READY TO REMOUNT OR TOUR
on behalf (18 min film)
A young woman works to connect with an ancient Jewish goddess. A conversational, humorous, and lyric dance with the ancestors and the body, "on behalf" challenges assumptions about what it means to survive and to be a survivor. Using rituals such as hand washing and challah baking, the show offers healing as a collective political and cultural act - messy, strange, circular, ancestral, shattering, transformative and ongoing. Our identities affect our visions of justice, and diaspora shapes our ability to find belonging.
This project was made possible by a Canada Council for the Arts project grant. Trailer available on request.
Directed by Daniela Atiencia, dramaturgy by Veronique West, video by Kimberly Ho, performed by Ariel Martz-Oberlander and Tamar Tabori, design by Stephanie Wong, stage management by Julia Lank and Katie Voravong.
Shelter
Created and performed by Ariel Martz-Oberlander and Stephanie Wong, Shelter takes place in a structure made especially for the space, and can range from a large tree to a tent made from lost umbrellas. One audience member enters and is asked a question: “What are your fears about living through climate change? You can leave anything here that you no longer want to carry.” After years of trying to make theatre about the climate crisis, Ariel came to the conclusion that theatre cannot offer any answers, and is most effective when it instead can open a space for grieving in connection with another human. The audience member stays for 6 minutes and can speak confidentially about whatever they need. Part interactive installation, part confession, part metaphor as the temperature inside rises from body heat, this piece strips away all performativity and allows for shelter from the enormity of our times. Each time the piece is offered is an experiment, as location and audience change almost everything about it.
History:
Power Shift Conference, Ottawa. Feb 15-18, 2019.
Vines Festival, Trout Lake Park, August 17th 2019.
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) Fair, August 31st 2019.
Tech:
Minimum space required: 6’x6’
Duration: 6 minutes minimum, 8 minutes ideally per audience member, 2 minutes between audience entries, 15 minute break every hour and a half, to a maximum of three hours
Cast and crew: one performer and one stage manager
Set up time: 1-3 hours; strike time: 30 minutes-1 hour
