SummerWorks Guide: Immersive Theatre
SUMMERWORKS SHOWS
Immersive Theatre
BODIES OF WATER, by Viktor Lukawski, Nicole Lowden and Nicola Chaddock
Experience the music of folk-jazz ensemble Zuze as it is plunged into a cinematic underwater world.
Combining live music with synchronized swimming and live feed projections, this site-specific performance uses a community pool as a place to explore ideas of pursuit, alienation, and the vocabulary of underwater movement.
CATACOMB, by Laena Brown
Failure’s like a sting. The honey bee can only sting once, and then she dies.
Catacomb takes a dark, spiritual dive into the battle between human nature and mother nature. Set in a working greenhouse, it is the story of an addict and born again naturalist seeking redemption through the purest creature of all: the honey bee.
GOING&COMING, by Cara Spooner
Going&Coming is an interactive text-based piece that accompanies attending live performance works. A companion piece to Audience Handbook (2014), this work attempts to bring attention to the moments just before and just after a performance to extend how we understand our role as audience members.
THE INVISIBLE CITY, by Daniele Bartolini
Starting from your own home, enter a parallel world for 24 hours.
Episode 1: You receive a mysterious call at night time. It will connect you to four strangers who you may never meet again. Guided by an enigmatic voice, you are invited to speak about your dreams and reveal your personal life story.
Episode 2: The night after you will enter the invisible city and be transported through a collective dream in which you play the role of the main character.
LANDLINE, by Dustin Harvey and Adrienne Wong
A performance that takes place in two places at once, Landline is a curious exposure to the feeling of being alone, together. You will become both the audience and the performer as you converse in real time via text message with a fellow participant in Hamilton and go on an audio-guided, experiential walking tour. As the experience unfolds, you are prompted to share stories, memories, and secrets as the urban landscape transforms into a backdrop for the relationship forming between two strangers.
LULLING TIME, by Sarah Dell’Ava, Ilya Krouglikov and Wolfram Sander
Gentle immersion into the world of lullabies aboard a rocking chair, Lulling Time is a participatory sound installation nourished by encounters with citizens and their memories. It welcomes visitors in a suspended time and space away from the surrounding city buzz. Feet on the grass and head in the clouds, they wander through echoes of childhood listening to bedtime songs from all around the world.
PATHS, by Aria Evans and Jesse Wabegijig
You are invited to enter an immersive environment of video, sound, design, and movement – a maze full of twists and turns, with surprise performances and interactive movement vignettes hiding just around the corner.Travelling in groups of six, you will wander through a world inspired by the four elements and our environmental footprint on the earth.
PUBLIC READING, by Golboo Amani
On the front steps of The Theatre Centre – and former entrance to the Carnegie Library – artist Golboo Almani invites you to engage in a street level public experience. Choose from a small library of books and the artist will read to you out loud as you travel around the neighbourhood.
THE UNPACKING, by Erin Brubacher and Christine Brubaker
In the summer of 2015, Erin Brubacher and Christine Brubaker walked the 700km migration route of their Mennonite ancestors, from Pennsylvania to Ontario. This summer they’re heading back to Pennsylvania for a family reunion and will create a new performance during the seven-hour car ride home, a distance that took them 32 days on foot. Welcome the Brubach/kers back to Toronto the moment they arrive at a one-time-only potluck performance.
REASSEMBLED, SLIGHTLY ASKEW, by Shannon Yee
An autobiographical, audio-based artwork about Shannon’s experience of falling critically ill with a rare brain infection and her journey of rehabilitation with an acquired brain injury. Experience the show through headphones in a hospital bed, where you will enter a three-dimensional soundscape and viscerally experience Shannon’s medical journey and re-integration into the world with a hidden disability.
THE SMILE OFF YOUR FACE, by Ontroerend Goed
Blindfolded and sitting in a moving chair, one audience member at a time is guided through this immersive performance. The Smile Off Your Face invites you into a sensory experience, moving through a room of imaginative wonder. Surrounded by eight performers, embark on a one-of-a-kind journey that’s all about you.
See the rest of the guide here.
The SummerWorks Performance Festival is on in Toronto from August 3 – 13.
Click here for tickets or more information
How Do We Document Non-Traditional Theatre?
As we move into a world where more and more non-traditional and immersive theatre is being created, it’s important to ask: how are the creators of these stories documenting them so that other artists can benefit?
SummerWorks Guide: Connecting Across Divides
SummerWorks performances and events that reach across aisles to bring people together.
SummerWorks: Your Guide to Choosing the Right Show For You
Summer festivals can be a bit overwhelming: how are you supposed to decide what to see?!
SummerWorks Guide: Hot-Button Issues
SummerWorks shows you'll want to talk about after you leave the theatre, including topics like gender, the environment, BDSM, and Indigenous identities.
SummerWorks Guide: Autobiographical Shows
SummerWorks shows that reflect the real life experiences of their creators.
SummerWorks Guide: Strong Female Voices
Theatre, dance, and interdisciplinary shows created, produced, or performed by women.
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