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Staging Strife: Lessons from Performing Ethnography with Polish Roma Women (ISSN)
by Magdalena Kazubowski-HoustonConcerned with traditional power imbalances between researchers and participants, contemporary social science has begun using collaborative research as an empowering methodology that involves participants in key decisions. Collaborative research is a potentially revolutionary method for studying people and their cultures, but does it work in practice? Staging Strife looks at the limits of this methodology by examining a politically charged theatre performance undertaken with a group of Roma women in Poland.
State of Denial
by Rahul VarmaOdette is a young Rwandan-born Canadian filmmaker who has travelled to Turkey to investigate stories of genocide and hidden identity for an upcoming film. When she interviews Sahana, an elderly Muslim woman who has spent her life assisting survivors of the Armenian genocide, she learns a devastating secret about Sahana, one that she resolves to share with the world at any cost, even if it means revealing her own shocking secret.
Stitches
by Glen HuserTravis has been waiting to get to junior high. When that time finally comes, things are both better, and worse, than he had hoped. On the plus side are two great new teachers. On the minus side there's Shon Docker, Travis's old tormenter from elementary school. Travis lives in a trailer park outside a small prairie town. His mother, a country-and-western singer, is on the road a lot; his father is long gone. When things get crazy at his house, he can always visit his best friend, Chantelle, a smart disabled girl with several wild biker brothers. Travis knows he's different. He loves to sew and play with puppets. He wants to become a professional puppeteer. It all makes him a target for Shon and his friends. As Travis and his friends happily prepare a puppet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the school graduation festivities, Shon's anger and prejudice erupt in violence.
Storm Warning
by Norm FosterSet in cottage country in 1953, Jack Forrester, a damaged World War II vet, has retreated from life. Then one weekend he meets Emma Currie, an amphetamine-popping chart writer for a big band. Both lives will change forever as these two opposites collide.
String Quartet: Four Plays by Ronnie Burkett
by Ronnie BurkettA collection of four plays by internationally renowned puppeteer Ronnie Burkett. This anthology includes the three plays of the Memory Dress Trilogy: Tinka's New Dress, Street of Blood, and Happy, as well as Provenance. Tinka's New Dress Two old friends become puppeteers, each performing with the same beloved folk characters, Franz and Schnitzel. Fipsi, ambitious and naive, aligns herself with the rule government, the Common Good. Carl, headstrong and outspoken, is forced underground as his satirical shows parody the censorship and oppression of the Common Good. Based on the illegal puppet shows staged in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, Tinka's New Dress examines propaganda versus truth, compliance versus censorship, and the collective society versus the individual. Street of Blood When Mrs. Edna Rural pricks her finger and bleeds onto her sewing he sees the face of Christ in a quilt square. As the media and the faithful converge on her sleepy prairie town, a has-been Hollywood vampire seeking rejuvenation and a karaoke-singing gay terrorist intent on revenge join the fray. And just as the bloodbath begins, the man in the quilt appears in the flesh to the odd trio, revealing that the bonds of blood are thicker and stranger than their individual thirsts led them to believe. Happy Happy, a cheerful veteran, homespun philosopher, and pensioner, wanders through episodes of grief in the lives of his fellow rooming-house tenants. Alongside Happy is Antoine Marionette, the emcee of the Grey Cabaret, who introduces arch presentations of sadness in song, pantomime, and burlesque that mirror and parody the stages of grief experienced by each character. Provenance Pity Beane, a young art academic, travels to Europe to trace the provenance of the subject of her obsession, a painting of a young man known simply as Tender. What she finds is so much more than she had ever imagined. In a broth run by an aging madam, the twentieth-century art scene is played out from Paris, London, and Vienna in an unrivalled exploration of beauty: our obsession with it, our fantasies about it, our addiction to it, and our ownership of it.
Successions
by Michaela Di CesareAfter the unexpected death of their parents, two second-generation Italian Canadian brothers must come together to decide whether to hold on to the family home, which is full of secrets and hoarded junk, or save what’s left of their strained relationship. When Anthony, an uptight lawyer running for office, arrives with his former actor-turned-campaign-manager wife Cristina, they’re set on signing away the house and everything that comes with it. But Enzo, a disorganized plumber, and his pregnant girlfriend Nat have other plans. The pleasantries quickly turn to tense deliberations that unearth dramatically differing views of the group’s past experiences and present values. This clever family dramedy takes a close look at issues that affect modern second-generation immigrant families in Canada—class differences, antiquated old-world beliefs, and a crumbling Canadian dream.
