Breaking Through has everyone talking!

Molly (Dorothy Carroll) and Kennedy (Marsha Knight) are turned away from an emergency shelter.

Breaking Through opened on Tuesday and has had everyone talking since.

“Saw Breaking Through yesterday, and recommend it, it is honest but done with humour too. Still shows this week. I love all the characters, especially KoKo.” – Mary Scott

“I identify with some of the characters as I have gone through mental struggles of my own… I think what it certainly got across very well was that each character was a sort of individual element, not of their own choosing, but they’re trying to find some means of attaining normalcy. This is what I’ve gone through—the struggle to find normalcy when you have a condition that leaves you feeling anything but.”  – Patrick Lowe, Winnipeg Filmmaker

KoKo (Josh Ranville) is visited by her spirit guide (Marsha Knight)

“Brilliantly done and very well-researched. The actors really took on the roles. Everybody’s characters just stay with you.” – Angela, audience member

Check out a feature in The Times on actor Harry Nelken who plays Joe, a 72 year old character who has been living with schizophrenia since he was 19. Read the Winnipeg Free Press preview by Randall King and the blog review by Winnipeg theatre artist Lorraine James. Breaking Through has also been featured in the Winnipeg Free Press Arts & Culture, CBC News, The Herald, The Lance, The Pilipino Express, Global News Morning and more!

Come and see for yourself. There are four performances left! To see a performance schedule and book you tickets click here.

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“Plays like this are good messages. They’re valuable, in a sense. What I also like about the play is it was meant to be entertaining throughout. It wasn’t really a ‘downer’. It was trying to be an ‘upper’” – Patrick Lowe, Winnipeg filmmaker

Photos by Janet Shum.

 

 

Review: “Breaking Through”

An insightful response to the preview of “Breaking Through.”

Lorraine James

I’ve done several shows with Sarasvati Productions and have seen many more. I love the diversity of voices expressed in this company and that every piece challenges you to think, planting a seed about the subject matter. I never know how entertaining or educational the piece will be with any theatre until it’s finished.Going into this, I wonder if the title means to break through stereotypes about mental illness, about an individual breaking through to come out onto the other side of “sanity”, for their surrounding circle of friends and family to break through and communicate with the individual?

Breaking Throughis an hour and a half long play about a diverse group of people struggling with their mental health, finding their way to surviving every single day as they do so. Not focusing on a particular illness but commenting on how mental illness itself is being perceived. The show…

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Keeping the Conversation Going – Panel Discussions at Breaking Through

Joe (Harry Nelken) takes it upon himself to welcome Stef (Elena Anciro) at the Mental Health Centre in Breaking Through

Speaking up is the seed of Breaking Through. Feeling able to speak, qualified to speak, and comfortable to speak are some of the challenges we’ve heard from the 400 Manitobans we worked with in the story-gathering phase of this project. Without the generosity and bravery of the individuals who contributed, this play would not have been possible. Now that Breaking Through has come this far, debuting to public audiences in a week, we want to keep the conversation open.

We have put together a series of panel discussions to take place after select performances of Breaking Through. We hope these panels will keep the conversation going while responses are fresh. Check out our panel discussion schedule to plan your experience.

May 24, 8pm –  The Creation Process Panel – Shirley Grierson and Dana Rungay of Red Threads Playback Theatre with Cairn Moore, co-writer of Breaking Through.

Cairn Moore, Dana Rungay, Bequie Lake and Karissa Martins at Selkirk Mental Health Centre

Playback Theatre is a form of improvisational theatre that starts with listening deeply to people’s stories and then transforming them spontaneously into theatre. It is especially powerful in honouring the voices of people from marginalized communities and in helping to build understanding across differences.  Dana Rungay is a founder of Red Threads of Peace Playback Theatre. The traditional use of the arts of storytelling, music and dance are natural ways of restoring connection and community – the social support determinant of health.  This was the intention of their Playback Theatre involvement at Selkirk Mental Health Centre in collaboration with Sarasvàti Productions in the development process of Breaking Through.

 

 

May 25 , 8pm – Breaking Barriers Panel– Bryan Young, Dara Hallock, Danielle Sicotte, Co-Executive Directors and Event Director of the Breaking Barriers Summit on Mental Health.

The Breaking Barriers Summit on Mental Health was the first student–led, multi university conference on mental health in the province. This year, they launched a collaborative initiative that brought together students from the three major academic institutions in our province. Students from the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg & L’Université de Saint-Boniface joined together in an effort to not only reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, but to also effectively break down the barriers between our academic institutions.

May 26, 8pm – Varied Perspectives Panel – Jan DeFehr, Patricia Johnstone and the Winnipeg Police Service Vulnerable Persons Unit.

