Locals Shine in FemFest 2017 Two Indians by Falen Johnson

Winnipeg is a city bursting at the seams with talented artists. This FemFest we are ecstatic to pair the powerful writing of Toronto-based playwright Falen Johnson with this incredible team of Winnipeg artists to bring Two Indians to life. Get to know them in this week’s blog.

Sonya Ballantyne, Director
Self-described as “nerdy with a smart remark for anything”, Sonya is a filmmaker/writer originally from Misipawistik Cree Nation. Her work focuses on Aboriginal girls and women in non-traditional film genres such as fantasy, horror and superhero films.
*Some things you didn’t know about Sonya…
– once played Ocarina of Time for 15 hours when she was a kid
– she also has a podcast about re-watching television show Hannibal while discussing true crime cases
– she was planning to go to law school before “the seductive world of art got its claws in me”

Melanee Deschambeault, Performer
Melanee Deschambeault is French and Anishinaabe from Dauphin, Manitoba. She is a student at the University of Manitoba. Melanee can currently be seen in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in Riot Revolt Resist Repeat, a Vault Projects production.
*What you might not know about Melanee is…
– if she wasn’t doing theatre she would be found somewhere in Winnipeg trying to fill the void
– Her go-to karaoke songs are anything from Madonna, Jewel (the older stuff!) and Alanis Morissett!
– “When I close my eyes, and see myself as a child, I can see myself outside my grandparent’s house, wondering the back trails by their property. I can see myself occasionally climbing a tree and taunting my dogs who would walk with me through the trails. I can see myself watching my grandfather garden and wondering what my grandmother would be cooking for supper but never venturing inside to see because I would rather be outside in nature.”
– In terms of her part in Two Indians Melanee promises that Roe will unveil a new part of herself that has never been seen by the public!

Erica Wilson, Performer
Erica is from Winnipeg’s North End “born and raised.” Erica has worked with Urban Indigenous Theatre Company, Sarasvàti Productions, Merlyn Productions and most recently with Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre as Assistant Director on Sarah Ballenden.
*Did you know…
– For the first time all year Erica has only one occupation
-as a child her best friend was a full-sized cardboard cut-out of herself that she would drag around by a string
– She’s not a fan of karaoke. “I don’t like singing at bars, I was never a fan of myself going up there, picking a song and pretending like I have the energy to do both. I have to be in a mood and most bars never carry songs I want to sing.”

Joseph Abetria, Designer
Recently returned from Stratford Festival where he worked as costume design assistant under Christina Poddubiuk for the 2017 production of Romeo & Juliet, Joseph identifies as “a sassy individual with a fondness for graphic floral.” This is Joseph’s second time with FemFest, after his work on last year’s FemFest premiere of The Seduction Theory.
*Some things you might not know about Joseph…
– His go-to karaoke song is crowd-favourite Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston
– If he wasn’t working in theatre he might like to be “that person that designs and names nail polish colours”
– As a kid he really enjoyed watching cartoons and then drawing them after

Colin Wiens, Sound Designer
Colin is in his final year of Production and Stage Management studies at the University of Winnipeg. He hopes to have his own sound design company one day.
*Some things you should know about Colin…
– he also works for the Winnipeg Folk Festival as a Production Assistant
– he goes to competitive Super Smash Brothers tournaments
– if it wasn’t for theatre, he would have liked to try his hand at professional wrestling

There are four chances to see Two Indians at FemFest 2017. See here for tickets and a full schedule of performances. Stay tuned for details on our amazing production team!

Getting to know the Band behind Tomboy Survival Guide

photo by Robin Toma

On stage Ivan Coyote, Sal Zori, Pebbles Willekes and Alison Gorman are known for rousing audiences from their seats with a high-energy story-driven performance that will leave you breathless. Off stage this fantastic four have a lot of interesting hobbies and strong feelings about fishing. Get to know the talented collaborators of Tomboy Survival Guide in this week’s blog. As a special feature we’ve been asking all FemFest artists about their childhood after all our theme this year is Coming of Age!

Ivan Coyote
Writer/Lead Vocals

Ivan Coyote Then

Ivan Coyote (photo by Jourdan Tymkow)

• third generation Yukoner now based in Vancouver
• author of eleven books, creator of four short films, six full-length live shows, and three albums
• will be given a Honorary Doctorate of Laws at Simon Fraser University for their writing and activism
• if Ivan wasn’t doing this they would be an electrician
• as a child they would play the saxophone and write stories and go fishing

Sal Zori
Drummer/Percussionist

Sal Zori Then

Sal Zori Now

• born in Iraq and grew up moving back and forth between the United Arab Emirates and Canada
• for a brief time was the percussionist for Aretha Franklin
• DIY-er, tennis player, videographer, barista
• playing tennis was a favourite past-time as a child
• hates karaoke
• If you could go back in time, where would you go and why? “1920’s. The music.”

Pebbles Willekes
Bass

Pebbles Willekes Then

Pebbles Willekes Now

• born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Graphic designer, WordPress nerd, avid gardener & cook of vegetarian food
• has fantasized about running a small farm
• “I spend most of my childhood outside, in the West side of Amsterdam, riding my bike, building huts in the dense butterfly bushes. Roasting potatoes over a campfire.  Making up stories about how me and my best friend were stranded on an island and had to survive.  Started playing music (punk rock) when I was 14, then most time was spent inside.”
  
