The Places We Go
Kelly Stifora | for CBC News | Posted: July 23, 2017 5:15 PM | Last Updated: July 23, 2017
Performance mixing projected images, recorded audio, acting and shadow puppetry more than the sum of its parts
Rating: ★★★★
Company: UNIT Productions
Genre: Unclassifiable
Venue: 3 — Pantages Studio
I've never seen anything like The Places We Go before.
It tells the affecting story of Grace, a girl living in Manila and trying to get money to buy her mom a plane ticket home from Winnipeg for her birthday.
With respect to the experiences of Winnipeg immigrants, however, it isn't the plot that makes this so special, it's the presentation. A "live graphic novel," The Places We Go unfolds on a screen as the performers mix projected images, recorded audio, acting and shadow puppetry on the spot.
Sometimes the sound of flipping acetate threatens to overwhelm the in-show sound, or we can hear the performers whispering instructions to each other, but these are small prices to pay for such a singular theatrical experience and for bearing witness to an artistic endeavor whose result far exceeds the sum of its parts.
A singular theatrical experience and an artistic endeavor whose result far exceeds the sum of its parts.- Kelly Stifora
Billed as 60 minutes, but actually about 35.