Zuppa

ZUPPA (in association with Farm Arts Collective & The River Clyde Pageant) presents:

Decompositions by Tannis Kowalchuk

~and~

How to Live with Dread by Jane Wells

Both evenings feature a compelling new solo show, created and performed by friends of ZUPPA, Jane Wells and Tannis Kowalchuk

The Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 12th - 7:30pm

DECOMPOSITIONS: written and performed by Tannis Kowalchuk

60mins - no intermission

Theatre artist and organic farmer, Tannis Kowalchuk performs a series of fiercely personal stories, dances, and songs that explore decomposition as a metaphor for living a full life. Kowalchuk’s dynamic duet with a pile of compost is a brave new work of live intimate theatre.

“I want to confabulate all the sticky stuff of my time and my life, and in birth and death, sickness and health, I propose decomposition as explanation.”

Tannis Kowalchuk digs into her life as a farmer and artist, theatrically exploring personal stories of art, farming, illness, mortality—and the beautiful mess of loving it all.

Tannis is a farmer at Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA where she runs the cut flower production. She is also founding artistic director of Farm Arts Collective, an agri-cultural centre dedicated to farming, art, food, and ecology. With decades of devised theatre experience, Tannis explores art, farming, mortality— and the beautiful mess of it all.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 13th - 7:30pm

HOW TO LIVE WITH DREAD: written and performed by Jane Wells

60mins - no intermission

Having recently lost her brother Ker (co-founder with Megan Stewart of the River Clyde Pageant) Jane Wells grapples in this new work with how to find the way forward in life and in her work without him — so close was their connection as siblings and collaborators. The piece shines a gentle light on grief and one’s identity within, and after, loss.

Jane describes How to Live with Dread as “a show about family, about death, and about the work of creation… But in a fun way!”

(With support from the Ontario Arts Council)

Jane Wells grew up in Cascumpeque, PEI but has spent the past 20 years in Toronto working as a writer, actor and director. As an actor with Number Eleven Theatre, Jane co-created and performed in Icaria, The Prague Visitor, and The Curious History of Peter Schlemihl; in collaboration with Ker Wells, director of Number Eleven, she created her first solo performance Brightness Falls. Jane's work as a director has been varied, ranging from Stalin Theory, Bruce Beaton’s one-man show about Joseph Stalin for Summerworks, to The Stolen Child, an outdoor play made in collaboration with sixteen children for the Cooking Fire Theatre Festival.

In addition to her own work with Number Eleven Theatre and as a solo theatre artist, Jane has directed many community-based performances, working primarily with school-age children. She has taught physical theatre workshops for all ages, to professional actors, students, and community theatre groups across Canada.

Jane has been working with the River Clyde Pageant since 2017, leading drama workshops for children in the community. These sessions serve as a springboard for children to join the Pageant as performers; over the past three years, workshops have helped forge a youth ensemble with a powerful creative voice. In 2019, Jane co-hosted and facilitated cooking workshops for newcomer women at The Mill in New Glasgow. These workshops focussed on preparing traditional Island dishes with local, seasonal ingredients, offering newcomer participants the opportunity to make new social connections, learn about Island culture and the River Clyde Pageant through the experience of cooking and sharing a meal. Jane is the co-director of The River Clyde Pageant.

Jane studied performance technique and devised creation with Primus Theatre, under the direction of Richard Fowler, and with Ker Wells, director of Number Eleven Theatre. She has a BA in English literature from Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick.