Part of Toronto’s Little Terrors‘ Short Film Showcase, Serpent’s Lullaby will have its exclusive Toronto screening tomorrow, January 28, at the Carlton Cinemas.

Serpent’s Lullaby is picking up praise on the festival circuit with successful screenings which started at the Cannes Film Festival’ “Coup de Coeur” selection of the highlights at the Short Film Corner. From there, the film had multiple subsequent screenings all over the world at Fantasia, HollyShorts, Oaxaca FilmFest, Rhode Island, Blood in the Snow, among others.

I had the pleasure of meeting the film’s producer, Byron A. Martin, and director Patricia Chica (via Skype) during The Blood in The Snow Film Festival last November. The film had caught my attention not only because of the story, which presents Medusa in a new light, but also for its aesthetic. I was rather impressed with the look and feel of the film, as well as its ability to convey a good story in less than 15 minutes. With short films, time is essential in order to engage the audience.

Chica shared she had come accross Charles Hall‘s screenplay for Serpent’s Lullaby after he had submitted it for the ABC’s of Death 2 anthology. At that point, it was supposed to be a 3-minute short. Lullaby contained all the ingredients that generally attract Chica to the psychological genre. She liked the script very much, but wanted to add more depth to the Medusa character.

Richard Cardinal, Lover. Serpent’s Lullaby

The story thus evolved into a tale of confrontation with oneself, and rituals of acceptance and salvation. It examines the mental state of a woman searching for her inner strength and trying to find redemption and resilience within her life cirscumstance. Chica suggested making Medusa not a victim nor a monster. Without giving too much away, Chica and Hall opted to emphasize that Medusa sacrifices herself to save humanity, as well as, a sign of her love for her partner.

Stephanie Miramontes, responsible for the visual make-up effects, worked closely with Chica in order to come up with the right texture that would have a “stone sculpture feel”. Jenimay Walker (Medusa) and Richard Cardinal (Lover) needed up to 4 hours to get the stone/sculpture look completed. Even with this make-up, one is able to discern the emotions of both Medusa and her lover.

Some other key points on this film include the fact that Chica does all her own edits. In some cases, the director serving the dual role of editor can make or break the film. At 13-minutes in length, Chica does a great job in keeping Lullaby cohesive. There is enough here to tell a complete story. The film also features next to no dialogue, yet nothing is lost. Part of what helps the film is that Chica and Walker worked together doing breathing exercises. These helped Walker be able to remain still like a statue. Chica also suggested some yoga exercises that would help Walker to give the illusion of a serpent-like undulating body while on-screen.

From the production point, Martin explained Lullaby was filmed by the Laurentians, near Montreal, at an old mansion. The crew took over this old house for 6 days solid. An interesting yet ‘creepy’ bit of information is that this old house was also haunted. Things were moving around the house, which adds an interesting sidenote to this film.

Annabella Hart (Mother) and Jenimay Walker (Medusa) Serpent’s Lullaby

Chica is hoping Lullaby will serve as an eye-opener and a discussion trigger to talk about taboo subjects such as depression, the sentiment of loss and suicide. For that reason, it was important for her “that the film ended on a poetic note and present a new unexploited twist in Medusa’s story.” In this, I think she and collaborators have succeeded.

You can catch this lovely, poetic short film, along with other genre shorts, on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 at 9:00pm. Producer Byron A. Martin will be in attendance. The screening takes places at the Carlton Cinemas. For a full list of films and more tidbits on the Little Terrors monthly screenings, click here.

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.

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.

Aside from the other fun and artsy events in Toronto, there are some great shows currently playing or opening at various theatres. Here are three, which have piqued my interest, and hopefully they will entice some of you as well.

Waiting Room
Tarragon Theatre 
Written by Diane Flacks
Directed by Richard Greenblatt
Starring Ari Cohen, Michelle Monteith, Jordan Pettle, 
Warona Setshwaelo, Jane Spidell, Jenny Young
Runs until February 15, 2014
Tuesday-Saturday 8PM; Sunday at 2:30PM
Select Saturdays at 2:30PM; Jan.24, Jan.31
Tickets can be purchased at 416.531.1827 or by online
Regular Tickets: $42-$55

A doctor embarks on a ground-breaking medical experiment despite the objections of his colleagues. Meanwhile, a couple are torn about whether the doctor has what it takes to save their baby.

This is a play about life in the waiting room of a major children’s hospital. This is a play about medical compassion and risk. This is a play about families who find the will to keep going. This is a play about the needs of the heart and the extremes of medicine. This is a play about breaking the rules. This is a play about hope.