• go-to karaoke song? Rebel Rebel – David Bowie
• If you could go back in time, where would you go and why? “I’d probably go back to the late 60’s, early 70’s, to see a young Bowie in concert”

Alison Gorman
Trumpet

Allison Gorman Then

Allison Gorman Now

• “ I eat a troubling amount of olives.”
• go-to Karaoke song – Runaround Sue
• “My brother used to take me fishing at the crack of dawn every weekend. I hated fishing, but liked hanging out with him. (He still thinks I like fishing).”
• “If I weren’t in music. Jeez. I had a brief, failed attempt at an air traffic control career. Packing groceries in bins, I suppose.”
• If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why? “Vancouver 1990’s? I’d buy up all that real estate, yo.”
• Alison directs the band Queer As Funk [link], Vancouver’s own LGBTQ Motown, soul and funk band – they play weddings!

See Tomboy Survival Guide at FemFest 2017 one-night-only SEPT 17 at the West End Cultural Centre. Tickets on sale now.

Mulgrave Road Theatre brings harrowing Thompson play to FemFest

“Judith Thompson’s Watching Glory Die is a call to action and a cri de coeur.”
-THE CHRONICLE HERALD

Watching Glory Die

In her recent play, Judith Thompson turns our attention to the flaws within the Canadian prison system. Inspired by the true story of New Brunswick teenager Ashley Smith who died while under suicide watch in an Ontario prison in 2007, Watching Glory Die is a deliberately fictionalized portrait of three women intertwined by systemic abandonment.

“Politically charged and some of Thompson’s best story-telling”
-HALIFAX BLOGGERS

Emmy Alcorn

After a successful run in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mulgrave Road Theatre has been touring this powerful production across the country. We are excited to welcome them to Winnipeg to deliver this incredible piece of theatre at FemFest 2017. Director Emmy Alcorn (Artistic Director of Mulgrave Road Theatre, Nova Scotia Established Artist Award) brings this powerful play to the stage with perfect balance. “I believe there is a way to lift everyone up in society. We live in an abundant world and must ensure that everyone is treated fairly, that they have food and shelter; that they are loved”, says Alcorn.

Stephanie MacDonald

Award-winning actor Stephanie MacDonald brings these three women to life in a performance that is described in a review by the Chronicle Herald as “masterful, intense, deeply focused and totally convincing.”  In Watching Glory Die MacDonald plays all three characters: Glory, a fictionalized version of Ashley Smith; Rosellen, Glory’s mother and Gail, a guard at the prison where Glory is incarcerated. “It’s not just the precision between roles that is captivating, but how honestly and instantly MacDonald apparates from one woman’s deep emotional state to the next” –HALIFAX BLOGGERS

“Thompsons powerful writing skills are on display” – TORONTO STAR

Watching Glory Die

The play does not shy away from the harrowing moments of this story. Chief among questions raised throughout the play is, “What would I do?” “The impossible is happening in our country,” Thompson said in an interview about Watching Glory Die with the Toronto Star. “The system destroyed Smith. And it happened where least expected.”

Judith Thompson is a multiple award-winning playwright and is highly regarded as one

Watching Glory Die

of Canada’s most prolific playwrights. She is the author of such notable plays as The Crackwalker, White Biting Dog and Lion in the Streets. Her work is a staple of theatre programs in Universities across Canada. There are three chances to see Watching Glory Die at the Asper Centre for Theatre & Film: September 21 at 2:30pm and again at 9pm, September 22 at 7pm.

“Watching Glory Die shocks, clarifies and engages.” —Evan Andrew Mackay, Post City Toronto

Stay tuned for more FemFest news!

ENVISION – Sarasvàti Productions 2017/18 Season Launch

Sarasvàti Productions invites you to envision a season of life-changing theatre that is inclusive, full of possibility and absolutely thrilling!

From FemFest 2017: Coming of Age to the 2018 International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues: I Am Unstoppable, to a formidable season of workshops geared to supporting youth and emerging artists: we are so excited to get started! Join us on August 4th at the Saddlery on Market (114 Market Ave)–a beautiful new spot in the Exchange District. This party is absolutely free. Show up by 7pm to enjoy the entire evening, or pop in throughout your First Friday adventures.

We’ll be celebrating FemFest’s 15th birthday by having some of our staff and artists share things they wrote as a child.

Let us entertain you with a Cabaret-style line-up featuring artists from our season to come. RobYn Slade presents a sampling of 50/50 theatre-improv fusion from the FemFest 2017 Cabaret. Reena Jolly performs a monologue devised from interviews with young newcomer women as part of New Beginnings development. Melanee Deschambeault and Erica Wilson perform a teaser  from FemFest featured show Two Indians and much, much more!

See what you envision at our awesome build-your-own kaleidoscope station courtesy of ArtsJunktion mb.

And as always we’ll have plenty of decadent cupcakes supplied generously by Cake-ology.

So join us on Friday August 4^th as we envision an incredible season of Winnipeg theatre.
See more event details here.