Irresistible Neighbourhoods Volume 2: Walking on Water  
The Latest Audio Journey Builds on the Theme of Hopeful Futures 
 
The second volume of radio stories explores imagined possibilities for two distinct Canadian neighbourhoods. 

November 19, 2024 – OTTAWA (Canada). In June of this year, NAC English Theatre and NAC Digital Experience and Design invited audiences 20 years into a possible future for three distinct neighbourhoods in the National Capital Region, marking the arrival of the inaugural Irresistible Neighbourhoods radio play series, with Ottawa 2044. Today, the journey continues as we embark on two new paths in the second volume of radio plays with Walking on Water. 
 
For the second volume of Irresistible Neighbourhoods, the NAC Orchestra team collaborated in the creative process in the lead-up to the NAC SPHERE Festival this past September, where the radio plays were recorded in front of a live audience at the NAC Fourth Stage. Featuring actors, musicians and live foley sound effects, this captivating double feature of dramas presented imagined futures for two Canadian neighbourhoods, and their evolving relationship with water. 

Playwrights David Yee from Toronto and Berni Stapleton from Newfoundland and Labrador, 2023 Siminovitch Prize laureate and nominee, respectively, collaborated with composers Chris Thornborrow and Duane Andrews to craft compelling stories about their selected Canadian locales. As climate challenges prompt us to shift our thinking from ‘what is’ to ‘what if,’ these talented artists offer inspiring visions for their communities, encouraging audiences to reflect on what could make their own neighborhoods… irresistible. 

Building on the energy off those live recordings, we're excited to welcome a wider audience to join us for this audio journey in which the first step in bringing about regenerative futures is having the courage to imagine them.   
 
Introducing the two radio plays for Irresistible Neighbourhoods Volume 2: Walking on Water…

cicadas 
by David Yee, with music composed by Chris Thornborrow, directed by Nina Lee Aquino. Featuring Erica Anderson, Zach Counsil and Paul Thomas. Clarinet/Bass Clarinet: Shauna Barker, Cello: Daniel Parker, Piano: Frédéric Lacroix, Percussion: Nathan Petitpas. 
 
In 2035, a podcaster investigating the mysterious disappearances that befell a young family a decade earlier near Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park sets the scene for a suspenseful narrative about a very peculiar house. Could a strangely luminous painting unlock long-buried secrets of what flowed beneath their home?  
 
The Woman of One Thousand Years   
by Berni Stapleton, with music composed by Duane Andrews, directed by Sarah Kitz. Featuring Deidre Gillard-Rowlings, Anne Hamels and John Koensgen. Viola: Magali Gavazzi-April, Trumpet/Flugelhorn: Amy Horvey, Double Bass: Paul Mach, Cello: Daniel Parker.

A lonely radio host, broadcasting from a far shore in Newfoundland, inadvertently opens a transmission portal between times. The story that unfolds offers an unforgettable journey from the past to a life beyond the present, suggesting that everything we need to know is already in the air. Remembering the future is possible for all. 

For both episodes, Sound Design and Live Foley: John Gzowski, Dramaturg: Ric Knowles, Climate Dramaturg: Vicki Stroich, Stage Manager: Jackie McCormick 
 
An NAC English Theatre/NAC Orchestra/NAC Digital Design and Experience co-production. 
 
EVEN MORE IRRESISTIBLE NEIGHBOURHOODS  

Irresistible Neighbourhoods is a multi-year project from English Theatre, which includes Volume One: Ottawa 2044. And stay tuned for exciting ideas currently in development for Volume Three, when the series will expand to include other disciplines and other regions. Details coming soon! 

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS   
 
The National Arts Centre Foundation would like to thank The Slaight Family Foundation and Official Hotel Partner Ottawa Embassy Hotel & Suites. Special thank you to the Dr. Kanta Marwah Endowment for English Theatre.   
 
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE    
 
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.    

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