Writer/Performer: Pesch Nepoose / Dramaturge/Director: Ed Roy / Producer/Stage Manager/Media Outreach: Jesse Wabegijig
GENRE: THEATRE
TOPIC: ADDICTION, BIPOC EXPERIENCE, DEPRESSION, FAMILY, SUICIDE, TRAUMA, YOUTH
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
The Bridge is a one-woman play that will be staged in front of a live audience. One night, a young indigenous woman is confessing her struggles as she sits on a bridge overlooking a ravine. Her memories come back to life in the evening wind. Kara comes face to face with her addiction, depression and loss of identity.
Pesch Nepoose is a Cree multidisciplinary artist from Edmonton, Alberta, currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated her fourth and final year at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in May, 2019. Pesch has many skills and experience as an actor, writer, dancer, singer and stage manager. As a full time actor, she has been a part of many projects including the film By These Presents with Ange Loft, also acting in the short film Hunger which premiered at the ImagineNative Film Festival 2019. Pesch enjoys working with Clay and Paper Theatre, Jumblies Theatre, the Encounters collective and many others. While attending C.I.T. she formed a collective with her two classmates and created the play S.O.S. Saving Our Sovereignty, which was part of the Paprika Festival and Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival. Pesch was in the Paprika Festival again as a solo artist writing her one woman show currently titled The Bridge. She plans to continue the play with Nightwood Theater’s Write from the Hip program.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Adult Language, Suicide
Please Note: There is one virtual ticket available for the entire Re:Building Resilience Exhibition. Whether you’d like to see one project or all of them, you only need to book one ticket to access everything. The exhibition runs October 15-25, and all ticket purchasers will be sent a link to view the virtual content. Any ticket bought prior to October 15 will receive a follow up email on the 15th with the link.
Self-Care Kits are available for free curbside pickup to ticket holders. Kits can be picked up from 651 Dufferin Street between the hours of 12PM-9PM, October 15-25. If pickup is not an accessible option for you, contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com for accommodation.
Creator: Rochelle R
GENRE: THEATRE
TOPIC: ACTIVISM, ANXIETY, BIPOC EXPERIENCE, COMMUNITY, DEPRESSION, DISABILITY, LGBTQ2S+, PSYCHIATRY, RACISM, TRAUMA
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
Queen Latifah Give Me Strength centers around a woman’s struggle with her identity and her expectations of being disregarded and ignored by the medical industry. Queen Latifah Give Me Strength depicts the frustration, isolation and raving madness that comes with being a Black woman who must rely on medical professionals to stay alive. After an anxiety-filled evening watching the classic 90s film, Set It Off, featuring Queen Latifah, the main character is faced with her strange connection to the celebrity. In a search for answers about her health, she turns to the icon she had once forsaken. Previous version partially developed during Emerging Creators Unit 2020 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Rochelle R (She/They) is a Canadian-Caribbean multidisciplinary theatre artist, writer, producer and advocate for Black, Queer, Mentally Ill/Disabled communities. Rochelle is passionate about promoting and developing opportunities for Black Artists and encouraging difficult conversations about intersectionality. Rochelle holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph and continues to pursue additional training within the GTA and Peel regions. Select companies and programs include b current (Playwriting) bcHUB, Buddies in Bad Times (Play Creation) Emerging Creator’s Unit, Nightwood’s Young Innovator’s Program (Arts Administration/Producing), PIECE OF MINE Arts, dance immersion’s Legacy Leaders Program and more.
CONTENT WARNING
Mature Language, Violence, Loud Sound
Please Note: There is one virtual ticket available for the entire Re:Building Resilience Exhibition. Whether you’d like to see one project or all of them, you only need to book one ticket to access everything. The exhibition runs October 15-25, and all purchasers will be sent a link to view the virtual content. Any ticket bought prior to October 15 will receive a follow up email on the 15th with the link.
