Hot off of a sold out run at the 2012 Undercurrents festival with a workshop version of Carmen Aguirre’s Blue Box, Carmen Aguirre started a cross country tour with her show about unconditional love. Next stop on the tour, the Great Canadian Theatre Company.
Carmen Aguirre and director Brian Quirt talk about Blue Box and give you a short preview:
Trouble with the video? Watch directly on YouTube.
Written and performed by Aguirre, Blue Box reveals and intertwines her remarkable stories of the Chilean revolution and a passionate love affair with a Hollywood actor.
“Blue Box dives, no holds barred, right into two core stories that live within me… The only thing they have in common is that they happened to the same person. They both explore the theme of unconditional love in completely different realms: the romantic and the revolutionary,” says Aguirre.
Nightswimming Theatre’s production of Carmen Aguirre’s Blue box being presented at the Great Canadian Theatre Company was written and is performed by Carmen Aguirre and is directed by Brian Quirt.
The show runs January 15th through February 3rd at the Great Canadian Theatre’s Irving Greenberg Theatre. Tickets for the show are $45, with discounts for seniors and students. Student Rush tickets are $13 with a valid student ID. They can be purchased online at the GCTC website, by calling 613.236.5196, or in person at the box office at 1233 Wellington Street West.
Special show dates: Sunday, January 20th there will be a pat-what-you-can matinee. Friday, January 25th, there will a talkback with Carmen Aguirre after the show for audience members who would like to find more out about the play, the writing, and what it’s like bringing the writing to the stage.
The Fritzi Gallery
As always, the Fritzi gallery on the second floor lobby of the GCTC will exhibit work prepared specifically in responso to Blue Box.
The work on the walls reflects the artist’s impression and emotional response to the play. Zimbabwean artist Chikonzero Chazunguza gleans inspiration from what he calls “the collective” — family, community and political structures. Displaced from his homeland, his journey has led him to Canada where he continues to define the themes of scarcity of basic commodities, post colonialism and land conflicts.
His multi-disciplinary work will be shown at the Fritzi Gallery in conjunction with Carmen Aguirre’s play, “Blue Box.”
“My work is a manifestation of the layers of my experiences within times of social and political changes, the toughest that human beings could ever face,” he says. “Yet there is constant hope and collective perseverance. In this light, my work resonates with the layers of stories Carmen tells in Blue Box.”
“Both Chiko and Carmen create work that engages and explores community politics and grassroots activism,” says curator Don Monet. “They create excitement through the ferocity of their passions — Carmen with her words, Chiko with his paintings. They make us care about issues, about each other, about the collective.”
Other Media
(If you know of any press not listed here, leave us a comment or send us a note.)
Photos
All photos taken for Production Ottawa by David Pasho. Also check out the larger gallery on our Facebook page.
What do you think? Have you or will you see the show? Tell us in the comments below.
Preview article prepared by Allan Mackey.
Video preview produced by Valley Wind Productions.
Producer: Allan Mackey
Photographer: David Pasho
