≈ 2 hours · With intermission
Last updated: March 8, 2023
Crip time - a term coined by AlisanKafer - calls attention to the ways in which Disabled, chronically ill, d/Deaf, and neurodivergent people experience time in different ways than non-disabled people. It emboldens us to let go of our shame and guilt in moments when we fall short of society’s ableist definition of productivity. Crip time challenges our expectations of how long a task should take, which are rooted in the belief that only certain bodies and minds have value and are worthy of being heard. Although the term comes from the Disability community, it is a concept that everyone is invited to apply in their own lives.
- April Hubbard – Disability Advocate
During the creation process, April Hubbard (Interlocutor), introduced the concept of Crip time to us and shared how her experience as a Disabled artist shapes her worldview. The Artistic Fraud team realized the role they have played in excluding certain artists and adopted a schedule that recognizes the strengths of Disabled approaches and prioritized rest and community care as vital pieces of the creation process. This choice honors each team member’s lived experience and celebrates their creativity, knowledge, and value.
The lives of Disabled people are inherently unpredictable. We may adjust our performance schedule lightly to honor the access needs of our team members. Thank you for your support as we do the work of learning and unlearning and adapt the ways we operate to meet the evolving values of our community.
When I first met with Scott about this project in 2018, both of us shared an instinct that there was a place for children in the show. He came to our first meeting with the vision of a child dancer, and I came with a hope to have a children’s choir. This was not going to be a show suitable for young audiences. So why children? Scott spoke about the spirit of the child part of him that was lost – the child who loved to dance. I questioned which child has the potential to become a person who could manifest great acts of horror and which child has the potential for great acts of grace. And with these beautiful Ottawa children - what lives will they manifest? What is their possibility? Through dance and music and warmup games, we did our best to fill the rehearsals with fun and joy. We carefully and gently brought the children through Scott's experience throughout the rehearsal process and Q and A’s, and their dedication to Scott and his musical excellence is profound. So much love and so much work has been put into the crafting of this piece – from the very beginnings of the music integration, to the profound and fearless dedication of the actors, to the producing efforts to keep the snack table full in the room, and now as it begins to tour, the guidance of the great Robert Fillion and the inspiring dedication of the choir and their families. Scott’s act of grace that began in the courtroom in 2014 still ripples out. Our hope is that its grace reaches you too.
What can be written about an experience as profound as this one? The words won’t be adequate, but the power of this journey, the growth of this project, and the culmination of a family of dear artistic visionaries (writers, directors, and dramaturges) that have helped me process the unimaginable, actors who have spoken these words and shared their music with such care and deep respect, a music director and her assistant director with hearts of gold and magic that flow from their fingers to a chorus of young and incredibly talented, wise, and beautiful human beings who simultaneously grounded me throughout a challenging process and filled my heart with joy to the point of levitation, an Icelandic band and an arranger who allowed for such a beautiful musical backdrop to this show, a choreographer and a young dancer who, through movement, painted the stage with such spirit, an advocate who questioned the process with integrity and provided consistent guidance and counsel throughout, and a production company and crew that believed in this story from the very beginning… The power is immense and cannot be contained. They have all wrapped me and this process in love. They have helped me navigate some of my most difficult and conflicting emotions surrounding the complexity of forgiveness in the aftermath of such horrific violence and fear. These words, I’m sure, may seem loaded and hyperbolic to anyone reading this, but I promise you they do not even come close to capturing the profundity of it all. I am indebted to every one of you and you have been embedded in my heart forever. Just look at what we have created together.
To my family – Cara Jones, Sherise Jones, and Gabrielle Waugh – who have generously allowed me to explore and create something so intimate and have supported me on this path: I thank you with every living, breathing cell in my body. And finally, a heartfelt dedication to my mom, Lois Waugh, who allowed me to be. She allowed me to be me. I love you, mom. I carry you in my heart and soul forever, for you are a part of my very existence on Earth and in the next life as well.
Please be advised that this production comes with the following content warnings:
- Brief sexual content (referenced)
- Homophobia
- References to death/murder
- Detailed descriptions of physical violence
- Detailed descriptions of medical trauma, medical procedures, and bodily fluids
- References to drinking and other substance use
- Strong language
Please also note that there will be special effect haze used in this production.
Although children are involved in this production, they have been specifically counselled and Artistic Fraud has worked with them and their parents to absorb the content of the show. The production is not for young audiences.
