As part of Progress Lab’s wildly popular Obstructions series, Pi made a piece according to the following parameters:
- Pi must make a show for an audience of young children with at least one child under 12 in the cast.
- The piece must incorporate use of structured improvisation and audience participation.
- It must be unsophisticated.
A Place Called Whisper: Circus of Stolen Dreams played to sold-out houses for two performances only on November 24th.
The show was seen at PL 1422 Vancouver. The core artists of each company had to submit, a few at a time and under a cold spotlight, to a list of obstructions delivered by a shadowy emcee. The companies will then be commanded to create a production around those limitations. The obstructions for each company had been developed in secret by their peers – a custom-designed set of obstacles that prompted each artist to adapt to a new approach to making theatre. The artists’ individual tendencies towards form, place, style, theme, design, period, and story were exposed and obstructed, spilling the artists’ bag of tricks all over the stage and out of reach.
Photography by Joel Ginke
Creative Team
Devised and Created by: Susan Bertoia and Richard Wolfe, with Jeff Harrison, Alison Jenkins, Heather Dawn Jones, Taylor Dianne Robinson, Jordan Watkins and Stacy Sherlock.
Directed by Richard Wolfe
Cast: Susan Bertoia,Taylor Dianne Robinson, Richard Wolfe
Music and Musical Performance: Alison Jenkins
Set: Heather Dawn Jones
Sound: Jordan Watkins
Lighting: Jeff Harrison
Stage Manager: Stacey Sherlock