Upstage Magazine - The Unplugging

“…The Unplugging is so funny, smart, and nuanced…”

—THE SNIPE, VANCOUVER

Hello!

Welcome back to the Belfry and our new production of Yvette Nolan’s play, The Unplugging.

We’re thrilled to see Lois Anderson (Cirque Poule and Flying Blind) returning to our stage. Krystle Pederson, who starred in the streaming production of The (Post) Mistress, is the Composer, Sound Designer & Onstage Musician for The Unplugging.

Marsha Knight and čačumhi – aaron wells are making their Belfry debuts in the show.

The show is directed by Reneltta Arluk, who starred as Emily Dictionary in our production of The Rez Sisters.

The Unplugging will be performed live from February 7 to March 5, and performances from February 21 to 26 will be simultaneously live streamed online.

As always, we look forward to seeing you at the theatre.

Land Acknowledgement

The Belfry Theatre is on the land of the People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. The people have been keepers of this land for millennia and we offer them our respect and gratitude for our presence on this territory.

B4 Play

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 AT 11 AM

BMO Studio Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Avenue

Free Event. Our live talk show hosted by CBC Radio’s Gregor Craigie and featuring artists from the upcoming show, along with experts from the community, has been designed to provide insight into each Mainstage production.

Panelists include Reneltta Arluk (Director), Marsha Knight (Elena), Brendan Dacontie (Ursa Creative, an Indigenous technology company on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen people, the Esquimalt and Songhees nations) and Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Founder of Sacred Earth Solar, co-founder and Senior Director at Indigenous Climate Action and Host of a new TV series, Power to the People).

Each event is held the Saturday before Opening, is free to attend, live-streamed on Facebook, and is available as a podcast on our website.

B4Play will have ASL Interpretation.

To reserve your free tickets, please call our Box Office 250-385-6815.

is produced four times per year and can be found at branches of the Greater Victoria Public Library, the Belfry and online at issuu.com/belfrytheatre. If you would like a digital copy please drop us a line at hello@belfry.bc.ca.

The Unplugging is generously supported by

Tickets 250-385-6815 / tickets.belfry.bc.ca

Jennifer Wasko-Patterson and Gregor Craigie

Photo by Don Craig

(In-person + Online)

Listening to the Land

By Jamie-Leigh Gonzales

I have also seen people come together to take care of each other. I have seen mutual aid flourish amongst disaster and chaos. I have seen young people emboldened to reconnect to their cultures and uplift wisdom and knowledge held by elders.

Indigenous culture does not disappear if traditional knowledge is lost. Indigenous peoples are here and they continue to resist despite the apocalypse of the Indian Act, colonization, and the attempted eradication of Indigenous peoples, culture and ways of being.

While the world around us may not exactly reflect the postapocalyptic world written by Yvette Nolan in The Unplugging, it is safe to say that humanity is currently experiencing a time of collective disaster and chaos. Pandemic, climate crisis, and war continue to fuel global grief. Not unlike what the characters in Nolan’s play experience, political and societal fractures across the world isolate us from each other, allowing division and even hate to flourish.

And yet, I have hope.

Many of us have been encouraged to live our lives separate from each other and disconnected from the natural world around us. As a single mother with a young kid, I see the urgency to close these divides in a new way. In my lifetime I have seen destruction at the hands of governments and corporations. I have seen attempted erasure of whole cultures and communities. I have seen racism and white supremacy reignite hatred in the western world.

As John Borrows expresses, the language of the land and the lessons it teaches us are also still here. If we listen, the lessons are still available to all of us whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous. These ancestral ways of being are rooted in good relations. We cannot go back and undo colonialism, or undo the destruction humanity has inflicted upon the planet. But, we can listen and we can change. The teachings from the land are here for all of us. They can be adapted to what the world needs most now. And, we all have to do the work.

So, how do we close the distance between our heads and our hearts? And between ourselves and the land? In The Unplugging, Nolan explores this for us: an Indigenous woman and a white woman come together to care for the next generation, despite how the community has exiled them. Can we begin to forgive? Can we change our relationships to each other and to the land? Could intergenerational healing be possible?

