Coming to Toronto from February 4 -15, 2015 is the inaugural Progress. The festival brings together international performances to engage in a larger conversation about language, accessibility and what progress means to Toronto’s performance ecology.
Progress will feature six international shows, six languages and five free artist workshops and talks. Programming has been curated by nine different companies. Artistic producer of SummerWorks Michael Rubenfeld, says “[Progress] is a festival led by a collective desire to collaborate in how we think about performance in Toronto and the result is a staggeringly unique and diverse program of work.”
From the curated line-up, I have picked a few performances that shall pique your interest. They have certainly piqued mine.
D-Sisyphe (décisif) (Tunisia)
Curated by Volcano Theatre
Performed in Arabic with English subtitles
Created and performed by: Meher Awachri
Directed by: Meher Awachri and Imed May
February 6 & 7, 2015
Khmais, a construction worker, spends a night at the construction site meditating about his life. Despised by his wife and son, rejected by society and abandoned by God, he sees nothing but wreckage: his life is in ruins. Faced with the apparent meaninglessness of existence, Khmais looks forward to a new day… Khmais seems to be losing his faith, and although this painful realization scares him, it also gives him strength. Sisyphus revolted and was punished; Khmais voluntarily chooses hell to be his fate.
Tunisian actor, dancer and playwright Meher Awachri performs his acclaimed interpretation of the ancient myth of Sisyphus, offering insights into contemporary Arab society and the idea of what revolution entails – all through spoken word and choreography.
I do not always understand dance pieces. Awachri describes this piece as being about construction… ” about the construction of a new future, a new society, a new Tunisia.” Sounds intriguing and challenging, at the same time.
Silent Dinner (Ireland/Canada)
Curated and presented by FADO Performance Art Centre
Performed in English and ASL
Created and performed by: Amanda Coogan (Ireland) and collaborators (Canada)
February 7, 2015
Silent Dinner is an eight hour performance in which 10 people prepare, cook and eat a dinner in complete silence. The table functions as both motif and metaphor for community and connection.The participants are a combination of Deaf, CODA (children of Deaf adults) and hearing artists, performers and non-performers from Toronto.
Audience is free to come and go during the performance. Post-performance, the audience will be invited for dessert and conversation with Coogan and collaborators. ASL interpretation provided.
This is such an excellent idea and proposition. Why not partake in a communal experience and engage with others in a new, silent way? I am definitely intrigued and excited about this performance.
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| Enrique Diaz in Cine Monstro |
Cine Monstro (Brazil)
Curated and presented by Why Not Theatre
Performed in Portuguese with English subtitles
Directed and performed by: Enrique Diaz
Written by: Daniel MacIvor
Translation: Barbara Duvivier and Enrique Diaz
February 12-14, 2014
Brazilian actor and director Enrique Diaz performs this adaptation of Daniel MacIvor’s Monster. Diaz transforms himself into a series of MacIvor’s characters, from a young boy who tells the story of the neighbour who hacked up his father in the basement to quarrelling lovers or a filmmaker who never completed his epic film, these characters are separate yet eerily related.
Presenting this classic Canadian play in Portuguese introduces it to a new community in Toronto. This certainly is a unique and new way to experience this piece.
Novorossiya: No One’s Land (Ukraine)
Curated and presented by SummerWorks
Reading performed in English, translated from the original Russian and Ukranian
Created by: Pavel Yurov and Anastasiya Kasilova
Directed by: Pavel Yurov
Dramaturgy by: Jonathan Garfinkel
February 14, 2014
On April 25, 2014, in Slovyansk, Ukraine (Eastern Ukraine) theatre director, Pavel Yurov was falsely accused of being a spy for the Ukrainian government, and taken hostage by pro-Russian separatists. He was beaten and tortured for two weeks and remained in captivity for more than two months. After being freed in July 2014, he sought to make sense of the experience and started writing Novorossiya: No One’s Land with Ukranian artist, Anastasiya Koralova. To build this documentary style piece, Kasilova and Yurov explore found text from interviews with Ukranian and Russian press that explore the multiple disparate perspectives on the conflict.
Works-in-progress are great to listen to, as they offer a glimpse into a story that is still developing. What is also great is that this reading will be preceded by an interview with Yurov, and followed by a post-show discussion. It offers the audience a chance to learn more about the process, as well as, provide the artists feedback on the work and assist in its further evolution.
All of the Progress performances take place at The Theatre Centre, host venue of the festival. For a list of all the performances, worshops, and box office information, please visit thisisprogress.ca.
I leave you with a video of Michael Rubenfeld (Artistic Producer of SummerWorks) and Franco Boni (Artistic Director of The Theatre Centre) with a few words about Progress.
