ARIEL & CALIBAN created by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu
“As part of my exploration during my time at the Soulpepper Academy, I found myself drawn to Shakespeare’s Tempest. It was a sort of love/hate relationship with the text. On one hand, the magical & surreal elements of the play were right in line with my aesthetic & artistic interest, however I was repelled by the colonial & patriarchal overtones in the story. I also had a visceral reaction to the portrayal of the inhabitants of the island; Ariel, Caliban, & Caliban’s mother. They were conquered, colonized, vilified, made subservient, & demonized. What does it actually mean to capture ‘the magic’ of an island, of a people, & of a culture? What if the story was told from the perspective of Caliban as a child or from his mother Sycorax’s perspective or from that of Ariel, ‘the good & loyal’ servant?”
Mumbi Tindyebwa is a Kenyan-Ugandan-Canadian Theatre creator and Director. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Dora Nominated company IFT (Its A Freedom Thing) Theatre and the 2015 recipient of the Pauline McGibbon Award for Directing. Mumbi has also been nominated for the John Hirsch Award for Directing and been the recipient of the Mallory Gilbert LeadershipHi Protégé Award. Mumbi is also an alumni of the distinguished Michael Langham Workshop in Classical Direction at Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Her most popular work includes Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper Theatre Company), Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape (Soulpepper/Obsidian/IFT Theatre), Nightmare Dream (IFT Theatre, Dora Nomination), Just Me You and The Silence (World Pride, Buddies in Bad Times), Because I Love You (IFT Theatre/TD Then and Now Festival) and My Name is Rachel Corrie (Hart House Theatre). Other work includes directing and assistant directing projects for the Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, Obsidian Theatre, Volcano Theatre.
1939 by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan
“Our play is set 1939, when a group of students at an Indian Residential School in Ontario, are faced with the seemingly impossible task of putting on a performance by that old, dead, white guy; William Shakespeare. And not for just any audience either, but for the King and Queen of England, on a visit to their school to see how well these young people are assimilating into the dominant colonial culture. But our students are resilient and resourceful, finding their own way into the text through connecting it to Indigenous language structure, social dance drum rhythms, and the enduring theme of survival; determined to challenge their teacher’s notions that there’s only one way to do Shakespeare.”
Connected by their love of Shakespeare, particularly performing it outdoors, Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan have been researching and developing this piece for two years. Along with their invaluable research dramaturg; Sorouja Moll, they have travelled to Sault-Ste-Marie, Kettle Point, and many spots in between to speak with Elders, consult archives, and visit sites where Residential Schools have stood. In January, they will workshop the new draft of the script with actors.
Jani Lauzon is a multidisciplinary artist of Métis background. She is an award winning actor, director, puppeteer and singer songwriter. Memorable theatre appearances include; Cordelia/Fool in the Aboriginal production of King Lear, Shylock in Merchant of Venice (SITR) and the COC production of Louis Riel. Television guest appearances include Saving Hope, Destiny Ridge and Conspiracy of Silence. Her films “eu·tha·na·sia” and “Just One Word” continue to screen at festivals. Paper Canoe Projects supports her creations: A Side of Dreams, I Call myself Princess and Prophecy Fog. Her daughter Tara Sky is a recent graduate of NTS and the two of them will be heading to Stratford for the 2020 season. www.papercanoeprojects.com and www.janilauzon.com.
Kaitlyn has been a professional actor for 15 years, having studied at Dawson College (Montreal) and LAMDA (London, UK). Her focus has been on Shakespeare, performing in tours of Twelfth Night & Macbeth in the UK, and Hamlet, Julius Caesar, & As You Like It (Ovation nomination) in the USA. Since moving back to Canada, she has worked with The Stratford Festival and Shakespeare in the Ruff, garnering six more Shakespearean credits to her name. As a writer, her focus has been on historical female figures; her first play (I Sit Content; a story of Emily Carr) was workshopped through The Thousand Islands Playhouse playwright’s unit and supported by The Tarragon Theatre and the The Toronto Arts Council. Portia’s Julius Caesar was her first play in verse, and married her love of Shakespearean poetry to her passion for amplifying the voices of women.
UNTAMED by Eva Barrie
Eva is creating a radical response to Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. Inspired by both plays, Untamed explores female misogyny, feminist movements, and how the political shapes our most personal interactions. Part verse and part clown, Untamed is unsettling and provacative. Untamed is also generously supported by Factory Theatre and the Ontario Arts Council.
Originally from Okotoks, Alberta, Eva is a Dora-Award winning director, actor and creator. She is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Performance Acting Program and has trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company in Saratoga Springs, NY and New York City, NY. Her writing has been supported by Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Gargantua, The Theatre Centre, Factory Theatre, Theatre Smith-Gilmour, DaPoPo Theatre, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Eva was in Berlin’s first Shakespeare in the Park ensemble in a bilingual production of König Heinrich der Vierte, and directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in Bangalore, India for the Parikrma Humanity Foundation. She is the current Urjo Kareda Residency Recipient at Tarragon Theatre with a focus on new play development and artistic direction, and a playwright in Factory Theatre’s Natural Resources Group. Select creation credits: Agency (Yell Rebel), My Co-Mates & Brothers in Exile (Shakespeare in the Ruff), Baby Box (Sarasvàti Productions).
The Incubator is made possible with generous funding from the Canada Council for the Arts
