NEWS RELEASE
TALK IS FREE THEATRE
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Not even two months after revealing their ambitious 2024-25 season, Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT) artistic producer Arkady Spivak announced today another assortment of merriment with I Do, I Don’t, I Dare!, an immersive festival of plays, installations and other theatrical events centred around the theme of marriage and commitment.
The festival, which includes about a dozen works taking place Sept. 19 to 29 at various locations in and around Barrie, is curated by Nathaniel Hanula-James, whose work as a playwright and performer has been seen at TIFT in recent years.
“When we mounted the Giants in the Sky festival two years ago,” says Spivak, “it was thrilling to share performances all over town for Barrie residents and visitors to enjoy. I am very excited by the assortment and range of works Nathaniel has put together for I Do, I Don’t, I Dare!, and can’t wait for people to come and discover something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”
Plays
The flagship production of the festival is White Taffeta Silk (or, Don’t Do It Bestie!) (Sept. 19 to 29), a new play written by Hanula-James and directed by Sadie Berlin. In the nowhere town of Peplum, Ont., three days before prom, two teenagers steal a wedding dress and unleash a frightful force. Staged in a laundry room at Barrie’s Hampton Inn and Suites (74 Bryne Dr.), this short play is a claustrophobic horror-comedy about the meaning of marriage, and the desire to keep your loved ones close.
In a cabaret set in Scotland, Dillan Meighan-Chiblow tells his own story in An Ojibwe Outlander in Glasgow (Sept. 21 to 29) about going abroad in his early 20s to find himself again — only to be swept up in a Gaelic romance. Meighan-Chiblow’s life-changing and charming story will be staged at Donaleigh’s Irish Public House (28 Dunlop St. E.).
The Springwater Provincial Park (1331 ON-26, Midhurst) main pavilion will serve as an idyllic backdrop for New Forest Voices, a short series of new plays in development, which will receive readings on Sept. 29. Something Old, by Keana Voo, is the story of a bride-to-be who faces adversity when trying to have a perfect wedding that honours her heritage. In a story about forging a path toward redemption, Baby, by Iris Rhian, is about a 12-year-old on the cusp of womanhood forced to navigate misinformation about reproductive biology taught by the fundamentalist cult where she resides. Guests are playfully encouraged to bring a picnic and dress as a woodland creature or “in their most fashionable foliage.” Confirmed to appear are regular TIFT performers Jake Epstein, Vanessa Smythe and Arlene Duncan, with other artists to be revealed as the festival approaches.
Installations
Japanese artist Itaru Sasaki created the first Telephone of the Wind in 2010 to help him cope with his cousin’s death. Following the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Sasaki relocated the phone to the town with the most recorded missing persons, which has now become a place where people from all over the world go to “call” loved ones they have lost. Over the years, many Wind Phones have been erected around the globe, and for the duration of the festival, one can be found in Meridian Place (30 Simcoe St.).
With Confess to the Dress!, designers Jawon Kang, Julia Kim, Bianca Guimarães de Manuel, and Christine Ting-Huan 挺歡 Urquhart were asked to create wedding dress installations around a theme of their choice. The dresses will be placed in top-secret locations around downtown Barrie for people to find, with clues to their whereabouts to be revealed on TIFT’s website as the festival approaches. Those who locate the dresses will be invited to write a letter to the dress itself, inspired by the artwork they are beholding, and the dress just might “write” them back.
Theatrical events
Inspired by Mammalian Diving Reflex’s internationally acclaimed social acupuncture workshops and performances, Everyone is Interesting: The Committed Edition, created in collaboration with Darren O’Donnell, is a community walking project that aims to explore, play with, and unite the individuals who call Barrie home. The experience takes place on Sept. 21 and 22 and departs from the Barrie Cenotaph at Meridian Square (30 Simcoe St.).
Still Life of a Wedding (Sept. 21 and 22), by Other Hearts Collective, is a series of performances that re-contextualize our key moments of ceremony and community through the lens of a post-human world, rendering these familiar moments both strange and strangely beautiful. This reflection on the ephemeral nature of human culture will take place at the Barrie By the Bay Commercial Complex (80 Bradford St.).
For anyone who has ever considered advice about love, relationships, or life in general, The Marriage Council (Sept. 28 and 29) might be for them. Richard Lam devises and facilitates a panel of historical figures who give completely unreliable guidance to willing singles, couples and even trios, also at the Barrie By the Bay Commercial Complex.
Performance art drag duo xLq hosts New Vows (Sept. 28) at Chasing New York Men’s Lifestyle Boutique (150 Dunlop St. E., #104/105), calling all people with a special someone with whom they want to renew their vows. Spouses, partners, friends and singles are invited to experience this participatory event that unearths the beauty in commitments old and new.
There will also be a handful of flash performances on Samson’s Salon and Spa balcony (50 Dunlop St. E.) for passersby to take in on Sept. 21, 22, 28 and 29. A variety of performers will deliver a series of brief manifestos and hot takes on marriage, relationships, and the nature of love, written by Eden Middleton and Mitchel Raphael.
Admission to the festival’s events varies from free to $25, plus HST, depending on the piece. Patrons are invited to visit the I Do, I Don’t, I Dare! festival page at www.tift.ca for complete details, event schedule, and to purchase tickets.
I Do, I Don’t, I Dare! was made possible with funding from Experience Ontario, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Simcoe County and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and through partnerships with the Aerarium Group, Beausoleil First Nation, Bohemia Café, Chasing New York Men’s Lifestyle Boutique, Donaleigh’s Irish Public House, Downtown Barrie BIA, Hampton Inn and Suites, Kennedy’s Lakeside Market, and Samson’s Salon and Spa.
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