First time visiting 10 Things?

Rather than a "review," each post features a collection of observations, intended primarily for people who've already seen the play. Check out the introduction post for more context.

Dissidents by Philippe Ducros, in a new translation by Christopher Stanton. ARC — 1251 Bloor Street West (the abandoned Furniture Emporium)

• As noted in the introduction at the top of this page, the 10 Things series is intended primarily for people who've already seen the show. That said, the enigmatic structure of Dissidents makes the production especially prone to spoilers. As such, this post will avoid highly specific comments about the narrative or the experience.

Photo by Tim Leyes

• Fascinating questions emerge whenever an audience is physically divided — either by sorting people upon entering (as in Sleep No More) or by seating patrons in sections that cannot see each other. Why was that person selected for that other experience (but not me)? If the other seating area has a starkly different view of the stage, then do they also perceive the story or characters in a dissimilar way than me? I wonder how the person I came with (but am not sitting near) feels about this show and/or being apart from me?

• Many of Toronto’s theatre companies use a motto or tagline to describe their work. Some phrases seem to have been created for the mere purpose of attracting publicity or bolstering grant applications, while other statements are clearly outdated (see: “Tarragon Theatre is Canada’s home for groundbreaking contemporary plays”). ARC, on the other hand, manages to find language — like “work that is innovative, rigorous, energizing, and bold” — that perfectly encapsulate their visceral style and stimulating texts. In both form and content, Dissidents echoes ARC’s haunting 2016 production of Pomona.

• Plays about terrorism often seem so “foreign”; in the wake of the Yonge Street van attack, though, there’s a sharp sense of urgency about Dissidents (a feeling that’s escalated by the Canadian references used in this translation).

Photo by Tim Leyes

• The Tony Awards don’t feature a category for Best Projection Design, despite increasing calls for its inclusion. I appreciate the desire for greater celebration of projection designers’ craft, but I think there’s a more pressing need to acknowledge the ways that design teams collaborate to create the world of the play. The Dissidents program lists six artists responsible for the (essential) visual and audio elements of the production: Nick Blais, Jackie Chau, Melissa Joakim, Michael Rinaldi, Lorena Torres Loaiza, Joelysa Pankanea. In most productions (including Dissidents), the artistic whole is greater than the sum of its design parts.

• Dissidents is housed in an abandoned store near Bloor and Landsdowne; after absorbing such an intense production, it’s calming to settle your thoughts in a quiet neighbourhood, as opposed to the hectic commotion of the King and Front St. theatres. A performance space along the Bloor Corridor — somewhere between Christie and Jane stations — would be a welcome addition to Toronto’s arts landscape. In the first year after Crow’s Theatre moved into a new venue on Carlaw, they attracted 40% of their audiences from Toronto’s east end. If you build it, they will come.

• A formula for arts accessibility: as a theatre production increases its usage of immersive theatre elements, the experience for people with mobility, vision, or hearing impairments will worsen at an exponential rate. The very same physical conditions that imbue site-specific, found space, and environmental shows with a “funky” edge are also responsible for creating obstacles for people with dis/abilities. How can the arts community embrace artistic innovation while also ensuring compliance with building codes? More importantly, how can artistic mandates reconcile the moral obligation to create work that welcomes all audience members, regardless of dis/abilities?

Photo by Tim Leyes

• In terms of narrative structure, Dissidents juxtaposes a series of scenes with a frenetic pace. Tolerance for ambiguity is such an individual preference for audience members: some people prefer the clarity of A-to-B storytelling, while others enjoy partial confusion and ambiguous conclusions.

• Dissidents was written by Montreal’s Philippe Ducros; this English version was translated by Christopher Stanton — who also co-directed, and performs in, the ARC production. Too few Québécois playwrights receive attention in Anglo-Canada’s theatres. Every time the Siminovitch Prize celebrates playwrights, there’s at least one francophone artist whose work is largely unknown in the rest of Canada. How might the arts ecosystem address this issue? (Sidenote: years ago, I saw a production of Ducros’ L’Affiche, about Palestinian-Israeli checkpoints. That script would be highly topical — and controversial — at the present time).

• For Dissidents, tickets to all performances are pay-what-you-can-afford (a topic I am currently researching for Ticket Living).

—Nick Hanson