Such Creatures
by Judith ThompsonTwo characters and two monologues, tied together across time and place, their stories a candid pursuit of hope and empathy, even in the face of an unbelievably cruel world. Judith Thompson's Such Creatures portrays her raw style of storytelling and showcases her incessant quest to understand the dark, neglected, and troubling corners of society. Both unbelievably cruel and unbelievably human, Such Creatures is an awe-inspiring portrayal of the breadth of the human spirit.
Sultans of the Street
by Anusree RoyWhen young orphans Mala and Chun Chun encounter brothers Prakash and Ojha on the busy streets of Kolkata, they are immediately at odds. The brothers come from a lower-middle-class family and spend their time flying kites instead of attending class, while Mala and Chun Chun can only dream of going to school, a goal Aunty promises will be fulfilled if they beg for money from passersby. After a petty fruit-stall heist lands Ojha in Aunty’s cunning hands, the brothers are blackmailed into begging alongside Mala and Chun Chun, forcing the children to interact. Though they find each other nuisances at first, the kids soon realize their strength in numbers as Aunty’s scheming is slowly revealed.
Take d Milk, Nah?
by Jivesh ParasramJiv is “Canadian.” And “Indian.” And “Hindu.” And “West Indian.” “Trinidadian,” too. Or maybe he’s just colonized. He’s not the “white boy” he was teased as within his immigrant household. Especially since his Nova Scotian neighbours seemed to think he was Black. Except for the Black people—they were pretty sure he wasn’t. He’s not an Arab, and allegedly not a Muslim—at least that’s what he started claiming after 9/11. Whatever he is, the public education system was able to offer him the chance to learn about his culture from a coffee table book on “Eastern Mythology.” And then he had a religious epiphany while delivering a calf in Trinidad. By now, Jiv’s collected a lot of observations about trying to find your place in your world. In this funny, fresh, and skeptical take on the identity play, Jivesh Parasram blends personal storytelling and ritual to offer the Hin-dos and Hin-don’ts within the intersections of all of his highly hyphenated cultures. This story asks the gut-punching questions: What divides us? Who is served by the constructs of cultural identity? And what are we willing to accept in the desire to belong? Then again—it doesn’t really matter, because we are all Jiv.
Tamara
by John KrizancAvailable for the first time in over thirty years, John Krizanc’s internationally acclaimed play redefined the limits of theatre with its haunting tale of art, sex, violence, and political intrigue in Fascist Italy. In the late twenties the poet, war hero, and lothario Gabriele d’Annunzio waits in his opulent villa — a gift from Benito Mussolini in return for his political silence — for the arrival of the artist Tamara de Lempicka, who is to paint his portrait. What follows is a tale of art, sex, violence and the meaning of complicity in an authoritarian state. The action is directed by the reader/audience member, who decides which characters to follow and which narratives to experience. John Krizanc’s masterpiece redefined theatre and won six L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards, six Dora Mavor Moore Awards, six Drama-Logue Awards, and six Mexican Association of Theatre Critics, and Journalists Awards for its original productions. Now available in a handsome new A List edition, Tamara is an astonishing piece of experimental art and a penetrating look into ethical choices in times of encroaching autocracy.
That Elusive Spark
by Janet MunsilNeuropsychologist Helen Harlow is an expert at understanding the functions of the human brain, and yet her own remains a mystery. Turning her back on a once-brilliant future filled with scientific promise, Helen attempts to escape the mess of her life by diving headfirst into a new one: living in a frat-house basement, teaching Psych 101 to clueless freshmen, and confronting both her depression and the puzzling attentions of her slacker housemate Finlay. Pushed to the brink and increasingly desperate for some semblance of normalcy, Helen finds herself in a doctor's office looking for a change. But not everyone chooses to change. Certainly not Phineas Gage, a construction foreman in 1848 who miraculously survives an explosion that shoots an iron rod though his head. While Phineas makes an extraordinary physical recovery, he has a dramatic change in personality. Attended to and observed by the young doctor James Harlow, Helen's ancestor, the legacy of Phineas's dramatic story shows how far we have come scientifically, and yet how little we can comprehend of the mystery of our own hearts and minds.
Theory
by Norman YeungIs there a limit to free speech? Who gets to decide? Isabelle’s film theory students are stunned that she would open an unmoderated online discussion group to complement a controversial syllabus. Her intention was for them to learn from each other, but when an anonymous student starts to post racist comments and offensive videos on the forum and others challenge Isabelle’s methods, she is forced to decide whether to intervene or to let the social experiment play out. But the posts soon turn abusive and threatening to Isabelle’s relationship with her wife, Lee, causing her to take matters into her own hands. In this thrilling exploration of the intersections and divisions within liberalism, a young tenure-track professor finds herself in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that has her questioning her beliefs and fighting back for her life.
