Schedule of Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival, May 22-25

The 16th annual MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST THEATRE FESTIVAL
May 22 to May 25th 2023 with 8 troupes from Chile, Belgium, France & Montreal

The annual Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (MIATF) – the world’s biggest anarchist theatre festival – celebrates its 16th edition presenting 30 artists from eight troupes from Chile, France, Belgium and Montreal for three nights of provocative, socially engaged, freedom-loving theatre, Mon May 22nd to Wed May 24th @ La Sala Rossa, 4848 boul St-Laurent, 7pm. There is also a benefit music show for the MITAF at the Casa del Popolo, Thursday May 25th at 7pm.

Tickets: $20 at the doors or online in advance (with a special three nights pass for $50)
No reserved seats. Doors open 6:45pm. Shows 7:30pm.

May 22: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/czz230522001
May 23: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/czz230404001
May 24: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/czz230524001
May 25: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/czz230525001

PROGRAM

MONDAY May 22, 2023

Pobres Diablos (Chile)
La Cooperativa de Artistas Escénicos del Río Maipo
(In Spanish with English subtitles)

Poor Devils (Chile)
Poor Devils brings together three stories about people from central Chile who made pacts with the devil. It is a sound performance that mixes projections and live music to weave stories that compile peasant wisdom from the banks of the Maipo River, historically despised by the official knowledge.

The Cooperativa de Artistas Escénicos del Río Maipo brings together two theatre troupes from the San Antonio region of Chile, with the participation of the playwright Tomás Henríquez. Together they carry out research projects, stage creations and productions of works based on local memory. These projects are of a territorial, horizontal nature, with emphasis on the reality of those who participate in the performances. They have performed in various theatres and festivals in Chile.

‘J’accuze…! (France)
Refering to the Dreyfus Affair
Le Krizo Théâtre
(Performed in French with a bit of English)

For 12 years, the Dreyfrus affair tore France apart. In this immense scandal, the biggest of the 19th century, conspiracies and state affairs, miscarriages of justice and antisemitism are intertwined. In this great media and political circus, the farce was total. Thanks to the anarchist Bernard Lazare and the League of Human Rights, the famous innocent convict will be able to return to France. The Krizo Théâtre offers a humorous and masked version of this sensitive affair. An offbeat approach to an important historical event, with a touch of lightness and humor.

The Krizo Theatre Company from France was born out of the Struggle of Artists in 2003. Hence the play on words. It has staged fifteen shows and performed worldwide. Just before COVID-19, the troupe performed in Iran, Chile and Argentina, and in Togo during 2022.

https://krizotheatre.wixsite.com/krizo

TUESDAY May 23, 2023

Marusya Nikiforova: Ukraine’s legendary anarchist warrior (Montreal)
Written & directed by Norman Nawrocki. Starring Mariya Hadubyak. Soundtrack by Vivian Nawrocki. Produced by Babushka Theatre.
(In English)

“A true story based on the extraordinary life of a fearless and feared, bad ass, Ukrainian woman anarchist and feminist military leader, Marusya Nikiforova (1885–1919). She robbed banks, threw bombs, was imprisoned, escaped, attended military college in Paris, rode a horse, carried a pistol and a sabre, organized and led her own army to defend the Revolution in Ukraine against the German Army, Ukrainian Nationalists, the Czarist White Guard and ultimately the Bolsheviks during 1918-1919 before she was captured and executed with her husband. She also set up hospitals and schools, fed the poor, painted and planted gardens. This compelling one act play brings her back to life.”

Norman Nawrocki is a Montreal playwright, director, actor, musician and author with Ukrainian/Polish family roots. He has written over 20 plays including ones about striking immigrant women workers, anti-fascist women and a series recounting the history of Ukrainian-Canadians (e.g., Women Strike! The Winnipeg General Strike 1919 –2019 (2019); Eviction? Dog’s Blood!! Nick Zynchuk & Montreal’s Red Plateau 1933 (2020); Run Nawrocki Run! Escape from Banff Prison (2021). His newest book is Red Squared Montreal (Black Rose Books, 2023).

Mariya Hadubyak is a Ukrainian actress from Boryslav. She emigrated to Canada in June 2022 and has been living in Montréal ever since. In Ukraine she performed with the ‘Boryslav People’s Drama Theater for Children and Youth’ – named after Peter Telyuk (дівка на виданні) – in plays like Door (Двері) and She’s on the Magazine Cover (Дівка на виданні). She has been performing with the Montreal Ukrainian theatre troupe ‘Stozary’ (Bad Roads) here and in Ottawa. She is proud to represent on stage in this new production the most kick ass Ukranian woman ever.

Babushka Theatre is a Montreal theatre laboratory focussing on producing new Ukrainian-Canadian plays.

CÍCLICAS: Resistiendo en la (de) (re) construcción (Montreal)
Colectiva Tribu
(In Spanish with French subtitles)

This play is composed of elements from the performers’ lives and their reflections concerning what it means to be a woman. It seeks to demonstrate the emotions felt by the performers, such as pain, oppression, injustice, solitude, fear, and to transform them using the collective force of the women in the group.

