The Array: First Contact
Year: 2020
Creative team
- Commissioned Creators: Rice and Beans, Popcorn Galaxies, House of Rice & Hunters, Tricksters and Mystics
- Created and Performed by Derek Chan and Pedro Chamale; June Fukumura, Keely O’Brien and YOU; Shay Dior, Maiden China, Skim, and Kara Juku; Nyla Carpentier, David Geary, Raven John, and Taran J. Kootenhayoo
- Design by Jono Kim
- Stage Management by Kayleigh Sandomirksy
- Videography & Editing by Chase Padgett
About
Upintheair Theatre’s 2nd iteration of the two of three years commissioning series The Array! Four Vancouver based companies have been commissioned to create an evening of 15-20 minute short performances examining the same theme. The theme for 2020 is: First Contact.
Why The Array? In Astrophysics, an array is a group of satellites and telescopes which can be trained on a single phenomena to provide a more detailed, nuances, and multi-dimensional understanding of the subject than could be gained by a single instrument. The Array proposed the teams of artists as telescopes.
Commissions
What it would take for you to take my hand again
Rice & beans
Touch. Contact. Sweat. Droplets. Jam-packed with raw, unfiltered contact (with proper protection) between Derek Chan and Pedro Chamale (co-artistic directors of rice & beans theatre), what it would take for you to take my hand again is a meditation on the absurdity of the way things were, how we have adapted, and how we continue to roll with it.
The Dead Letter Office
Popcorn Galaxies
You are invited to participate in The Dead Letter Office, a theatrical letter mail experience by Popcorn Galaxies! In this interactive letter exchange, you’ll be writing and receiving mysterious handwritten letters delivered across time and space. Inspired by the phenomenon of lost, undeliverable, and misdirected mail that finds its way into the postal service’s office for “dead letters,” this strange and delightful project attempts to create curious connections and deliver otherwise impossible messages.
Connection Error: Attempting to reconnect…
The House of Rice
In this new production from the House of Rice, drag artists Shay Dior, Maiden China, Skim, and Kara Juku share the importance of human contact by navigating through a socially distant future. From early on, we are raised as social beings and encouraged to form connections with one another. When faced with social isolation, in what ways do we cope with losing so much of how we live? Through a series of performances, the narrative follows Mother of the House of Rice, Shay Dior, in exploring the depths of loneliness in an alternate space, and trying to connect with their chosen family.
Snagged in the Loop
Hunters, Tricksters and Mystics
Indigenous perspectives on doom scrolling and online dating.