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YESfest

Produced by York University’s Department of Theatre

YESfest is a festival of experimental theatre. We are a graduating team of students from York University’s Master of Fine Art and Devised Theatre programs specializing in original theatre creation. We will be sharing our works in progress. In a time when pluralism is exceedingly threatened, it’s imperative that theatre amplify unruly narratives. YESfest is our offering in modelling how eclectic narratives can co-exist. YESfest is made possible through the support of York University’s Department of Theatre.

A little bit about us and our pieces:

After George, by: Atomic Oddity
You are invited to the 50th anniversary of Clifton Heights Secondary School! Clifton Capybaras old and new are encouraged to come back and reminisce on their high school experience. Walking down Clifton’s once-forgotten halls, you may soon discover that the past can be haunting, and something as small as an event invitation can change the lives of friends and complete strangers. Through audience immersion and physical theatre, the lives of five former students will be laid bare as we witness their varying perspectives on grief, their desires for community and isolation, and how a high school anniversary could reconnect them in ways they never imagined.

What is the Water?, by: Gülce Oral
Gülce Oral is a theatre artist/performer from Istanbul,Turkey. She started her career as a theatre actor in 2009 during a very vibrant time of Istanbul theatre scene. Her passion in using movement as the basis of storytelling inspired her to continue her artistic research in this field: she recently completed her MFA in Performance/Creation at York University. Since she arrived to Canada in 2017, she worked with MTspace as a creator/performer. She is the co-founder of Under the Umbrella Collective along with Jewels Krauss. Her new solo show What is the Water? is an evocative physical performance that explores resistance, grounding and loss. Face to face with the powerful presence of her homeland only in its absence, a self-exiled woman from Istanbul dedicates herself to finding a new feeling of belonging. Closely followed by shadows of her half-imagined memories, unfulfilled desires and echoes of a lost resistance, she is tirelessly trying to settle in between here and there, past and present.

Mad Girl’s Love Song, by: Mallory Fisher
Mallory Fisher is a Toronto-based theatre creator, director, songwriter, and gin drinker from Newfoundland. She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory. Her solo show, MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG, is a three-dimensional poem derived from a combination of autobiographical sources and the life and writing of Sylvia Plath. MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG is a reclamation of illegitimacy and a defence of girlishness. Set in an oven, one woman fights extinction while navigating questions about queerness, isolation, daughterhood, mediocrity, and food.

Eat Me, performed by: The Orange Girls and directed by: Desirée Leverenz
Desirée Leverenz is a director, creator and performer living in Tkaronto and hails from Treaty 6. Desirée is a graduate of the BA Drama Honours program at the University of Alberta and is a current MFA candidate in Theatre at York University. Desirée will be presenting an original devised piece: Eat Me. This story is told through bodies and cakes and explores our society’s compulsion with consuming to a dangerous level. Join us inside of this live abstract painting as The Orange Girls explore capitalism’s most valued commodity: The Girl.

Lost Fool, by: Jason Hildebrand
Part performer, part creative catalyst, Jason is the founder and director of Jason Hildebrand Creative Arts, where for over 20 years he has partnered with film and theatre companies, organizations and educational institutions as an artist/coach around the world.

In Jason’s new multimedia solo exploration, Lost Fool, fragments of mythical, historical and personal stories create a complex and colourful theatrical mosaic. Set in his son’s hospital room on the verge of a life-threatening operation, a father wrestles with questions of mortality, ancestry, and brokenness. Is confession good for the soul?

Credits

After George, Atomic Oddity

What is the Water?, Gülce Oral

Mad Girl’s Love Song, Mallory Fisher

Eat Me, performed by The Orange Girls and directed by: Desirée Leverenz

Lost Fool, Jason Hildebrand

April 24, 2019
to April 28, 2019

Tickets are 3 Show Festival Pass, General Admission $22 | Students/Arts Worker $17

Venue

The Theatre Centre

Performance Dates

After George

April 24: 9:00 pm
April 25: 6:00 pm
April 27: 1:00 pm

What is the Water?

April 24: 7:30 pm
April 27: 7:00 pm
April 28: 1:00 pm

Mad Girl’s Love Song

April 25: 9:00 pm
April 26: 7:00 pm
April 27: 8:30 pm

Eat Me

April 25: 7:30 pm
April 27: 10:00 pm
April 28: 4:00 pm

Lost Fool

April 26: 8:30 pm
April 27: 2:30 pm
April 28: 2:30 pm