kitchener
iPhoto caption: Sleman Aldib and an audience member in 'The Opposite.' Still from a trailer by Spectrum Associates.
REVIEW: Kitchener’s biennial IMPACT Festival crackled with urgency
Most of the six works I viewed tackled urgent topics, from the convoluted Canadian immigration system to the Palestinian experience of displacement: explorations that line up with artistic director Pam Patel’s curatorial statement, which discusses how IMPACT ‘25 “unpacks what it means to survive, to resist, and to seek refuge” through a global, Indigenous-focused lens.
iPhoto caption: Braeden Etienne in 'Believe In It Alive.' Photo courtesy of Treading Theatre Festival, taken by Phi Doan.
Running at the Schneider Haus National Historic Site in downtown Kitchener, the festival features five site-responsive productions in intimate and unconventional performance spaces.
When the Playwright Goes Prose: In Conversation with Haley McGee
My process with solo shows involves sharing bits of text with audiences when I don’t really know where it’s going, or how it’s going to end. I’m pivoting myself to the responses from the audience — I sniff out where I want to go, and how I want to shape the piece. Through creating solo shows, I discovered how much I love this direct, unfettered relationship with an audience.