Event Info
Grand OnStage Presents: This is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear
Written and performed by David Gagnon Walker
7:30pm
$29.50 plus HST and handling fee
Artists
Strange Victory Performance
Event Description
Performances in the Baby Grand Theatre.
About "This is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear"
David has written a play for himself and a gathering of friends and strangers to read together out loud. It tells the story of the rise and fall of an imaginary civilization in an imaginary land. Some of it is fact, some fiction. Some of it is funny, some not so much. Are you ready to take a leap of faith? It’s okay if you feel nervous. David is nervous too. With so much to be fearful of these days, it’s best to brave this thing together.
An ingenious exercise in interactive storytelling created by a team of award-winning artists from across Canada, This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear is a poetic and participatory fable about how to live with the slowly unfolding emergencies of our time. Playwright David Gagnon Walker guides us through an enchanting performance ritual that provides a communal, cathartic release for those prone to anxiety, fear, and depression. It’s an invitation to share the joys of creating a story together so that maybe we can all feel less alone.
Participate according to your own comfort – read for a character, join the chorus, or sit back and watch – and join this humorous, cathartic exploration of our innermost private fears.
Artistic Team:
Written and performed by David Gagnon Walker
Directed by Christian Barry and Judy Wensel
Dramaturgy by Christian Barry
Lighting design by Christian Barry and Tori Morrison
Sound design, video design, and production management by Tori Morrison
Physical design by Morgan Melenka
Technical and design assistance by Patricia Vinluan and Lauren Acheson
Produced by Strange Victory Performance
“This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear is pushing theatre to its limits.”
— Ben Boddez, Range Magazine
"I left the work with such a curious tenderness in my heart that lingered for days."
— Brian Paterson, Vancouver
“I can’t think of another work of art, let alone theatre, that makes it so easy to collectively consider the terrifying aspects of our changing world and warming planet without shame and panic as an underscore, and where instead of being a chore or embarrassment, audience participation truly makes you feel less alone.”
Zoe Glassman, Edmonton
“this is the first show i saw in a theatre after the start of the pandemic. i cried the whole time. it was other-wordly wonderful. this is a very special play (? event? community happening?). don’t!!! miss!!! it!!!
Elena Eli Belyea, Edmonton
”We all have fears and sometimes we can be brave and sometimes we can’t. The play evades a simple answer. Nevertheless, the true outcome is that in the end, we have all partaken in a collective journey to create something that we don’t know how it goes, and we journey together with generosity for the risk of participating. The result is a kind of vulnerable rough beauty. “
Dr. Jenn Stephenson, PLAY: The Blog
“The divide between artist and audience becomes increasingly blurred, dynamizing the stage into a communal space for co-creation. If [this performance] proves anything, it’s that new theatrical places will continue to be explored as artists and audiences navigate the potentialities of the return to being together.”
Derek Manderson, smART Magazine
“Such a brilliant idea. The piece is intimate and deeply personal. It’s also driven by big, deep questions about human purpose and the much larger, mythic forces at work in all of our lives.”
Marcus Youssef, Siminovitch Prize-Winning Playwright, Vancouver
“I left the theatre, and a discussable and pleasurable evening, with a renewed appreciation that theatre, the art form of real people together in the same room sharing an experience, is on the right track. We’ve always known it: it’s validating to have a demo from an artist, a true original, that it’s meaningful, even cathartic, to tell stories together about what haunts us, scares us, weighs us down. There’s wonder in it. And wonder is enlivening.”
Liz Nichols, 12thnight.ca
Venue
Kingston Grand Theatre, Baby Grand Theatre
218 Princess Street Kingston ON K7L 1B2 Canada
In-Person Event
Wed. March 26th + Add to Calendar
Kingston Grand Theatre
