MONTREAL’S 14th annual INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST THEATRE FESTIVAL
May 17th to May 23rd, 2019
The fourteenth annual Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (MIATF) – the world’s biggest anarchist theatre festival – will present 30 artists (seven troupes) from Chile, the US, France, and Montreal for three nights of provocative, socially engaged, freedom-loving theatre, Fri May 17th at L’Achoppe (ask a local punk for the address), 7:30pm, Tues May 21st and Wed May 22nd, at La Sala Rossa, 4848 boul St-Laurent, 7pm. The wrap party/live music show is Thurs May 23rd, at the Casa del Popolo, 4873 boul St-Laurent, 8pm.
Tickets: $13 each night at the door, or online in advance from La Sala Rossa’s website, www.lasalarossa.com No reserved seats. Doors open 6:45pm. (Special PWYC for May 17th, and $5 for May 23rd wrap party/show.)
Program highlights include: a Chilean dance, theatre, live music tour de force about citizen’s revenge; the world premier of ‘Women Strike!’ a dramatic account of nine kick ass, immigrant working women from the historic 1919 Winnipeg General Strike; an entertaining anti-authoritarian musical inspired by Mauricio Kagel’s work; an experimental performance about immigrants, refugees and ‘The Wall’; Montreal’s well known Rap Battles for Social Justice troupe; and more.
Friday May 17, L’Achoppe, 7:30pm, PWYC
The 1970s Italian Autonomists, Intervento de maio (France)
Au départ il y a les sources officielles, celles de l’État et de sa police, qui enregistrent les données glaçantes de leur victoire : nombre d’arrestations, d’emprisonnements, de morts, nom d’une organisation de lutte armée maintenue sous les projecteurs comme un épouvantail, nom des « grands hommes sacrifiés » par les assassinats politiques… Au départ se font entendre des voix ténues et floues, des récits individuels en marge des mouvements sociaux, cachés dans quelque roman noir, par des rumeurs et icônes hors contexte, des écrits dans des fanzines à diffusion confidentielle, photocopiés. Les mouvements défaits ont leurs modes de transmission clandestins. L’Intervento murmure et crie avec ces voix qui refusent de s’éteindre. Derrière une table ornée sobrement de lampes de chevet, quatre lecteurs et lectrices, accompagnés d’extraits de films, de photos et de chansons, racontent les mouvements autonomes italiens des années 70. Cela fait 12 ans qu’ils collectent les témoignages de ceux qui ont traversé cette décennie brûlante, et qu’ils susurrent ce « mai rampant » là où son écho peut s’amplifier. Cela fait 12 ans qu’ils le transmettent en France, en Suisse et en Belgique dans différents espaces en luttes, centre autonomes, théâtres et cinémas. Car, outre l’importance propre d’un tel récit, sa résonance ici et maintenant est le nœud de cette expérience. C’est une histoire de lutte pour les luttes, pour poser des questions ou pour inspirer… Le point de vue est assumé, il n’est pas question d’arborer quelque fausse neutralité : ils sont du côté de ceux dont ils racontent les vies.
Tuesday May 21, La Sala Rossa, 7pm, $13
Georges à terre, Dire, encore (Montreal)
A sait que B tirera au premier geste, et il se méfie de C parce qu’il sait que dans la panique il n’hésitera pas à choisir le plus fort. B sait que A tirera au premier geste, et il se méfie de C parce qu’il n’est pas dit qu’en cas de confusion ce dernier ne retrouvera pas une certaine témérité. C sait que personne ne devrait tirer sur lui mais que dans l’état des choses rien ne laisse présager qu’il n’y ait pas des dégâts collatéraux.
Dire, encore est un collectif qui pense que si le théâtre ne peut pas changer le monde, il serait lâche de ne pas néanmoins essayer. Concepteurs et conceptrices, acteurs et actrices réunies, le collectif essaye d’essayer encore une fois.
Le texte est édité aux Éditions Expression Théâtre.
Women Strike! 1919– 2019, The Winnipeg General Strike, Babushka Theatre (Mtl)
Nine bad ass women from yesterday for today
Nine courageous Winnipeg immigrant and poor working women tell their stories about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. They represent a few of the thousands of nameless and faceless “foreign” women from the immigrant, working class, poor North End of Winnipeg who participated in the historic strike when 35,000 workers – unionized and not – shut down the city for six weeks. Domestic workers, sweatshop workers, single moms, fearless women – their stories were never told.
Some march in the strike parades. One works in the ‘labour café’ feeding other women strikers. One scolds the police. One conducts on-the-job sabotage. Another confronts strike-breaking men. During a police riot, one helps tip over a streetcar. They take risks. They demonstrate solidarity. They make history as much as the striking men, but because they are women – “foreign, alien women”– they never got the recognition that they deserved 100 years ago. Bad-ass women from yesterday for today. Since working conditions for many women – especially marginalized, poor, immigrant or migrant working women – still haven’t changed, their fight for justice continues.
Mélissa Toussaint is a Haitian-Canadian Actress born in Montreal and raised in New York, NY. Melissa began her career as a model but quickly changed careers after landing her first role in the web series B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye (2008). Since then, Melissa has had many roles in Blockbuster films and television series, such as, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother (2017), X-men: Dark Phoenix (2019), Hallmark’s Love Locks (2017) and CityTV’s Bad Blood (2018). This is Melissa’s seventh appearance on the Montreal stage, with past performances in The Beautiful City Theater’s production of The Full Monty as Estelle, Marie in On Life and Living, a documentary play honoring the stories of AIDS Community Care Montreal members, staff and volunteers. And she also appeared as Gayle in the 2018 remount of The History of Sexuality which was presented at Fierté Montreal 2018/Pride Montreal 2018.
