Everyone should go see Dissolve. Not because it is entertaining, moving, or funny (though it is all three) – but because it shines light on a prevalent, terrifying societal problem; and does so in a way that illustrates both how ubiquitous it is and how easy it is to be unintentionally complicit.
Emmelia Gordon. Photo: Pink Monkey Studios
The show’s subject is drug-assisted sexual assault. Meghan Gardiner created the one woman show from her own experience as a UBC Theatre assignment and premiered it at the 2003 Vancouver Fringe. Over the past decade she has toured the work across North America, performing it hundreds of times for high schools, sororities, night club employees, medical associations, and more.
Yesterday evening Gardiner passed the torch to actress Emmelia Gordon, who became the first woman to inhabit its array of characters other than the author. In a whirlwind 45-minutes, Gordon mercurially transforms from bouncer to bartender, club girl to nosy neighbour, best friend to walk-in doctor, and- in one of its most poignant scenes- a pair of teachers, separated by 30 years of history. The pair speak about the pharmacological promise and criminal damage of GHB and rohypnol. Chillingly, they use the very same speech, but for a few substituted words.
Between these transformations (which are brilliantly and seamlessly facilitated by Stephen Bulat’s sound and Matthew Norman’s lighting design) she returns to an enthusiastic young woman getting ready for a night out, mouthing along to misogynist rap as she primps in front of a mirror.
Gordon manages finds a human core in each of these animated, exaggerated characters. The result is that while they are funny and entertaining, they are also deeply relatable. Audiences have known every figure on that stage and have probably been one or two at some point in their lives.
This experience of having something so familiar cast in a new light created enormous insight for the audience. This became especially apparent during the post-show talk back (a key component of each performance) as well as in the lobby afterwards. Individuals and groups could be heard sharing and revisiting experiences from their past, questioning their actions or judgements at the time, and making promises to act differently moving forward.
In this way, Dissolve is a shining example of what theatre is so uniquely positioned to accomplish. Through its combination of well-researched facts, compelling narrative, and empathetic impact it is a perfect tool for addressing a problem and working toward change. Speaking for myself, Dissolve has fundamentally altered how I will perceive the wider world moving forward.
With the tragic stories of Rehtaeh Parsons and Amanda Todd in our news cycles and social media facilitating unprecedented bullying and (to use an ugly term) slut shaming, it is a sad reality that the play may be more needed today than when it was first written. One can only hope that more compassionate, engaging experiences like Dissolve will shift these broken paradigms and create the kind of change that is so badly needed.
In April of 2013, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC launched one of the largest and most ambitious exhibitions it had ever undertaken. Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works from Arab, Iranian, and Turkish Artists brought together an enormous collection from 16 artists of Middle Eastern origin. Curated by Fereshteh Daftari, formerly of MOMA, the massive exhibition would occupy both MOA’s Audain and O’Brien Galleries, an area totaling more than 8,000 sq feet.
The exhibition will be in place at MOA through to September 15, 2013.
The Campaign
Laura Murray Public Relations was hired to provide a full service marketing campaign for the exhibition, including advertising buy, community outreach, local business cross-promotions, and media relations, as well as to help develop the exhibition’s visual identity with MOA’s graphic design firm.
LMPR also provided promotions and publicity for a constellation of events surrounding the exhibition, including concerts, dialogue panels, and film screenings.
The Results
The Safar/Voyage opening was one of MOA’s largest on record and attendance increased by 23% in the week following its launch. The excitement translated online as well, with traffic to MOA’s Facebook page increasing nearly 14 times over the previous week.
The marketing campaign saw the show creative reach potential audiences members through an enormous variety of traditional, online, and unexpected channels. The media relations campaign saw coverage in The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Georgia Straight, Canadian Press, Times Colonist, CBC News at 6, Canadian Art Magazine, Canvas Magazine, Montecristo Magazine, CBC NXNW, CBC On the Coast, North Shore News, Metro News, and CBC Radio Canada, among many others.
Selected Coverage
Newsprint:
Click on the image to read each article
Television & Online:
Advertising Placements:
Safar/Voyage runs to September 15, 2013 at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
The Vancouver Academy of Music (VAM) announced their involvement in the development of a brand new, world-class education music facility in Hong Kong, set in a remodeled 1930s mansion. The project, estimated to be worth $22 million, will feature architecture from Vancouver’s own Bing Thom Architects, with VAM providing support and expertise in creating a music curriculum for the school. VAM Executive Director, Joseph Elworthy, spoke with Global TV about this opportunity.
CUTTING EDGE GERMAN ART SEES MIXED SUCCESS
Germany has arguably one of the most progressive artistic scenes in Europe. Two new projects proved this, albeit with mixed results. A modern version of Richard Wagner’s opera, Tannhauser, has been cancelled following audience complaints that the production shows Jews being executed and incorporates Nazi officers into the story.
BOSON, Choreographie von Nadja Saidakova Photo: Bettina Stöß
Berlin’s state ballet, however, received accolades for its partnership with a techno club to produce an avant-garde show. Critics have pointed to this as an example of beneficial collaboration in the thriving cultural scene.
MICHAEL AUDAIN ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF WHISTLER MUSEUM
The Audain Art Museum, funded by philanthropist Michael Audain, has revealed its plans for a 55,0000 square foot museum in Whistler, BC – more than double the size originally proposed. If approved, the museum would be the largest purpose-built museum in the province. Despite its size, the low, L-shaped structure would not be obtrusive, says architect John Patkau, but rather a “very quiet participant within the forest.” The project will be completed by 2015.