Self-Care Kits are available for free curbside pickup to ticket holders. Kits can be picked up from 651 Dufferin Street between the hours of 12PM-9PM, October 15-25. If pickup is not an accessible option for you, contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com for accommodation.
Rochelle Richardson will be participating in the virtual panel discussion Resistant Bodies: The Intersections of Self and Health on October 21, at 1 PM. Click here for more information.
GENRE: DANCE, INSTALLATION, INTERACTIVE, MEDIA ART, MULTIMEDIA, PERFORMANCE ART, POETRY, THEATRE, VISUAL ART
TYPE: EXHIBITION, PERFORMANCE
Re:Building Resilience features 25 installations that examine all facets of mental health issues. This will be our last festival at 651 Dufferin Street before moving to a brand new facility at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. What better way to say “good-bye” than to animate all 11,000 square feet with performance art, installations, theatre, dance, film and media art?
Tickets and Viewing Options
Tickets for virtual viewing are pay what you wish. Virtual viewing is available throughout the festival. With your ticket, you will have access to a virtual tour that includes a virtual swag bag with extra features from the 25 projects on offer. All ticket holders will also be invited to receive physical RWM swag bags available for free curbside pickup during festival hours.
Please Note: There is one virtual ticket available for the entire Re:Building Resilience Exhibition. Whether you’d like to see one project or all of them, you only need to book one ticket to access everything. The exhibition runs October 15-25, and all purchasers will be sent a link to view the virtual content. Any ticket bought prior to October 15 will receive a follow up email on the 15th with the link.
Self-Care Kits are available for free curbside pickup to ticket holders. Kits can be picked up from 651 Dufferin Street between the hours of 12PM-9PM, October 15-25. If pickup is not an accessible option for you, contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com for accommodation.
GENRE: MUSICAL
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
Stand by the water and close your eyes; listen. Is there a drum-like pulse in the sound of the city? A single voice raising its melody to the stars? Or a noisy fury blaring out a cacophony of frustrations and dreams?
Maada’ookii Songlines, at the 2019 Luminato Festival, is a massive choral event with 200 singers from 11 diverse choirs, 4 soloists, and an Indigenous ensemble braiding their songs, styles, voices and cultures, set against Toronto’s breathtaking waterfront.
Maada’ookii Songlines features 200 voices from 11 diverse choirs, 4 soloists and a fusion Indigenous musical ensemble in a new massive choral experience composed by Luminato veteran, Juno Award-nominated cris derksen. As the sun descends and this free outdoor massive choral event begins, the city will be enveloped in sound coming from the land, water and from above. A soundtrack for the city, the performance comes with a powerful history and a promise:
as long as the sun shines
as long as the waters flow downhill
and as long as the grass is green.
Maada’ookii Songlines is a reminder that whatever our backgrounds may be, we all come from the stars.
Workman Arts is thrilled to announce that the Bruised Years Choirs is one of the choirs included in Maada’ookii Songlines.
235 Queens Quay W
Toronto, Ontario
This event is held outdoors. For further accessibility information, please contact Cathy Gordon at accessibility@luminato.com or 416 368 3100 x235.
GENRE: MUSICAL
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
The Bruised Years Choir has been working hard this year – starting off with singing the national anthem at the first Toronto City Council meeting of the new session in the fall, a record number of performances around the city, and the upcoming Maada’ookii Songlines performance on June 23, their second year in a row performing as part of the Luminato Festival! We’re grateful to the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund for their support in making this the Choir’s most successful season to date. To celebrate, join us on Thursday, June 27 from 7-8 PM to finish off their season and hear all their greatest hits. This FREE event is sure to lift your spirits.
