The pandemic and subsequent social distancing rules have shrunk our daily life like a wool sweater pulled out of a tumble dryer. Constricted? Do you feel the need to stretch up and out and widen your perspectives? Do you, like us at Porte Parole, keenly miss live theatre and its vistas?
More than ever, we wish to engage and discuss with you, our dear audience and supporters.
The pandemic has not stopped us from writing and creating. We presented an online The Assembly, significantly increased our digital content with newly commissioned projects, directed and performed a German language The Assembly in Munich, and above all, we continue to write new works that are destined ultimately for live theatre performance.
Three plays in development
Rose and the Machine – on stage next Fall
Maude’s daughter has an autism spectrum disorder. Seeking to understand and support her daughter, Maude quickly realizes that there are tremendous difficulties ahead. As she documents the weaknesses of our healthcare system and the flaws in our education system, Maude gradually discovers her own limitations. Can she listen to and understand her daughter? Can she help her without stigmatizing her otherness? And can she learn from that difference?
In this intimate and introspective documentary play, Porte Parole reunites with actress and author Maude Laurendeau, who had participated in the creation and the production of Sexy Béton (2009-2011). Directed by Édith Patenaude, actress Julie Le Breton will give life to the many people crossing Maude and her daughter’s path: health professionals, special educators and teachers, friends, parents of autistic children…
Next steps: creative workshops.
Projet Polytechnique
Do you remember the exact moment when you heard, on December 6, 1989, that a young man had broken into Montreal’s Polytechnique building and killed 14 students, all women? If you are too young, can you recollect how and on what occasion this tragic event was first told to you?
If the word « femicide » exists in the English language since the 1970’s, it only appeared in French dictionaries in 2019, a full thirty years after this heinous slaughter of fourteen young women took place, committed precisely and exclusively because they were women.
Are there other linguistic shortcomings we need to address in order to convey how hatred spreads? In this era of algorithms and the relentless dissemination of fake news, how do we track down violence? How do we fight it?
Actors and playwrights Marie-Joanne Boucher and Jean-Marc Dalphond are investigating the issue. They intend to look closely at every clue that could unlock the causes and consequences of the Polytechnique femicide. Co-founders of Porte Parole, Annabel Soutar and Alex Ivanovici are collaborating on the writing and staging.
Next steps: archival research, individual interviews, writing sessions, creative workshops.
The Assembly series : an ongoing creative process
Political polarization has reached boiling point and is putting increased pressure on the practice of democracy. Annabel Soutar, Brett Watson and Alex Ivanovici team up to create a thrilling theatrical response to the rise of extremism and tribalism in political discourse today.
The Assembly is not about abstract ideas clashing in the ring, it’s about human encounters. Shared emotion and personal experience often go where rational deliberation fears to tread, allowing us to recognise differences, if not espouse it.
The Assembly is a long-term documentary project started in 2017. In each touring city, Porte Parole’s creative team invites four strangers of wildly contrasting ideological leanings to face off and confront the issues that most divide them, all the while recording the proceedings. A verbatim screenplay is created from these exchanges and, on stage, actors inhabit the four real-life characters in unique, debate-like plays that reflect specific realities of each city.
Next steps: Porte Parole has been invited by a number of cities wishing to host ‘their’ episode of The Assembly. For each edition, we research local issues, recruit candidates, conduct interviews and go through writing sessions and workshops with the new material.
Your gift in action
Every donation to Porte Parole, whatever the amount, will contribute towards the successive stages of creation. The research and writing process of a new documentary play often takes as long as two years, and there are myriad ways that your donations directly help. Here are some examples:
* For donors with taxable income, charitable deductions up to 75% of net income. Amounts indicated as examples.
** May vary depending on the projects and conditions.
