A Global Hive Labs. Project Fusion Theatre (UK) in association BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective (Canada) & Chez Actors (Italy)
Medusa
Devised by the International Ensemble Directed by Katie Merritt
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “And as we find ourselves inside Medusa’s own mind, the multinational cast supplement the English narration with simultaneous translation, in languages from French and Italian to Korean. It helps underscore how Medusa’s story – finding herself and her life weaponised as a result of somebody else’s actions.” – The Reviews Hub
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A truly accessible production and an empowering contemporary perspective on the classic Greek myth.’ – Theatre T
Medusa. For generations, she has been depicted as a god, a mortal, an erotic power capable of unravelling men, a fearsome image to ward off evil, and a dangerous monster to be destroyed. With feminist ideals at the forefront of our culture, she is again a power player, arresting us in her gaze.
Medusa celebrates the intersectional feminist revitalisation of western mythology, the integration of accessibility design into the generative process, and the way social location affects participation in and interpretation of artistic experiences. Medusa is a multidisciplinary performance devised by an international ensemble of artists over one year, in four countries.
The show features live music, dance, spoken word, multimedia and visual art, audiences will encounter Medusa’s journey, physical transformation, and isolation through all 5 senses.
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About
Global Hive Labs & Active Access Design
GHL is an international collective and network of companies and artists working together in shared practice. Home countries of participating organizations and artists include Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and China.
Practices include International Devised Collaboration, Multi-Lingual, Multi Disciplinary and Physical Theatre approaches, Long Distance Technologies (use of communication Technologies in creation and presentation) and Active Access Design (integrating Access Design such as audio description, etc. as core creative elements).
“…smashing nationality and accesibility borders in a Total theatre …” IMA Magazine
Teatro Trieste 34 (Piacenza, Italy) A Global Hive Labs. Creation
Atlantide
Devised by the International Ensemble Directed by River Coello, Carolina Migli & Jack Paterson Global Hive Labs. (Int.), BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective (Canada), Aurora Universty (USA), Chez Actors & Teatro Trieste 34 (Italy)
Environmental Disaster. Political Corruption. Class Warfare. Sound Familiar?
A devised creation inspired by Plato’s Atlantis, the project featured GHL’s unique approach to incivility “Active Access Design”. Access tools are incorporated into the devising process as creative obstacles, ensuring the work is accessible in every moment.
This project featured the incorperation of audio description, captioning, and sign in creation.
The Press
“…a full house for Teatro Trieste 34 and Global Hive…a fusion of epic and contemporary, myth and poetry, in a fascinating total and inclusive theatre, triggering emotions and new perspectives…” Liberta
“…smashing nationality and accesibility borders in a Total theatre that merges so many artistic languages in a full emotional voyage…” IMA Magazine
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About
Global Hive Labs.
GHL is an international collective and network of companies and artists working together in shared practice. Home countries of participating organizations and artists include Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and China.
Practices include International Devised Collaboration, Multi-Lingual, Multi Disciplinary and Physical Theatre approaches, Long Distance Technologies (use of communication Technologies in creation and presentation) and Active Access Design (integrating Access Design such as audio description, etc. as core creative elements).
A project is workshopped in multiple countries over the space of a year. Projects have premiered at Chicago’s Seppenwolf Theatre (U.S.A.) and London’s The Pleasance Theatre (UK).
BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective is back in action. 2020 began with a series of translation commissions. During this current period of uncertainty, it is with a special gratitude to Canada Council for the Arts allowing us to support freelance and independent artists.
Francophone Canadian playwrighting is on forefront of international playwriting – their work is translated and presented all over the world. It is particularly hard to describe the unique “Langue D’Auteur” created by Francophone Canadian artists as there is nothing quite like it in Western English Language theatre. Imagine Shakespeare, Moliere, Sarah Kane and Martin Crimp smashed together on the page. The poetic or expressionistic are side by side with gritty realism and the mundane often becomes the fantastical. Ancient words, made up words, verse, prose, Joual (everyday Quebecois), other francophone dialects, all literary devices, often the live next to each other on the page.
CONTE DU SOLEIL By Philippe Soldevila | Translated by Leanna Brodie
Étienne, 10, and Octavio, his father, have isolated themselves from each oher. Étienne prefers his screens, his father takes refuge in his work. Exploring Etienne’s Spanish great-grandmother’s childhood, in the land of the Sun, these two may yet find a way back to each other and connect the worlds of multiple generations. The last chapter of a generational and deeply personal trilogy on the immigrant journey, Conte de soleil takes us on a tour of two continents, and four generations. From Spain to Quebec, from 1917 to 2017, Conte explores identity, the encounter between cultures.
“A touching play on family, separation and resilience.”– Anne-Josée Cameron, ICI Radio-Canada
Meet the playwright
Philippe Soldevila
Philippe Soldevila is a leading francophone director, playwright, author, and translator. With a BA in French literature (Université Laval) and Theatre (University of Ottawa), he studied at the Conservatory of dramatic art of Quebec. He is the artistic director of Théâtre Sortie de Secours. In May 1998, he received the John Hirsch Award from the Canada Council for the Arts in recognition of his work as a director. He wrote and directed Tale of the Moon (Mask 2006 for Best Production for Young Audiences, Éloizes 2007 Production of the Year Award and ZOF Award of the French Cultural Federation and SAIC). His artistic approach is guided by his fascination with cultural intermingling and identity issues.