Kennedy (Marsha Knight) seeks help for her sister Molly (Dorothy Carroll) in Breaking Through

Jan DeFehr, MSW, PhD, has twenty years experience as a clinical social worker in programs focused on youth ‘corrections’, violence in intimate partner relationships, crisis & trauma, and suicide prevention. She is an Associate of The Taos Institute, an honourary faculty member of the Houston-Galveston Institute, and a regular lecturer with The Kanankil Institute in Mérida Mexico. An Assistant Professor in the University of Winnipeg Faculty of Education, Jan presents her work locally and internationally and teaches mental health courses that expose and confront the misinformation and potential for harm in mainstream mental health services.

Pat Johnstone is the Mother of three children, all of whom have experienced some form of severe and persistent mental illness.  She is an advocate for improving the community supports, such as appropriate housing and benefits, to help the mentally ill to succeed in their recovery journey.  She chairs the Family Advisory Committee (friends and family members of patients) for the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC).

KoKo (Josh Ranville) is visited by spirit guide (Marsha Knight)

Perspectives on this topic are just as varied as the people they come from. We don’t expect everyone to agree with what all the characters expresses in Breaking Through. Whatever your response is, we want to hear it. We encourage you to share any and all responses to the show. The panels provide a chance for dialogue and much needed discussion.

Breaking Through runs from May 23-28 at the Asper Centre for Theatre & Film.  Tickets are available in advance or at the door.

Watch a behind the scenes video by Ora Walker.

Behind the Scenes with Breaking Through

With less than two weeks until Opening Night, the cast of Breaking Through are delving deep in to their characters who are born out of so many Winnipegger’s stories. For this week’s blog we visited the actors in action for a behind the scenes look into Breaking Through.

Joe (Harry Nelken)

Harry Nelken plays Joe, a sometimes prickly, sometimes charming mental health centre resident with the story of a lifetime.

“What excites me about Joe: he’s a fighter, he’s compassionate, he thinks of others, he nurtures, he’s loving, and a kidder”, says Harry, “most of all, he accepts who he is and his lot in life.”

 

Richie Diggs plays an array of different characters as the Male Ensemble in Breaking Through.

A fateful encounter at a bus stop between Absame (Richie Diggs) and Stef (Elena Anciro)

“Everyone needs a healthy mind, but anyone can get a sick mind.” My character says this in the play, thereby distilling the entire play to that simple comprehension, says Richie. “It is a key point to note, not just because one’s own self may sometimes be confronted with the challenges of living with a mental illness, but that when we encounter others battling these health challenges, that understanding, and support will be our participation, rather than stigma, or exclusion, or fear.”

Joe (Harry Nelken) and Stef (Elena Anciro); Joe fulfills duty as the unofficial ‘welcome committee’ of the mental health centre.

“What I love about Stef is that she is strong and resilient, that even when she is struggling, she has a quick wit and the instinct to help others”, says Elena Anciro. “The journey she goes on during the play has a really important message for all of us. I think whenever you are tasked with playing a character that is based on a real person or is experiencing something very specific (in this case, anxiety and OCD), it’s hard not to feel nervous about “getting it right.” It’s been amazing to work with Hope and Cairn’s script and to explore the text / subject matter with the cast. There’s been a very supportive and ‘safe space’ vibe to our rehearsals, which has really helped me feel relaxed about finding Stef and telling her story.”

 

Val (Spenser Payne) saves face!

Spenser Payne plays Val. “I think Val’s story is a really great story to witness, says Spenser.  “It’s hard to live up to certain beauty standards in our world, and doing my research on this character, really realized how common it is for women, and men to deal with an eating disorder. It happens to anyone, doesn’t matter your size, or gender. There is massive pressure from our social media world to look a certain way, or act a certain way, and I think seeing Val struggle with This concept will really resonate with audiences.”

 

KoKo (Josh Ranville) is visited by spirit guide (Marsha Knight)

“I play different family members to more than one character so I am in relationship with more than one other person who has mental health concerns”, says Marsha Knight, who plays the Female Ensemble.

Spenser Payne as “Val” and Marsha Knight as her mother “Madge”

KoKo (Josh Ranville) and Molly (Dorothy Carroll)

 

“Not only am I looking at the nuances for each character”, says Marsha, “I am also looking at the relationship. Those are areas that every actor addresses – characteristics, a uniqueness, the dynamic. This time around, there is a heightened awareness when it comes to the relationship part.”

Molly (Dorothy Carroll) stirs things up at the mental health centre.

 

“Molly is so intensely dynamic”, says Dorothy Carroll. “We see her in her highest and lowest moments, which has made it a real challenging journey. Finding a way “in” to someone struggling as Molly does, and discovering the “whys” has been most enlightening.”

Dr. Morgan (Richie Diggs) and KoKo (Josh Ranville

“KoKo is a voice of wisdom in the play”, says Josh Ranville. “There are beautiful painful moments of hopelessness at the start of the play but I also get to climb out of the muck. KoKo is a light beacon for the other characters to accept themselves for who they are. What a journey I get to go on every night we perform.”