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PHOTO BY MEGAN POSNIKOFF

“The greatest distance a human will ever travel is the distance between their mind and their heart.

When they can make that journey, they will discover what is needed to do the work needed in the world — the work of truth and justice”

— Dr. John Borrows, Anishinaabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Professor of Law

I believe we can. But it will take a lot of trust.

Amongst all this chaos I have often panicked about my choice to have a kid in these times — but it is actually his enthusiasm and creativity that ignites my hope that he and his generation will find solutions or ways that we haven’t even considered yet. We will have to let go of our own expectations and allow the generation that is here now and coming next to shape culture and ways of being — but we have to give them the tools to thrive and to be able to listen to the land.

Why I Chose This Play

The Unplugging is a beautiful play. I fell in love with the two principal characters and the journey of their relationship.

It is also a very smart play—and a wonderful exploration of a number of issues. The idea of a world without electricity— rendering technology inaccessible—seems both impossible to imagine and an eventual reality. Playwright Yvette Nolan imagines such a crisis, just as many of us are wondering what ecological disaster might be lurking around the corner.

The play premiered in 2012 and has become extremely prescient in today’s world. When Yvette wrote The Unplugging, she was warning us of the dangers of climate change. In 2023, the world is constantly grappling with climate disasters and, as if in response to the play’s suggestion, is turning to Indigenous communities for guidance. Governments are joining forces with First Nations, relying on their stewardship to conserve our forests and lakes, and save endangered species, from whooping cranes to killer whales. As if reflecting the story of Bern and Elena in the play, the very people we marginalized, we now turn to for our salvation.

Which raises another moral issue: how often and how easily society undervalues age and the wisdom of experience. The Unplugging is a great argument for reversing that unfortunate trend—!

This is where my hope is rooted. When we do come together in this new way, we can move toward a more just and sustainable future.

Jamie-Leigh Gonzales is a Portuguese and Skwxwú7mesh mother living on the stolen lands of the ləkʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ People. She is a co-founder at Grounded Futures: a media production and mentorship collaborative, and a Communications Manager at RAVEN. She is a mentor and mentee across many disciplines, but most notably is learning from her 3-year old on how to be a rad human.

Cast & Creatives

Yvette Nolan views the world through an Indigenous lens, allowing us to look at the world we live in from a different perspective. She generously encourages us to open ourselves to the wisdom that has been passed down through generations. The playwright applies the same generosity to the very human characters she has created—with whom we engage and about whom we care. New perspectives and human stories—these are the ingredients of great theatre—and these are what I look for when I choose a play for this theatre.

—Michael Shamata, Artistic Director

Tickets 250-385-6815 / tickets.belfry.bc.ca

čačumḥi –aaron wells SEAMUS

Lois Anderson BERN Marsha Knight ELENA

Krystle Pederson COMPOSER, SOUND DESIGNER & ONSTAGE MUSICIAN

Reneltta Arluk DIRECTOR

Yvette Nolan PLAYWRIGHT

Daniela Masellis SET & LIGHTING DESIGNER

Tobin Stokes SOUND DESIGN MENTOR

Catherine Hahn COSTUME DESIGNER

Liz King STAGE MANAGER

Liz Page APPRENTICE STAGE MANAGER

Jalisa Gonie ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Shannon Litzenberger ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

THE FLAME: STORYTELLING EVENT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13 AT 7 PM

Award winning actor and one of the creators of Mom’s the Word, Deborah Williams, is bringing the hit storytelling event, The Flame, back to the Belfry.

The Flame is a storytelling series that features real people, sharing their personal true stories in front of a live audience.

Tickets for this event are PAY WHAT YOU CAN. Online prices are suggestions only. For more pricing options, call the box office (250-385-6815). A $2.00 CIF + GST will be added to the price of each ticket.

TALKBACK THURSDAY (On Stage + Online / Hybrid)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 FOLLOWING THE PERFORMANCE

On the third Thursday performance during the run of each show, most (usually all) of the actors return to the stage to answer your questions and provide insight into the play you have just experienced. These Q & A sessions last approximately 20 minutes.

