evalynparry.com

February

evalyn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:59:31 +0000

Coming out a period of winter web-hibernation, with a new resolution to post updates and blog entries more often in 2012. We begin today! This month there are a bunch of fun performance things upcoming, let me tell you about them. First on Feb 9th, i’m taking part in a cabaret hosted by the lovely Kristin Sweetland, at the always excellent Cameron House. I am still deciding what i will be doing for my 25 minute set…but i think it might be “To Live in the Age of Melting” (aka The NW Passage piece), since I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few months recording. It may still be quite some time before this piece gets an official “release”, as I’m plotting a bigger, multi-media project to go with it (stay tuned) but in the meantime, i continue to learn by performing it…
It’s the annual Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre this month, and I am involved in a couple of ways. First, on Feb 19th at 2 pm, The Independent Aunties (that’s Anna Chatterton, Karin Randoja and I) will be performing the first public showing of our new project “Gertrude and Alice”, which is an exploration of the lives and love of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas. I play Gertrude. Anna plays Alice. Karin plays our maid. It’s a one-time only presentation, you won’t have a chance to see more until this summer or maybe the fall…so come be a part of the process! see the raw new work! be part of the conversation! i loves me a workshop presentation.
Second, at the Rhubarb, the Buddies’ Young Creators UnitBuddies’ Young Creators Unit presentations take place both weekends of the festival. I am the director of the program, and as such, each year I mentor four young, queer identified artists through the process of creating their own 25 minute solo performance. I’m super proud of the Unit and the work these amazing young artists create, and this year is a fine fine crop! More details about the final presentations is to be found here.
Other news? Well, next year is shaping up to be a MAJOR touring year for SPIN – I’ll soon be updating the site with confirmed dates, but the show is going out west, around Ontario, hopefully out east and up north, and maybe even down south, so stay tuned….In the meantime, SPIN goes to Montreal for the Edgy Women Festival this March.

December 6th again

evalyn — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:50:15 +0000

December 6 is the National Day of Rememberance and Action on Violence Against Women, reminding us to remember the Montreal Massacre in 1989 at L’Ecole Polytechinque in Montreal, where 14 female engineering students were murdered by a man screaming that he hated feminists. 22 years later, on Dec 6, it’s a chance for us to reflect on what has changed, and not changed, in the fight for real equality for women here in Canada, and around the world.

The wonderful metis film maker Cara Mumford created a film that using the poem I wrote about this sober anniversary. It’s up on youtube this December, please have a look and listen, and share widely.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bottle This!

evalyn — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:07:29 +0000

This is a live video of evalyn performing Bottle This! (her rant about bottled water) at a conference in the summer of 2011. If you’d like to see the text for this piece, it was published in the Banff Centre’s online journal BoulderPavement

Click here to view the embedded video.

Weed Free

evalyn — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:45:38 +0000

This video about the evils of chemical lawn-care features Evalyn Parry and Anna Chatterton, directed by Rhett Morita

Click here to view the embedded video.

this month i’m directing a play…

evalyn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:12:14 +0000

I’ve been working with playwright / performer Tawiah M’Carthy on his one man show “Obaaberima” over the last couple years: it grew out of Buddies’ Young Creators Unit, and it’s a beautiful, brave, poetic and challenging piece of theatrical storytelling. This December 8-10, it will have three “workshop presentations” at Buddies, and I hope you can come see and share in our process of development.

The longer I’m at this thing we call theatre, the more deeply i understand that it takes a long, committed process to arrive at the place where you feel you have a “finished” piece…and I’m very excited about how far “Obaaberima” has come… and also about what we’ll discover when we begin our rehearsals next week.

SPIN nominated for CFMA!

evalyn — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:58:08 +0000

Lovely news yesterday, which is that the SPIN cd has been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award, in the “Pushing the Boundaries” category.Â We are in very good company, with New Country Rehab, Jaron Freeman Fox, Twilight Hotel, Ruth Moody and Geoff Berner as fellow nominees: all fantastic bands / musical innovators.Â Â Keep your fingers crossed for us on Dec 4th, when the awards are handed out, this year in Toronto.

