Asha and her best friend sit together in a tense familiarity and plan, in detail, the end of Asha’s life. She has suffered for decades, unable to be treated, despite truly valiant efforts to be well. Her best friend, conflicted between her belief in the right to die with dignity and her increasing desire to save a life, has become integral to carrying out the suicide plot. The Suicide Key infuses a sense of dark humour to comment on the absurdity of living with severe mental illness, and the complex and difficult decisions to be made surrounding life, death, and the pursuit of an acceptable happiness.

Laura Piccinin was born to tell stories. Whether as a dancer/aerialist with Tokyo Disney, a playwright and performer for the new Canadian musical Every Silver Lining or her solo shows LESBIHONEST and The Suicide Key, a teacher at the Toronto District School Board, or as a comédienne in Footloose with Just for Laughs, Laura’s unstoppable passion in life lies in telling people all sorts of eccentric stories — whether they want to hear them or not.

CREATIVE TEAM

Creator and Performer: Laura Piccinin

Dramaturg: Cass Van Wyck

CONTENT WARNINGS

Swearing / Mature language

Sexual Content

Suicide

Addiction

Subject matter: Medical assistance in dying (and the right to die with dignity).

Keywords: Alcoholism | Depression | LGBTQ2S+ | Trauma | Suicide

Talkback following performance.

#RWMFest #MoreThanRebellion

On the anniversary of their mother’s death, three sisters are hurtled back in time when their estranged father shows up with a note stating he has Alzheimer’s. Roy hasn’t seen his daughters Anita, Cece and Marie, in years and it’s a visit that is not entirely welcome. But the present Roy is quite unlike the father they remember. This Roy is affable, sensitive, funny, emotional and loving – in total contrast to the unpredictable, often drunk and abusive father of their memories. As they open to the possibility of having him in their lives they are continuously jarred by the sudden trips into the past they are forced into due to his neurological condition. Marie’s husband, Franco, a former professional musician and all-around dilettante, expounds particle theory while playing Mozart and posits the possibility that restructuring their fractured memories could alter the future from that point forward. What follows is a rapid-fire ride through past and present that illuminates the unreliable nature of memory and how the stories we hang onto define us until the moment we let them go. Inspired by King Lear, memory loss in an aging father, the cost of speaking one’s truth, the devastation addiction can wreak on a family, Ikebana flower arranging, piano prodigies and the multiverse theory known as Daughter Universes, the play explores the possibility that rewriting our memories can alter the past and ergo change the future. It is a playful, poignant and piercing look into the nature of memory.

Keywords: Addiction | Alcoholism | Depression | Family | Trauma

There will be a 15 minute Q&A with the cast following each performance.

Anny became a sex worker at the age of 46, and since then has kept returning to the streets of Prague, rain or shine, as cars pass by her at a snail’s pace. Director Helena Třeštíková recorded Anny between 1996 to 2012 as is her unique approach: she follows ordinary people for years in what she’s dubbed “time-lapse documentaries.” These carefully crafted portraits indirectly capture larger lines of histories — in this case, the economic crisis years that sometimes prompt Anny to reflect on communism. Gently edited, this documentary shifts in time between Anny slowly growing older and her daily life that is often challenging, filled with concerns about her grandchildren and her failing health. An insightful portrait of a person who, with courage and determination, carries on despite life’s surprises.

SCREENING WITH SCARS Alex Anna | 2020 | Canada / France | 10 min | French with English subtitles

Alex Anna’s body is a canvas: her scars come to life to tell a new story of self-harming. Live action and animation intertwine in this short and poetic documentary, both intimate and universal.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Q&A Watch a pre-recorded Q&A with Director Helena Třeštíková and learn about her experience documenting the life of Anny over 16+ years. The discussion will be moderated by Jenny Duffy, a representative from Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project.

Keywords: Aging | Class | Gender | Sex work | Trauma

Worlds collide in Ajitpal Singh’s bold family drama, Fire in the Mountains.

Vinamrata Rai stars as Chandra, a hard-working wife, mother, and businesswoman, keeping it all together for the sake of her family. In another time and place, Chandra could be the CEO of a thriving company, but her business savvy means little in rural North India, where she must accommodate the conservative patriarchy. Chandra upends the status quo when she fights to build a new road to accommodate her wheelchair-bound son Prakash (Mayank Singh).

Fire in the Mountains is a captivating character study detailing what happens when modern-day values crash up against traditional beliefs. The film examines religion, gender inequity, and industrialization to paint a vivid portrait of a village on the precipice of social upheaval. Singh’s affecting debut film is also a feast for the eyes, featuring immersive production design set against breathtaking Himalayan backdrops.

SCREENING WITH: TERROR FERVOR
Phoebe Parsons / Canada / English / 6 mins
Seven monsters embody reflections of malaise and violence in a world of psychedelic terror.

Keywords: Gender inequality | Labour | Motherhood | Sexism | Trauma

Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary begins at the Maine Correctional Center where Jacinta, 26, and her mother Rosemary, 46, are incarcerated together, both recovering from drug addictions. As a child, Jacinta became entangled in her mother’s world of drugs and crime and has followed her in and out of the system since she was a teenager. This time, as Jacinta is released from prison, she hopes to maintain her sobriety and reconnect with her own daughter, Caylynn, 10, who lives with her paternal grandparents. Despite her desire to rebuild her life for her daughter, Jacinta continually struggles against the forces that first led to her addiction. With unparalleled access and a gripping vérité approach, director Jessica Earnshaw paints a deeply intimate portrait of mothers and daughters and the effects of trauma over generations.

SCREENING WITH VERY PRESENT
Conor McNally | 2020 | Canada | 5 min | English
How does prolonged confinement shape our experience of time? Filmmaker Conor McNally explores the question in the company of his brother Riley, a young man who’s learning to cope with a new—yet strangely familiar—reality.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Q&A with Jessica Earnshaw

Keywords: Addiction | Family | Generational Trauma | Prison Industrial Complex