Goodbye esther
a clown saga about letting go.
“Moving, enrapturing, emotional. Makes the audience ponder their own personal weights, and the importance of the things we cling to.”
creator/performerAs Esther navigates the complex emotions that accompany her end of days, we embark on a clown saga through a grey world with a winding pathway and strange Bird Beings. A solo circus-theatre show about loss, memory, love & mortality. Told through aerial fabric, trapeze, projection, hand balancing, juggling, physical theatre and clown.
COLLABORATORS
Direction: Calvin Petersen
Choreographic Consultant & Dramaturgy: Anna Vigeland
Projection: Evan DeRushie
Lighting: Evan DeRushie & Vanita Butrsingkorn
Set/Installation Design: Emily Hughes & Evan DeRushie
'Bird Gods'/Tech Crew: Vanita Butrsingkorn, Kirsten Edwards & Madeleine Seignoret
Original Music: Mark Brathwaite, Deanna Choi, Stacie Dunlop, cheryl o & Matthew Reid Costume pieces: Amanda Wong, Nicole Malbeuf & Fit2Fly Apparel
Additional choreography: Diana Lopez Soto
Production, Rigging & fabrication support: Charissa Wilcox
Promotional photos by Kaylens
2023 Production photos by Lyon Smith
Videography by Jim Panou & Evan DeRushieCreated with support from the Canada Council for the Arts
2023 Production made possible through support from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council/Government of Ontario & AP Events.
history
The character of Esther first appeared as part of The Stupendous Silver Sisters with Hercinia Arts Collective, back in 2013.
The first seeds of exploration for her solo journey were planted in the summer of 2018 when I went to the Clown Farm to further the basic clown training I had done in theatre school. The Pochinko method that I learned there opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me and I returned in 2019 for the creative bootcamp and developed a first turn around Esther’s death.
In late 2019 I began working with Anna Vigeland as a choreographic and dramaturgical outside eye and received funding from The Canada Council for the Arts for a first pass of research and creation in 2020. Unable to train or work with others in person, I spent the first 3 months of lockdown doing intensive clown research in my tiny apartment and essentially writing the show. Then as soon as I could, I rented studio space and began choreographing. Over a couple months, I worked remotely with Anna, sending videos of my work and getting feedback over zoom, and in-person with my director, Calvin Petersen, who helped develop the narrative and clowning elements. I also commissioned four original musical tracks for different moments in the show. In early August 2020, I wrapped up this first creation cycle by filming the show in its entirety.
In 2021 I received a second grant from the Canada Council for some further development and in April 2022 I presented a first workshop version to a live audience.
Since then I’ve been dreaming, re-writing and envisioning the show in it’s final form. The full version made its premiere in November 2023 at The Playground in Toronto, with support from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council & The Government of Ontario. In addition to the theatrical performance, this version of the show included a pre-show immersive installation, heightening the world of the show and inviting audiences further into the realm of imagination.
