Unfolding began almost 4 years ago, with a desire to do a big outdoor performance at Cedar Ridge, and also to do something directly about history and stories of Scarborough. I am particularly compelled by the way personal stories accumulate to make up history, and the resonance and extraordinary details of everyday lives not described in public or textbook versions of history. Interlacing, our giant mobile loom, built for the City of Toronto’s Cultural Hotspot, gathered stories from hundreds and hundreds of people all over Scarborough to make a woven timeline of experiences.
Unfolding expresses this multiplicity through a series of short performances and images, each featuring contributions from community members and artists who came on board, tied together by the idea of interweaving, entangling, opening up and pulling apart.
What I hope to share through this performance is a communal celebration of stories given to us: some difficult, some funny, some fanciful, some beautiful – all part of this place. They may or may not be the stories you expect, wish for, have heard before, think are most important. There are many more to be told; let’s keep telling them! Thank you to this place, the nature and humanity that surrounds us, and to those who were here first and are still here and part of this work. Thank you to all those who have added a word, song, gesture or brushstroke to our art, and to those who have gathered to witness its unfolding.
-Beth Helmers, Artistic Director
DIRECTING TEAM
Concept Creator & Director: Beth Helmers
Assistant Directors: Jamie Oshkabewisens*, Tijana Spasic*
Puppetry Coach: Jesse Wabegijig
Performance Coach: Diana Tso
DESIGN TEAM
Lead Designer & Interlacing Concept: Sonja Rainey
Site Designer: Julia Tribe
Ice Age Puppet Designer: Ange Loft
Assistant Designer: Karis Jones-Pard*
Photographer & Maker: Katherine Fleitas
Wardrobe Head: Oshan Starreveld***
Sewer: Joanna Prescod
Textile Artist: Marianne Alas
WRITING TEAM
Lead Spoken Word Artist: Randell Adjei
Spoken Word Artists: Lexi Salt, Levyi A. Love
Writers: Sharada K. Eswar, Leanne Minichillo
Poets: Kamala Ramasurian, Mangayakarasi Sivasubramaniam, Paramjothy Ratnajothy, Ragupathy Ratnasabapathy, Sivamany Sivapatham, Thambiah Selvaratnam
Dramaturgy Assistance: Lisa Codrington
MUSIC TEAM
Composer, Music Director, Accordion: Cathy Nosaty
Songwriter: Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone
Songwriter & Carnatic Musician: Sharada K. Eswar
Songwriter: Dovie Rochester
Choir Assistant: Natalie Fasheh
Percussionist: Brandon Valdivia
Harmonium: Mangayakarasi Sivasubramaniam
DANCE TEAM
Lead Choreographer & Performer: Lilia Leon
Contributing Choreographers: Aria Evans, Norma Araiza
Assistant Choreographer: Nimikii Couchie****
PRODUCTION TEAM
Outreach & Project Manager: Joanna Prescod
Production & Stage Manager: Rebecca Vandevelde
Production Assistants: Ahmed Hegazy △, Aloka Wijesundara △, Connor Fischer △, Kaitlynn Rodgers △, Kelly Lui △
Poster Artwork & Designer: Helah Cooper
Videographer & Program Designer: Adrienne Marcus-Raja*****
Catering: Marianne Alas
Driver: Tim Dollack
Childcare: Fiona Pereira
Production Support: Sam Egan*****
Production Mentor: Ruth Howard*****
OTHER CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Ahmed Abduljaleel, Alejandra Nunez, Alex Eddington, Ashley Riley, Gehan Kolamba Tantrege, Sarah Miller, Sarah Leung, Sasha Tate-Howarth (Interlacing), Nikki Shaffeeullah, Waleed Abdulhamid
*Metcalf Foundation courtesy of Jumblies
**OAC Compass courtesy of Jumblies
***Miziwe Biiik courtesy of Jumblies
**** Cultural and Human Resources Career Council courtesy of Jumblies
***** Courtesy of Jumblies
△ as funded by Canada Summer Jobs and Summer Experience Program
CAST
WEAVERS: Diana Tso﹢, Lady Pearline H. Morris, Sonia Rai
STORY FLAGBEARERS: Ahmed Hegazy, Aloka Wijesundara, Connor Fischer, Cynthia Walker, Gehan Kolamba Tantrege, Kamala Ramasurian, Lilia Leon, Melissa George, Sherry Yaseen, Tijana Spasic, Tisa Elizabeth George-Ouellet
RACOONS: Kelly Lui, Samuel Fernandes
SQUIRRELS: Jacob Fernandes, Katrina
FOXES: Lucie Leach, Victoria Fernandes
DEER: Violet Archer
SKUNK: Jayden Antoine Caron-Ouellet
ICE AGE PUPPETS: Ahmed Hegazy, Esther Adebisi, Jamie Oshkabewisens, Kaitlynn Rodgers, Tijana Spasic, Tisa Elizabeth George-Ouellet, Lousie Boehler, John Pyette, Josiah Bailey, Selina Fisher, Karis Jones-Pard
