Bringing traditional and experimental theatre back to the stage, the undercurrents festival will be returning to Ottawa’s Arts Court this month for its 13th year.
Presented by Ottawa Fringe, the festival will run from Feb. 8 to 18 and will highlight original works of theatre from a plethora of creatives. The productions cover a diverse array of topics including climate change, racism and cultural identity, the housing crisis and a fight between feverish racoons and exhausted tenants.
The festival is curated through direct submissions from local, national and international creatives. This year will be the first to offer programming in both English and French, and will feature French language productions, late-night French events and select French performances with English captioning, according to a press release.
Executive director Alain Richer said this year’s festival has drawn many French creatives hoping to highlight their work.
“This year we had a second call for proposals when we found out we had additional funding to help make the festival bilingual,” he said.
The festival will be split into performances on the Main Stage and the Discovery Series. The Discovery Series will feature pieces that are works-in-progress, and will be altered by the creatives continuously throughout the festival.
One of these Discovery Series pieces comes from Ottawa creative Ludmylla Reis, whose production, Small Tortures (i love you), combines dance and traditional theatre to shed light on the prevalence of interpersonal violence and domestic terrorism. Inspired by personal research and testimonies from people in their life, the piece depicts the cyclical nature of such toxic dynamics and how they are created.
Reis said their Brazilian heritage and the use of movement in theatre informed their approach to crafting this piece of work.
“I have this background in exploring beyond words,” they said. “I try to find moments where physical expression, gestures and even stillness can heighten what we’re trying to express, whether it be how a character is feeling or how their world has changed.”
They added they appreciate the experimental nature fostered by undercurrents and Ottawa’s artistic community.
“Small Tortures (i love you) was able to grow under experimental theatre programs,” they said. “I find that undercurrents is the only place where a lot of experiments can happen. We have a big cross over of genres, ideas, approaches and aesthetics. I’m very excited about it.”
The festival has adopted a “Pick-Your-Price” approach to ticketing.
“It is one of, if not the most accessible theatre in the city all year,” Richer said. “You’re able to see a really good piece of theatre for $5, and that is very rare.”
Tickets are available online or in-person at the third floor box office of the Arts Court Theatre.
Featured image by Chelsey Fawcett.
