Harbourfront Centre - Fresh Ground new works

Blue Note — created by Nightswimming, Toronto's leading dramaturgical company — is a collaboration between theatre artists, musicians and architects. A character study of a vocal ensemble, Blue Note follows seven singers in rehearsal, painting a picture of each person. As in a piece of choral music, the whole story is only revealed once the individual voices are singing together.

An elegiac investigation into loss within the realm of collaboration, Nightswimming is creating Blue Note as an installation rather than a traditional theatre piece, and during both the rehearsal process and the formal presentations the audience can voyeuristically observe the ensemble rehearsing.

Nightswimming is responsible for the theatrical development of Blue Note, while PLANT Architect Inc. will create spatial settings to allow the audience access to the performance, and also to contain the work in a subtle metaphoric environment that supports the emotional and narrative content of the piece.

nightswimmingtheatre.com
branchplant.com

The Collaborators

Brian Quirt, Artistic Director, Nightswimming
Naomi Campbell, Producer, Nightswimming

Created by Brian Quirt and Martin Julien

Design by PLANT Architect Inc.
Chris Pommer, Lisa Rapoport, Mary Tremain Performed by Neema Bickersteth, Jay Bowen, Christine Brubaker, Steven Gallagher, Kate Hennig, John Millard, Jane Miller

Stage managed by Sandy Plunkett

Commissioned in 2007

Presented by Nightswimming
and Harbourfront Centre
York Quay Centre Gallery, 235 Queens Quay West
September 11 – 14, 2008 | Open Rehearsals
September 16 – 21, 2008 | Performances

Fresh Ground new works is made possible by the generosity of several major individual donors who have actively assisted in the creation of new Canadian artworks: Peter Allen, Lionel F. Conacher and Joan Dea, Margaret and Jim Fleck, John Kazanjian and Susan Soloway, Michael and Sonja Koerner, Judy and Wil Matthews, George E. Myhal, and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the J.P. Bickell Foundation.

Fresh Ground new works

Commissions

Blue Note

The Collaborators