Live and in person at various venues in Barrie, Ont. Playing until September 29, 2024.
I Do, I Don’t I Dare! It’s a festival. This festival is a celebration and subversion of marriage, weddings and commitment. There are instillations of wedding dresses around the city, in unexpected places. There are short pieces of theatre, regular productions, immersive productions that are revelatory about ourselves and others. There are also many surprises. It’s produced by Talk Is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. It’s curated by Nathanial Hanula-James.
Here are some of the ‘events’ I saw.
Flash Performance!
In front of Samson’s Salon and Spa, on the balcony, 50 Dunlop Street East, Barrie.
Written by Eden Middleton and Michael Raphael.
Starring: Ryan Cunningham.
In sequins, a black costume and lots of attitude, our performer appears on the balcony of Samson’s Salon and Spa, in a rage. They are railing against straight women taking over gay bars for their wedding showers in which drag queens are the entertainment. Our performer feels it’s a misappropriation of space, identity and safe-haven. And it’s thought that the drag queens don’t work as hard at their craft if performing for a group of giddy, straight women on the town for a wedding shower. The raging was expressive and focused. The message became even more pointed and poignant against the sounds and sights of Dunlop Street in Barrie, namely: a black truck cruising the neighbourhood with two large flags on either side of the vehicle that said, “Fuck Trudeau;” the wizened homeless person pushing his wheelchair ladened with stuff topped by two skulls, up and down the street, taking a peek at the person raging on the balcony across the street; a man on his massive motorcycle with the music cranked up full, drowning out the microphoned performer on the balcony. Life and performance art in the burgeoning metropolis of Barrie, Ont.
An Ojibway Outlander in Glasgow
At Donaleigh’s Iris Public House, 28 Dunlop St. E, Barrie.
Created and performed by Dillan Meighan-Chiblow
Dillan Meighan-Chiblow was a young man in his twenties who felt lost. So, he went to find himself and decided to look in Glasgow, Scotland. He’s not Scots. He’s never been to Glasgow. He’s Canadian. An Ojibwe. He found love instead, and some bumpy times, but love. Meighan Chiblow has a lovely way with humour, a self-deprecating way with a story, a quirky perception of the world and a wonderful story to tell. And he sings like a dream.
Everyone Is Interesting: The Committed Edition
Beginning at Meridian Place at the Barrie Cenotaph.
Created by Mammalian Diving Reflex.
A community walking project that aims to explore, play with, and unite the individuals who call Barrie and environs, home. Yes audience participation—don’t be afraid, the guides are sweet, kind, curious and caring. The group plays games to get to know each other and bond, to become comfortable in asking and answering questions, and to make the group curious about others. It was a wonderful, eye-opening experience, ending in a picnic of sorts with treats.
White Taffeta Silk (or, Don’t Do It Bestie!)
At the Hampton Inn Guest Laundry Room, 74 Bryne Dr. Barrie.
Written by Nathaniel Hanula-James
Directed by Sadie Berlin
From the program: “In the nowhere town of Peplum, Ont., three days before prom, two teenagers steal a wedding dress and unleash a frightful force. Billed as a ‘claustrophobic horror-comedy about the meaning of marriage, and the desire to keep your loved ones close.”
It’s about spirits and how they poses a person, wedding dress or not.
Charlotte (Helen Belay) and Eunice (Emerjade Simms) are the two friends. Charlotte is the more daring of the two. Eunice does go along with her friend’s plans but she’s wary. Both Helen Belay and Emerjade Simms give lively, bold performances. Nathaniel Hanula-James has a wild imagination and a good sense of story and character. Sadie Berlin directs so that it begins with a bang and never lets the audience relax. Terrific.
Telephone of the Wind
In a solitary corner of Memorial Square in a white structure, is a Wind Phone.
From the programme: “The first Telephone of the Wind was created by the Japanese artist Itaru Sasaki, in 2010, in response to the death of his cousin from cancer. Sasaki purchased a derelict phone booth, installed a disconnected rotary phone, and set it up in his garden.
In 2011, after a tsunami in Japan left over 15,000 dead and over 2,500 missing, Sasaki relocated the phone booth to a hill near the town of Otsuchi: the place with the highest number of recorded missing persons. It has become a place where people from Otsuchi, Japan, and all over the world can come to ‘call’ people they have lost. “
What a heart-squeezing thought. And yes, I made several calls on the phone.
Confess to the Dress
Talk is Free Theatre asked four designers to create wedding dress installations around a theme of their choice. They are placed around the downtown core of Barrie. I found one in a ‘bustling place’. Very art d’eco and stylish; beads, beautiful. You will be asked to write a note expressing whatever, including your first love.
There will also be readings of two new plays in development, next week: Something Old by Keara Voo and Baby by Iris Rhian. I have heard a reading of Something Old. It’s terrific. Keara Voo is one to watch.
Talk is Free Theatre.
Runs until Sept. 29, 2024.
For further information: www.TIFT.ca