Ari Cohen, Jenny Young, Warona Setshwaelo in Waiting Room Photo: Tarragon Theatre

Flesh and Other Fragments of Love (Une vie pour deux)
Théâtre français de Toronto
Written by Evelyne De la Chenelière
Directed by Alice Ronfard
Starring Jean-François Casabonne, Rachel Graton, Violette Chauveau
Runs until January 25, 2015
Berkeley Street Theatre
Evening performances: Wednesday to Saturday at 8PM
Matinées: Saturday Jan. 24 at 3:30 PM and Jan. 25 at 2:30 PM
English surtitled performances: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Tickets: Adults from $44 to $48 | Seniors (65 and over): $37 to $41| Artsworkers and Under 30: $30

This is the original French language production of Flesh and Other Fragments of Love (Une vie pour deux) written by the Governor General Award-winning playwright Evelyne de la Chenelière. The play will be presented in French with English surtitles.

Adapted from the 1978 novel by Marie Cardinal, the story is based on actual events that happened to Mary Cardinal and her husband Jean-Pierre Ronfard, the parents of the show’s director Alice Ronfard, while vacationing in Ireland.

Blood Relations
The Alumnae Theatre Mainstage
Written by Sharon Pollock
Directed by Barbara Larose
Starring Marisa King, Andrea Brown, Kathleen Jackson Allamby, Steven Burley,
Rob Candy, Sheila Russell, Thomas Gough
January 23-February 7, 2015 
Evening performances: Wednesday to Saturday at 8PM
Matinées: Sunday at 2PM
Tickets: Wednesdays 2-for-1, Thurs-Sat $20 @ door, Sunday PWYC
Tickets available online, phone 416-364-4170 (press 1) or email reservations@alumnaetheatre.com

Sharon Pollock’s Governor General’s award-winning play Blood Relations is a psychological journey, bringing the past to life in a search for a possible answer, a motive. The only suspect, the real Lizzie Borden, was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother, but in Blood Relations, the chilling question still repeats.

Rather than centering on the grisly details of the murders, the play focusses on the patriarchal oppressive society Lizzie Borden (played by Marisa King) has endured. Lizzie’s friend, and lover, The Actress (Andrea Brown) play a game of memory and imagination, reenacting moments of Lizzie’s life leading up to the murders as a play-in-a-play.

Marisa King and Roby Candy Photo: Dahlia Katz

All three of these plays have varying themes, as well as time and place. These should give you not only something to do, but also create some thought-provoking dialogue. If you’ve yet to venture to any of these local theatres, I highly recommend you do.

In The City is my way of sharing some of the many arts and cultural events happening in central Toronto. Winter often sets in around this time; making some of us want to stay indoors. To entice you to forget the comfy couch, I give you a curated list of events that I would like to attend, and in turn, hope you attend as well.

MUSIC / DANCE

The Musicians In Ordinary
The Cure Of Religious Melancholy
January 30, 8:00PM
Fr. Madden Auditorium, Carr Hall
St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
Tickets $30, $20 for students and seniors, are available at the door

The music by England’s famed Renaissance era songwriter and lutenist John Dowland (1563-1626), a convert to Catholicism, will be performed by soprano Hallie Fishel, baroque violinist Christopher Verrette, lutenist John Edwards, and other members of The Musicians In Ordinary Sing Praise Upon the Lute and Viol.

As St. Michael’s ensemble-in-residence, The Musicians In Ordinary combine John Dowland’s Lachrimæ or seaven teares figured in seaven passionate pavans, for violins and lute, with lute airs from his songbooks, consort songs and his psalm settings on the death of his friend Sir Henry Noel.

Rev. Lisa Wang puts the music in context in a pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m.  Further information is available by calling 416-535-9956 or visiting musiciansinordinary.ca.

Alliance Française Toronto offers several music-related events this month as well.
Tickets: 416.922.2014 ext. 37

Europe et Opéra
January 23,  8:00PM 
Singers from the COC Ensemble Studio offer extracts from operas in four Europeans languages.

The Opera/Ballet series will broadcast from the Paris National Opera House, Celebrate Dance with the Paris Opera Ballet. The performance will feature the Étoiles, Premiers danseurs, Corps de Ballet and pupils of the School of Dance in an important ritual, the Défilé that brings together 154 dancers and Nutcracker experts on January 30 at 1:30pm.

Vincent Mantsoe
January 29-31, 8:00PM
Harbourfront Centre 
Tickets $28 – $37 Adult; $15 CultureBreak (Students under 25); and $5 Hiptix.
Box Office 416-973-4000 OR online danceworks.ca

World-renown soloist, Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe performs his ground-breaking solo works NTU (Nothing) and Skwatta as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps series.

Mantsoe is on tour with the Canadian premiere of these works. Both works embodyi the limitless spirituality and realities of his South African homeland, brought to life through his forceful, sinewy and tense performance. They are also politically and socially charged; Mantsoe finds hope and salvation in the human spirit – often fragile and tortured, but capable of great dignity and pride.

