Bread, not bombs
POLITICAL PAPIER-MÂCHÉ: Bread and Puppet Theater
Uprooted from their home in idyllic Glover, Vermont, world-renowned puppeteer performance group and shit-disturbers Bread & Puppet Theater are here as part of the Montreal Anarchist Theatre Festival.
“We travel all the time,” says company manager Linda Elbow. “We’re an independent, self-sustaining company, and we don’t take money from government grants.”
The May 13 show, The Divine Reality Comedy Circus, features the Rotten Idea Theater Company’s distillation of political issues, accompanied by the Bread & Puppet Circus Band. On May 14, Photographs of My Corpse: A Puppet Service for Guantanamo (“A darker show,” says Elbow) uses texts from actual interrogation documents and an inmate’s poem.
Of their massive, papier-mâché-fuelled spectacles, they helpfully comment: “If some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying kids can usually explain them.”
The bilingual festival, which also presents the Paris theatre troupe la Balancelle, Montreal group le Comité de la Fin du Monde and others, runs from May 13–14 at the D.B. Clarke Theatre (1455 de Maisonneuve W.) at 7:30 p.m., for $10, through Admission or from the anarchist bookstore l’Insoumise (2033 St-Laurent). Info: (514) 981-5330.
by NEIL BOYCE
Annunciation the remix
GOD’S MESSENGER: From L’AnnonciationThe Annunciation is the moment when the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary she has been chosen to bear the Son of God and “the spirit entered into her.” We are clearly separated from our animal nature in this Biblical event in which “God becomes Man,” and even conception is no longer a physical act.
Local artist Emmanuelle Léonard tackles this ancient subject matter with a refreshingly unique interpretation in her latest exhibition L’Annonciation at Galerie Donald Browne (372 Ste-Catherine W., #524). Here she retells the story via four photographs. The first image shows a female wolf caught in a flash of light—illuminated like we often see Mary throughout art history. The press release informs us that the French word louve, meaning female wolf, comes from the word lupa, meaning prostitute.
The second is a remarkably surreal picture of a Bald Eagle staring straight at the viewer. Here the symbol for the United States stands in for God’s messenger Gabriel.
The final two photographs show stars shining in the skies above the exteriors of an apartment and a mobile home where female prisoners can spend time with their children while incarcerated. Enjoy the parable.
Until May 24, info: (514) 380-3221.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Breaking words open
Without much in the way of funding, poet and organizer Oana Avasilichioaei brings an international flavour to the Atwater Poetry Project, which reflects Montreal’s multicultural character by featuring works in translation.
“It’s good to read outside of the language, and to listen too,” says  Avasilichioaei. Tonight, Thursday, May 8’s show features Erín Moure’s translations of poetry by Galician Chus Pato and Chilean Andrés Ajens. “Ajens just breaks words open—the language is a material that he twists and shapes,” says Avasilichioaei. “It’s very difficult work to translate because you have to find ways to express those kinds of shifts.”
Tonight’s show also features the launch of a couple of postmodern detective novels by Robert Majzels and Claire Huot.
Next Thursday, May 15 showcases New Delhi-based poet Sudeep Sen, West Coast poet and Malahat Review editor John Barton, and l’entre-genre writer Nathalie Stephens. Both shows are at the Atwater Library and Computer Centre (1200 Atwater), 7 p.m. Free.
by VINCENT TINGUELY
Dirty cheerleaders
Although choreographer Marianne Desjardins herself has never been a cheerleader, her most recent choreography Lily focuses on one of these over-bubbly, hyperactive, chipper types.
 Desjardins wanted to break pom-pom stereotypes and through her piece reveals Lily’s vulnerabilities. “At the beginning, she tries to be perfect,” says Desjardins. Later, we discover her “deeper stress about wanting to perform for the audience that makes her do things that she wouldn’t do normally for the audience’s approval—like vulgar and absurd movements.”
Dancer Teoma Naccarato sports the cheerleading skirt in this solo that mixes theatre, dance, acrobatics and cheers.
The short work in progress is part of Studio 303’s Vernissage-danse series whose theme this time around is “dirt” and features interpretations by Myriam Tremblay, George Stamos, Marie Béland, and SASASA. The best way to snag tickets for the show on Saturday, May 10, 8:30 p.m., is online at www.studio303.ca.
by MARITES CARINO
Is it art?
MACABRE MAKEOVER: Going green is a noble pursuit for any business, but for the California-based company Coffin Couches, it was the driving force.
According to their Web site, www.coffincouches.com, “It is a health and safety law that funeral homes cannot resell used coffins to the general public.” (How a “used” coffin could be resold, however, remains a mystery.) So, in the spirit of recycling, the company specializes in refurbishing 18-gauge steel coffins into rather sleek living room furniture. Using coffins that have been rejected due to “cosmetic inconsistencies,” the company reconfigures and modifies the material to create a one of a kind couch.
Once the makeover is complete, the couches might look (almost) like any other, except for the biohazard symbol, which is embossed on the legs of the divan. A gentle reminder that a human body once rested where you now park your tuckus to watch Six Feet Under.
Arts
hole
GOING GRAPHIC: King of kitsch Billy Mavreas, known for his love of odds and sods as well as his comics and illustrations, adds another title to his list with the launch of his first full-length graphic novel Inside Outside Overlap, this Tuesday, May 13 at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) at 7 p.m..• SOUND KNOWLEDGE: Local artist Tomas Bégin presents Full Spectrum, a performance and sound installation piece at SKOL (372 Ste-Catherine W., #314) in collaboration with the Elektra Festival. Performances take place tonight, Thursday, May 8 at 5 p.m. and tomorrow, Friday, May 9 between 5–9 p.m. Exhibition runs until May 10.
Artistat
The number of Montreal women’s shelters that will benefit when you purchase a Shelter From the Storm t-shirt ($12.99) or teddy bear ($9.99) at Winners or HomeSense from now until May 11: 23 |
