PROTEST.
PERFORMANCE.
RECONCILIATION.
Aamjiwnaang, an indigenous community of 800 residents, is smothered by Canada's petrochemical industry. Two sisters, Vanessa and Lindsay Gray, have dedicated themselves to fighting environmental racism and protecting their community's land and water. In The Chemical Valley Project, Broadleaf artists Kevin Matthew Wong and Julia Howman document and explore Canada’s ongoing relationship with energy infrastructure, its colonial past and present, and indigenous solidarity and reconciliation.
Through a unique blend of documentary-theatre, projections and object puppetry, the show seeks to spark conversations on Canadian environmental policy, treaty rights and indigenous relations, as well as the current nature of Canadian identity and values. The Chemical Valley Project is created by Kevin Matthew Wong and Julia Howman, with the dramaturgy and advisement of Vanessa and Lindsay Gray.
Activists Lindsay and Vanessa Gray during an interview for The Chemical Valley Project.
An air quality monitoring station on the Aamjiwnaang First Nations Reserve.
ABOUT
The Sarnia Chemical Valley is a petrochemical processing hub located in Southern Ontario. The Valley is home to 63 factories that process petrochemicals into consumer goods. It also acts as a terminal for several oil and gas pipelines that traverse North America. Completely surrounded by the Chemical Valley, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation's Reserve is directly impacted by industry.
Learn more about Aamjiwnaang at:
https://aamjiwnaangsolidarity.com/
Kevin Matthew Wong in rehearsal for "The Chemical Valley Project." Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Dates and Times
Pia Bouman - Scotiabank Studio Theatre
6 Noble Street, Toronto, ON
Ticket Price: $15, $25, or $35
Run Time: 75 minutes (as a double bill with Perfection)
Thursday August 3rd 8:15pm - 9:30pm
Sunday August 6th 3:30pm - 4:45pm
Monday August 7th 8:00pm - 9:15pm
Wednesday August 9th 8:00pm - 9:15pm
Friday August 11th 6:00pm - 7:15pm
Saturday August 12th 1:45pm - 3:00pm
Sunday August 13th 6:30pm - 7:45pm
DEVELOPMENT
The Chemical Valley Project is the winner of Theatre Passe Muraille's fall 2016 Crapshoot! It has also been shown at the 2017 FOOT Festival at the Centre for Drama Theatre and Performance Studies and "Protest in Performance: Solidarity with the Chippewas of the Thames." The work has been generously supported by Theatre Passe Muraille and the Ontario Arts Council through the Theatre Creators' Reserve Program.
Contact broadleaftheatre@gmail.com for booking details and our show package.
The Chemical Valley Project. Photography by Dahlia Katz.
TEAM.
KEVIN MATTHEW WONG
Creator
Kevin is a theatre creator, actor, musician, producer and environmentalist. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Broadleaf Theatre, a company that seeks to authentically merge environmentalism and theatre praxis. Kevin is a proud graduate of the Drama Centre and Generator’s inaugural Artist-Producer Training Program. Recent credits, as producer:Silk Bath (Next Stage 2017), Mr. Shi and His Lover (Summerworks),Brave New World (Litmus Theatre), as actor DREAMS (Canadian Rep),Half Full (Mixed Company Theatre). Kevin was proud to be the Artistic Director Intern at Cahoots Theatre through Theatre Ontario’s PTTP and is the Outreach Coordinator at the Toronto Fringe. He is also producing What Linda Said at Summerworks 2017.
website: kevinmatthewwong.wordpress.com
JULIA HOWMAN
Creator
Julia Howman is a multidisciplinary theatre artist. A recent graduate of the University of Toronto, she completed a Drama Specialist degree with a Minor in English in the Spring of 2016. While studying at the University of Toronto’s Drama Centre, Julia served as Projection Designer for the program’s annual Resource Show in 2015 (Katie of Heilbronn: an Obsession by Mr. Heinrich von Kleist, dir. Banuta Rubess), and again in 2016 (Pericles, Prince of Tyre; dir. Kate Lynch). Julia was also active in the on-campus theatre scene at the University of Toronto, and received the IATSE Award for Technical Achievement at the University of Toronto Drama Festival for her technical design work in both 2015 (Swim to the Moon, Glass Reflections Theatre Collective and the UC Follies), and 2016 (What She Said, Off-Key Productions and the UC Follies). Julia continues to work with Off-Key Productions in their development of What She Said, an original verbatim piece, as well as serving as their production manager.
VANESSA GRAY
Dramaturg, project advisor, performer via audio
Vanessa Gray is a 24-year-old Anishinaabe kwe from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, located in Canada’s Chemical Valley. Vanessa works with community members to bring awareness to the health issues resulting from her reserve’s toxic surroundings. She is an organizer with the group Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines (ASAP).
LINDSAY GRAY
Dramaturg, project advisor, performer via audio
MIRKA LOISELLE
Associate Producer
Mirka Loiselle is a theatre artist, illustrator, and recent graduate of the University of Toronto. A proud member of Broadleaf Theatre since its inception in 2014, she is delighted to be helping the company produce its fifth production. Recent credits include: as assistant director, 7 Stories (Hart House Theatre); as director, The Actor’s Nightmare & Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All to You (Trinity College Dramatic Society); as actor, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia (Victoria College Dramatic Society). She is also on the producing team for What Linda Said at Summerworks 2017.
MINHA LEE
Composer
MICHAEL HENLEY
Composer