VANCOUVER OPERA USES EAST/WEST PERCUSSION FOR TEA
Members of the LMPR team greatly enjoyed Vancouver Opera’s recent production of Tea: A Mirror for the Soul – an enthralling production of originality and depth. The Globe & Mail’s Behind the Scenes photo gallery provides audiences an understanding of the unusual percussion instruments used in the production, from water draining from a strainer to a rubber ball rubbed against a Beijing Opera gong. The percussionists using these methods worked without a score, using their years of experience to keep time.
The production’s run also coincidences with 2013 Opera America conference. Hosted by Vancouver Opera here in the city, the artistic summit will attract more than 400 leaders from across North America to present on and discuss the art, operation, and business of opera.
The opulent sets of Tea were accompanied by a complex, unusual score.
A Room of One’s Own is a new photography series by Laura Murray Public Relations that showcases the beloved spaces belonging to members of Canada’s artistic scene. With a nod to Virginia Woolf’s essay by the same name, we present self-portraits from artists, arts media, and arts administrators in a room they call their own, simultaneously highlighting leaders in the arts alongside the importance of space in their creative work. How they define ‘room’ is up to them.
This week we feature critically acclaimed dance-theatre artist Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg. Based in Vancouver, Tara has been creating and performing her unique brand of hybrid dance-theatre across Canada, the United States, and Europe for the past decade. Known for her expert blending of comedy, dynamic physicality, and character work, Tara’s solo works bANGER and Nick & Juanita have both won People’s Choice Awards at the Dancing on the Edge Festival. Her latest work– Highgate – will premiere at The Cultch April 30 – May 4, 2013.
This is Tara’s room:
Q: Which room did you choose?
The room is the sidewalk. Our apartment is very small and we have a toddler so outside is my room. Outside, walking.
Q: What makes this room ‘yours’?
I get my best ideas when I’m moving through space. In 2010 we walked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago and it was the most incredible, mind-clearing, creative, and relentless experience. Now, if a commute is an hour or less, I’m on foot.
Q: Identify three items in the room (that can be seen in the photograph) that you love, and explain why they’re special to you.
My running shoe is in the shot but my back pack should be too – it was on my back.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg’s Highgateruns from April 30 – May 4, 2013 at The Cultch.
Conservative news channel Sun TV, informally referred to as ‘Fox News North,’ went before the CRTC in a series of hearings this week. The struggling network was there to make a case for mandatory carriage of their programming in basic cable packages.
Ballet Kelowna announced they will move ahead with a season for 2013/14, despite previously planning to shut down operations due to financial pressure. New board president, Deborah Ward, said that the good news comes as a result of support from the community, dancers, staff and donors. We look forward to hearing news of the season performances as they are announced.
Closer to home, Ballet BC made the papers by opening the balcony of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for Giselle, which is already receiving rave reviews. This is the first time since 2008 that the dance company extended their audience seating.
VAG LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
Vancouver Art Gallery took a major step toward a new facility this week. The City of Vancouver has conditionally agreed to allow the gallery to build a new facility at 688 Cambie Street, but only if millions of dollars can be raised by April 30, 2015.
Some funding will come from provincial and federal governments; the rest of the estimated $300 million will necessarily come from generous private sector donors. Despite this daunting task, the VAG are delighted with the announcement, having campaigned for more than a decade for a purpose-built gallery for Vancouverites.
MOA OPENS SAFAR/VOYAGE
This past weekend, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC launched Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works of Arab, Iranian and Turkish Artists, the first exhibition of its kind in Canada. Internationally renowned for its considerable collection of First Nations art, the new exhibition is a compelling reminder of the institution’s mandate to be a a living place of world arts and culture.
The 8,000 square ft. display features 16 artists and has already received critical acclaim from media throughout Vancouver and Canada.
It has been LMPR’s great pleasure and honour to provide the marketing and publicity surrounding the exhibition.
LEGENDARY COUNTRY SINGER GEORGE JONES PASSES AWAY
This week ended with the sad news that ‘hard-living’ country singer George Jones died on Friday, at 81-years old. Known for his heartbreaking songs, such as He Stopped Loving Her Today (featured below), Jones’ career spanned five decades, each of which included a No.1 hit for the singer. As The Globe and Mail documents, he was idolized not only by other country starts but music legends such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Costello, and Pete Townshend.
On Saturday April 6, 2013 at Vancouver’s Waterfall Building, Roy Henry Vickers, one of Canada’s most-lauded artists, launched his largest-ever collection of new prints at a public art show and storytelling event. The creations on display were taken from Raven Brings the Light – a new art book co-authored by Vickers and historian Robert Budd – telling the legend of how Raven brought light to the world.
The Campaign
Laura Murray Public Relations were hired to provide a media relations campaign that would secure high-levels of editorial coverage and public awareness for both the art show and the upcoming release of the book.
The Results
Interviews and articles were secured with publications and outlets throughout the Lower Mainland and beyond. Coverage highlights included: The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Living, First Nations Drum, Georgia Straight, CBC’s NXNW, CBC’s Early Edition, CBC’s NXNW, Shaw TV’s Go Vancouver, Global BC1 News, Metro Vancouver, Where Magazine, and more.
The general public turnout for the event was outstanding, and resulted in all copies of Raven Brings the Light selling out within the first 90 minutes.
Selected Coverage
Newsprint: (Click on the image to read each article)
