IGNITE! 2020: Elegant Animal

Art Series: Provocation

Amid the largest collective crisis many of us have ever faced, how do we care for ourselves in honest and compassionate ways in order to minimize pain, and to heal?

Elegant Animal is a socially distanced self-care creation from In Arms Theatre, taking place in the audience member’s own home, in their own time.

The ‘show’ is delivered to the audience member’s door as a care package, and is experienced in three parts alongside companion audio pieces which guide the audience through the contents of their box.

Elegant Animal will tell stories of self-care from In Arms Theatre’s community of queer artists, explore nature’s way of healing itself, and ask the audience to reflect on their own care practices, offering a heartfelt examination into what it means to heal.

For those interested in receiving self-care packages for the Elegant Animal show please hit the “Elegant Animal Sign-Up Form” button above to sign up. There is no cost or purchase necessary to sign up for the show! You will receive a self-care package which includes some lovely items from our co-campaign partner, The Apothecary In Inglewood.

Please note that we will only be able to deliver self-care kits to the first twenty people from the Calgary area to sign-up. Instructions for how to assemble your own kit will be sent to those who sign up after the threshold of 20 has been met, and to those outside the Calgary area.

A special thanks to Ash Hicks, Elise Jason, and Émanuel Dubbeldam who contributed their voices to the project, to Apothecary Inglewood for providing materials for our self-care kits, and to the entire Swallow-a-Bicycle, Sage Theatre and IGNITE! Festival teams.

Run time – 90 minutes
Rating – PG-13

No content/trigger warnings.

Note: This show is a participatory experience and requires a playback device, access to an oven, access to a bathtub, and access to a bed. Participation is welcomed without these items, but your experience may be limited.

Cast and Creative Team

Creator, Facilitator – Stuart McDougall
Stuart is an artist, producer, and administrator currently based in Banff on Treaty 7 territory, and after 6 Edmonton Nextfests, is thrilled to be a part of IGNITE! He is a co-artistic producer with In Arms Theatre, a queer company (mostly) based in Edmonton, and as an artist has worked in Alberta with such companies as Theatre Outré, Theatre Calgary, and The Orange Girl. Working as an administrator, he has spent time with The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, and most recently the Banff Centre.

Artistic Mentor – Elaine Weryshko

Creative Collaborator – Ira Doré

Our festival is free to attend although donations help us with funding and enables us to keep bringing you amazing performances every year! We are also encouraging donations to the Calgary Black Empowerment Fund.