There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow
by Caleigh CrowGrocery-store clerk Beth has had a hell of a week. A hell of a life, actually, full of people squashing her soul. And after pushing back at life—stabbing a steak to her boss’s desk and lighting a magazine rack on fire, for instance—freshly unemployed Beth regroups at her mom’s suburban home. Just when Beth starts to think she’s to blame for systemic limits, the gift of a bird feeder sparks a relationship with a talking Crow who reconnects her with her true power.This sly chamber piece from new voice Caleigh Crow turns post-capitalism ennui on its head with a righteous fury. It unearths the subtle (and not so subtle) ways we gaslight the marginalized, especially Indigenous women, people living with mental-health afflictions, and anyone struggling to make ends meet in low-income service jobs. There Is Violence captures the vivacity and humour of one truly remarkable woman not meant for this earth, and brings her to her own glorious transcendence.
This Is How We Got Here
by Keith BarkerIt’s been a year since Paul and Lucille’s son Craig committed suicide, and their once-solid family bonds are starting to break down. While the now-separated couple tries to honour their son, Lucille’s sister Liset and her husband Jim refuse to discuss their nephew. The ties that keep the four together as sisters, best friends, and spouses are strained by grief and guilt… until a visit from a fox changes everything.
This Is War
by Hannah MoscovitchMaster Corporal Tanya Young, Captain Stephen Hughes, Private Jonny Henderson, and Sergeant Chris Anders have lived through an atrocity while holding one of the most volatile regions in Afghanistan. As each of them is interviewed by an unseen broadcasting organization, they recount their version of events leading up to the horrific incident with painful, relenting replies. What begins to form is a picture of the effects of guilt and the psychological toll of violence in a war where the enemy is sometimes indiscernible.
This Is What Happens Next
by Daniel MacivorMost people hope for happy endings. For Warren, a gay divorcee, that means getting his stuff back; most importantly, his cherished John Denver CD. And then there's Warren's assortment of friends: Susan, a Percocet-fuelled divorce lawyer whose daughters are giving her a hard time; Tarot-reading Aaron, who is dating Susan and who secretly used to be known as Erin; Mike, an alcoholic who sometimes sees his son on Saturdays; and Kevin, Mike's kid who has an imaginary friend. Observing and directing all of their lives is the human will—or Will, as he prefers to be called—who doesn't quite believe in those happy endings. This Is What Happens Next is an intensely relatable, multi-character story that explores the anguish of addiction and divorce as it delves into the fundamentals of human desire and asks the philosophical question, "What happens next?"
Th'owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish
by Joseph A. DandurandWhen you take something from the earth you must always give something back. From the Kwantlen First Nation village of Squa’lets comes the tale of Th’owxiya, an old and powerful spirit that inhabits a feast dish of tempting, beautiful foods from around the world. But even surrounded by this delicious food, Th’owxiya herself craves only the taste of children. When she catches a hungry mouse named Kw’at’el stealing a piece of cheese from her dish, she threatens to devour Kw’at’el’s whole family, unless he can bring Th’owxiya two child spirits. Ignorant but desperate, Kw’at’el sets out on an epic journey to fulfill the spirit’s demands. With the help of Sqeweqs, two Spa:th and Sasq’ets, Kw’at’el endeavours to find gifts that would appease Th’owxiya and save his family. Similar to “Hansel and Gretel” and the northwest First Nations stories about the Wild Woman of the Woods, Th’owxiya—which integrates masks, song and dance—is a tale of understanding boundaries, being responsible for one’s actions, forgiving mistakes and finding the courage to stand up for what’s right.
Three in the Back, Two in the Head
by Jason ShermanThe issue of loyalty and betrayal is dramatized through dialogue in the Governor-General's-Award-winning Three in the Back, Two in the Head, which appears to have been based on the assassination of Gerald Bull, the brilliant Canadian scientist who designed the first Star Wars system twenty years before Reagan announced his version. Bull ran afoul of the Pentagon and the CIA by his dealings with China, Chile, Yugoslavia, and Iraq. But Sherman's play is not a docudrama in any sense, for it merely uses some of the circumstances of the murdered scientist's career in order to concentrate on questions of personal and state morality as these circumscribe issues of loyalty and betrayal.
