The Monologues on Tour

Our International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues: Changes is not a onetime event. Every year, we take our cabaret on the road to various venues and organizations to spread the word of International Women’s Week across Manitoba. Visiting various locations during International Women’s Week not only helps to spread the word, but also makes the Cabaret more accessible to those who would otherwise not be able to make it out to the public performances.

This year, we are so excited to be hosted by eleven different venues in Manitoba! Including…

• AGAPE HOUSE (Steinbach)
• ALTONA UNITED CHURCH (Altona)
• CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
• GENESIS HOUSE (Winkler)
• NORTH END WOMEN’S CENTRE
• RAINBOW RESOURCE CENTRE
• SAGE HOUSE
• JOHN’S LIBRARY
• SUNSHINE HOUSE
• THE UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG
• WOMEN’S HEALTH CLINIC

Some locations are even offering a full event in celebration of International Women’s Day as well as featuring the monologues.

Agape House will be hosting an evening of events featuring wine, apps, and entertainment… all in the name of empowerment! Agape House’s Women, Wine and Theatre Event is Friday, March 6th from 7-9 at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre. Tickets are $20 and are selling fast! Purchase tickets online HERE, or E-transfer $20.00 to admin@agapehouse.ca with password IWD2020.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be hosting their “free night” on March 6^th. Access the museum for free, explore the exhibits and at 6:30pm, five of our eight Cabaret of Monologues performances will take place. 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg, MB.

Altona United Church will have a special Women’s Day Church Tea on March 8th at 2pm. Our monologues will be featured as well a live music, prizes for best dress and refreshments! Tickets are $10 available at the door.

St. John’s Library will also be hosting a special thirty-minute event with waNda wilsoN’s musical entertainment! Free to attend on March 5^th at 6:30pm, 500 Salter Street, Winnipeg, MB.

Of course, there is also our two public performances featuring all 8 of the monologues AND a special performance by drag performer Petty Davis. On March 7^th at The Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (400 Colony Street) join us either for the 4pm performance or the 8pm*.

*8pm performance will have ASL interpretation.

The Asper Centre for Theatre and Film is wheelchair accessible with gender neutral restrooms. We hope to see you on March 7^th for one of the two public performances, or along the tour at one or more of these amazing venues! Purchase your tickets in advance, HERE!

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Cabaret of Sneak Peeks

Movies get trailers, so why not have a one for theatre too? Below are some sneak peeks at this year’s line-up for International Women’s Week Cabaret of Monologues: Changes and how each piece correlates to this year’s theme.

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“Today, we’re learning about Air Pollution. Can I hear everyone say “Air Pollution”?…Good job everyone! Now, air pollution is so yucky. Yes, it’s yucky. What happens if you breathe too much air pollution? Is breathing in air pollution good or bad?”

Masks by Makrenna Sterdan is a satirical monologue that follows Mrs. Jones as she teaches an assembly of youngsters how to properly put on their face masks to protect themselves from polluted air. This monologue focuses on the changes within the world and the consequences that we will soon face if something doesn’t, yet again, change. Masks will be performed by Renée Hill in this year’s cabaret.

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Content warning: Assault

“I need to get into my apartment but what if he’s in the elevator again? And I mean I can’t take the stairs… the stairs are out of the question, anyone, anything could be in the stairwell. Anything.”

Ping by Larissa Hikel tells a story that most women in today’s society can relate to. Late at night, on her way home from work, Jessamyn is attacked in the elevator of her apartment building by an unknown man. Although she manages to escape the initial attack, she now has to deal with the trauma on a daily basis. Ping will be performed by Taesia Scratch.

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“I can’t even imagine. Not having the choice? I keep beating myself up, saying I’m selfish, second guessing my decision, but that’s just it, it’s MY Decision! It’s my body and right now I’m sick of feeling sick!”

The A Word by Brooklyn Alice Lee follows a young woman as she makes the decision to terminate her pregnancy. There is a lot of debate today towards pro-choice and pro-life. Society is changing in their opinions and as change is not always linear, the debate continues with many differing opinions. The A Word will be performed by Lizzie Knowles.

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“Dear Baby, she said. Dear Baby. I wish I could reach you, she said, from the other side of the…glass. If I wasn’t over here, and you weren’t over there. With this…is it glass? Or fog? Fog maybe. Between us.”

Yearning/Distance by Beth Lanigan, a new mother struggling with postpartum depression. Having a new baby is one of the biggest changes a person can go through. This monologue uses a unique and abstract narrative to try and voice how it might feel for a new mother experiencing postpartum depression. Yearning/Distance will be performed by Saira Rahman.

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“To change your thoughts, this is what it means in Cree. Kweskenta, not so easy to do when you’ve been broken, hurt so many times in so many ways or sometimes even when you have a good day.”

Kweskenta written and performed by waNda wilsoN. As a storyteller and musician, waNda uses her skills to share her own personal stories. You may recall waNda from last year’s cabaret where she performed Bare Bones. This year, she explores the meaning and reasoning behind changing your thoughts while performing two of her songs.

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“So what happened was, in the dark of my new apartment / a brief period of time when I lived in a house called The Marijuana Mansion with two professional musicians, I was alone with my thoughts. I often didn’t sleep at all unless I had a couple of glasses of wine or was watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix.”

Oversharer performed and written by Kristen Einarson is a stand-up comedy piece. Kristen brings her wit and charm to the stage by sharing her intimate story of change within her own life all while giving the audience a good giggle.

