collaborations

Original projects involving artistic collaboration with various individual artists, companies, and organizations

Worlds Apart- A Tale from Yener Velt 

With artists Maggie Winston (Lost & Found Puppet Co.), Kaeridwyn Eftelya (Little Wanderer Theatre Co.), and Jen Quinn (Director).

Click photo to watch promo video

CREATED BY:

Lost & Found Puppet Co. (Canada) and Little Wanderer Theatre Co. (UK)

CREDITS:

Co-creator / performer: Kaeridwyn Eftelya and Maggie Winston 

Director / Dramaturg: Jen Quinn 

Assistant puppeteer: Noah Silverstone 

Musician / composer / puppeteer: Josh Middleton 

Stage Manager: Molly Tackaberry

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

Presented in English with some Yiddish words and phrases

Worlds Apart: A Tale from Yener Velt is a puppet and music show that explores contemporary Jewish identity through sisterhood.

Leah and Rachel are sisters, but as they’ve grown up, they’ve drifted apart from each other and from their Jewish heritage. When their Bubbe (grandmother) dies, they come back together for a final Shabbos (Jewish Sabbath) in Bubbe’s house. However, they forgot how to do it. They stumble through half-mumbled prayers and no one brought the wine. This unusual Shabbos has unusual results: a demon is called forth, a portal appears, and through magical mishap Rachel and Leah are separated, thrown in the Overworld and the Underworld. Each sister has her own path to follow and her own demons to encounter, some more literal than others! This is certainly a Shabbos like no other – will Leah and Rachel ever see each other again?

Worlds Apart: A Tale from Yener Velt is a collaboration between artists Kaeridwyn Eftelya and Maggie Winston. With the aim to create a contemporary bobe-mayse (folktale), they raided Jewish folklore to create the fantastical mish-mash story that is also inspired by their own Jewish experiences. Jen Quinn is director/dramaturg. Noah Silverstonr joins as puppeteer and Josh Middleton collaborates as musician, composer and puppeteer.

*This project was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts*

ARTIST BIOS:

Kaeridwyn Eftelya is a theatre maker, puppeteer and musician originally from Vancouver, BC, now based in London, U.K. She trained at Tooba Physical Theatre Centre, in London with members of Gardzienice and Song of the Goat, and continues to explore the intersection of a wide variety of performance styles.

Maggie Winston is a puppeteer and maker, originally from Baltimore, MD, USA now based in Montréal, QC (since 2016). She is the founder of Lost & Found Puppet Co., created in Vancouver, BC (2007). Maggie trained at Sarah Lawrence College, NY, the British American Drama Academy, London UK, and L’université du Québec à Montréal DESS en théâtre des marionnettes contemporaines. 

Jen Quinn is a theatre creator, director, dramaturg and producer based in London, UK. She holds a BFA in Theatre (Directing, Design and Production Management) from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. She studied Management of Cultural Organisations at HEC Montréal and is currently doing an MA in Applied Theatre at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. 

Josh Middleton is a London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and musical director specialising in Klezmer and East European Folk styles. He studied Bulgarian music at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, Plovdiv, has worked with Klezmer and Balkan music ensembles such as She’koyokh and The London Klezmer Quartet, and has recorded for artists as diverse as DJ Vadim and Kadialy Kouyate.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/worldsapartyenervelt 

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/lostnfoundpuppetco/

PROMO VIDEO : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFmm-CchbUA

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Work-in-progress stages of Worlds Apart- A Tale from Yener Velt (2019)

The story of two very different sisters, Rachel and Leah. A Shabbat ritual gone wrong forces each to dig down into the world of old stories to emerge into a new understanding of their modern Jewish identity. Separated by magical mishap, each finds herself on her own path, journeying into a mish-mash world of Jewish folklore. From an invitation from Lilith, Queen of the Underworld, to chicken-footed devils, trickster goats and an unexpected marriage, Rachel and Leah both strive to find what it means to be a young Jewish woman in today’s modern world. If they fail, will they be trapped forever?

Project supported by the Jewish Arts Mentorship Program at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts (Montreal, QC), JW3 and Theatre Deli artist-in-residence Program (London, UK)

https://www.facebook.com/worldsapartyenervelt/

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Photos: Patrice Tremblay

À FLEUR DE POILS

par le Collectouffe- Élisabeth Bosquet, Maggie Winston, Aurelle Lavandier, Mélina Kerhoas

Un.e tricophile, fétichiste des poils et des cheveux, travaille pour donner vie à ses fantasmes dans son atelier de création. Il y cultive du poil qu’il arrange à l’image de ses lubies. Entre amour et exploitation, le tricophile fait corps avec une masse de poils; fulgurante incarnation de son jardin intérieur. Au fil du temps, cette relation engendre d’autres créatures dont des sœurs siamoises. Réalité ou fantasme, elles matérialisent les angoisses du tricophile. Entre absence et présence, entre la vie et la mort, au point de rupture, de dédoublement et de l’ultime séparation, il n’y a qu’un instant. Jusqu’où l’être humain est-il prêt à se rendre pour lutter contre sa propre finitude et celle qui l’entoure ?

PAST PROJECTS:

Giant Wild Salmon Puppet for The Wild Salmon Caravan 

in collaboration with Still Moon Arts Society

Maggie Winston and Carmen Rosen (Artistic Director of Still Moon Arts Society) created this giant wild salmon puppet for parades in the Wild Salmon Caravan Oct. 7-12, 2017. It performed in Vancouver, Chilliwack, Meritt, Kamloops, and Chase, BC, raising awareness of wild salmon and native food security.

https://wildsalmoncaravan.wordpress.com/

http://stillmoon.org/

 The Shiny Kids Family Festival (2012)