The Nunavut/Iceland Project

Night is Theatrefront's third cross-cultural collective creation and will bring together theatre artists from Toronto, Nunavut, Iceland and Germany. The play will focus on how the effects of the twenty-four hour winter darkness influences human behaviour. A unique piece of theatre will emerge incorporating distinct story-telling styles, languages and views of the world. The final production will tour throughout Iceland, Nunavut and Toronto, and be performed in Icelandic, Inuktitut, and English.

In February 2007 Phase One of the project took place in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Theatrefront ensemble member/director Christopher Morris brought southern Canadian actors Benjamin Clost, Michelle Fisk, and Berlin based film artist Sven Holly Nullmeyer to Nunavut to create alongside Inuit actors Annabella Piugattuk and Lamech Kadloo. A public performance took place on Friday, March 16th, 2007 in the Pond Inlet Community Hall. Documentary filmmakers Samantha Reynolds and Borga Dorter documented the entire four-week creation process and their film will be released in 2008. In 2008 all of the artists will assemble in Akureyri, Iceland for Phase Two of the project and further develop the play with two Icelandic actors. For four weeks the work will be shaped once again by the influence of nature and further explore the theme of coping with the winter darkness.

Night will also be showcasing visual artists from each region. A visual artist from southern Canada, Nunavut and Iceland will also explore the effects of twenty-four hour darkness and their work will the be put together to form an exhibit. This exhibit will tour with the production Night throughout Iceland, Nunavut and Southern Canada. The Inuk visual artist is Tanya Tagaq Gillis (www.tanyatagaq.com) and the Icelandic artist is Johaness Hinriksson (www.haswellediger.com). They will begin work during Phase Two in Akureyri, Iceland.