Page B12 The BUZZ September 2022
The Fourth R: reduce, reuse, recycle,
Revolutionize -
Island Fringe Festival ‘22, Havenwood
Dance Studio, Charlottetown
July 29, 2022
Way back in the golden pre-COVID
summer of 2019, Toronto, Ontario
company Dance Fachin scored a hit at
the Island Fringe Festival (IFF) with
Worldly Women, “a new genre of dance
theatre” starring choreographer/
creator Emma Bartolomucci and her
fellow dancers, among them Beatrice
Kwan & Julia Molnar. That show was
voted the audience favourite of IFF
2019.
This summer, Bartolomucci, Kwan
& Molnar return to IFF with The Fourth
R: reduce, reuse, recycle, Revolutionize,
billed as “an interdisciplinary presen-
tation that fuses climate science, dance
and video projections together” in a
story about global warming and other
environmental issues featuring charac-
ters who represent industrial produc-
ers and consumers and the vulnerable
people who suer because of them.
Dance Fachin hopes the show will
help “inspire young people to become
advocates for the planet.”
Directed by Bartolomucci with
visual design by Airian McLeish, the
show is a series of live dance numbers
set to recorded music, with short video
segments between the dances featuring
images, footage and facts regarding
environmental/climate concerns.
Bartolomucci has been working on
the show on and o since 2019, but
COVID-19 and other factors delayed it
until its 2022 debut in Toronto, fol-
lowed by interprovincial touring dates
in venues ranging from schools to
theatre festivals.
In a recent Purple Glow Collective
interview, Bartolomucci explains
that the show “highlights the ways
in which capitalism aects our envi-
ronment… It’s taking and taking and
taking and never giving time for things
to grow back properly or naturally.”
She says humanity needs to “share
resources responsibly without the
priority of money.”
Perhaps in part because of its activ-
ist aims (especially its youth education
mission), The Fourth R is more literal
and less subtle than Worldly Women:
the dancers talk more (though most of
their performance remains wordless),
they use props more (such as various
quickly discarded consumer goods),
and the video segments deliver lots
of raw information. This feels a bit
overtly didactic or heavy-handed in
spots, most notably a scene where
the dancers take turns shouting
climate-related slogans (though a rah-
rah moment like that probably plays
dierently in a school than it does in a
theatre).
Moments like that might be unsub-
tle, but they’re appropriate to the
existential urgency of the topic and
the openly educational intentions of
the piece. Besides, those moments are
starkly outnumbered by scenes of real
emotional power from all three dancers
over the course of the show, a mesmer-
izing mix of solos, duos and trios that
collectively sell the horror of the topic.
One of the most memorable solos
features Molnar as a giddily reckless
capitalist gure essentially dancing
while the world burns, a portrait of
malevolent glee akin to Brigitte Helm’s
similarly sinister dance from the 1927
silent lm Metropolis. Still, the emotive
MVP of the trio may be Kwan, who
largely without words does some
of the most vividly comprehensible
and moving acting of the summer,
intensely engaged and engaging in
every one of her dance numbers.
Passion like that from all three dancers
does more to sell the show’s deeply
vital message than all the statistics in
the world ever could.
Dancing while it burns
Review by Sean McQuaid
Bonshaw Young Players
Bonshaw Young Players for ages six to
16 will resume September 17 from 10:30
am–12:30 pm at the Community Centre
in Bonshaw. Emphasis will be on the
triple threats of singing, dancing and
improv drama. Pre-registration is neces-
sary. Email [email protected] or call
675-4282 to register.
Goats and Musical Theatre
Two PEI entrepreneurs are cross-pro-
moting their family-friendly experi-
ences. Flory Sanderson, owner of Island
Hill Farm in Hampshire and Campbell
Webster, producer of Anne & Gilbert—The
Musical (A&G), have been delighting
guests with free tickets to the theatre or
the farm. The musical runs until October
9 at the Florence Simmons Performance
Hall in Charlottetown. The A&G team
have been hiding free tickets to Island
Hill Farm under select theatre seats,
gifting random patrons with tickets to
meet Flory’s goats at Island Hill Farm.
