The Situation We Find Ourselves In Is This
A MOVING, FUNNY, POTENTIALLY MESSY EVENING ABOUT THE FINAL DAYS PLAYWRIGHT MATT MACKENZIE SPENT WITH BELOVED CANADIAN DRAMATURGE IRIS TURCOTT.
Presented as a Youtube Live Event: https://youtu.be/0BdgnyhipeI
The performance is free
Iris Turcott, who literally wrote the Merriam-Webster definition of "dramaturge," had a direct impact on hundreds of artists and worked with most of Canada’s leading playwrights. Her steadfast belief in the power and necessity of art was something she spoke passionately about until the end.
“STARING UP AT THE CEILING—WHICH IS WHAT IRIS DID WHEN SHE WAS SEARCHING FOR INSPIRATION, SHE BEGAN SPEAKING ABOUT HER PLAYWRIGHTS AND THEIR PLAYS. LIKE WE WERE STARING INTO THE COSMOS, IT WAS AS IF EACH OF IRIS’S WRITERS WAS A SOLAR SYSTEM, WITH EACH OF THEIR PLAYS A PLANET, OR DEBRIS, WITHIN THOSE SYSTEMS. JUMPING FROM WRITER TO WRITER, FROM PLAY TO PLAY, FROM CHARACTER TO CHARACTER, SHE PAINTED AN INCREDIBLE PICTURE. ONE ONLY IRIS COULD PAINT, OF CANADIAN THEATRE, OF THE ESSENTIAL STORIES WE TELL EACH OTHER.”
Just as each writer’s work is unique to them, so too were their relationships with Iris. MacKenzie turns the mirror on Iris in The Situation We Find Ourselves In Is This.
Created by Matthew MacKenzie and Daniel MacIvor
Written by Matthew MacKenzie
Directed and Dramaturged by Daniel MacIvor
Assistant Directed by Patrick Lundeen
Choreography by Monica Dottor
Lighting Design by André du Toit
Produced by Lianna Makuch and Sheiny Satanove
Technical Direction by Trent Crosby
Cape Breton University, AV Technician Christopher Jones
Boardmore Theatre, Lighting Technician - Ken Heaton
Boardmore Theatre, Artistic Director - Todd Hiscock
Presented in partnership with Punctuate! Theatre, reWork Productions, Cape Breton University, Boardmore Theatre, and The Theatre Centre
This piece has been developed with Daniel MacIvor as part of the Boardmore Theatre and Cape Breton University Artist-in-Residence program.
Production History
Workshop presentation, The Theatre Centre (Toronto) - SEPTEMBER 22, 2018