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“In a world that tells you that if you just worked hard enough / Was smart enough / Was cool enough / There may be a chance that you deserved a privilege key / To unlock the box of ignorance.”

Traumatic Resilience by Sadie-Phoenix Lavoie is a spoken word poetry piece that will also be performed by Sadie. They will share their story of resilience and overcoming adversity and change through this spoken-word piece.

 

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Joanna Hawkins will also be performing a piece titled, The Bold, Beautiful and Deaf. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a sneak peek as Joanna’s piece will all be mimed!

 

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For some more on this year’s monologues and to purchase your tickets now, visit our website HERE.  Check out our interview with performers HERE on our Facebook page!

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Women are Hilarious

By Kristen Einarson

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Something wild happened: me, a local stand-up comedian and hooligan, was approached by a real-life theatre company to create a piece of storytelling for a touring cabaret. THAT IS BANANAS. I obviously said yes. But I quickly became terrified. Theatre muscles aren’t muscles I’ve used in a number of years, so I knew it was going to take a minute to ease back into that world.

Theatre and comedy are very similar, believe it or not. There’s a whole lot of vulnerability in both, but just presented in vastly different mediums. Stand-up shows are almost never longer then 60 minutes, and I’ve never done a set longer than 15. Theatre can happen for hours. Thankfully, the task was just to make 10 minutes of theatre – easy peasy, right?

Creating a monologue is much different then writing a stand-up set. For one thing, you’re allowed to say “I created a monologue” or “I developed a piece of storytelling art”. If you said “I created/developed a stand-up set” to anyone – especially a comedian – you’d likely get smacked.

In stand-up, the typical practice – or MY typical practice, anyways – is to go to an open mic and try out 3-5 minutes of new jokes. This depends how many comedians signed up and how confident you are with your new material. Sometimes you’ll think “yup, I’m totally going to do 5 minutes of NEW SHIT” and then your first joke falls flat and you spend the rest of your time onstage trying to recover and get the audience back on your side.

For Oversharer (LOL I GOT TO PUT THE TITLE OF MY PIECE IN ITALICS THIS IS WILD), I just sat down and barfed it into a Google doc. This was mainly due to procrastination and a deadline on my part, but partially because I wasn’t sure how to build a monologue in bits and pieces the way I build and test out stand-up. There have absolutely been revisions, but I just barfed it and then it was. Like literal vomit, but instead it was ~art vomit~.

When we met for a rehearsal, Hope, the AD of Sarasvàti, just said “We like your work! This is what we think. What do you need from us?”

It’s wild to me that artists are allowing me to do my little comedy skit with such blind trust. I really hope it doesn’t bomb. I also wish there was a more interesting story about the process, but that’s it. Sarasvàti has been a DREAM to work with, and lets me revisit my days as an actor.

I used to act all the time. I stopped doing plays around 2016 to go back to school and become a marketing sell-out. Fun fact: Liz, Associate Artistic Director of Sarasvàti, and I did three Fringe plays together between 2013-2016. Here is a cute photo of us from our youth:

This experience has honestly been the most beautiful and inspiring whirlwind. It inspired me so much that I’m planning on growing Oversharer into a one-woman, 60-minute Fringe show, to be premiered this July. And it’s all because my friend Liz saw me do a drunk open mic and saw something in me!!!!

I am passionate about what Sarasvàti does because women’s voices are important. In my opinion, there aren’t nearly enough women who do stand-up comedy. It’s a field that is very male-dominated. But guess what? Women are hilarious. Women have important things to say. We have voices. We have good eyebrows. We are ready to SLAY and do stand-up comedy or theatre or anything we want to do!

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Welcome, Fawnda!

We are so excited to welcome the newest staff member to the Sarasvàti Productions team… Fawnda Neckoway!

Fawnda Neckoway from the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Manitoba, born and raised in Winnipeg. Fawnda studied at the Academy of Acting and is an alumni of the National Screen Institute. Her background is in film as an Actress and Casting Director. She has worked with companies such as Eagle Vision, CBC, Netflix and Film Training Manitoba. She also performed in “We Were Children”, a true story about two residential school survivors and their time in the schools. Outside of the workplace, Fawnda is a proud momma who enjoys fitness and values family, culture and creating. She is passionate about the arts and working closely within the Indigenous community.

Most recently Fawnda casted APTN’s television show “Taken” for Seasons 3 and 4. This was a true crime documentary series focusing on solving the mysteries behind missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. She was also the Aboriginal Programs Coordinator at Film Training Manitoba and worked closely with the Indigenous community. She managed an Aboriginal career focus program where she paired participants with on-set work experience and workshop opportunities. In her private life, Fawnda is a proud mother who enjoys going to the gym. Fawnda describes herself as being “shy at first but outgoing and pretty hilarious once comfortable”! Fawnda enjoys being able to connect people with opportunities through the arts and hopes to one day create her own productions through media.

Fawnda is an excellent addition to our team! Bringing a background of film, theatre and television both behind the scenes and as a performer, as well as experience in working with community organizations and youth. Fawnda will be our part-time administrator with a focus on community outreach and engagement. Fawnda’s intial primary focus will be on Songide’ewin. For more information on the show click HERE! To get in touch with Fawnda for information on Songide’ewin or how to get involved, she can be reached at associate@sarasvati.ca

Welcome to the team, Fawnda! We’re so happy to have you here.

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