Presented by Teesri Duniya Theatre, The Chemical Valley Project is a unique collaboration between Broadleaf Creative artists Kevin Matthew Wong and Julia Howman, and Aamjiwnaang First Nation Water Protectors Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray. The show uses imaginative multi-media storytelling to explore environmental racism in Canada. It will be performed at Rangshala Studio, Teesri Duniya Theatre’s new performance space in Cité-des-Hospitalières.
Montreal, February 2024- Timelier than ever, Broadleaf Creative’s The Chemical Valley Project has been gripping audiences since its creation and subsequent touring. This vital production delves gracefully into difficult conversations on treaty rights, the nature of contemporary Canadian identity and values, reconciliation and Canada’s notorious Chemical Valley. Rahul Varma, artistic director of Teesri Duniya Theatre is proud to present this important show playing at the company’s new Rangshala Studio at Cité-des-Hospitalières from March 14-24 (preview March 13). Continuing their mandate to encourage dialogue, the company will hold post-show talkbacks.
Through a captivating blend of multimedia storytelling and small scale spectacle, including documentary theatre, innovative projection design and object puppetry, The Chemical Valley Project engages audiences and sparks discussion.
The pandemic brought to the fore that Indigenous communities have worse health outcomes due to discrimination in environmental racism in policy-making. Forty per cent of Canada’s chemical industry is clustered into a 15-square mile area in Sarnia, Ontario in an area known as Chemical Valley. Over 60 petrochemical plants and oil refineries operate there 24/7; the area has become one of the most polluted hotspots in Canada. Here, a community of 900 residents is being smothered.
Two siblings from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray, have dedicated themselves to protecting their territory’s land, air and water by trying to quash the pollution that threatens their community’s future. Broadleaf Creative artists Julia Howman and Kevin Matthew Wong collaborated with and imaginatively documented the Gray siblings’ firsthand accounts of their activism and journey as land defenders and water protectors. The siblings also served as dramaturgs and advisors for the show.
Vanessa and Beze’s ongoing work goes beyond their Ontario surroundings. This includes temporarily stopping the flow of Enbridge Energy’s Line 9 pipeline that starts in Sarnia, and whose final delivery point of crude oil and liquids ends in Montreal, where there have also been protests to shut the pipeline down.
Hard, eye-opening statistics threatening the health and safety of the community include 40% of adults in Aamjiwnaang carry an inhaler and 25% of children 10 under in Sarnia have asthma. Ever-present is the impact of high levels of daily stress caused by constant noise exposure, light exposure and the stress of living next to refineries and pipelines that could leak at any moment. There is also an effect on birth rates. For every two female babies there is only one male born, typically in Canada it’s half and half. Further, in Aamjiwnaang the percentage of women who experience at least one stillbirth or miscarriage is 39%.
For Wong, artistic director at Broadleaf Creative, the theatre’s aim has been to tackle environmental issues through engaging, accessible, and fun theatre performances. The Chemical Valley Project resonates strongly for him, “Despite its subject matter, the show has been described as a warm embrace for audiences that is rooted in empathy and care, and that navigates the subject matter with moments of surprise and levity,” he said.
Wong is looking forward to working with Varma and Teesri Duniya Theatre, “It’s an honour to be associated with a company renowned for its commitment to political engagement and advocacy in Montreal and elsewhere.” The feeling is mutual, “I invited this meaningful company because they focus on complex and urgent issues. The play is beyond rhetoric; it addresses decolonization, Canada’s commitment to Indigenous rights and the dangerous situation in Chemical Valley,” said Varma.
The Chemical Valley Project is a unique, visually striking, and edifying play that also manages to be intimate, intriguing and full of charm. Co-lighting design, John Cabanela; sound design, Frank Incer & Kevin Matthew Wong; music composed by Frank Incer; and the stage manager is Tara Mohan.
Rangshala Studio in Cité-des-Hospitalières is the new performance space for Teesri Duniya Theatre. The city’s requalification project for the building includes artistic and cultural research and creation. Currently, 40% of the building’s north wing is occupied (a number of nuns still reside in the south wing).
Teesri Duniya Theatre presents Broadleaf Creative’s The Chemical Valley Project
March 13 (preview) to March 24
Rangshala Studio, Cité-des-Hospitalières,251 av. des Pins Ouest, H2W 1R6
Opening night is Thursday, March 14
The show runs: Tues.-Sat. at 8pm; matinées 2pm- Sun. Mar. 17, Sat. Mar. 23, Sun. Mar. 24
Tickets: $20/$25 (Mar. 13 preview $15)
Online: teesriduniyatheatre.ticketleap.com/the-chemical-valley-project/
For general enquiries: (514) 848-0238
Ways to get involved and support Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray’s activism: www.broadleaftheatre.com/candy
Producing bold, groundbreaking and culturally diverse theatre since 1981, Teesri Duniya Theatre reflects Canada’s multicultural, multiracial and Indigenous reality. Under Artistic Director Rahul Varma, the company promotes critical thinking, community connections and intercultural dialogue. Change the world one play at a time.