Colectiva Tribu is a self-managed group of women who are friends and feminists that was founded in 2018. In their creative work, the collective seeks to infiltrate public spaces using a multidisciplinary artistic approach, principally with performances. They also look for occasions to discuss their ideas.

KILTRAS (Chile)
Compania Danza JAM
(In Spanish)

KILTRAS is a contemporary dance work in duo format, which proposes through the crossing of contemporary dance with the stand up comedy genre, to create the self-styled style “Stand Up Dance.” It will find common ground with the audience in relation to
social and popular Chilean idiosyncrasies seen from the perspective of dogs.

Through the “Stand up Dance” we propose from the biographical characteristic of stand up comedy to engender collective experience with the audience with body language and its possibilities (dance, sound, song, gesture, performative action). This will allow us to generate stories and scenes that through humor guide us to reflect, creating an analogy between the reality of the dogs and the Chilean idiosyncrasy.

JAM Dance Company was born from the need to have a space for training, working out and creation. Under the direction of Jenniffer Alegría Morales, it’s an artistic project that allows the creation of works with social and direct content. This is what motivates the company. It always works on the themes of gender. With constant work on the national stage and with state-funded self-managed assemblies, Danza JAM works to bring contemporary dance to all types of audiences. This is where the versatility of the language and themes of our works comes from, characterized by a dynamic and provocative language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6zeVdrPq0g

WEDNESDAY MAY 24, 2023

Ji Kasi Apki Marzi (Montreal)
Nitu Sharma
(In Hindi with French and English subtitles)

Ji Jasi Apki Marzihat is a monologue illustrating the mistreatment of a Muslim woman by society from a feminist point of view. The character, Sakina, was forced to marry a man she disliked. They had three children and her husband abused her. The artist attempts to demonstrate all the suffering and pain that a woman like her faces in society.



Nitu Sharma, a Montreal artist, has a passion for creative expression permitting her to go beyond traditional gender roles. Her creative journey began in 2008 when she joined a local theatre group. She aimed to combine her activist spirit with art in order to advocate for women and work for their empowerment. She has directed a myriad of plays and films that focus on the importance of social change and equality and has participated in many projects designed to raise awareness about social issues.

Le Contr’un (Belgium)
Charly Magonza
(Performed in French)

How can servitude be voluntary? How can one have the desire to submit? In this play there is an astonishing dialogue with La Boétie. The actor takes us through the book,
Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, in an epic and somewhat unexpected crossing. A plunge into the heart of a striking thought.

Charly Magonza, a French actor and director based in Belgium, is a graduate of the Lassâad International Theater School. He has performed in theatre pieces like ‘‘Anna,’‘ ‘‘Si ce n’est toi,’‘ ‘‘Spasm #1,’‘ ‘‘Othello,’‘ ‘‘Monsieur Charlo,’‘ ‘‘Première” (laureate humor/solo SACD France, 2012) and in films (’‘Le trio sans fil,’‘ ‘‘Unit 42,’‘ ‘‘Match,” “Rebel,” etc.).

https://mondenscene.be/spectacles/le-contrun

ORÍGENES (Chile)
La Cooperativa de Artistas Escénicos del Río Maipo
(In Spanish with English subtitles)

ARGUMENT SUMMARY.ORIGINS is a documentary play articulated as a scenic essay that links two moments in the history of the San Antonio province, Chile. The show is guided by the performers Pablo Barbatto, Carmelo Guerra and Tomás Henríquez who, through different sound and visual resources, plot an essay that reconstructs the history of the first inhabitants of the mouth of the Maipo River: the Bato, Llo-lleo and Aconcagua.

On the one hand, the pre-Hispanic traditions Bato, Llolleo and Aconcagua, and on the other, its possible relationships with the present and the future. The setting on stage emphasizes the construction of a pre-Columbian sound, generating a contemporary crossover between that remote and barely relatable moment of pre-history, and the geographical, economic and environmental present of the zone. It is a scenic exercise that delivers basic notions about archaeology and delves into a distant past, of little general knowledge, and allows the audience to consider new questions about a possible future.

The Cooperativa de Artistas Escénicos del Río Maipo brings together two theatre troupes from the San Antonio region of Chile, with the participation of the playwright Tomás Henríquez. Together they carry out research projects, stage creations and productions of works based on local memory. These projects are of a territorial, horizontal nature, with emphasis on the reality of those who participate in the performances. They have performed in various theatres and festivals in Chile.

https://www.facebook.com/TMLasCondes/videos/187017656073924/

THURSDAY MAY 25, 2023

A benefit show for the MIATF @ the Casa del Popolo, with:
• Kon-Fusion (Montreal)
• Laexperienciadelespiritucosmico (Chile)
• Tempolotov (Sherbrooke)

MORE INFO:
festivaltheatreanarchiste@yahoo.ca
www.anarchistetheatrefestival.com
facebook.com/FITAM.Montreal

Add new comment