VOCALEYE – THE UNPLUGGING

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

For patrons with low or no vision, this season we will offer online VocalEye performances.

During VocalEye performances, trained Audio Describers provide descriptions of the visual elements of the show, allowing people with low vision to enjoy the theatrical experience without missing any of the details.

For The Unplugging, the virtual lobby opens at 6:30 pm for socializing, the official welcome at 6:45 with an intro to the show and then the show starts at 7:00 pm. Afterwards, we have a Q and A and a prize draw.

Please visit the Box Office for details.

LIVE STREAMING PERFORMANCES THE UNPLUGGING

FEBRUARY 21 - 26

All our performances of The Unplugging during the week of February 21 - 26 will be live-streamed.

We are offering Pay What You Want live streams this season.

Belfry Librarian

The wonderful librarians at the Greater Victoria Public Library have compiled a list of books and videos to help you get even more out of our production of The Unplugging.

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Robert Joseph (2018)

Basic Wilderness Survival Skills by Bradford Angier (2018)

Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival by Dave Canterbury (2014)

Deer Man: Seven Years of Living in the Wild by Geoffroy Delorme (2022)

End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World, Asteroids, Super Volcanoes, Rogue Robots, and More by Bryan Walsh (2019)

Moon of the Crusted Snow: A Novel by Waubgeshig Rice (2018)

One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for the Planet by Richard Wagamese (2019)

Tawâw : Progressive Indigenous Cuisine by Shane M. Chartrand (2019)

The Doomsday Book by Marshall Brain (2020)

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (2017)

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman (2017)

We Can Save Us All by Adam Nemett (2018)

On Borrowed Time: North America’s Next Big Quake by Gregor Craigie (2021)

Our round-up of events happening at the theatre over the next four weeks.

March 21–26, 2023

These Are The Songs That I Sing When I’m Sad

BY JANE MILLER AND BRIAN QUIRT

NIGHTSWIMMING, TORONTO

2023 SPARK FESTIVAL

These Are The Songs That I Sing When I’m Sad is an intimate and joyous performance for one singer and her audience. It explores the songs people turn to when they’re sad, the songs that they play to soothe their blues or lift them up out of the depths. Jane sings and tells stories about songs that play this role in her own life, and then invites the audience to share the songs that they sing (or play or listen to) when they’re sad. It’s a rare opportunity to hear a superb singer up close and personal as she delves into the link between deep emotions and the musical elements that make sad songs so addictive.

“With equal parts performance, concert, round-table discussion and musical master class, Miller takes audience members on an emotional and musical journey unlike any they’ve been on before.”

North Huron News

This season we’re holding a mini–SPARK Festival which includes These Are The Songs That I Sing When I’m Sad and Belfry 101 Live.

PHOTO JANE MILLER / PHOTO BY MAX TELZEROW

The Unplugging

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

February 7 - March 5, 2023

Tuesdays – Thursdays at 7:30 pm

Wednesday Matinees at 1 pm (February 15, 22 & March 1)

Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm

Saturday Matinees at 4 pm

Sunday Matinees at 2 pm

Live Streaming Performances

February 21 & 26

Audience Engagement Schedule

B4PLAY · Saturday, February 4 at 11 am

TALKBACK THURSDAY · February 23

Willpower Seminar

It’s the kindness of our donors that allows the Belfry to continue to enrich our community. One of the best ways to support the Belfry is through a charitable gift in your Will.

You can make a contribution to the Belfry without using any of the money you need now, and there are tax advantages that can benefit your estate and loved ones.

How to buy tickets

Please

To help you learn more, the national Will Power campaign is hosting a FREE webinar on how to set up your estate to support your loved ones and your favourite nonprofit organizations, all while saving on taxes. Choose your preferred time and attend this 30-minute webinar at your convenience.

Free registration here:

willpower.ca/webinar

BARBARA GREENIAUS, FORMER BELFRY CHAIR

PHOTO BY JO-ANN RICHARDS, WORKS PHOTOGRAPHY.

APRIL 18