Counting Sheep
Surrounded by video news footage of the Maidan Revolution in Kiev in Winter 2014, immersed audience members reenact key moments of the protest including eating, dancing, building a barricade, throwing bricks at riot police, and attending a funeral.
Production Credits
Created by: Mark and Marichka Marczyk Collaborating Directors: Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin Music Played by: The Lemon Bucket Orkestra Produced by: Selfconscious Productions Developed with support from: The National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund, St. Vladimir Institute, Shevchenko Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. |
Production History
VAULT Festival: London, UK 23 January-17 March 2019
Cal Performances: UC Berkeley/Oakland, CA 16-18 February 2018 Stanford Live!: Stanford, CA 7-10 February 2018 3LD: New York City, NY 28 November, 5-17 December 2017 Hull Freedom Festival: Hull, UK 30 August - 3 September 2017 Kilkenny Arts Festival: Kilkenny, IRE 13-19 August 2017 Ruhrfestspiele: Recklinghausen, GER 2-6 May 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Edinburgh, SCO 4-29 August 2016 SummerWorks Performance Festival: Toronto, ON 26 May - 5 June 2016 SummerWorks Performance Festival: Toronto, ON 15-16 August 2015 St. Vladimir's Institute (workshop): Toronto, ON 22 January - 1 February 2015 |
Read more in PLAY: Dramaturgies of Participation: SHEEP, ABYDOS, MAD LIBS, THE MATRIX, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SWEATING
Press
“In Counting Sheep, you don’t watch the action. You’re a part of it” - NOW Toronto
"Counting Sheep is a wondrous experiential work that is engaging, fun, alarming, joyous and thought-provoking. By being directly involved with the work’s unfolding narrative, audience members are forced to confront their own feelings around engagement, community and the nature of theatre itself." - The Toronto Star
"Counting Sheep is a wondrous experiential work that is engaging, fun, alarming, joyous and thought-provoking. By being directly involved with the work’s unfolding narrative, audience members are forced to confront their own feelings around engagement, community and the nature of theatre itself." - The Toronto Star
Awards
Winner of the Scotsman Fringe First Award
Winner of the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression (Highly Commended)
Winner of The Summerhall Top Prize
Winner of the Dark Chat Special Award
Total Theatre (shortlist)
Carol Tambor Best of Fringe (shortlist)
TVBomb Grounbreaker (shortlist)
Winner of the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression (Highly Commended)
Winner of The Summerhall Top Prize
Winner of the Dark Chat Special Award
Total Theatre (shortlist)
Carol Tambor Best of Fringe (shortlist)
TVBomb Grounbreaker (shortlist)
Articles
Jenn Stephenson, “Real Bodies Part 1: The Traumatic Real in Immersive Performances of Political Crisis and Insecurity—Counting Sheep and Foreign Radical,” Insecurity: Perils and Products of Theatres of the Real (U of Toronto P, 2019), 169–209.
Michael Rubenfeld, “Extreme Measures,” Canadian Theatre Review 179 (Summer 2019): 55-59.
Michael Rubenfeld, “Extreme Measures,” Canadian Theatre Review 179 (Summer 2019): 55-59.