Celebrating May Day and advancing year-round a culture of solidarity at the intersection of labour and art in Mi’kma’ki.
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Description
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Flower Bed (7:30pm-8:00pm)
Flower Bed is an accessible chronicle of chronic illness. Using puppets, humour, and visual art, it creatively explores what life is like when your full-time job is Living With Pain. Noella Murphy is a clown, a visual artist, a theatre maker, and a medical mystery. From a misogynistic healthcare system that ignores women’s pain to the struggles of being confined to your bed for months on end, Noella reflects on the absurdity, grief, and transformation that comes with chronic illness, creating a place to share her story and allow others to see their experiences reflected onstage. With two complementary components (an onstage performance and an interactive gallery show), this multidisciplinary piece is a visual spectacle, a place for conversation, and a pathway towards empathy for those who have dealt with any form of illness in their lives.
Archive of Loneliness (8:30pm-9:00pm)
Archive of Loneliness brings light to the isolation of seniors and how the end of life deserves our attention just as much as the beginning. Drawing from first person audio recordings of a family member living isolated in long-term care, Archive of Loneliness embodies the spatial and corporeal tones of loneliness.
The sound score and audio story arranged by Jackson Fairfax-Perry dances throughout the space alongside two performers to create a deep thoughtful swim into the waiting and in-between spaces of loneliness, amplifying the sub-linguistic states of despair and the desire to connect.
Flower Bed Team
Noella Murphy – Creator/Performer
Lou Campbell – Director/Dramaturg
Laura Stinson – Puppet Designer/Puppeteer
Ginevra Syperek – Costume Co-designer
Ashley MacDonald and Susie Murphy – Costume Co-designers
Colleen Arcturus MacIsaac – Producer
Thank you to Arts Nova Scotia for their support of this project.
Archive of Loneliness Creative Team
Creative Direction/Choreography Sara Coffin
Composer and Sound Design Jackson Fairfax-Perry
Performers and Movement Contributions Darryl Tracy and Matthew Lumley
Audio Stories the late John Paterson
The creation of this work was supported by Eastern Front Theatre/Early Stages Festival, Arts Nova Scotia, studio hours through Mocean Dance and Olga Milosevich. Thank you to Brian Riley for the initial voicemail sound extraction and a deep gratitude to the Paterson family for their support and blessing to carry Uncle John’s voice forward into this new artistic expression.
ASL interpretation will be provided for this event.
Childcare will be provided for this event. Please use this REGISTRATION FORM.
Date & Time
May 9 - 10, 2025
Venue Details
Bus Stop Theatre Co-op
2203 Gottingen StreetHalifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3B5
