It’s the biggest and only anarchist theatre festival in the world, and it’s happening again during the month-long May 2009 Festival of Anarchy in North America’s favourite anarchist playground, Montreal, Quebec.
The fourth annual Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (MIATF) takes place May 13 and 14, 2009, at Concordia University’s 400 seat D.B. Clarke Theatre, where last year, almost 800 people attended spectacular performances by The Bread & Puppet Theatre and other anarchist artists.
This year, the MIATF is proudly featuring New York’s world famous and legendary Living Theatre performing a new piece for their two night run called ‘The Beautiful Non-Violent Anarchist Revolution: A combination of Living Theatre Plays,” plus Innu artists from northern Quebec and local Montreal performers.
The Living Theatre, North America’s premiere avant garde theatre project, is an experimental theater troupe founded in 1947 by two nonviolent anarchists, Judith Malina (student of Erwin Piscator) and Julian Beck (from the New York School). Their aesthetics emphasize improvisation and plays about revolutionary issues. They have toured extensively throughout the world, influenced generations of radical playwrights and actors, won four prestigious Obie awards, and continue to produce and tour anti-war plays from New York.
The MIATF is also staging the Montreal debut of an Innu giant puppet theatre troupe from the Mali-Utenam reserve near Sept-Iles (12 hours north-east of the city), performing ‘Tshakapesh’–an enchanting, mythical piece based on Innu legend that addresses contemporary social issues.
As well, the MIATF presents one of Montreal’s better known underground French literary figures, the Quebecois actor/author, Genevieve Letarte in a solo performance called ‘Still There.’ It recounts the stories of a woman who looks back to a time when she was attracted by all kinds of revolutions and who takes a critical look at the world as it is today.
Finally, the MIATF hosts a highly-anticipated, high energy performance by the radical 20 person choir and band from a family drop-in centre from one of the poorest suburbs of Montreal. La Chorale de la Maison le Virevolte consists of single moms and friends, and has a repertoire of revolutionary songs and songs based on the lives of the women. MIATF tickets are $15 at the door, or in advance from the Montreal anarchist bookstore L’Insoumise, 2033 boul StLaurent, (tel: 514313-3489).
More info from the MIATF at 514 981 5330, or anarchistefestival@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/anarchisttheatre_montreal
