projects

popART: Intersection at Nuit Blanche

As many of you know, I've been doing some more experimental work, which this summer has taken the form of my popART series of immersive installations. Earlier this year saw part one take place in a darkened alley during Winnipeg Fringe and featuring the work of Pixel Pusher and John Norman. For the second installation in the series, I have partnered with Ali Khan and jaymez to create a space we call Intersection.

 Intersection: Images on unfamiliar surfaces. Sounds in unfamiliar spaces created on unfamiliar instruments. A familiar yet unfamiliar space. Join us for the second in Kendra Jones’ popART series of curated installations merging music, video, and performance with music created live by Ali Khan, and multi-surface video projection by jaymez.

The installation will be at the intersection of Graham and Edmonton, in the outdoor plaza in front of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet building at 380 Graham Avenue. Combining the live electronic music creation of Ali Khan with the live video mapped projections from jaymez we will envelope the angular and hard-edged architecture of the space with light and sound that is continually being created and changing. You can come for a short while, for a longer period, or come and go, and the intersection of the space, the music, and the projections will enhance and elevate each of the individual components.

Come check us out from 9pm on Nuit Blanche. And tell your friends!

With all of these installation projects, one of my main goals is to re-define expectations for our interaction with art and theatre, and to challenge us to notice the inherent theatricality of events and spaces we pass by daily.

Also, this will be one of my last projects in the 'Peg for awhile. . . so it would be fantastic to have your support.

popART: Intersection is an official "Illuminate the Night" selection for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg and Culture Days Manitoba.





2015 Winnipeg Fringe!

 
After a 3 year hiatus from any fringe related work outside reviewing, I've plunged head first into things this year, with 3 projects. There is quite literally something for each of you.
 
Clink -- A new play by Hannah Foulger(Venue 11) - showtimes available here:https://www.facebook.com/events/495770420572675/
- This is a fantastic 4-hander which I've directed, world premiere. A brand new play by an emerging playwright, featuring four emerging actors from the city. It takes place at a wedding, and we've staged it in a surprising way, where the audience get to be the guests at the wedding! Come ready for a party. Drinks not included, but a pre-show drink is heartily encouraged. You'll feel like one of the wedding party.


Sea Wall - by Simon Stephens
(Venue 27) - showtimes available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1627940270776127/
- Theatre By the River's offering for the fest. This is the opposite end of the spectrum -- a play by recent Tony award winner Simon Stephens, one man show featuring Rodrigo Beilfuss before he heads off to a season with Stratford's Birmingham Conservatory. I've co-directed this piece. It is only 30 minutes. Beautifully written, a devastating piece of theatre.
 

popART: Project Vapour -- Sunday July 19 from 1-4pm
- Finally, this is an odd little project of mine, the first in a series of installations I am doing. I call it theatre, some may argue that point... Essentially it is an immersive installation project that lasts 3 hours. You can come and go. It features music from John Norman, and a physical video installation by Pixel Pusher, all curated by me. The goal is to re-create that feeling of disorientation you get when you go into a movie or theatre in the daytime, then emerge into the light again, but in this instance you immerse into a warehouse party in an alley in the exchange. The whole thing takes place in the alley beneath artspace on Arthur Street. Stay tuned, there is another one of these coming for Nuit Blanche too, just learned we're an official selection for the next in this series, popART: Intersection!
 
Anyway, hope you can make it to one (or all!) of my projects.

catching up...

The manic nature of this winter-spring has caused a full halt on my blog. Not for lack of things to write about, but rather for lack of time for sleep, much less writing.

Since we last saw our intrepid explorer, she has kept herself busy.

My collaboration with selardi for Tonight at Eight O'Clock was a resounding success; we sold out (over sold in fact...shhh!!) and had around 70 audience members experience the piece, what one of our volunteers described as "confused transcendence". It was truly an experiment, and in many ways, our goal of pushing the envelope of what audiences in Winnipeg will attend was a huge success. In fact, I think we under-estimated the audience's willingness to play along, and could have offered more. I'm continuing to think about this experiment in the dialectic relationship between audience and performer, art and viewer as I am creating and refining my ideas on the subject.

The next major project was as Assistant Director for Clever Little Lies at MTC; an entirely different experience, working with (extremely) professional actors on a new "straight" play. For many this may seem like a departure from my usual interests, however the play dove in head first in to some of the ideas that rest at the very core of all my work; the relationship between our reality and our expectations, and what we do to cope with that gap. In the contemporary world, we have been sold lifestyles and ideas about ourselves, and crafted images, and this play was yet another outlet to investigate how this can be damaging to our relationships. It was a fantastic experience working under Steven Schipper, and I had so many opportunities to learn how to drive the car, so to speak, in what a fellow local performer described as "NASA". Truly the MTC MainStage has all the big toys, and the freedom to create in this milieu was unparalleled.

Also, a version of the dissertation paper I wrote for my final work Approaching Antigone at RADA has been published by the Humanities Education Research Association! You can see it here. After all the yammering on this blog about Antigone, I'm sure you'll enjoy (or at least feel resolution). More to come on that project as I intend to resurface work on it in late 2015.

What now? Well I've got a few projects on the go. First up is the next instalment of my experiments with the audience performer relationship -- popART: Project Vapour. This takes a different form than the previous, returning to an installation style work that although does not fit the traditional definition of theatre (EG having a story and actors) I do believe is highly theatrical. The theatrical experience, however, is played out for the viewers of the piece.

Come see for yourselves if you like -- June 14 in the alley behind Artspace (Arthur Street, Exchange district, Winnipeg). More details here. 

Will share more in the coming weeks about the new play I'm directing for the Fringe, as well as a very large scale adaptation project I'm working on. Hint: I have spent a lot of time recently reading about Plantagenet Kings.

One Director's Perspective...

Between the dissertation, the move, resuming the day job and new projects here at home, I have been rather neglectful of the blog. That said, I have done a little guest-blogging for Sarasvati in the lead-up to Fem Fest (for which I am directing).

Check out my piece, "One Director's Perspective" on their blog here:
http://sarasvatitransforms.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/one-directors-perspective-on-directing-new-writing/#more-1188

New Beginnings

In two short weeks I depart my comfortable bubble in Winnipeg and begin an amazing, terrifying, glorious adventure in London. This is exciting for many reasons, the most important of which is that I am returning to academia. Not just academia...but the pinnacle of academic work in my field (at least in my opinion). Receiving the course handbook, reading list and outline on Monday, my excitement was invigorated. The idea of having the chance to work with such amazing creators of theatre, on such brilliant works, theorizing on the contemporary performance of pieces is quite thrilling. Our initial term of Scene Study centres on Measure for Measure and The Duchess of Malfi, looking at the challenges of interpreting the play as a creator, workshopping techniques for doing so and how to actually get the thing to life on stage in a way that is insightful and new.

I am also extremely excited for the practical aspects of the course, including the study of LABAN and Alexander physical techniques, voice and the text, and others.

Basically i am just excited. More to come.