LUCIDMEDIA

New Waves at Luminato

Written by Catherine Kustanczy Wednesday, 10 June 2009 10:09

What was the key word for the inaugural New Waves Festival at the Young Centre this past weekend? Playful. It was all about playing –as in performance, yes, but also related to child-like play.

Take the Artists in the Closet series. A limited number of people were invited into a small space –okay, a bathroom  –to sit and chat with an upcoming Canadian artist for five to ten minutes. During that time, you’re treated to a private performance.

My friend and I had the pleasure of being part of Toronto rapper Theo3’s little ‘crib’ where he introduced us to the artists who influenced him growing up (vinyl album covers lined the small perimeter of the loo). And before a fun game of ‘pass the disc’ (“Wait till the beat drops!” he advised, as five adults and one child madly passed a CD between us, in a variation on musical chairs) he presented his own unique take on Coldplay’s monster-hit “Clocks.” He used the piano intro of the popular tune to rap about his introduction to rap and background.

The mix of English rock-pop with local rap in such a small environment made for an intimate, enlightening experience, offering a small peak into one person’s life. Theo3’s introduction of his girlfriend, standing shyly around the corner from the entrance with a big, proud grin, was a special touch.

Equally affecting was the Bedtime Stories feature, in which a violinist/singer serenaded a roomful of strangers as all of us laid out on cots. By harsh fluorescent light, the scene looked like one out of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort news footage, but once the lights went out, the room transformed into a dark cave with swirling projections of stars and galaxies overhead. It was an interesting intersection of panic and calm, especially considering the mayhem that was occurring in and around the Young Centre at the time.

One of the most interesting activities was Seven Singing Structures, created by lead Resident Artist, John Millard. It featured, among others, Canadian singer Patricia O’Callaghan, entertaining onlookers in the Young Centre’s palatial lobby, with huge, architectural headgear balanced precariously on the performers’ lids. What did it mean? No idea. But the singing was excellent, and everyone looked happy.

Equally joyful –and yes, playful –was the Instant Choir, which, after a short introduction by Young Centre Artistic Director Albert Schultz, performed a short ditty about arts cuts by the Canadian Federal government. With no trained singers, the choir nonetheless struck a chord; their very amateurish nature was their charm, their passion about their chosen topic admirable.

Outside the Young Centre, Cellular was being presented by actor/director David Ferry and a troupe of local playwrights and performers including Maja Ardal, Florence Gibson, Catherine Hernandez and Kate Hewlett.

the art machine, one of the works under the Cellular banner, and written by Marjorie Chan, involved dialing a number with a cell phone, before following a series of commandments issued by a disembodied voice. The voice also queried participants with things like if they’ve ever stolen, the last lie they told, and if they had a secret they wanted to share. After a long, awkward pause, one brave participant revealed he’d once … (drumroll)… pinched a baby.

Despite the fact that my own mobile unfortunately died midway through (one of the hosts of the piece loaned me his), it was interesting to note the reactions of others throughout the piece –glancing at each other for validation, laughing awkwardly, and being generally involved in communicating with a machine instead of one another. It was a playful idea, yes, and an interesting juxtaposition of modern communicating and theatre community.

Walking around the Young Centre Saturday, it was hard to believe this was the same building that had housed (and produced, via Soulpepper Theatre) such serious works as Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother. And yet it works beautifully.

The Centre’s resident artists have created something that allows for participating as well as communicating, juxtaposing, and –perhaps most importantly –playing. Play, what it means and how it’s perceived, is what’s being examined –in the most fun and inventive of ways.