'Once Upon a Time in Canada' Chapter 78.

Hmmm… Yeah… Interesting… The plays weren’t exactly what I imagined they would be. To give you some indication of how unusual the plays were; the first play was a supernatural thriller entitled Refraction. It followed a young woman who was packing up her life and in the process finds herself face-to-face with dangerous shadows she thought she has buried long ago. Think David Lynch. The piece incorporated various unusual and engaging forms of physicality layered with poetic text to immerse the audience in a vivid and unique theatrical experience. The live music and powerful visual effects created a fantastical story that put me in and made me rethink about my reality. I liked this one a lot, but that’s because I loved surrealistic, disturbing stories like this one. As soon as it harkened everything from German Expressionism to David Lynch, I smiled throughout and enjoyed myself. That’s the kind of stuff I want to see!

The second play was entitled After George, where we were invited to the 50th anniversary of Clifton Heights Secondary School. Clifton Capybaras old and new are encouraged to come back and reminisce about the time they had at school. We’re all connected in ways we may not expect, and we all handle grief in different ways and something as small as an event invitation can change the lives of friends and complete strangers. It was the unique movement vocabulary, immersive scents, or even a strange but compelling community that draws you into learning the stories of five former students and how they handle connection and isolation in this mysterious drama. Honestly, thinking about it at the end, I didn’t think it was anything special. The play, unlike the first one, just didn’t speak to me.

The third play was entitled Dead Skin, a physical theatre show that was dark, grotesque, and thrilling, in a world of otherness that embraced the beauty of the ugly. From alien-like to alienated, we were encouraged to investigate and uncover our own darkness within. Through a physical language that was harsh, jagged, and ultimately captivating, audiences wondered: where have these creatures come from? How did they get here? Where are they going? The play itself was good, not as good as the first one mind you, and the play communicated something interesting.

Finally, the last play was entitled #Filters by Transcendence Theatre, a repertoire founded by a group of friends who want to foster and encourage conversations, which challenge contemporary societal norms through the means of performance art. The play immersed us in the world of social media and beyond, and worked to explore the ways in which modern communication and interactions are impacted and shifted due to its social media’s prevalence in society. They want viewers to critically examine the content they produce, and in turn, they aim to create a discourse that challenges hegemonic norms of social networking behaviours, and encourages audiences to reflect on how they communicate and connect on a day-to-day basis. Speaking of which, the play itself was basically what if Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream was a dark, satirical comedy with social media addiction instead of drug addiction. Oh boy was it a show! By the end, I was really damn tired. About at that time, I made my way back home.

Also, see Chapters 77 and 79.