NEW CREATION:
aSH, a piece by Aurélien Bory for Shantala Shivalingappa
PRODUCTIONS
ONISHKA
"Relearning Anishnabemowin becomes a way for me to regain a power, to nurture my connection to my family and my culture. It awakens something important deep inside of me. Like the feeling of activating a memory. Or rekindling a fire. It's an act of love and resistance at the same time."
- Emilie Monnet
© Maxime Côté
At the intersection of theater, performance and media arts, the practice of Émilie Monnet is most often presented in the form of interdisciplinary theater or performative installations. Her artistic approach favors collaborative and multilingual creative processes, and explores themes of memory, history and transmission.
As a committed author, actress and director, she founded Onishka Productions in 2011 in order to forge ties between artists from different Indigenous peoples, regardless of their disciplines. A graduate of the indigenous artist residency at the National Theater School of Canada, she has also been the resident artist at Espace GO for three years. Of Anishinaabe and French descent, Émilie resides between the Outaouais and Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyaang / Montreal.
TEXT, CO-DIRECTION, PERFORMANCE: Émilie Monnet
CO-DIRECTION: Emma Tibaldo and Sarah Williams
SOUND DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE: Jackie Gallant
PRE-RECORDED VOICES: Véronique Thusky, Thérèse Thelesh Bégin
SET DESIGN: Simon Guilbault
LIGHTING: Lucie Bazzo
COSTUMES: Caroline Monnet
VIDEO: Clark Ferguson
CULTURAL AND ANISHINAABEMOWIN LANGUAGE CONSULTANT: Véronique Thusky
TRANSLATION DRAMATURGY: Maureen Labonté
TECHNICAL DIRECTION AND SOUND MANAGEMENT: Guillaume Roberts-Cambron
STAGE MANAGER: Suzanne Crocker or Gaspard Philippe
In Anishinaabemowin, “okinum” means dam. In deciphering a recurring dream about a giant beaver, writer, co-director and performer, Émilie Monnet, discovers how to break down interior barriers and trust in the power of dreams and intuition. Okinum is an ode to reclaiming language and reconnecting to one’s ancestors.
A captivating combination of performance, live sound, and visual storytelling, the play is a circular and immersive experience that interweaves three languages: English, French and Anishinaabemowin. Featuring a score performed live by musician Jackie Gallant, this captivating monologue deftly combines elements of autobiographical fiction and documentary theater. Throughout the performance, dreams and memory flow into one another across time and space.
Co-production of the English version: IMAGO theatre, Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre, Playwrights Workshop Montreal.
“It’s hard not to be moved by this piece as an act of cultural reclamation and as a harmonization of body and spirit”
- Christian St-Pierre, Le Devoir, October 10th 2018
DURATION 70 minutes - no intermission
CREW 2 performers + 2 technicians
STAGE DIMENSIONS
Width 10m / Depth 10m / Height 5m
Width 33ft / Depth 33ft / Height 16ft
AUDIENCE SIZE 75 to 150
SET-UP 16 hours
OUTREACH :
- Talkbacks
© Yanick Macdonald
© Yanick Macdonald
© Yanick Macdonald
© Yanick Macdonald
MARGUERITE: LE FEU-2022
INTERDISCIPLINARY THEATER
PERFORMERS: Émilie Monnet, Aïcha Bastien N’diaye and Madeleine Sarr
PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR: Émilie Monnet
CO-DIRECTOR: Angélique Willkie
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Letícia Dal-Ri Tórgo
VIDEO DESIGNER: Caroline Monnet
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Julie Basse
COSTUME DESIGNERS: Eric Poirier
PRODUCTION Onishka, co-production with Espace Go
Balado - Marguerite: la traversée (FRENCH)
%20(3).jpg)
DURATION 60 minutes
CREW 3 performers + 1 technical director + 3 technicians
+ 1 wardrobe
SET-UP 16 hours
STAGE DIMENSIONS
Width 10.6m / Depth 7.9m / Height 7.6m
Width 35ft / Depth 26ft / Height 25ft
AUDIENCE SIZE Medium size venues
OUTREACH
- Talkbacks
VIEW TECHNICAL RIDER ( French )
**PLAY AVAILABLE ONLY IN FRENCH**
In 1740, the trial of Marguerite Duplessis took place here in Quebec. This young indigenous woman initiated a trial to demand her freedom. Bought to be resold, she was to be sent immediately on a merchant ship to Martinique. This was the first time in the history of New France that an indigenous person filed a lawsuit. It was also the first time that an enslaved person tried to have her right to liberty recognized. Inevitably, Marguerite lost the trial and was sent to Martinique. What became of her is unknown.
The fire inside Marguerite inspired this show. This same fire burns in all the Marguerites of the past and of today who fi ght for justice. It’s the fire of renewal and rediscovered memories.
“Inhabited by her story, I went in search of traces of Marguerite, two hundred and eighty years later. I trod the stone and volcanic rock, crossed the river to this place where the fresh water meets the sea, and listened to the wind in Martinique. I wondered if there were other ways to bring to light the memories and fi ll in the holes of her story.”
- Emilie Monnet
WHERE TO SEE PRODUCTIONS ONISHKA NEXT
July 7th to 11th, 2023, Marguerite: le feu,
Festival D'Avignon, Théâtre Benoît-XII, 84000 Avignon