At the 2020 IGNITE! Festival of Emerging Artists: Hyperspace Edition, Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre’s Provocation Series invites artists to push creative boundaries, and ask bold questions about art and society.
Amidst the largest collective crisis many of us have ever faced, how do we care for ourselves in honest and compassionate ways in order to minimize pain, and to heal? Elegant Animal is a socially distanced self-care creation from In Arms Theatre, taking place in the audience member’s own home, in their own time.
A dark, twisted narrative unfolding across a digital ecosystem that explores the aftermath of a gay 14-year-old's suicide, his family and church's refusal to hold a funeral for him, and the social movements that emerge in protest.
Devin Kotani is a half-Japanese/half-Scottish actor. In the past, he has played characters of racial backgrounds different than his own, but now he wonders: “Is that okay?”
Between November 4, 2015 and February 29, 2016, Canada resettled more than 25,000 Syrian refugees, following the outbreak of civil war. But what if war arrived much closer to home? What if Calgary became a warzone, and we were all forced to flee our homes and become refugees?
We are coming to take up space, to have our stories heard. Those who are marginalized often feel and are told that they are not good enough. Well, we are here to say that we are and that, if you ever feel alone, know that you are not. We are all struggling.
At the 2019 IGNITE! Festival of Emerging Artists, Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre’s Provocation Series invites artists to push creative boundaries, and ask bold questions about art and society.
For Love Sake stems from Sarah's memory and PTSD of some childhood trauma and abuse that she experienced; her acknowledgement of them; and the road to healing from them. She explores their effect on her psyche and her perception of reality, along with the evolving relationship with her family from the beginning to this point in her life.
Part play, part memoir, part workshop and part experimental group therapy, Nobody tells the story of one woman’s journey through life and her longing to be seen, heard and loved by those around her.
Around 100 years ago, Nellie McClung joined other Manitoban Women in a Mock Parliament asking the question “should men vote?" Most Albertans and other Canadians know Nellie McClung from after she moved to Alberta and became one of the “famous 5”, the women who challenged the idea that women were not considered persons under the law. Having experienced a different side of this legacy, a young Manitoban questions the common narrative and wonders why the rights of so many marginalized women are still sacrificed in order to promote it.
Ghost: Return to Mourning is an experimental exploration of death, balancing autobiographical sentiment with external pressures regarding the healing that often needs to takes place. It encourages viewers to ruminate on past memories and divulge hidden truths to help us face darkness within ourselves when it comes to overcoming inauthenticity and accessing vulnerability.
In 2017, Swallow-a-Bicycle ran a performance incubator called Discomfort Lab, as a way of testing our company's mandate of supporting work which engages in 'productive discomfort'. We gave artists space, money, and time. We endeavoured to hold space for uncomfortable conversations. The overwhelming feedback we got from Calgary's performance community was: YES TO THIS. MORE DISCOMFORT PLEASE.
