The Canadian collective People Watching fuses contemporary dance with circus and physical theatre to create an unforgettable experience. In their first joint production, «Play Dead», the six artists explore the many facets of human behaviour. To do this, they transform the stage into a typical flat. Within its four walls, the characters create a place where interpersonal relationships are explored, dissected and reimagined.
Far from boredom, the performers dance, tumble and perform gymnastics through a surreal world that opens up before the audience’s eyes.
The aesthetics of «Play Dead» have a cinematic component: a dense universe is created in a very small space, in which interlocking stories are spun within a very short space of time. The main protagonist is the collective itself: shoulder to shoulder with human longing, the desire for intimacy and the absurdity of the everyday.
Simply put: This Canadian collective consists of six artists. They have developed the play and are also on stage. «Play Dead» consists of acrobatics, dance and theatre. The performers tell stories with their bodies. The play is set in a living room where nothing is as it seems. It is People Watching’s first production and is already an international hit.
Info
Duration: 70 minutes
Spoken language: none
Age recommandation: recommanded by Steps: 12+ / recommandet by the compagny: 10+
Content warnings: partial nudity
Première: 13.7.2023, La Chapelle Montréal
Further information: peoplewatchingcollective.com
Credits
Artistic Direction & Performance: Ruben Ingwersen, Jérémi Levesque, Natasha Patterson, Brin Schoellkopf, Jarrod Takle, Sabine Van Rensburg
Set Design: Emily Nicole Tucker
Sound Design: Colin Gagné
Music: Michal Aloni, Francisco Cruz, Olivier Landry-Gagnon, Stefan Boucher
Lighting Design: Emile Lafortune
Costumes: Camille Thibault-Bédard, Catherine Veri, Jonathan Saucier, Paul Rose
Carpentry: Alastair Davies, Atelier Moa
Dramaturgic Assistance: Peter James, Isabelle Chasse, Gypsy Snider
International Representation: Aurora Nova
Production & Tour Management: Léah Wolff
Funded by: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Montréal
Support: The 7 Fingers, White Wall Studio, Patro Villeray, Phantom Theater
People Watching
People Watching consists of six multidisciplinary artists. This Montreal-based collective was founded in 2020. Their choreographic work interweaves contemporary dance with elements from performance, circus and physical theatre. With their first full-length production, the collective immediately landed a global hit: «Play Dead» has been successfully touring the globe since its premiere in 2023 and can now be watched in Switzerland for the first time. Picture © Fred Gervais