Meet the translator
Leanna Brodie
Leanna Brodie is an actor, playwright, and translator whose passions include lifting up the stories and voices of women, and championing a new generation of French-Canadian playwrights by transmitting their extraordinary theatrical visions into the English language. Her original plays The Vic, For Home and Country, The Book of Esther, and Schoolhouse (Talon Books) have been performed across Canada. Her translations include Christian Bégin’s After Me and Why Are You Crying?; Louise Bombardier’s My Mother Dog; Annie Brocoli’s Stardust; Rébecca Déraspe’s You Are Happy, I Am William, and Gametes; Amélie Dumoulin’s Violette; Sébastien Harrisson’s From Alaska and Two-Part Inventions; Catherine Léger’s Opium_37 and I Lost My Husband!; David Paquet’s Wildfire and The Shoe; Olivier Sylvestre’s The Paradise Arms; Philippe Soldevila’s Tales of the Moon; Larry Tremblay’s Panda Panda; and multiple plays by Hélène Ducharme of Théâtre Motus, whose acclaimed, Dora Award-winning Baobab continues to tour China and the Americas after more than 600 performances.
This translation was made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
En Las Tablas Performing Arts & Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago, USA)
Medusa
A Global Hive Labs. Creation: Bouche Theatre Collective, ChezActors, fusion theatre, Pop Magic Production
Devised by the Chicago & International Ensembles Directed and Faciltated by Denise Yvette Serna, Anna Donnell, Katie Merritt, Iman Kerroua, Carolina Migli-Bateson, Earl T. Kim and Jack Paterson
Movement Directed by Earl T. Kim | Access Coordinator Anna Donnell | Dramaturgy & Translation by Emma Pauly
Medusa is a multidisciplinary performance devised by an international ensemble of artists over one year, in four countries. Medusa celebrates the intersectional feminist revitalization of western mythology, the integration of accessibility design into the generative process, and the way social location affects participation in and interpretation of artistic experiences.
Featuring live music, dance, spoken word, multimedia and visual art, audiences will encounter Medusa’s journey, physical transformation, and isolation through all 5 senses.
Global Hive Laboratories integrates access design into the devising process from Day One. This includes thinking intentionally about how what we share can be experienced by different kinds people, and how to develop Accessible content that is present in every performance of a piece, rather than specifically assigned dates for those who would seek out those services.
Accessibility is intrinsic to our values as a collective and to the core of what we DO. We create an environment in which performers, directors, designers, playwrights, and audience members feel welcome to work with us and experience our productions. We can expect mistakes, shortfalls, and misunderstandings along the way, but if we go into providing access with open minds and hearts, we can always improve.
Chicago Ensemble: Terri Lynn Hudson, Melody DeRogatis, Jenn Geiger, Mari DeOleo, River Coello, and Electra Tremulis.
International Ensemble: Carolina Migli-Bateson, Alice Robbi, Elisa Ferrari, and Eliza Harris
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About
Global Hive Labs.
GHL is an international collective and network of companies and artists working together in shared practice. Home countries of participating organizations and artists include Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and China.
Practices include International Devised Collaboration, Multi-Lingual, Multi Disciplinary and Physical Theatre approaches, Long Distance Technologies (use of communication Technologies in creation and presentation) and Active Access Design (integrating Access Design such as audio description, etc. as core creative elements).
A project is workshopped in multiple countries over the space of a year. Projects have premiered at Chicago’s Seppenwolf Theatre (U.S.A.) and London’s The Pleasance Theatre (UK).
Live Performance and Digital Technologies In Global Conversation
What happens when we apply the Information and Communication technologies that allow us to reach across the world in the creation and presentation of live performing arts?
To test the beginnings of “a Global Practice” BoucheWHACKED! initiated an International Hive Workshop (London, UK) in partnership with CCTA-CHICAGO producer/ Steppenwolf Associate Denise Serna in August 2017. Using The Climate Change Theatre Action as a global inspiration point, the workshop engaged participants from Canada, U.S.A., Spain, The United Kingdom, Italy, France and China. Some participated in London while other participated long distance.
Experiments we explored included Live Performance practices such as drama, dance, puppetry, physical theatre, game play, ensemble creation tested in practice with interactive online tools (polls, word clouds, etc.), social media, virtual reality, audio, film and long distance live communications.
Elements from this workshop will be included in the Climate Change Theatre Action in Chicago this November.
A special thank you to the East 15 Acting School for providing space and equipment. CCTA is a collaboration between the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, NoPassport Theatre Alliance, The Arctic Cycle, Theatre Without Borders, and York University.
For more information or if you want to play a part in the Climate Change Theatre Action please visit their website at:www.thearcticcycle.org/ccta-2017
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About Active Access Design
Active Access Design was born from my work with Global Hive Labs., an international network of artists and companies, co-founded with Denise Yvette Serna (USA), Katie Merrit (UK) and Carolina Migli (EU), working together in devised creation. With collective members across multiple countries, we identified access as a priority.
The 2019/20Global Hive Labs. international collaborations Medusa USA (Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, Pop Magic Productions) and Medusa UK (London’s The Pleasance Theatre, The Cockpit Theatre, &Fusion Theatre), we focused on incorporating Audio Description and Touch Tours into Dramatic Narrative.
Spring 2020, we teamed up with Teatro Trieste 34 (Piacenza, Italy) and asked ourselves, how could we take this further? On the devised creation projectAtlantide, we were able to test the early concept of Active Access Design (AAD) and Cross Sensory Translation. The potential was revealed.
“…a full house for Teatro Trieste 34 …a fusion of epic and contemporary, myth and poetry, in a fascinating total and inclusive theatre…”– Liberta
“…smashing nationality and accessibility borders in a Total theatre merging so many artistic languages in a complete emotional voyage…”– IMA Magazine
CONTE DU SOLEIL
Philippe Soldevila
Leanna Brodie