Artistic Fraud was formed in St. John’s in 1995. In the years since, the company has come to be hailed as one of English Canada’s most daring and innovative companies. The works of Artistic Fraud and its creators, director Jillian Keiley and Robert Chafe, have played across the country to high acclaim and have garnered Jill the 2004 Siminovitch Prize for directing and Robert the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Since its inception, the company has been developing a unique brand of choral stage work, the goal of which is deeply rooted in the theatrical possibilities of ensemble performance. With often minimal setting, props and technical elements, the ensemble chorus is given full reign and responsibility for all visual and aural elements. Though carefully plotted and meticulously assembled, the goal of the work is the effortlessly organic — a performer driven stage where spectacle meets story.
We would like to recognize the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation, on whose traditional unceded territory the National Arts Centre is located. We gratefully acknowledge them as the past, present and future stewards of this land.
Artistic Fraud is based in what is now known as St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). We recognize our work and lives take place on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Beothuk and Mi’kmaq people of Ktaqmkuk. We also respectfully acknowledge the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut, and the Innu of Nitassinan, as the First Peoples of Labrador.
Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland and the National Arts Centre gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario at École secondaire publique De La Salle and the Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario. We applaud their dedication to the artistic development of young students.
The creative team would like to thank Lois Waugh and Erin Casey for providing additional writing to I Forgive You, as well as Santiago Guzmán and Azal Dosanjh for their generous and considerate feedback during the rehearsal process.
Marion Brown, Sarah Churchill-Goodman, Annette Clarke, Mary Fay Coady, Sarah Conn, Jean Paul Courtier, Chris Dearlove, Hugh Donnan, Brianna Gosse, Lesley Hartman, George Hodder, David and Karen Hood, Blanche Isräel, Darlene Jackman, Dahlia Katz, Jesse LaVercombe, Sarah McDonald, Colleen McCarthy, Martin Ledrew, Charlotte Marchesseault, Janet McDonald, Judi Pearl, Jamie Peddle, Edna Pletchetero, Claire Simmons, Justin Simms, Ralph Singh (Universal Music), Robert Smith, Laura Marie Wayne, CAMMAC
Jillian Keiley has directed and taught across Canada and internationally. She was the founding Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud. Highlights from her 27 years with the company include In Your Dreams Freud, Under Wraps, AfterImage, The Cheat, The Chekhov Variations, and Salvage: Story of a House, Oil and Water, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and I Forgive You, most of which were featured on tours across Canada including the NAC. Jillian assumed her role as NAC English Theatre Artistic Director in 2012 and finished her tenure in 2022. Other NAC productions include A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Metamorphoses: Based on the Myths of Ovid and Copenhagen. She also directed Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, and As You Like It for the Stratford Festival, as well as The Neverending Story and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, both produced as collaborations between the Stratford Festival and the NAC. Tempting Providence, her collaboration with Robert Chafe for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, toured internationally for 12 years. Her production of Tell Tale Harbour at the Confederation Centre for the Arts was a blockbuster hit at the Confederation Centre this past summer and she looks forward to opening summer productions of Richard the Second at the Stratford Festival and Come From Away in Gander, Newfoundland. Jillian holds Honorary Doctorates of Letters from both Memorial University and York University, and she was the winner of the Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004 and the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize in 1997.
Robert Chafe is a writer, educator, actor and arts administrator based in St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). He has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, Everybody Just Calm the Fuck Down, and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston.) He has been shortlisted twice for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. He has been guest instructor at Memorial University, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and The National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Memorial University. He is the playwright and Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud.
Scott Jones is a musician and emerging filmmaker/writer from Nova Scotia, Canada. Scott gravitates towards forms of artistic expression that explore disabled grief, resilience, and joy and narratives that delve deep into the human experience. Following an attack that paralyzed him, he worked with director Laura Marie Wayne and the National Film Board of Canada on an award winning feature length documentary, LOVE, SCOTT (2018) that explores his trauma and healing in relation to homophobic violence. This past year, Scott wrote and directed his first short film, COIN SLOT (2022), which premiered at the British Film Institute LGBTQ Flare Festival (UK, 2022) and Phoenix Film Festival (AZ, 2022), and was recently invited to the 2022 Bengaluru International Short Film Festival—India’s only Oscar-Qualifying festival. The film is currently in competition and shortlisted as a finalist in its category. Presently, Scott is developing an animated short film with poet Tanya Davis and animator Sarita McNeil (FREEDOM), which is supported by the NFB and will enter production this Fall (2022).