POETRY READERS: J. Pathmawathy, Kamala Sivasubramaniam, Mangayakarasi Sivasubramaniam, Padma Krishnamurthy, Paramjothy Ratnajothy, Ragupathy Ratnasabapathy, Sivamany Sivapatham
SPOKEN WORD PERFORMERS PERFORMERS: Levyi A. Love, Lexi Salt, Randell Adjei
DANCERS: Aloka Wijesundara, Cynthia Walker, Kaitlynn Rodgers, Kamala Ramasurian, Lilia Leon, Pathma Mahalingam, Parameswary Ponnampalam, Sherry Yaseen, Tijana Spasic
CHOIR: Aruna Logendrakumar, Padma Krishnamurthy, V. Sarojini, Yogeswary Gangasabapathy & Full Cast
SOLO SINGERS: Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone, Dovie Rochester, Cynthia Walker, Lady Pearline H. Morris, Ahmed Hegazy, Natalie Fasheh, Sharada K. Eswar, Phillip Matthiyas
SHADOW PUPPETEERS: Jamie Oshkabewisens, Tijana Spasic, Jacob Fernandes, Kelly Lui, Louise Boehler, Lucie Leach, Samuel Fernandes, Victoria Fernandes
SHADOW PUPPET NARRATORS: Gehan Kolamba Tantrege, Kamala Ramasurian, Kaitlynn Rodgers, Lady Pearline H. Morris, Leanne Minichillo, Melissa George, Tisa Elizabeth George-Ouellet
﹢appears courtesy of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
Ciara Prince, Connie Tong, David McNiven, Doodoo Hammook, Emelda, Fenix, Haile Kelly, Jaala Prescod, John Fisher, Junior Balkissoon, Kai Masaoka, Kathy Wolfer, Katrina Balkissoon, Kiran Fisher, Lily Ma, Louise Boehler (additional set and costume assistance), Lovina D’Souza, Magregor Bowman, Marc and Clarita Wong, Maria Tong, Munzir Rahman, Nages, Nekori, Sylvie Stojanovski, Yasmeen Safawi, Yutian Yan, Fred Victor Wellness Program (painting Ice Age puppets), Family Residence Youth (sculpting Ice Age puppets), Cedarbrae High School grade 10 art (sculpting Ice Age puppets), Dharashana Jayapathy and the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities Tamil Seniors’ Wellness Program (writing and performance), Debbie Lee and Scarborough Village Seniors (writing and performance), East Scarborough Storefront (Hanging at the Hub – tribute lanterns, small looms, parade development), Diana Keep and students at Willow Park Jr. Public School (building lanterns), St. Richard’s Catholic School, Malvern Library kids (shadow puppets), East End Storytellers & Morningside library, Malvern Library and Town Centre (weaving), Sewing Room participants and David Morales at 4301 Kingston Road (costumes), youth artists from East Scarborough Boys & Girls Club (design and making), Scarborough Village Community Garden volunteers and residents near Fred Johnson Park (weaving and puppetry development), The Hub Mid-Scarborough/ SCHC summer camp, Polycultural Immigrant Services summer camp (animal character development), Native Child & Family Services summer camp (weaving)
FUNDERS & PARTNERS:
In Partnership with Cedar Ridge Creative Centre
City of Toronto
Toronto Arts Council
Arts in the Park
Toronto Arts Foundation
Ontario Arts Council
Theatre Ontario
Canada Council for the Arts
Government of Canada
Province of Ontario
Miziwe Biik
Metcalf Foundation
Cultural hotspot
Scarborough Centre For Healthy Communities
Toronto Community Housing
East Scarborough Storefront
Cedar Ridge Creative Centre
R.I.S.E.
Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery
MABELLEarts
Jumblies Theatre
DONORS
Anonymous, Bill & Nancy Helmers, Catherine Cavanaugh, Chris & Mindy Helmers, Emma Manchester, Evanne Ketchabaw, Junyee Wang, Kathleen Dore, Lisa Marie DiLiberto, Miranda Bouchard, Rod & Mary Ann Archer, Ruth Howard, Sarah Lawrence, Sarah Schwartz
SPECIAL THANKS
Ojibwe language consultation: Amy Desjarlais and Isabel Cada
Placement students: Haro Thaya (York), Kerraine Dennis (Centennial College) Jason Chung, Monish Ghosh (UTSC)
Volunteer transcription, INTERLACING: Aruna Panday, Carly Wolowich
Loom Consultation: Caroline Hollway
Robin, Violet and Malcolm Archer
Cathy Stubington of Runaway Moon for the dance inspiration of weaving with big fabric
Varrick Grimes, Lisa Marie DiLiberto
Liz Rucker and Arts4All
Leah Houston, Karen Kew and MABELLEarts summer staff
City of Toronto and Cedar Ridge staff: Nadira Pattison, Margaret Chan, Julie Frost, Tina Harper, Karen Harkins, Deanne Andrews, Andrea Cnudde, Mohamed Ali Zainudeen, Thava Sivagnanam and all the facility attendants
Chris Martin and all the gardeners of Cedar Ridge park
Karen Neeson, Joy Hughes, and Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery volunteers
Jumblies Theatre & Arts, founder of the Community Arts Guild over a decade ago, and producing and mentoring partner for this production.