A new play in one act by Margaret Sweatman
Co-presented with Eastern Front Theatre as part of StageWorks
Directed by Arne MacPherson
Performed by Marie-Josée Chartier & Sébastien Labelle
Sound design by Ashley Au
Additional songs by Daniel Roy & Geordie Haley
Original lighting design by Andy Rudolph
Stage management by Miah Lewis
Produced by Chartier Danse
November 19-20 | 7:30pm
November 21 | 8:00pm
55 minutes long. No intermission. Not suitable for all ages. No late entry.
Two-Show Pass!
Tickets starting at $15. For only $35, get access to both this show and A Timed Speed-Read of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Trial Transcript (with additional notes) January 21-23 as part of StageWorks.
Seeking love and meaning amidst the noise of a shattered world life.
In the moments after death, the psyche of one person splits into two entities: Bardom and Ziggy. These alter-egos are in limbo, the waiting room after death, where the monsters of contemporary life swirl through an overly receptive imagination; it’s a play about all of us: tragic-comic failings, vivid with love and resistance.
Video editing / trailers by Ed Hanley
Photos by Rebecca Driedger
Creative Team
Margaret Sweatman
Writer
Margaret Sweatman is a playwright, novelist, lyricist and librettist. Her plays include: Flux, a musical (music by Glenn Buhr), Manitoba Theatre Projects, the Guelph Spring Festival, and SummerWorks Toronto; Thirst, (Theatre Projects Manitoba); Hectic, Popular Theatre Alliance; and Fox, PTE. Margaret’s libretti include god of war, Vancouver New Music Festival; Red Sea, Toronto Summer Music Festival; Dear Abelard,Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She has published seven novels. Awards include the Rogers Writers Trust Award for Fiction, the Margaret Laurence Award, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Award, the Sunburst Award for Literature of the Fantastic, and the McNally Robinson Award. https://dreamplay.ca/margaret-sweatman
Arne MacPherson
Director
Arne MacPherson is a Winnipeg-based theatre maker who has dedicated his 35-plus years as an artist to creating live performance, starting out as an actor, then moving into theatre direction, and then into movement-based experimental work. He has worked on all of Winnipeg’s professional stages, and across Canada, including at the National Arts Centre. His practice has focused extensively on new work (he has helmed more than two dozen premieres), Shakespeare (he was a founder of Shakespeare in the Ruins), and independent theatre (he has directed and co-produced dozens of indie productions).
Devised/experimental theatre and contemporary dance performances include: Glory! (We Quit Theatre), Moving In, Moving Out (Weather Parade Dance Theatre), petites danses (Chartier Danse/Gearshifting), Much Too Much to Say (Company Link/Zorya Arrow). Through his association with sick + twisted theatre, Arne has worked extensively with the Deaf and disability performance community. In 2022, he co-produced and directed Antigone, a new musical adapted from Anne Carson’s translation of Sophocles, which featured a cast of deaf, blind, disabled, and able-bodied performers.
Marie-Josée Chartier
Performer
A versatile artist, whose talents transcend the boundaries of dance, music, opera and multi-media, Marie-Josée Chartier moves easily between her many roles as choreographer, performer, director, vocalist, educator and mentor. Her dynamic choreography is influenced by contemporary music, literature and the visual arts as she explores and deconstructs the vulnerabilities of human beings. Her acclaimed pieces have been presented at major festivals and by dance companies across Canada, Europe and Latin America. Her work was the subject of several documentary films. Since 2003, in addition to her activities as a performer and choreographer, Marie-Josée directs/stages contemporary opera and multi-media productions for Gryphon Trio, Architek Percussion, Tapestry Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glenn Gould School, Théâtre Français de Toronto, Theaturtle and l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM+).
Chartier received the following awards: Jacqueline Lemieux Prize (2015); K.M. Hunter Artist Award (2001), 9 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations; recipient of a Dora for fifty- one pieces of silver (2002) and shared two Doras with the collective URGE for And by the way Miss (2005). Marie-Josée formed Chartier Danse in 2003 to support her projects and create a cornerstone for large scale productions and partnerships in Canada and abroad.
Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh
Sébastien Labelle
Performer
Sébastien Labelle is the Artistic Producer for Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax, a presenting organization that celebrates visions of a better world through its annual Festival of Working People & the Arts. He is a long-time creative collaborator with River Clyde Arts in PEI and former Executive Director of the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op which he successfully steered through a campaign to save its building from redevelopment. He is also an actor and dancer, as well as a community activist and former union organizer. His involvement in both the arts and social movements has informed each other to reinforce his strong belief in the capacity of art to propel social change. He is an accomplished performer who has worked with numerous Nova Scotian theatre and dance companies, including Matchstick Theatre, Halifax Theatre for Young People, Eastern Front Theatre, Mocean Dance, SiNS Dance, Zuppa, Workshirt Opera, Shakespeare By the Sea, Villain’s Theatre, 2b Theatre and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre. His work on stage has earned him four Theatre Nova Scotia Merritt Award nominations. His journey into dance started relatively late in his career when he joined the cast of petites danses, choreographed by Marie-Josée Chartier and produced by Mocean Dance. Screen credits include Sullivan’s Crossing, The Good House, Chapelwaite, Diggstown and Black Cop.
Photo by James MacLean
Ashley Au
Sound Design
Ashley Au is a Winnipeg-based bassist, composer, sound artist, arranger, music educator, and queer creative. A multifaceted musician, Ashley specializes in the upright and electric basses—performing, touring and recording extensively. As a composer and sound artist, Ashley’s work can be found behind various theatre, opera and dance productions as well as Winnipeg’s ephemeral pop-up stages. After completing a degree in Jazz Bass Performance (B. Mus) at Brandon University, Ashley has become an active member of Winnipeg’s arts and cultural community as a performer, administrator and organizer. Ashley is the artistic director of Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival and the stage producer for the Pride Winnipeg Festival. She also co-ordinates a BIPOC poetry writing workshop series through Contemporary Verse 2, Canada’s oldest poetry journal.
Current and past projects include work with Weakerthans frontman, John K. Samson, folk roots songstress, Carly Dow; internationally-acclaimed Americana tastemaker, Scott Nolan; Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers and Polaris Prize-nominated Canadian live hip-hop outfit, Super Duty Tough Work.
Photo by Buio Assis
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