At Island Hill Farm, Sanderson chooses
the recipients of complimentary Anne
& Gilbert tickets based on chats she has
with visitors. The farm is home to a herd
of over 100 goats of various breeds, as
well as hens, bunnies, alpacas, pot-bel-
lied pigs, a miniature donkey and other
farm animals. Visitors can interact
directly with the goats and even enjoy a
bottle-feeding experience or goat yoga.
anneandgilbert.com, islandhillfarm.ca
news THEATRE
Programmation septembre
September programming
‘WE’RE BACK 2022-23’
ON EST DE RETOUR 2022-23
Cours Communautaires
Community Courses
16h30 -20h30
Concours de talents
“Prochaine Star de l’Isle”
Tout premier ‘festival
du pâté à la viande’
2 Concours / 2 Contests
23
17h00 à 20h00
Invités spéciaux
Mik'maq
Brian Francis
Junior Peter Paul
Un souper sera servi
4:30 - 8:30 pm
Island Talent Contest
“Be the Next Star”
First ever
‘Meat Pie Festival’
Golf Scramble à 4 Jeux de l’Acadie 50+
Golf tournament at
Countryview Golf Club
in Fairview
1:00 PM
18 hole game
COST: $45
for 50+
for under 50
COST: $70
5:00 - 8:00 pm
Special Mik’maq
Guests
Brian Francis
Junior Peter Paul
Dinner will be served
Réconciliation
Tournoi de golf à
Countryview Golf Club
à Fairview
13h00
Jeux de 18 trous
COÛT: 45 $
pour les 50 ans plus
pour les moins
de 50 ans
COÛT: 70 $
24
30
Cours de Cuisine pour Enfant
Children's Cooking Class
14 septembre - 16 novembre
L’HEURE et FRÉQUENCE:
15h00 à 16h00 chaque
mercredi sur 10 semaines
COÛT: 15 $
par session
September 14 - November 16
TIME and FREQUENCY:
3:00 to 4:00 pm every
Wednesday for 10 weeks
COST: $15
per session
Cours de français
pour débutants
Beginners French Course
13 septembre - 15 novembre
L’HEURE et FRÉQUENCE:
17h30 à 19h30 chaque mardi
sur 10 semaines
COÛT: 15 $
par session
September 13 - November 15
TIME AND FREQUENCY:
5:30 to 7:30 pm every
Tuesday for 10 weeks
COST: $15
per session
Enfants de la 4e à la 7e année/ Children in grades 4-7
13
14
BBQ gratuit
Free BBQ
BBQ gratuit
Free BBQ
+ +
Visitez carrefourisj.org pour plus d’informations
Visit carrefourisj.org for more information.
➠
The Evangeline region’s Agricultural
Exhibition and Acadian Festival takes
place September 1–4 in Abram-Village.
The program this year includes
magic shows with Acadian magician
and illusionist Rémi Boudreau, science
experiments with the Maritime edition
of Mad Science/Sciences en Folie,
le Festin acadien, a ddling concert
featuring traditional Acadian, Scottish
and Irish tunes, the provincial nals
of the PEI Youth Talent Competition,
stepdancers, Acadian dances, and
much more.
The Festival also includes a variety
of Acadian and folk music, featuring
performers Hert LeBlanc and his band,
Réveil, Jeannita Bernard, Gary and
Karine Gallant, En Route, Louise and
Jonathan Arsenault, Jos Narcisse fam-
ily members, and more.
Visit expositionfestival.ca for
more information, tickets and the full
schedule.
Abram-Village—Sept 1 to 4
Evangeline
Acadian Fest
Anne & Gilbert–The Musical, the head-
lining production of the Island Theatre
Festival, runs until October 9 at the
Florence Simmons Performance Hall in
Charlottetown.
This year’s PEI production is
buoyed by a strong cast and crew that
includes Becca Guilderson as a Anne
Shirley, Hugh Ritchie as Gilbert, Beth
Rogers as Marilla, Page Gallant as
Diana, and Nick Whelan as assistant
director and co-producer.
Info/tickets: anneandgilbert.com,
1-877-566-3346
SUBMITTED
Anne & Gilbert
Island Theatre Festival produc-
tion continues into October
Becca Guilderson and Hugh Ritchie