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After The Fire

Co-produced by Punctuate! Theatre and Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts
in Association with Native Earth Performing Arts and The Theatre Centre

They say the fire’s still burning. Beneath the ground. They say it could stay burning, for years.

Set in the aftermath of the wildfire that nearly destroyed Fort McMurray in the summer of 2016, After the Fire is a dark comedy centered around two couples whose lives have been deeply affected by this ‘natural’ disaster.

This Indigenous-led, new Canadian work raises vital questions about continued industrial development in Fort McMurray, despite the devastating impact on the environment and the people whose livelihoods rely on it.

Deceptively simple, the play is deeply spiritual and gives the best medicine possible after tragedy: cosmic comedy and earthly kinship of any who have lost and kept on going.
– Elder Jo-Ann Saddleback

Last season, MacKenzie’s play Bears sold out in Toronto and across the country, receiving glowing reviews for its unapologetic and imaginative approach to pipeline politics. Bears won two Dora awards for Outstanding Independent Production and Outstanding New Work, co-won the Toronto Theatre Critics’ award for best new Canadian play, and the Carol Bolt National Playwrighting Award. After The Fire takes a different approach  to examining our addiction to fossil fuels, shining a spotlight on the families caught in the middle of the Canadian cultural paradox of both condemning while  intrinsically profiting from the exploitation of our non-renewable resources.

What I personally find captivating about MacKenzie’s voice is his capacity to turn the tension between supposed binaries into creative energy, into something unexpected but powerful that drives his plays.
-Karen Fricker, The Toronto Star

Credits

Artistic Producer Christine Sokaymoh Frederick
Written by Matthew MacKenzie
Director Brendan McMurtry-Howlett
Featuring Sheldon Elter, Jesse Gervais, Kaitlyn Riordan, and Louise Lambert
Sound Designer by Dean Musani
Set & Costume Designer Alison Yanota
Stage Manager Natasha Bean- Smith
Lighting Designer Kaileigh Krysztofiak
Production Manager Trent Crosby
Assistant Director Theresa Cutknife
Assistant Stage Manager Eve Saint

January 10, 2019
to January 19, 2019

General Admission $25 | Student/senior/arts worker $17 | Industry Night $12

Venue

The Theatre Centre

Performance Dates

Thursday, January 10 – 8:00PM Opening
Friday, January 11 – 8:00PM
Saturday, January 12 – 8:00PM
Monday, January 14 – 8:00PM Industry Night
Tuesday, January 15 – 8:00PM PWYC
Wednesday, January 16 – 8:00PM
Thursday, January 17 – 8:00PM
Friday, January 18 – 8:00PM
Saturday, January 19 – 8:00PM

This performance is 90 minutes