Journey
group 27
Trinty St. Paul’s Centre
January 30, 8PM
PWYC
Tickets available online 

Group of 27 (g27) is a chamber orchestra comprised of some of Canada’s top musicians, dedicated to exploring the classical repertoire in vibrant, world-class performances. Led by Eric Paetkau, the performances present fresh interpretations of well-known masterworks and challenge listeners with new contemporary music, often commissioned specifically for this unique orchestra.

Featured Program For This Night:

• Beethoven’s 12 Contredanses
• Andrew Staniland’s Voyageur
• Dvorak’s Romance (Etsuko Kimura, solo)
• Mozart’s Symphony 35 – Haffner

How great is it that g27 offer PWYC admission? Absolutely great! I also really like the line-up for the night. A treat for classical music fans indeed.

FILM

Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events brings back its sixth annual Great Digital Film Festival, returning to select Cineplex theatres across the country from January 30 to February 5, 2015.

The festival brings a week of Hollywood’s greatest classics and fan favourites to the big screen, often for the first time in digital format.

Some of the titles part of the 2015 Great Digital Film Festival Lineup include:

• An all-day screening of the X-Men franchise: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men (2000)
• Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2007)
• Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) and Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004)
• Alien (1979)
• Aliens (1986)
• Hellboy (2004)
• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Tickets for the Great Digital Film Festival cost $6.99, with additional discounts available on the purchase of tickets to multiple films. Great price and great list of films, too. The X-Men fan in me is hoping to attend the all-day marathon.

For a complete list of participating theatres, showtimes or purchase tickets, visit Cineplex.com/DigitalFilmFest.

Documentary Films at The Bloor Cinema

Revenge of the Mekons
DJ Moe Berg will play a set prior to the screening on January 24, at 9:30 p.m., and band members from the Mekons will participate in a post-screening Skype Q&A.

Music on Film: Let’s Get Lost
Jazz musician Pat LaBarbera will participate in a post-screening Q&A on January 27, at 6:30 p.m.

These two special events are pat of the monthly line-up at the Bloor Cinema. For full cinema listings, screening times, and box office info, please visit bloorcinema.com.

At The Royal Cinema
Royal Retro – Taxi Driver
Starts Friday Jan 23 for 5 screenings

“All the animals come out at night” — and one of them is a cabby about to snap. In Martin Scorsese‘s classic 1970s drama, insomniac ex-Marine Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) works the nightshift, driving his cab throughout decaying mid-’70s New York City, wishing for a “real rain” to wash the “scum” off the neon-lit streets. A film that is a must-see on the silver screen.

Family Matinee! The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Sun Jan 25 – 2PM
Sat Jan 31 – 2PM
Kids Under 14 $5 / Adults $8 / Students & Seniors $6

Mr. and Mrs. Fox live an idyllic home life with their son Ash and visiting young nephew Kristopherson. But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Wes Anderson enchants us again with this animated film; fun for the entire family.

Two of my favourite films, at my neighbourhood cinema… bonus! Take the streetcar to the Little Italy neighbourhood, have a coffee, and stay for a film… or two.

VISUAL ARTS

Art Battle Canada is having two dedicated gallery exhibitions at #Hashtag Gallery this month. These shows feature studio paintings selected from artists who have competed with ABC in live events across the country.

Selected – Studio Works by Art Battle Painters / Part 1 runs from January 22nd – January 29th
Selected – Studio Works by Art Battle Painters / Part 2 runs from January 29 – February 1st

I have yet to attend an Art Battle event but I am familiar with #Hashtag Gallery, and their various events. They showcase art that is not always ‘conventional’. If you have yet to visit this space, I encourage you make your way down for one of these shows.

Cloud Cell 
By Xiaojing Yan
The Red Head Gallery
401 Richmond Street West
Until January 31

Xiaojing Yan’s artworks explore transformative spaces between nature, culture and the making of identity. She takes familiar objects and, through subtle material shifts, pries open their layers of meaning to reveal complex states of being in suspended possibility.

I am unfamiliar with Yan’s works, but that is part of the exploration of art… discovering new artists. This could be an opportunity to find a new local artist whose work you may like.

Last Wednesdays 
401 Richmond
January 28, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
FREE Admission

Stop by after work to check out the latest shows at our galleries and artist-run centres, buy local at our independent shops, and grab a snack. You can take it all in on your own, or join William Huffman for a guided tour of the current exhibitions.

I have attended a Last Wednesdays event before, and I learned quite a bit about this great building. 401 Richmond is not only a great architectural space, but it houses several galleries and other artistic offices and venues as well. A very lovely space to sit and contemplate as well.

Thus I say, forget the winter blahs. Come out and play!