plays on Apple podcasts or Spotify,

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By Lewis Carroll

Adapted by Fiona Sauder for Bad Hats

Directed by Sue Miner

Musical director, Reza Jacobs

Co-composed by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko

Choreographed by Cameron Carver

Lighting by Logan Raju Cracknell

Costume Designer, Ming Wong

Cast: Tess Benger

Landon Doak

Phoebe Hu

Richard Lam

Jacob MacInnis

Matt Pilipiak

Fiona Sauder

Vanessa Sears

Jonathan Tan

Delightful, pointed, of our world and embracing of difference.

NOTE:  Because the rules for theatre performance and streaming seem to change instantly, Bad Hats Theatre had to shift to filming Alice in Wonderland and not live streaming it. The company observed all sorts of health protocols to be safe.  Distances were established between actors and moveable plexiglass frames separated actors. If actors were already in their own bubble then they could act with a partner without a separation.  Those are the logistics.

CURIOUS NOTE: I found it interesting (puzzling??) that Lewis Carroll’s name is not mentioned anywhere in the program or the added activity book as the ‘author’ of the original Alice story. Fiona Sauder is noted as the ‘adaptor’ but not mentioned is the source material she adapted. Curious. The Program title only lists “Bad Hats’ Alice in Wonderland. Ok, perhaps it’s because Lewis Carroll never wrote something called Alice in Wonderland. He in fact wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Is this hair-splitting, or what? (and with no hair cuts we have a lot of hairs to split.) OK, I’m giving credit below where it’s due.

The Story. Lewis Carrol’s beloved, whimsical classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been adapted and created for our contemporary times by Fiona Sauder, the Artistic Director of Bad Hats Theatre. The result is Alice in Wonderland, a filmed family musical, presented by Soulpepper.

The whimsy is still there but it also reflects many of the changes in our world that have happened over the time of the pandemic and before; I’m thinking of Black Lives Matter and gender fluidity and how one acknowledges that.

In this version, Alice is a precocious young girl who is endlessly curious and inquisitive. She asks questions about everything in her class of young kids. Her teacher, Mr. Charles has to remind her that that particular day they are only focusing on answers, not questions. Alice is still not satisfied and when she persists in asking more questions, Mr. Charles moves Alice’s desk  away from the other kids so she won’t be so disruptive. But we get the measure of Alice’s imagination and curiosity when she looks out the window and sees clouds and imagines they look like animals.  Which leads her to imagine a rabbit which then sends her down the rabbit hole and into a different world.

It is basically the same once we get into wonderland. We have the Mad Rabbit who is always late, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Cheshire Cat and the Red Queen. But in this version Alice’s real life in her class with her school friends melds into her imagined adventures in Wonderland. For example, Mr. Charles is the harried teacher trying to keep order especially with Alice. He becomes the Rabbit who is late. Alice’s classmates become other characters. Ruby, the smartest, most eager kid in the class becomes the confident, imperious Red Queen.

The character of the Cheshire Cat seems to have been roaming in that classroom before Alice transitioned—so maybe the cat was the class pet? Curious? Alice still has to negotiate Wonderland: to find her way along eight squares and then earn the right to be the Queen.  She was coached along the way of the many riddles by Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

And it’s a musical.  This company is so gifted with imagination and talent. (They did a splendid version of Peter Pan a few years ago for Soulpepper).  Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko co-composed the show and it’s full of wit, an intoxicating score and lyrics that reflect the upheaval in this wonderland as well as in the real world. And Fiola Sauder’s adaptation also reflects that juxtaposition between both worlds.

The Red Queen as played fearlessly by Vanessa Sears, instills the Red Queen with whole lot of confidence. At one point the Red Queen is instructing Alice on the rules and how to be a Queen.

So she sings about taking charge:

“So you think you wanna ba a Queen…

You gotta work the system, play within it

Words of wisdom work within em’

Wait to finish, don’t diminish

You’ll need a whole lot of nerve….

Take what you earn, don’t brake and don’t burn

They want service…

From fist’ll just make em  nervous

When they get nervous they wanna hurt us

Take back our space like we don’t deserve trust.

Gotta be cool. Gotta be cool. These are the Queen’s rules.”

The lyrics initially speak to being confident but then they get more pointed and seem to be subtly referring to something deeper—that reference to “When they get nervous they wanna hurt us, take back our space like we don’t deserve trust” is going into a whole deeper area reflected by this Queen.

Vanessa Sears is a powerhouse singer/actress. She is also Black. I think those lyrics are referencing Black Lives Matter and the issues that have been brought up this past year. Taking their place, their space and to be seen. Powerful.

The Red Queen says that Alice can be a Queen. But the way that Vanessa Sears plays the Red Queen is full of confidence, maturity and wisdom of a certain world that Alice doesn’t know about. And Tess Benger plays Alice as innocent, precocious and experiences a different world from this particular Red Queen. I loved the juxtaposition.

At another point in the show, there is a fuzzy caterpillar that envelopes itself in a cape-like cocoon. A question is asked:  “what happens to the caterpillar?” And the answer is: “They became a butterfly.” The character of the caterpillar is played by Jacob MacInnis who uses the pronoun “they” as one of their pronouns.  Writer Fiona Sauder goes deeper into the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland to reflect the changing world we all live in now. I think that’s terrific.

Matt Pilipiak plays Mr. Charles as an engaging if harried teacher, and is an anxious, but endearing Rabbit who always feels he’s late. As the Cheshire Cat, who is both in the classroom and in Wonderland, Jonathan Tan is a poem of grace and kindness to Alice and the smile is never overplayed.

