About

 
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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.

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“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

Written & Performed by Matthew MacKenzie

Directed by Daniel MacIvor

TORONTO, ON @ THE THEATRE CENTRE (1115 Queen St w) - September 2020

Edmonton, AB - Spring 2021