by Marjorie Chan and Njo Kong Kie | A Theatre Passe Muraille and Music Picnic Co-Production
Photo by Dahlia Katz | In the photo: Bryan Holt, Rong Fu | Production design by Echo Zhou
“The Cello, relentless, eternal, infinite in its beauty. I want to drown in its sound”
Wen and her friend Li-An are forever changed by their encounter with the Cellist, whose music unlocks all that was left unspoken. Co-created by Marjorie Chan and Njo Kong Kie, The Year of the Cello is told poetically, alongside live cello music culminating in a lament for loves lost, and a Hong Kong that once was.
Show Runs
October 15 to 29, 2022
Runtime: 60 minutes
Location
In-person: Theatre Passe Muraille (16 Ryerson Avenue) Bob Nasmith Innovation Backspace
Digital: Binaurial Audio experience
Tickets
Pay-What-You-Can-Afford
$10 | $30 | $60
Credits
Co-Creators
Marjorie Chan
Njo Kong Kie
Writer & Director
Marjorie Chan
Composer, Sound Designer & Musical Director
Njo Kong Kie
Assistant Director
Keshia Palm
Production Designer
Echo Zhou
Dramaturg
Matt McGeachy
Additional Dramaturgy
Indrit Kasapi
Karthy Chin
Stage Manager
Michael Panich
Accessibility Dramaturgy
Jess Watkin
Accessibility Consultant
Vivian Chong
Cast
Rong Fu | Wen
Bryan Holt | Cellist
Brendan Rogers | Cellist
Keshia Palm | Wen (Understudy)
*The Cellist will be played by two performers on alternating days
*This production features compositions by Njo Kong Kie and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach
*Keshia Palm will be playing the role of Wen on Sat Oct 29th at 2:00pm
Learn more
Tickets & Show times
Running October 15 — 29 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace Theatre! For any inquiries, please leave a message for our Box Office staff at 416.504.7529 or by email at info@passemuraille.on.ca
Tickets are now on sale! See our Box Office page for details, and to see which performer is playing The Cellist on which days.
This production is Blind-friendly.
This is a relaxed run.
There is also a Digital audio version available. Created with binaural sound, the recording will give a 360 degrees listening experience of the play.
More accessibility details to be confirmed soon!
If you would like information on the topics or themes in our productions, or to determine the suggested age for attending a performance, please reach out to our Box Office staff at 416.504.7529 or by email at info@passemuraille.on.ca.
The production is presented in-person in a relaxed format and will also offer a digital audio-only experience created with binaural sound technology, providing a 360-degree listening experience of the play. Binaural recording is a method of recording and arranging sound that creates an immersive 3-D stereo environment; it is best experienced through the use of headphones.
The Digital version is available at The Cultch’s RE/PLAY: Digital Playground.
Video by Knowgood Studio | Collages by Emily Jung
Why Music Picnic? A picnic, whether casual or formal, is always eclectic, joyful, whimsical, romantic, intimate and tasty, maybe even meditative – as is the musical experience we strive to create.
Marjorie Chan is the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto since 2019, where she places access, community, innovation and collaboration at the forefront of the company’s approach. Born in Tkaronto (Toronto) to Hong Kong immigrants, she works variously as writer, director and dramaturge in opera and theatre as well as in the intersection of these forms and roles.
Her work has been seen and performed in the United States, Scotland, Hong Kong, Russia and across Canada. Her full-length works as a playwright include Lady Sunrise, The Madness of the Square, a nanking winter, and Tails From the City, as well as the libretti for the operas, Sanctuary Song, The Lesson of Da Ji, M’dea Undone, The Monkiest King, and upcoming The Nightingale of a Thousand Songs. Some of the companies Marjorie has directed for include: Gateway Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Theatre Passe Muraille, Obsidian Theatre and Theatre du Pif (Hong Kong). Marjorie has been nominated for nine Dora Awards and is the recipient of four. She has also received the K.M. Hunter Artist’s Award in Theatre, the Entertainment World Award (Best New Work), a Harold Award, the Bra D’Or Award, as well as the George Luscombe Award for Mentorship. Other notable nominations include the Governor General’s Literary Award for her playwriting debut, China Doll, and the Canadian Citizen Award for her work with Crossing Gibraltar while AD at Cahoots Theatre. She has been artist-in-residence with Factory Theatre, Banff Playwrights’ Lab, Tapestry Opera, Cahoots Theatre, Theatre Centre (with 6th Man Collective), Theatre Direct Canada, SUNY (Geneseo, New York) and Theatre du Pif (Hong Kong). Upcoming works: The Year of the Cello, co-created with Njo Kong Kie and the operatic adaptation of Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing with composer Tim Brady.
Njo Kong Kie: A picnic and ping pong enthusiast, Kong Kie also enjoys composing for dance, opera and theatre. His works include the concert-theatre Picnic in the Cemetery; the song-cycle I swallowed a moon made of iron (set to poetry of Xu Lizhi); comic opera knotty together (with Anna Chatterton); and music theatre Mr. Shi and His Lover (with Wong Teng Chi). Long-serving music director of La La La Human Steps, Kong Kie has collaborated with other choreographers as well as filmmakers to provide soundtrack for their works. www.musicpicnic.com
To schedule an interview with the artist, or staff members at Theatre Passe Muraille regarding this production, please email Red eye media at Suzanne@redeyemedia.ca. We will try out best to accommodate your media requests, however they are not guaranteed.
Implications of abuse and suicide, descriptions of disease.
The original play was commissioned by Diaspora Dialogues under the title “The Birthday Cadenza”. The creators wish to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for funding various stages of development. Additionally, this work has benefitted from workshops from the Banff Centre for the Arts (Playwrights Lab), Factory Theatre (WIRED), and Cahoots Theatre (Hot House).
TBC coming soon
Thank you
Poster Image by Knowgood Studio
