Pyretic Productions in association with Alberta Aboriginal Arts and the Rubaboo Festival,
as part of the Arts at the Barns Presentation Series, presents the world premiere of
BEARS
BEARSby Matthew MacKenzie
A multi-disciplinary comedy about the Northern Gateway Pipeline Bears asks, ‘what the hell we think we’re doing here in Wild Rose Country?’
February 5 – 15, 2015, 8:00 pm (February 8, 14, 15 at 2:00 pm)
PCL Theatre at the ATB Financial Arts Barns (10330 – 84 Ave)
Tickets: $21.50 for adults, $16.50 for students/seniors ($10.00 per ticket for groups of 10+) and can be purchased at the Arts Barns Box Office at 780-409-1910 or http://tickets.fringetheatre.ca/
Starring – Sheldon Elter
Featuring – Bryce Kulak, Alida Nyquist-Schultz, Krista Posyniak, Kate Stashko, Anastasia Maywood, Aimee Rushton and Lianna Makuch
Movement Designer – Ainsley Hillyard
Environmental Designer – T. Erin Gruber
Composer and Lyricist – Bryce Kulak
Electronic Sound Designer – Dean Musani AKA DJ Phatcat
Stage Manager – Rachel Dawn Woods
Consulting Director – Patrick Lundeen
Costume Designer – Sydney Gross
If there’s one thing Floyd loves, it’s bears. Maybe he’ll take in an orphaned cub, maybe he’ll hunt poachers, maybe he’ll make art installations out of their shellacked droppings – it doesn’t really matter so long as it involves bears. But as the prime suspect in a workplace accident, Floyd has to get out of town fast. Pursued relentlessly by the RCMP in a Big Oil sponsored manhunt, he heads through the Rockies for Kitimat, B.C. By the time he reaches the Great Bear Rainforest, Floyd has experienced changes – his gait widening, his muscles bulging, his sense of smell heightening…
Through dramatic storytelling, an integrated five-person chorus, an immersive projection design, and a thrilling accompanying sound-scape, Bears features a wide range of top Edmonton talent. Sterling award winning actor and former rig worker Sheldon Elter carries this show. Supporting Floyd on his journey, transforming into the animals, people, and even elements he encounters, will be a chorus of five performers, choreographed by co-Artistic Director of Edmonton’s Good Women Dance Collective Ainsley Hillyard. Underscoring Floyd’s journey will be an original soundscape by Dean Musani AKA DJ Phatcat, well-known in the Edmonton’s electronic music scene, while critically acclaimed composer Bryce Kulak’s imaginative songs will punctuate the piece. Erin Gruber’s environmental design will transport winter weary Edmonton audiences into a summer scape.
Few issues facing Albertans are attracting as much attention as the Oil Sands and the proposed expansion of their exploitation. With the planned Northern Gateway Pipeline pumping bitumen west from the Capital Region, Bears seeks to increase dialogue about such a massive project in Edmonton, and the individuals it affects.
About the Playwright:
In 1841 MacKenzie’s great, great, great Grandmother Kisiskaciwan passed through Edmonton. For three days, as her party stocked up on supplies, she sat by the river—her namesake, and cried. An Englishman recorded in his account of the journey that Kisiskaciwan had the same veneration for the North Saskatchewan as those of the Hindu faith do for the Ganges. This historical account and his aboriginal ancestry lead MacKenzie to write Bears.