Tomorrow, Brad and I are off to Edmonton with the bicycle, appearing at Alberta Showcase on Saturday, and first, on Friday night as part of Edmonton’s Exposure Festival.

CFSW

evalyn — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:34:39 +0000

The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is happening here in Toronto this week;Â last night’s first round was pretty damn exciting, the bar is set high! So many awesome events, artists and showcases happening all week and weekend, and of course i would be remiss if i didn’t mention that SPIN was having a special day-time presentation at the festival, Thursday Oct 13 at 4 pm, at the Festival headquarters, the good ol’ Tranzac club, where in fact SPIN had it’s very first” baby” presentation a couple years ago.Â Â This weekend, I head to OCFF, where I’ll be showcasing the new piece “To Live in the Age of Melting”, which I’m currently recording with Don Kerr...more news about that soon, a release in the new year!

news from september

evalyn — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:24:42 +0000

First up, the Sept 21 show (tonight!) at Theatre Passe Muraille with Kevin Fox has been cancelled!Â Â Very sorry for the last minute notice.

October will be the month of showcasing SPIN around the country:Â Brad and i head to beautiful Prince Edward Island next week to showcase SPIN at Contact East;Â then we’ll be at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Toronto on Oct 13, then Alberta Contact in Edmonton Oct 22, and finally Ontario Contact on Oct 27th.

The only show this fall in Toronto will be at The Sixth on Queen West, me and Halifax poet Tanya Davis sharing a bill…this will be a special one, don’t miss it!

Going into the recording studio again shortly,Â to record my piece based on The Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers – it’s called “To Live in the Age of Melting”, and I can’t wait to get to work with Don Kerr again!

Bicycle Film Festival Toronto

evalyn — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 03:01:12 +0000

There’s going to be a fun show at Horseshoe Tavern this Thursday August 11:Â the Bikes Rock kick off party for the 2011 Toronto edition of the annual Bike Film Festival, and Brad and I are playing a set of bicycle-accompanied tunes from SPIN, along with
CHRISTIEN SUMMERS , OCTOBERMAN and The MELIGROVE BAND

it will be awesome!Â Â Come!

Then, the next week on Aug 18th I’m taking part in a history series called HerStory Cafe, where I’ll also be doing some SPIN excerpts – and I’m excited to hear the other presenter Steve Brearton who’s talking about the history of women and cycling in Toronto.Â And it’s free!Â At the lovely Trinity Bell Woods Park.Â

On another cycling / performance note, I’m looking forward to seeing Clay and Paper Theatre’s new cycling themed show , The Pedaler’s Wager, that runs for one more week in Dufferin Grove Park, til Aug 14th.Â Â Also going to see lots of shows at SummerWorks this week: so many good shows, both theatrical and musical, on offer….summer is a beauty.

SPIN comes to Halifax

evalyn — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:48:31 +0000

We’ve packed the CCM Galaxie bicycle into a box, ready to make it’s first flight across the country;Â we’ll be at the Queer Acts Festival in Halifax at the Neptune Studio Theatre, July 19,20 and 21 at 8 pm!Â Looks like tickets are on sale by calling 902-429-7070.

Nice article about the show in The Coast, and seriously, I AM looking for a loaner bike for the week we’re there, so..anyone?Â email me!

Here in Toronto me and my fellow cyclists are feeling the pain of the new Mayor Ford city council regime, which just voted to take away bike lanes on Jarvis St…so while most progressive cities in the world are ADDING bike infrastructure, ours has decided to take it away….seriously.Â Â It’s baffling – not to mention that it will cost the city twice as much as it cost to put the lane in to take it away.Â Â That’s gravy alright, Mr Ford.