The Thrill
by Judith ThompsonElora Dixon is a vibrant, middle-aged lawyer and disability-rights activist who has never walked a step in her life. A neuromuscular disease left her with a curved spine and a reliance on around-the-clock care. Nonetheless, she is an inexorable force when chance pits her against the notorious Julian Summer, who is in town promoting his internationally bestselling book. Julian is a fervent supporter of euthanasia, and Elora is the counter-argument—a living rebuke to parents who want the option of euthanizing a disabled newborn. So it comes as a shock, especially to Elora, when the two find themselves acutely attracted to one another. Will she learn to negotiate her feelings and her convictions, or will Julian’s beliefs begin to colour her own?
Through the Bamboo
by Andrea Mapili Byron AbalosTwelve-year-old Philly is literally pulled into an action-packed adventure while mourning the loss of her lola when she opens an old book and finds herself tossed into the fantastical land of Uwi. In Uwi, memories are stories, and all stories are forbidden since the datu’s storytelling-loving wife died and his youngest daughter Nale disappeared. Now his remaining daughters, the Sisters, rule with darkness in their hearts. So when Philly appears, the duwende believe that she is Nale and the key to saving Uwi. Can Philly save them all while searching for her lola to bring her back home? Similar to The Wizard of Oz, the Chronicles of Narnia, and Alice in Wonderland, this unique Filipinx-Canadian tale inspired by Philippine mythology shows the value of keeping memories alive and explores how families deal with loss.
Tinka's New Dress
by Ronnie Burkett Liz NichollsTwo old friends become puppeteers, each performing with the same beloved folk characters, Franz and Schnitzel. Fipsi, ambitious and naive, aligns herself with the rule government, the Common Good. Carl, headstrong and outspoken, is forced underground as his satirical shows parody the censorship and oppression of the Common Good. Based on the illegal puppet shows staged in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, Tinka's New Dress examines propaganda versus truth, compliance versus censorship, and the collective society versus the individual.
Too Good to be True
by Cliff CardinalFrom the acclaimed author of Huff & Stitch comes a new dark comedy about the lies we tell each other in order to make the best of a desperate situation. Maria and her kids—Lisa, a pregnant teenager, and Jude, an excitable preteen—are on the run following the murder of Lisa’s rapist. As the police close in, Maria is determined to give her kids a last supper that prepares them for everything they’re going to need to survive in the world without her.
Toronto the Good
by Andrew MoodieWhen top Crown attorney Thomas Matthews, a victim of racial profiling himself, is assigned to prosecute the accused against a Left-leaning white attorney, tensions mount and personal politics bubble to the surface. Cutting deep into the lawyers' private lives, their families and foibles are richly portrayed as an integral part of Toronto's shifting mosaic. From an ostensibly routine traffic stop, each character must come to terms with the city's racial politics and how they have shaped their own beliefs and prejudices. Written in response to the rise of gun crime in the streets of Canada's largest city, Toronto the Good probes the problems that perpetuate the changing metropolis and explores how they have been allowed to flourish.
Toronto's Local Movie Theatres of Yesteryear: Brought Back to Thrill You Again
by Doug Taylor2017 Theatre Library Association Book Awards — Nominated, Richard Wall Memorial Award 2017 Heritage Toronto Book Award — Nominated Slip once more into the back rows of the favourite movie theatres of your youth. “Brought Back to Thrill You Again” was an advertisement employed by theatres to disguise that they were offering older films that were past their prime. In the 1950s a sign appeared outside Loew’s Downtown (the Elgin) displaying these commonly used words. The theatre was screening Gone With the Wind, released in 1939. However, in this instance the claim was accurate, as the film did indeed thrill audiences one more time. Similar to this cinematic classic, this book will thrill you again as it brings back memories of Toronto’s old movie theatres. Relive the experience of sitting in their darkened auditoriums, witnessing the adventure, comedy, and romance of the silver screen. Most of the theatres have been demolished, but to visually recreate them, the book includes 128 historic pictures of the theatres — exteriors, marquees, colourful neon signs, and auditoriums — many of the photos never before published in books or on the internet.
Tough Case
by David S. CraigSixteen-year-old Dane and his mom have relocated to Nova Scotia hoping to flee an abusive relationship with Dane’s father. In the midst of this, Dane has been getting into trouble with the law. He’s been caught breaking into and vandalizing an elderly woman’s home and is about to be charged with a host of serious offences unless he participates in a court-ordered restorative-justice program. With dreams of joining the military, Dane decides to co-operate so a criminal record won’t follow him. There he meets Nessa, a social worker who grew up in a tough north Halifax housing project and the only person able to connect with Dane. A contemporary story about one teen’s journey through the restorative justice system, a mother fighting for her son, the scared and angry victims of a senseless crime, and the mediator who helps them all come together.