“[T]he most heartfelt choir performance I have ever heard. Their lived experiences shine through their voices as they sing…”
-Samantha Summers, Musings
About the Bruised Years Choir
Established in January 2016, Workman Arts’ Bruised Years Choir is a year-round opportunity for artists living with mental health and/or addiction issues. The Choir is led by award-winning artist and producer Jim LeFrancois and musical collaborator Rob Joy. The Choir meets every Monday, to work round-the-piano on contemporary selections which lend themselves to group vocal arrangements. The Choir has a vast repertoire of innovative, re-arranged popular songs, many of which explore themes of madness and hope.
What began as a 6-week course with seven participants has since grown to become a season-long initiative which engages more than fifty members over the course of the year. The Bruisers have been invited to perform at events such as the Inaugural Meeting of the new Toronto City Council, Out the Window for the 2018 Luminato Festival, Royal Ontario Museum, Invictus Games, Lodge on Queen Fundraiser, Hot Docs, Patrick Conner Awards, CAMH’s Phase Three Ground-Breaking Ceremony and more. The Choir is currently preparing for its upcoming appearance in the Luminato Festival’s Maadaookii Songlines in June.
Image: Bruised Years Choir, photo by Julie Riemersma
651 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
We regret that 651 Dufferin is not a barrier-free location. There are steps from the street to the front door and interior steps up to the Theatre or down to the Lower Hall.
CreateTruth Productions in Association with Workman Arts / Written by Lorene Stanwick / Directed by Philip McKee
GENRE: THEATRE
TOPIC: FAMILY
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
“A powerful, bold and beautiful piece."
– Judith Thompson, two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama and celebrated Canadian Playwright
Siblings.
They are our friends, our role models and rivals. They define who we are, perhaps more than our parents. We grow up together. They get inside our heads.
What happens when we can’t get them out …?
Rachel runs away with her daughter, arriving unexpectedly at her childhood home. Jade spends more nights in the college art studio than she does in her own bedroom. The sudden reappearance of Josh’s mother forces him to take a hard look at his life. Now, all three of them must confront the truth about their childhood, as its impact on their adult lives is revealed.
Told with honesty – and humour – Broken Branches reveals secrets, lies, family dynamics … and the resilience to survive. Produced by CreateTruth Productions in Association with Workman Arts, the award-winning multi-disciplinary arts and mental health organization, Broken Branches starts a long-overdue conversation, shedding light on an important yet silent issue: sibling abuse.
By making the invisible visible, their stories will forever change the way we see sibling relationships.
585 Dundas Street East
Toronto, Ontario
Wheelchair Accessible Venue
Comedy Bar is a basement venue with a staircase to the entrance.
Washrooms are located on the main floor of the venue.
Performers use microphones & ASL interpretation will be provided.
Strobe lighting may be used.
GENRE: COMEDY
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
Host: Christophe Davidson / Opener: Tamara Shevon / Headliner: Jackie Pirico
For our closing night event, Comedy Bar and Rendezvous With Madness are thrilled to team up for a one night only special comedy showcase designed to remind us that sometimes laughter is the best medicine.
Join us for a very special celebration of some of Canada’s very finest stand ups! Featuring a star studded line up including guest appearances from Christophe Davidson and Tamara Shevon, plus headliner Jackie Pirico.
Named by Exclaim! Magazine as a quickly rising force in comedy and an “adept comic scene stealer” by The Hollywood Reporter, Jackie Pirico delights audiences with her oddball material and disarming style. With two Just For Laughs television tapings under her belt and a feature film (Sundowners, 2017), Jackie can also be seen on Viceland TV and as a member of the prestigious Toronto comedy collective Laugh Sabbath.
The Workman Arts Chapel has stairs up from the street into the building and into the theatre and stairs down to the washrooms.
Slow pulsing light used in this performance.