Breaking Through runs May 23-28 at the Asper Centre for Theatre an Film. To see a full list of showtimes and to book tickets visit sarasvati.ca.

Photos by Janet Shum.

L to R: Joe (Harry Nelken) Stef (Elena Anciro) KoKo (Josh Ranville) Val (Spenser Payne) and Molly (Dorothy Carroll)

 

 

Our Next One Night Stand is a Fringe Frenzy!

One Night Stand Series Producer Tatiana Carnevale has curated an action-packed afternoon of playreadings as part of the Carol Shields Festival of New Works. This special Fringe Frenzy edition features preview readings of six new plays from local companies who will be premiering these works at the 2017 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Here’s a peek at what the event has in store.

Anomie by Wren Brian
Presented by Downside Up Productions
Directed by Eric Rae
Performed by Victoria Hill & Eric Rae 

When everything is taken away, what’s left?

Two people struggle against each other and the empty space they’re trapped in to find a way out.  Not knowing how or why they ended up in an “abyss”, the two search for meaning and understanding in their existence and in their relationship. Riffing on absurdism and existentialism (and not without a dash of humour), this play explores how we deny and deal with meaninglessness.

Harper & Row by Rebekah Enns and Sarah Flynn
Presented by Naked Theatre productions
Dear Universe,
Did you know the pen is mightier than the sword? We’ve been trying to figure out what that means. Could you send us a sign, or at least some more peaches?
Signed, Harper & Row

Naked Theatre presents an original piece about two girls just trying to figure it all out. With pens as their defense against the world, all they need now is an envelope, a stamp and someone to write back.

Riot Resist Revolt Repeat by Frances Koncan
Presented by Vault Projects
Directed by Frances Koncan
Performed by Melanee Deschambeault, Sandy Klowak, Frances Koncan, Eric Rae, Karmelle Spence-Sing, and Erica Wilson

In the near-future, in a city surrounded by walls and a world where water is scarce and a luxury available only to the very rich, a Revolution is beginning. Iskwe, a young Cree woman, is struggling with bipolar disorder. Her current state of depression is further complicated by the loss of sister, who went missing one year ago. While being treated in a hospital run by a white supremacist Doctor, Iskwe meets two new friends who believe her to be her sister – the missing leader of the Revolution. Together, they embark on a journey to find her missing sister and destroy the Wall that keeps them from their sacred lands, but a mysterious person known only as The Gatekeeper has other plans. As Iskwe’s mental health continues to deteriorate under discriminatory, colonial treatment methods, the boundaries between the world of the Wall and the world of the Hospital begin to disintegrate, leaving her more confused than ever… and more powerful.

(Un)Happy Medium by Heather Madill
Presented by Kiss the Giraffe Productions
Directed by Alan Mackenzie
Performed by Heather Madill, Kami Desilets, Joseph Aragon

“I’ve got two lousy roommates. They don’t pay rent, they don’t clean up, and they’re so loud I can’t hear my own thoughts. One keeps me always on edge, the other sucks my will to live. But I can’t evict them, so I’ve got to make this work somehow. I swear they’re real, but most people don’t believe these jerks can possibly exist, so I don’t usually talk about them. But today… I’m gonna have to make an exception.”

Inertia by Gislina Patterson, Davis Plett, Angelica Schwartz, and Erin Meagan Schwartz
Presented by Happy Accidents

Inertia is an experimental theatre piece devised by a collective of intermedia artists. Deviating from narrative-lead performance, Inertia is a mediation on haunting, magic, semiconscious inheritances and predators. The collective is made up of Gislina Patterson (writer and theatre artist), Davis Plett (cultural studies academic, poet, director, musician and technical wizard), Angelica Schwartz (director, Studio58 production grad) and Erin Meagan Schwartz (improviser, theatre artist, gender studies scholar, and activist). The collective aims to deconstruct the hierarchy of theatre production and creation, queering theatre tech by attacking heteronormativity in the community and canon. Inertia draws on Shakespeare, in-yer-face theatre, and clowns.

Filter This by Craig Terlson and Reba Terlson
Presented by It’s All Relative Productions
Directed by Kaeleigh Ayre
Performed by Reba Terlson, Sam McLean, Jesse Nobess

Olivia and Dan come from two different worlds. Olivia lives on social media, documenting every moment of her life. Dan lives without a cell phone, or anything that distracts him from being present. A chance meeting at a park, has the two wonder if they could live in each other’s world, and find a deeper connection. Along for the ride is their friend the meme, who tweets, snaps and instagrams their lives. Filter This is a comedy that asks do opposites attract? And if so, must they tweet about it?

Catch readings from each of these enticing new plays on May 13 at 3:30pm at Prairie Theatre Exchange, 3rd Floor Portage Place. Free admission. Enjoy the 2017 Carol Shields Festival of New Works!