Scott has participated in the RespectAbility Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities (Los Angeles, 2022), Access CBC Lab for Scripted TV (Toronto, 2022), and the Whistler International Film Festival Screenwriting Lab (2020). In 2020, Scott won the Atlantic International Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab Power Pitch Award for his feature film screenplay OPUS 118, NO. 2. He has also worked as a consultant on various projects, including Stephen Dunn’s vibrant reimagining of QUEER AS FOLK (Peacock, 2022). Scott's artistic projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, Arts Nova Scotia, and the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker's Assistance Program.
Over the past four years, Scott has collaborated with Robert Chafe (Artistic Director, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland), Sarah Garton Stanley (former Associate Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre), and Jillian Keiley (Artistic Director of English Theatre, NAC) to write and perform a play on the complexities of forgiveness (I Forgive You)—a journey full of transcendent revelations on what it means to be human, what it means to be truly vulnerable, and what it means to simultaneously question, rage against, and inevitably surrender to the unpredictable circumstances of life.
Scott and his service dog Neemo are most at peace wandering the trails or with family in Scotsburn (NS), surrounded by woods that lead to the ocean out into the great, wide, and wonderful beyond.
And our anonymous contributors!
I Forgive You has been developed with the assistance of the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts NL, the City of St. John’s, Canadian Stage, Nordic Bridges.
The National Creation Fund’s investment of $160,000 brought the full creative team together for an extended development period, including additional music, text and choreography workshops, and supported the access needs for the creation.
Chair – John Drover, B.A. LLB
Treasurer – David Hood, C.A.
Director – Chris Brookes, C.M.
Director – Erin French, B.A.
Director – Jenny Smith, B.A. M.A.
Director – David Somers B.Sc (Mech. Engineering)
Robert Chafe – Artistic Director, Playwright
Patrick Foran – Managing Producer
Crystal Laffoley – Associate Producer
Jillian Keiley – Founding Artistic Director, Director
Mike Hammond - Production Assistant
Emma Cole - Marketing and Communications
Co-Creator/Show Conductor
Scott Jones
Playwright/Co-Creator
Robert Chafe
Director
Jillian Keiley
Production Dramaturge
Sarah Garton Stanley
Assistant Director
Sharon King-Campbell
Featuring
Jeff Ho, Nathan Carroll; Chorus Michèle Barker, Emma Barrette , Leah Christie, Elliott Doulet, Tamara Emond, Alexia Ferrand, César Gauthier, Adrian Grinberg-Chambers, Maeve Hickey , Annie Hume, Sarah Hume. Hanan Kaekiza, Clémence Kanyoka, Melina Kovacheff, Eponine Lee, Sophie Letcher, Carmen Rose Nicholson, Bethany Olszewski, Maya Peters, Lennox Blue Powell, Noah Schnarr, Henri Trépanier ;
Composer
Sigur Rós
Music Arrangement
Ingi Garðar Erlendsson
Musical Director
Kellie Walsh
Ottawa Music Director
Robert Filion
Ottawa Assistant Music Director
Theresa Clarke
Movement Director
Christopher House
Associate Movement Director
Josh Murphy
Set & Costume Designer
Alison Helmer
Sound Designer
Don Ellis
Lighting Designer
Bonnie Beecher
Assistant Lighting Designer
Jeff Pybus;
Technical Director
Reg Hoskins;
Stage Manager
Kai-Yueh Chen*,
Assistant Stage Manager
Arielle Voght
* The participation of these Artists are arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance•Opera•Theatre Policy
Head Technician
Stephane Boyer
Head technician
Leigh Utley Assistant
Technician
Ray Budavari
Head Wardrobe
Sarah Waghorn
Wardrobe
Carol Gagnon
Head of Wardrobe workshop
Normand Theriault
Projectionists, Wardrobe Mistresses, Masters and Attendants are members of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 471.
The National Arts Centre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.
Managing Director
David Abel
Artistic Director
Nina Lee Aquino
Community Outreach Lead
Rose-Ingrid Benjamin
Learning Coordinator
Aimee Bouchard
ASL Interpreter Consultant
CarmelleCachero
Marketing Strategist
Bar Clement
Communications Strategist
Sean Fitzpatrick
Senior Producer
Alexandra Lunney
Senior Marketing Manager
Bridget Mooney
Associate Producer, Artistic Projects
Judi Pearl
Company Manager
Samira Rose
Administrative Coordinator
Monika Seiler
Technical Director
Cynthia Shaw
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees