Stories @Vic: interview with Brynn Bonne, creator of Jackes and Jills

VCDS takes UofT Drama Fest

claudia leung CONTRIBUTOR

Jackes and Jills is a 30-minute play directed and performed by Brynn Bonne, and co-directed by Liam Peter Donovan.

It is the story of Ruby Jackes, a female comedian telling a story about her relationship with comedy, her passion, and her journey of navigating through a mainly male-dominated industry. The play was recently performed at the annual Hart House Drama Festival, where it was awarded the Donald Sutherland award for best performance.

Although the play was made for the audience, it was also very much played at the audience. When asked what she wanted her audience to remember the most about the performance, Bonne said that her goal was to “turn the audience members into the patrons of a seedy male comedy club, and really make them cringe, laugh, and ultimately understand Ruby’s journey.” One of the themes of the show is the heavy hand of gender, and Bonne wrote the play in a way where the audience not only listens to Ruby’s story, but personally becomes part of it. “I want them to know that there’s more to her than what she had to make herself, and know that they—as these patrons—are responsible for making her this way.”

The inspiration of the play came from a school assignment and a street name. The play started out as an in-class assignment with a challenge; the students had to produce a 12-minute solo play, which had to focus on an artistic challenge they are faced with in the field. Bonne used this opportunity to stray away from the usual “comedic style” that she usually writes in and to try her hand at “something beyond ‘sketch-like’ theatre.” She decided to create “a comedy set that breaks down into larger themes.” Aside from the overarching theme “of what it’s like to be a woman in a male dominated industry,” she also brings about a question of “what it means to make art that people find acceptable to the worlds they are created in.”

As for the name of the play…

“Jackes is actually the street my boyfriend lives on” which is the inspiration behind the name of our protagonist: Ruby Jackes. The “and Jills” part of the title is a reference to the theme of gender through a parallel to the classic folktale of Jack and Jill. “As I kept writing, and gender roles came more to the forefront, I thought the classic ‘Jack and Jill’ storyline gave enough significance for one of the biggest themes of the piece without amplifying it to a higher degree.”

If you couldn’t catch the show during Drama Fest, don’t worry! Jackes and Jills is going to be produced once again at the Toronto Fringe Festival this summer!

2023’s fashion

The first two months of 2023 have offered up some truly outstanding moments in pop culture thus far: including, in my opinion, fashion’s ‘Red Era.’ When you hear Red Era you might think of breakup songs, emotional ballads about innocence, and of course, the ultimate smack-down of Jake Gyllenhaal, but the 2023 fashion cycle has offered up some eye-catching moments these past couple weeks that are working towards earning a share of the title.

The moment that struck me (and a lot of people) first was Doja Cat’s viral moment at Schiaparelli Spring Haute Couture 2023 in late January. The singersongwriter and rapper has been showing off some avant-garde looks for a while now, but her appearance at the fashion show done by Pat McGrath sparked a viral moment on a whole other level. Makeup influencers across social media jumped at the opportunity to recreate the look, which consisted of both red body paint and 30,000 red Swarovski crystals. Vogue France’s Marie Bladt wrote that McGrath’s work on it was “an altogether new dimension of body and face art.” Doja Cat inspired swathes of people to try out avant-garde makeup that they may not have tried otherwise. The look captivated audiences both inside and outside of the fashion world, but it wasn’t the only one.

Rihanna caught everyone’s attention at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show this year with her landmark performance in which she wore a monochromatic Loewe ensemble in red. Insider writer Samantha Grindell noted the look, specifically the Alaïa jacket Rihanna donned during “Umbrella” and

“Diamonds” as a tribute to late fashion editor and collaborator André Leon Talley. On social media, as people recreate choreography from the performance, dressing up in full, monochromatic red has become a trend in and of itself. Rihanna’s red look caught the minds and hearts of the fashion world and beyond, in what is surely being added to the roster of her most recognizable fashion moments.

So what is it about red that makes it such a timeless, attention-grabbing colour? The Fashion Institute of Technology writes, “[F]or millennia, wearing red clothes expressed legitimization of social status, political authority, religious rank, ancestry, and cultural identity.” Even today, the colour still represents intensity, confidence, and power. And, while red has been used to signify this for as long as we can remember, the modern presence of eye-catching red ensembles has become the brand of Maison Valentino, whose haute couture shows, ready-to-wear collections, and even makeup line each heavily feature Valentino’s signature bright red hue.

And, based on the current trajectory of viral fashion moments, red may remain a centrepiece in the future of the 2023 trend cycle. MSCHF’s Big Red Boots caused a stir on social media earlier this month for their cartoonish appearance. The attention-grabbing statement piece was the centre of a debate on viral marketing, surrealist fashion, and just how to style a boot that looks like it belongs on a stylish astronaut doing a catwalk on the moon. Kim Petras, Sam Smith and Co. (Including Violet Chachki, Gottmik, and others) all showed up to the Grammys on February 5 in various red ensembles, making one of the most memorable red carpet appearances from the awards show. Plus, with the ascendancy of maximalism and other eclectic, expressive fashion entering the mainstream, bright, confident colours like red will have a strong place in the palettes of designers and stylists alike.