Julie Tristant is a French actress. She studied acting in Paris and then moved to Montreal in 2016 where she appeared in various web commercials, had her first small role in a feature film, and performed in several short films. She was also part of the 13th edition of the Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival last year in the play No Way! No Way! by Norman Nawrocki. She likes to write scripts and plays and is currently developing her own projects.
Norman Nawrocki is a Montreal playwright, actor, author and musician. He has written, directed, produced and performed in dozens of theatrical creations. His last production was a play about six anti-fascist, anarchist women throughout history.
This is the premier of ‘Women Strike!’ which will then play Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba as part of the centennial commemoration of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Babushka Theatre is a new theatre troupe based in Montreal and Winnipeg.
The Carrot, Jesse Grindler (Mtl)
The Carrot is an irreverent and poetic puppet show exploring the tangled web of animate life and humanity’s dependant and convoluted relationship to the non-human world. It eats and digests the traditions of puppetry to offer up a strange new vision of consumption, ambition and ecology.
The Carrot was created by a ragtag group of friends who built the show in the living room, with big dreams, scraps of mattress foam, paper and a lot of wild energy. All from very different backgrounds and brought together by a love for serious play and the language of puppetry, this group of artists represents one facet of Montreal’s amazing and fertile puppetry scene. The project was instigated and led by Jesse Grindler with co-creators Keelan Young, Cleo Da Fonseca, Maggie Winston and Ewan Macintyre.
Bombing Walls, AnarkoArtLab + Artemis Beastes (US)
Two performers carrying bricks, bars, sandbags, ropes and material for the construction of a wall. A wall begins to be built.The bars are placed, the ropes the people of the audience, the public, all are part of this wall. An environment tension with videos that show the situation in Tijuana. And the borders and presented along with all this place. Suddenly everyone starts to destroy this wall.
The AnarkoArtLab is a collective of new-media, visual artists, performers, musicians, dancers, poets, filmmakers,etc For the past years has been conducting experimental, interdisciplinary art happenings. The collective grew to be a large amorphous group that presented live and participatory events; we create a CONCEPT and it becomes a LIVE, collaborative, multi-media art experience that is immersive and participatory. The AnarkoArtLab has grown into a vibrant community exchanging and experimenting with ideas about art, equality, collectivity and anarchy in action.
Wednesday May 22, La Sala Rossa, 7pm, $13
Dix marches pour rater la victoire, Collectif du Geste Gauche + Conseil de guerre et Lanterne + Thought Experiment Productions (Mtl)
En 1979, Mauricio Kagel composait “Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen”, une série de pièces musicales accompagnant une création radiophonique intitulée “Le Tribun”. Celle-ci donnait la parole à un démagogue d’opérette déclamant un discours pompeux, ponctué de marches militaires approximatives. En 2019, le tribun est partout, et ses façons de pratiquer l’autorité se sont démultipliées. Main de fer, gant de velours ou pouce de caramel, les dirigeants d’aujourd’hui ne pratiquent plus forcément la coercition bête et méchante. Observez bien ce chef d’orchestre et ses musicien-ne-s, tendu-e-s vers l’objectif louable d’offrir à vos oreilles le meilleur de la musique contemporaine (vous le méritez, car après tout vous avez payé 13$ pour être ici). En quoi ses façons de faire sont-elles différentes de celles d’un bon vieux tyran ? Que disent-elles du peu de dignité que les autorités, partout, tout le temps, ont accordé à l‘être humain – cette ressource de plus en plus remplaçable/améliorable par la machine ? À vous de juger (et bonne écoute).
Le Collectif du Geste Gauche, le Conseil de guerre et Lanterne, et Thought Experiment Productions sont trois formations montréalaises internationales qui ont déjà eu la chance de présenter leurs créations au FITAM. Cette année, elles se regroupent autour du compositeur argentin Mauricio Kagel, qui à travers son œuvre a magistralement démontré que la musique contemporaine pouvait être à la fois drôle et politique. Oui, oui.
Passer la limite/ Pasar la limite/Passing the limit, Rap Battles for Social Justice (Mtl)
Rap Battles for Social Justice is a multilingual Hip-Hop collective linked with grassroots associations. They join their talents as rappers in order to elevate and revive social conscience! Since 2015, the Rap Battles for Social Justice have organized many shows about: climate justice, systemic racism, borders, lack of representation, sexual violence, brutality of the police and prisons. They also offer rap writing workshops, open to all! Find Backxwash, Mireya, Fallon, Marcelle, Diablopablo, and many others, in a Hip-Hop play exploring different perspectives of borders!
Ramón Ramón: the popular revenge of Santa María de Iquique, Ceetuch Company (Chile)
In 1907, the most cruel repression of the workers’ movement in Chile was carried out: the massacre of Santa María de Iquique School. 3500 dead workers registtered by the official data, but nobody paid any day under prison, nor the goverment, nor the high milittary commanders. Seven years later, Antonio Ramón Ramón, a Spanish anarchist, decides to travel to Chile and avenge with his own hands this massacre, attacking the man in charge of the killing: General Roberto Silva Renard.
CEETUCH Company is a chilean street theatre agrupation with 8 years of existence committed to drawing near the theatre to people who are often marginalized from the mainstream cultural agenda, by staging stories hidden by the official History and working with local social entities who share the same deep interest in generating social consciences in the population. Centered in investigation and collective creation that mixes documentary theatre and musical genre, the story of Antonio Ramón Ramón is one of the many non-told parts of our national history that we want to show to the world.
Thursday May 23, Casa del Popolo, 8pm, $5
Wrap party with a Chilean band and more
INFO: festivaltheatreanarchiste@yahoo.ca www.anarchistetheatrefestival.com facebook.com/FITAM.Montreal