approximate ru nning time: 1 hour and 40 minthere will be one 20 min intermission

Borne is a play created by Judith Thompson in collaboration with nine artists who use wheelchairs. Support for this world premiere was made possible thanks to the support of Soulpepper and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario. None of the performers are professional actors though each tells their own story in their own words. But the stories are only part of it. This work is also about bodies moving in space, about the complicated and powerful emotions that can be expressed through voice, eyes, hands, breath, and even through the movement of one wheelchair in relationship with another wheelchair. This original movement is underscored by cast member Danilo Raralio, whose stunning piano improv- isations unfold as the performers drive their wheelchairs.

The title emerged from a question Thompson asked the performers about how they felt at a particular moment. Answers varied but Maayan Ziv gave the final, one-word response: “Born”, which Thompson understood as borne:

birth and burden, being carried, brought to a new place, at the beginning of a rich and raucous journey, as well as the struggle of having to bear difficulty, invisibility, being silenced.

RARE Theatre Company creates unique theatre pieces with people who have been marginalized. Artistic Director Judith Thompson says, “We have found that the raw authenticity of the real has been extraordinarily moving to our audiences.” In 2013, Soulpepper audiences were bowled over by the performers of RARE, all of whom have Down syndrome. Their humour, poetry and plain talk opened up our minds and hearts and prodded our unconscious assumptions.

RARE Theatre Company and its gutsy, inventive performers want to challenge who is traditionally represented on stage. Here centre stage glows with vocal and vibrant spirits who not only claim that space, they own it.

RARE ThEATRE CompAny in AssoCiATion wiTh soulpEppER

pREsEnTs:

pRogRAm noTE by pAulA wing & judiTh Thompson

russell w i n k el a a r . photo: Joh n gu n dy.

boRnEjudiTh Thompson

RARE Theatre Company

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ARTisTs’ biogRAphiEs boRnE

joshuA dvoRkin – pERfoRmER. Joshua is a lover of the arts. He holds two Bachelor’s degrees, one in journalism and the other in psychology. He will be beginning a Masters of psychology this upcoming September. He is involved in many volunteer roles including work with Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, the Rick Hansen Foundation,

and the Toronto Distress Centre. Joshua is a great believer in paying it forward and giving back to his community, and he plans on becoming a therapist. Joshua is also a great believer in gratitude, mindfulness and meditation.

nikolETTA ERdElyi – pERfoRmER. Nikoletta is a communication and culture student at York University, and she is fascinated by what drives social norms. She lives for self-expression and romanticizing life through writing and poetry. She believes that joy and vulnerability are equally potent and that art is everywhere.

dAn hARvEy – pERfoRmER. Dan Harvey loves destroying all forms of stereotypical discourse. In 2012, he completed a M.A. in Media Studies, at Western University, and, commencing September 2015, he plans to begin working on a Ph.D. His current research is looking at the representation of disability in film, television, theatre,

and literature. He lives in London, Ontario, with his wife, Jen, and his cats, Watson and Fritz.

niCk huTChEson – AssisTAnT diRECToR, Co-pRoduCER & sTAgE mAnAgER. Nick is RARE Theatre’s Artistic Producer. He was the Assistant Director, Co-Producer and Stage Manager for RARE (Toronto Fringe, 2012; Young Centre, 2013). Other projects include: Complex (Summerworks, 2014); Spur (Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa;

2013 & 2014); Hooked (SummerWorks, 2011); White Loop (Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, 2011); The New Yorker at Luminato and Boulderpavement (Banff Centre Press).

bETh kATEs – pRoduCTion dEsignER . Beth is a lighting, projection, set and costume designer and the co-creative director of Playground Studios which created the installations Night Light Travels and The ToyBox, designed projections for the Ross Petty pantomimes The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid; and Ragtime (Shaw Festival).

