SIA
by Matthew MacKenzie
2012 Factory Theatre
The day Canadian volunteer Nick Summers is scheduled to fly home from Ghana, he wakes up hung over and tied to a chair. His new friend Abraham, a former child soldier from Liberia, has taken him hostage in a desperate bid to stop a war crimes trial at the International Criminal Court. If Abraham does not succeed, Nick will not survive. This is the story of how personal choices can have global consequences. SIA shatters our First World illusions, forcing us to face the harsh truth: we are all prisoners of our own sense of entitlement.
History of SIA:
• 2010 Toronto Fringe Festival (Outstanding New Play award from NOW Magazine)
• 2010 Grand Prize recipient of the 44th Alberta Playwriting Competition
• 2010 Staged Reading, Preview of the Arts, The Bridge Theatre Company, NYC
• 2011 Public Reading, The Bridge, NYC
• 2011 Staged Reading, The Actor’s Company Theater Off Broadway, NYC
• 2011 Workshop in partnership with the Liberian Dance Troupe, Monrovia, Liberia
Changing the World in Full Colour
As we gear up for the world première of Matthew Mackenzie’s SIA in March 2012, we are working with this immensely talented playwright to fulfil his vision of changing the world through art. With the generous support of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ TRIP, the Canada Council for the Arts’ Theatre International Program and the National Theatre School’s Cultural and Artistic Leadership Program (CALP), Matthew and Cahoots General Manager Sandra Lefrançois will be travelling to Liberia this month.
Please support our Kickstarter project HERE BEFORE NOVEMBER 10!
SIA will be receiving a workshop with Liberian artists in partnership with the Liberian Dance Troupe to initiate the artistic exchange of our works and processes. We will also be exploring touring opportunities for the Cahoots production of SIA in Liberia, as well as participating in the building of a new home for the Liberian Dance Troupe.
The LDT is an incredible group of young Liberian artists created in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. Through Dance, Music and Drama, the LDT celebrate Liberian culture and raise awareness about major issues facing young people in their communities such as AIDS, drug abuse and teen pregnancy. Through our partnership with this dynamic young company, we are sowing the seeds for meaningful artistic exchange, and creating opportunities to share powerful works such as SIA beyond Canadian borders.
If you would like to receive a tax receipt for your donation, you can also donate through CanadaHelps HERE and include “LDT” in the instructions.