Forever Epic Films / Created by Lisa Anita Wegner and Scott White / 60 min
GENRE: PERFORMANCE ART
TOPIC: ANXIETY
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
Intangible Adorations is an immersive theatrical experience that explores the impact of celebrity worship on the mental health of the famous, and on those who become infatuated with celebrity. Audience members will gather in the Hall of Celebrity, have the opportunity to learn the best way to approach someone famous, and then experience an iconic piece of performance art in the Red Chapel enacted by a celebrity whose identity is concealed by a morph suit. Will they reveal their identity, or will they choose to remain anonymous? That will be up to the individual who represents the ICON each night. Who in the audience will have the courage to participate in a celebrity panel where they’ll get a taste of what it feels like to be famous?
Creators: Lisa Anita Wegner and Scott White
Lighting Design and Effects: Carl Elster
Original Music: Pink Moth
Co-producers: Haus of Dada, Workman Arts, KC Cooper and Meek
Performers: KC Cooper, Emily Gillespie, Amy Loucareas, Meek, Jane Smythe and Lisa Anita Wegner
The creators would like to acknowledge the OAC for Exhibition Assistance for Intangible Adorations: The Icon Experience.
Celebrity and Anonymity: An Artist Talk and Q&A
A discussion of Intangible Adorations with creator and performer Lisa Anita Wegner and collaborator Scott White on Saturday, October 19 after the 2:00 pm show, moderated by Lisa McKeown. The discussion will touch on the nature of modern celebrity culture, celebrity worship syndrome and the origins of this version of Intangible Adorations. The panel will also discuss the significance of Lisa’s journey with mental and physical health, the relevance of finding anonymous expression, and how this piece fits into Lisa’s larger universe of therapeutic performance and film work.
Workman Arts Theatre has stairs up from the street into the building and into the theatre and stairs down to the washrooms.
Written and Directed by Grace Thompson / Talk Like You Theatre / 60 min / Toronto Premiere
GENRE: THEATRE
TOPIC: DEPRESSION, SUICIDE, YOUTH
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
Charlie is looking for happy, Remi is a struggling musician and bartender who has clinical depression, Jinx is a burlesque performer and PHD candidate who works at The Orange Balloon, and Minka, no one knows what Minka does. In This House is a play about four young adults living together in Toronto. It is a look into the epidemic of loneliness and depression among the Millennial generation and the daily struggle to make something of yourself in this city. In This House is a play about a generation, a city and an exact time in our lives. This is a play about how we save each other.
Written and Directed by Grace Thompson
Performed by: Astrid Atherly, Jonathan Sconza, Rosie Callaghan and Ciana Henderson
Stage Manager: Erin Maxfield
Set and Lighting Design: Lisa Van Oorschot
Sound Design: Shannon Farrell
Millennial Mental Health: a two-part conversation
How are young people today talking about suicide? How are Millennials navigating their experiences with mental health and addictions? Join the cast of In this House after the shows on October 12 and October 15 as they discuss the production themes and their experiences navigating between being emerging artists, living on their own for the first time and managing their mental health. This two-part conversation will explore the unique difficulties for young people in Canada, and the communities of support being created as a response.
Workman Arts Theatre has stairs up from the street into the building and into the theatre and stairs down to the washrooms.
ASL and live captioning provided for the October 12 post-show discussion.
Choreographed by Ronald Taylor / Ronald Taylor Dance / 60 min
GENRE: DANCE
TOPIC: DISABILITY, RECOVERY
TYPE: PERFORMANCE
PSYCHOSIS is inspired by the investigation of Ronald’s mental health episode in Canada and pulls into the present to explore an awareness of adversity, reconciliation and resilience. By connecting relationships between disability, environment and the human spirit, PSYCHOSIS seeks to explore the trauma and ongoing challenges of mental health, while dealing with bouts of darkness, depression and the human psyche.
Choreographer: Ronald Taylor
Performers: Michael Mortley, Kelly La Juenesse, Anthony ‘Prime’ Guerra and Emilie Jabouin
After the show on October 12, join the cast members to discuss the intricacies of creating and performing Ronald Taylor’s PSYCHOSIS. Through an inter-sectional lens, performers and audience members will have the chance to further reflect together on the performance and the insight that it provides.