For WYRD Beth designed MacHomer, Bigger Than Jesus (Dora Award). Other highlights: Assassins (Birdland); Bloodless (Theatre20); Yichud (Seclusion); Rob Kempson’s The Way Back to Thursday, Same Same But Different (Nightswimming); The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer (Koba); The Road to Mecca (Soulpepper); A Brimful of Asha (Why Not Theatre) .

hARlEy noTT – pERfoRmER. Harley grew up half wild on Vancouver Island. After attending the University of Victoria he practiced law in Toronto. His life centres more around his children and family these days. He hopes that, like all good stories, Borne will create a connection and increase understanding between one set of humans and another.

dAnilo RARAlio – pERfoRmER, ComposER & ACCompAnisT. Borne has presented to Danilo a great opportunity to express the artistic and musical side of himself. He has performed in several piano recitals and various musical shows in the past, but he says this project challenged him to take his talents to the next level, as a piano

player, accompanist, composer, and as a stage actor.

dAvid shAnnon – pERfoRmER. David is a lawyer and public advocate who has focused his work primarily in human rights promotion. This has included a tour of his one person show The Puck Dances Lovingly, authoring his book The Six Degrees of Dignity: Disability in an Age of Freedom, and speeches that have inspired audiences across

North America. He is the recipient the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, and has been inducted into the Disability Hall of Fame.

bEnjAmin sTEin – voCAl And insTRumEnTAl CoACh. Singer, composer, music director, writer and multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Stein is one of Toronto’s few professional theorbo players, and he has played or sung for ensembles as such Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Choir, Opera Atelier, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto

Masque Theatre and Soundstreams.

bREndA suRminski – Co-pRoduCER, pRoduCTion diRECToR. Brenda spent the bulk of her career in advertising most recently as the Head of Production for Ogilvy and Mather where she produced international award winning campaigns. She received the first ever double Cannes award for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Brenda produced her

first theatre production in 2008 directed by Judith Thompson along with a documentary directed by Veronica Tennant in 2009. Brenda is presently the Executive Director of RARE Theatre Company.

judiTh Thompson – diRECToR, CREAToR. Judith is a playwright, director, actor, professor of theatre and mother of five; she is the author of 16 plays, two feature films, two television movies and many radio plays. Judith has received the Amnesty Inter-national Freedom of Expression Prize for Palace of the End and the Governor General’s

Award. Judith is an Officer of the Order of Canada. Borne is the fourth collective creation that Judith has directed and co-created. She is the Artistic Director of RARE Theatre Company.

RussEll winkElAAR – pERfoRmER. Russell calls Toronto home these days, but he grew up in the Peterborough countryside. He is the Executive Producer of the webseries LESlieVILLE and My Gimpy Life, which also marked his acting debut. Borne is his first foray into theatre. He says he learned most of his life lessons from Calvin and Hobbes.

nAnCy XiA – pERfoRmER. Nancy graduated from the University of Toronto with a Psychology Degree. She has been working extensively with people from all walks of life, especially the ones in the Spinal Cord Injury community. However, being part of Borne is an adventure like never before. Nancy believes in the cause of this

production and the power of storytelling. It is her hope that this play will stir and tender the hearts of the beloved audience.

mAAyAn Ziv – pERfoRmER. Maayan Ziv studied Radio and Television at Ryerson University and her background in media communications, art and theatre influences her work. Maayan is a self-taught photographer, born with muscular dystrophy, who has been recognized with a Queens Diamond Jubilee medal for her contribution to raising

awareness for disabilities within the arts.

AssisTAnT sTAgE mAnAgERs: juliA ThomAs, suZAnnE RobERTs smiTh, And ThEREsA powER.

Do stay in touch, and please pass the pepper!

Soulpepper is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper are represented by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. •

Robert Buren, Gregor Campbell, Izzy Camilleri, Suzanne Cross, Nicky Guadagni, John Gundy, Chris Horkins, Gillian Lynne-Davies, Mark Lipton, Anthony Lue, Barbie Nichol, Jenn Rossetti, Spirit Synott, and Mica White.

rare theatre company gratefully acknowledges the generous support of:

rare theatre company also wishes to thank:

An agency of the Government of Ontario.Un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario.