Play Dead
full length - 70 minutes
Set in a shifting universe of domestic trappings and interlocking stories, People Watching’s first creation ‘Play Dead’ observes the way we navigate social connections. Through it’s surrealistic blend of acrobatics, movement and physical theater, the piece moves with larger than life physicality while bathing in an intimate atmosphere. By giving place for seemingly unexceptional stories to unfold, we look closer and marvel at how beautiful, twisted, and sometimes laughable reality can be. Balanced on the cusp of the familiar and the otherworldly, this performance is a reflection on the twilight of youth and all the uncertainties, flawed ideals and sheer exhilaration that such an age encompasses. But rather than settling into bored fatalism, this piece celebrates life, the same way people desperately dance to the last song before the party ends.
Credits
Concept and Direction: Ruben Ingwersen, Jérémi Levesque, Natasha Patterson, Brin Schoellkopf, Jarrod Takle, Sabine Van Rensburg
Lighting Design: Emile Lafortune
Set Design: Emily Tucker
Carpenter: Alastair Davies
Music and Sound Design: Colin Gagne, Francisco Cruz, Olivier Landry-Gagnon, Stefan Boucher,
Costume Assistance: Camille TB
Photography and Video: Alexis Vigneault, Chase Levy, Damian Siqueiros, Melika Dez, Alex Royer, Alexandre Galliez, Dina Sok, Cecilia Martin
Dramaturgic Assistance: Peter James, Isabelle Chasse, Gypsy Snider
Funded By: Conseil des arts et des letrres du Quebec (CALQ)
Support: Les 7 Doigts de la Main, White Wall Studio, Patro Villeray, Phantom Theater
Acknowledgements
2024 Propulsion Prize by En Piste FINALIST
2023 Coup de Coeur Award by Festival Quartiers Danses WINNER
Press
2024 Theaterkrant; Canadian Circus Sensation Explores Intimacy in Stunning Spectacle Groningen, the Netherlands
2024 La Verdad San Javier, Spain
2024 La Opinion de Murcia San Javier, Spain
2024 Información Alicante, Spain
2024 Dance Zone; A sublime and Virtuoso Contemporary Circus Prague, Czech Republic
2024 La Presse; Circus Reinvented Montreal, Canada
2024 La Presse Montreal, Canada
2024 Le Devoir Montreal, Canada
2023 Cliquez Cirque Montreal, Canada
2023 Niche MTL Montreal, Canada