2015 Participants
(Apocalyptic, egg frying puppet + Diet Pepsi fuelled travels from Gatineau to merry-ol-England + Dreams of Utopia)
Outer Lace
Attila Cleman and Jodi Essery
Lab Experience
Outer Lace is the wordless tale of Peg, who survives on cracker crumbs and a vigilant belief that, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, there might be someone else left. We began with a very short story, in which the language of haberdashery -- the parlance of the needle and thread -- tells the story of a woman of a certain age who wakes one night to the truth of herself, her body, her then, her now, and her what now?Our goal for the lab was to create a Peg, and a world for her to inhabit. A world the size of a table, but full of her everything. And then to let her live in it for awhile, and see how she could say what she needed to say.She talked to a feathered hatpin and looked for signs of life. She loved and then hated her radio. She set to work. And then she found an egg. Found it, and cooked it, and wolfed it down before it occurred to her to wonder where on Earth it came from.
Later
We intend to keep exploring the world of Peg, the idea of inner apocalypse, and the limits of just how far a puppet with two cobbled and mismatched legs and the prospect of endless alone-ness can take herself.
Atilla Clemann
Jodi Essery
Becoming Richard Griffths
Madeleine Boyes-Manseau, Antoine Côté Legault, Alexandre Gauthier, & Dillon Orr
Lab Experience
Inspired by Alexandre Gauthier’s true-life quest to become a British actor, we – a uniquely Canadian creation team (or if you’d prefer: a true cluster-fuck of bi-language, bi-cultural and bi-theatrical-tradition-al proportions) - have joined him to make his seemingly impossible dream come true. The ultimate goal for the project is to present the piece in the colonial motherland of Great Britain, giving Alex his brilliant (and long-time anticipated) British stage debut. Exploring the themes of hopes and dreams, Becoming Richard Griffiths, with the help of Kevin Orr’s Theatre 4,669 Creator’s Lab, was able to take it’s first steps.
Later
Now that the project is laced with grownup shoes, there’s no telling were this show will go! Many shapes and sizes are still to be explored. The big question is, will Alexandre stil be in Canada doing a show about his dream? Or will he just do it?
Alexandre Gauthier
Madeleine Boyes Manseau
Antoine Côté Legault
Dillon Orr
ReSet
Sean Devine & Emily Pearlman
Lab Experience
Are human's capable of creating and sustaining Utopia?" We set out to discover what common values we needed order to live in harmony. Turns out, even figuring out shared artistic values is hard. Using that realization we created a presentation that allowed us and the audience to imagine we were about to create a new society (not a commune, not hippy shit... though maybe with acreage and goats) and explore the conflict that though we may want similar things, there is still a disconnect about what we are willing to do in order to achieve those desires
Later
With the support of the Canada Council, the project will continue further development with Horseshoes and Handgrenades.
Emily Pearlman
Sean Devine
We Have No Curtains
Gabrielle Lazarovitz & Brad Long
Lab Experience
This project is still in process.
Paul and Lauren live on the same street. They are educated, articulate and underemployed. They have part-time jobs and zero security. Something terrible has happened on their tiny street. Why didn't they do anything? A cop wants to know.
We are exploring the "precariate" class - the vast swath of humanity that exist two weeks away from financial ruin. The precariate, struggling to look after themselves, cannot care for anyone else. Have we become a society of lone wolves and sole survivors? What happended to caring about your neighbour?
Later
The show became Little Boxes which was produced and performed by Lazarovitz, with Carter Hayden, directed by Adam Paolozza, and presented at undercurrents 2018. It was nominated for a Prix Rideau Award for Outstanding New Work in 2018.
Gabrielle Lazarovitz
Brad Long