Sue Miner has directed this with an intoxicating whimsy. Desks are moved and frames are used to change scenes and reflect a reflective world. And with endless imagination Sue Miner as the director, and Robert Metcalfe and Links Live Media use simple film techniques to suggest Alice is growing or diminishing is size.

To suggest Alice is growing, the camera angle shoots ‘up’ with Alice’s head out of the frame because it can’t contain her whole body. To suggest she is smaller Alice is filed from above, downward thus making her look small. There are other shots with other characters up stage and in perspective that give off different effects in size. Clever.

This is a dandy production of Alice in Wonderland from Bad Hats that reflects our changing world, and will appeal to families on many levels.

Alice in Wonderland can be seen until April 18, 2021 at:

www.soulpepper.ca

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Monday, April 5, 2021.

From the Mint Theatre, in New York City,

Streaming for free until April 18, 2021

Wednesday, April, 7, 2021 7:00 pm

Reading of:

Heartbreak House.

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Streaming for free.

Produced by Nightwood Theatre, Native Earth Theatre Company and conceived by New Harlem Productions by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard.

Idea conceived by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard.

Written by:  Reneltta Arluk,

Tara Beagan,

Yolanda Bonnell,

Darla Contois,

Aria Evans, 

Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight,

Jessica Lea Fleming,

Falen Johnson,

Émilie Monnet,

Yvette Nolan,

Michelle Olson,

jaye simpson

Directed by: Cole Alvis

Jessica Carmichael

Katie German

Sound Design and Composition by Olivia Shortt and Cosette Pin

Multimedia Interpretations by Kaylyn and Kassiday Bernard of Patuo’kn.

Art work: Natalie Sappier,

Cast: Cole Alvis

Reneltta Arluk

Tara Beagan

Samantha Brown

Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight

Monique Mojica

Joelle Peters

Tara Sky

Michaela Washburn

Embodying Power and Place is a huge endeavor produced by Nightwood Theatre, Native Earth Theatre Company and conceived by New Harlem Productions, specifically Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. It dramatizes the 2019 Final Report of the Federal Commission on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls entitled Reclaiming Power and Place.

The Report is a two-part, 12 chaptered, hefty document. In 2020 over a dozen artists from a wide range of disciplines were commissioned by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, of New Harlem Productions, to read and create a response to specific chapters of the report. The digital result is entitled: Embodying Power and Place.

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Part of the You Can’t Get There From Here initiative of audio plays from Factory Theatre,

Sisters

By Anusree Roy

Directed by Nina Lee Aquino

Sound design by Debashis Sinha

Cast: Ryan Hollyman

Gabriella Sundar Singh

Mirabella Sundar Singh

Rai, her sister Millie and their widower father have only been in Canada (Toronto) for six months. Their father is going for a job interview that evening. Money is tight and the sisters have to watch every nickel.

The audio drama opens with the sisters going to a laundromat near Islington and Lakeshore  to do the laundry and dream about what they will order at Tim Hortons when their father gets a job. Tim Hortons is the epitome of being a Canadian and the young women want to fit in.

A beggar comes into the laundromat ‘asking’ for money: “Dollar, dollar, gimme a dollar.” The sisters say they don’t have any money and try and tell him to go away. He seems to recognize one of them and accuses her of stealing, becoming angry when she denies it. Both sisters are appalled and run and hide in the bathroom, locking the door after them. The beggar is determined to confront the sister and bangs and bangs on the door. Matters are fraught.

Playwright Anusree Roy has written eloquently about various experiences of south Asians (as immigrants, feeling a sense of displacement etc.) in such plays as: Pyaasa, Letters to My Grandma, Little Pretty and the Exceptional, Brothel #9, and Trident Moon.

Anusree Roy is such a gifted writer that she does not allow us to have any preconceptions about anything. In Sisters she has again created the vivid world of an immigrant family. The sisters are devoted to each other and their father, and there is no hint of judgement between the sisters about what seems to have happened here. The beggar appears belligerent  in his begging: (“Dollar, dollar, gimme a dollar) but doesn’t steel any money from the sisters. And he has a sense of justice when he accuses one of the sisters of stealing, when we learn why he’s made the accusation. While he uses a pejorative term for a woman to describe one of the sisters, he is never racist.  Because of her choices Roy makes the audience delve deeper in its perceptions of the situation.

Ryan Hollyman, as the beggar is forbidding and dangerous. When he is asking for money it’s in a low monotone and there’s something about that word, “gimme” that puts a person on the alert for trouble. Gabriella Sundar Singh and Mirabella Sundar Singh play the two sisters with a fine mix of teasing familiarity and sisterly devotion to protect the other. In a way there is another equally important character in Sisters and that is the sound design of Debashis Sinha. He has created the hustle, bustle and noise of the city from the low ‘blurping’ sound of a police car alerting someone to its approach, to the sound and musical cue of a sliding door opening and closing, to the urgent banging of the beggar at the bathroom door. The sounds of Toronto will be familiar to anyone who lives here.

Director Nina Lee Aquino has directed this short audio drama with such care and economy that the audience is gripped immediately and not allowed to relax until the end, if them. Sisters is a terrific way to begin this initiative of You Can’t Get There From Here.

You can listen to Sisters and the other four radio dramas in the series when they are available on Spotify and various other platforms for free:

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