Women From The Future Commissioning Project features bold, contemporary theatre from Canadian women innovators. This year’s commissioned creatrixes are Tracey Waddleton (Montreal), Catherine Falkner (Vancouver), Renee Hackett (St. John’s) and Liz Solo (Toronto). The artists have recently completed four new scripts with productions planned for 2021.
Our latest WFTF commissions took audiences on a cross-country, inter-galactic journey of identity questing, experimentation and sexual exploration. Our most recent production happened at The Factory Theatre in Toronto with work that merged stand-up comedy with storytelling, ancestral investigation, soundscape, projected visuals, and space! Experimental and fearless contemporary theatre.
Last year’s commissioned artists — Catherine Falkner (Vancouver), Tina Pearson (Victoria), Wendi Smallwood (St. John’s) and Liz Solo (Toronto) — created an edgy 4-part multi-media stage-work featuring daring, women-made performance:
- In The Crack of Space – by Catherine Falkner – a cross-country adventure of identity questing and sexual exploration…
- Blood in My Wires, Dust in my Breath – by Tina Pearson – an investigation into communication with the biosphere…
- Resurrecting Mary – by Wendi Smallwood – a retrospective on the life and times of a stand up comedienne …
- She, Robot – by Liz Solo – a hybrid-reality robot space adventure.
The artists of Women From The Future come from diverse backgrounds and presentation styles: Tina Pearson worked in sonic phenomenon, composition and networked performance. Catherine Falkner merged physical comedy, story-telling and lo-fi tech. Liz Solo created a theatre/digital media sci-fi mash-up. Wendi Smallwood built a character driven, no holds barred, powerhouse stage performance. We brought four unique artists together from across the country to Toront–a city where they all had history.
Women From the Future has been made possible thanks to generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts|Conseil des Arts du Canada and the Black Bag Media Collective.
Stay tuned here and to our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds for more news and announcements.
Catherine Falkner (Vancouver) is a comedienne, actress and writer who draws upon her collaborative work in comedy to create mash-up performances that juxtapose the comedic against the serious. Known for her physical comedy and manipulation of pop culture imagery, she combines multiple elements – multi-media visuals, live and recorded sound to create unique, hilarious and very poignant performance art works. www.catherinefalkner.com
Tina Pearson (Victoria) is a composer, performer and facilitator whose interests in sonic phenomena, perception and modes of human interaction have led to roles in art, education and community development. Many of her projects engage the boundaries between languages, disciplines, genres and cultures, and between creators, performers and audiences. Pearson’s work often includes eco-mimicry, micro intonation and spectral elements; and usually incorporates a focus on breath, and/or stretched modes of performance attention and practice. https://tina-pearson.com/
Wendi Smallwood (St. John’s) is a prolific actor, writer, director and producer known for her breadth as an actress and for her powerful stage portrayals of complex characters. She creates and participates in artistic projects that are evocative and have strong female presence. Wendi has played everything from a pill-popping trapeze artist to the Donne loving professor dying of ovarian cancer. Her theatre company, St. John’s Women’s Festival of Theatre (SW|FT), presented W;t by Margaret Edson at the LSPU Hall. The production and her performance in the lead role were met with great critical acclaim. Wendi is Associate Director at V-Day St. John’s – an organized response against violence toward women. She performs regularly at the Women’s Work Festival.
Liz Solo (Toronto) is an inter-disciplinary performance artist, writer, activist and musician. Liz works independently and as part of collectives and partnerships to produce works that merge the live performance stage with virtual (online, game) environments. Her performances often span multiple venues and online platforms. Her latest performance work examines themes and ideas around the relationship between technology, isolation and desire. She recently won an East Coast Music Award for her years working on the East Coast scene as an independent musician, producer and community activist. www.lizsolo.com
Women From the Future is an independent, Canadian theatre and production company, founded in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005. WFTF produce timely, challenging and experimental theatre, media and performance work featuring strong women’s voices. WFTF is committed to developing new and innovative scripts and creating unique programming that incorporates multiple formats and disciplines. WFTF is a feminist company, inclusive of all women, with events and programming open to all people. WFTF is the home of the performance art the semi-annual pop-up festival TrixXxieFest and the Women From the Future Commissioning Project. 
Photo credit: Liz Solo, “The Burning”, by Eugene Leger; Wendi Smallwood by Jill Willicott