A LOVE SONG FOR INSOMNIACS
“The name of the game is running away. There are lots of ways to play but here is the start: Paint walls to fix cracks. Do laundry and shower to fix smells. Kiss to fix loneliness. Here you are. Here are all the objects floating around you like the eye of a tornado stretched out in slow motion. Gather your favourite objects into a box. It is time for a different name, different perfume, a suitcase. Remember this when you feel too large for the planets and too small for the pain. This is our favourite game.”
Following the success of their past two productions, Matt & Ben and Paani, Blowfish Theatre Company produced A Love Song for Insomniacs or The Runaway Game. This show is written by Leni Krivy and was directed by Andrew Sawyer.
This show opened at the St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival 2018. It premiered on June 8th at Venue 8 – Black Theatre Workshop Studio Venue Bm 3680 Rue Jeanne-Mance, Montréal, QC, Station Place-des-Arts.
PAANI
“Islamophobia (lived through anti-Muslim racism) is a defunct creature that affects both the individual and collective experience. These living stories must be told by the right bodies, in the right spaces. They must be told by filling the void between ideal and non-ideal representation. And they can be taken on by every single one of us.”
Paani is a devised theatre piece that chronicles experiences in, of, and around anti-Muslim racism in North America. It is a story that, in our current social and political climate, has to be presented and responded to.
Paani was directed by Anurag Choudhury, who last directed Matt & Ben (Blowfish Theatre Company, September 2016). It was produced by Nikita Bala and Rana Liu, who co-founded Blowfish Theatre Company in the summer of 2016.
The play, being a devised piece, was a collaboration between the entire production and performance team. An amalgamation of live music, dance, spoken word, mask, and storytelling – performed by members of Blowfish. We would be nothing without our company.
The showpremiered at the St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival 2017, and opened on June 8th at Venue 11- Studio Multimedia du Conservatoire, 4750 Avenue Henri-Julien, Montreal, QC. Metro Mont Royal.
MATT & BEN
In October 2016, Blowfish Theatre Company brought the smashing hit Matt & Ben, by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers at Players Theatre. Our first production was put up with an incredible team of devoted theatre lovers who gave sweat & tears to this show. Thanks to them, we were able to (literally) make the stage sparkle.
Here is a snippet of a review by McGill Daily’s writer Deanna Duxbury:
“This production, in particular, experiments with characterization that goes beyond the traditional idea of masculine and feminine. Snow, whose acting career “thus far has her typecasted in lesbian, dystopic adaptations of Shakespeare” and who was excited to “break out of this role to play the Straight Male,” and Murray, whose theatre credits includes The Vagina Monologues, make a fantastic pair in a show that redefines gender stereotypes and showcases women’s comedy. Through creative costume changes and sexual humour, the characters of Matt and Ben become more than any one kind of stereotyped, heteronormative comedic role.” http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2016/10/wild-and-wacky-with-corset-tops/
Thank you to everyone who made this happen & came to support our first production. Here are some of our favourite pictures from Matt & Ben.
If you would like to see the whole album, check it out right here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/146127800@N03/sets/72157673472901672/with/30068641456/
Blowfish Theatre Company 