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Gary Kirkham

PLAYWRIGHT   FILMMAKER   VIDEO DESIGNER

Photo By Tom Vogel
PLAYS

Filmmaker

Dancing Within Our Worlds
Collaboration between filmmaker Gary Kirkham and sculptor Heather Kocsis

Red Tree

With Russian Artist  Lidia Kopina  

Diamonds
Written & Performed by Poesy
وسان (Vason)
With Iranian Artist Yaser Khaseb

Rabia Contra la Violencia
(Rage Against Violence)

By Mexican Artist Gisel Sarahí Vergara Herrera

Dancing Within Our Walls
With Dancer Michele Hopkins. 

Ida, My Dear
(B y   P e t e r   H a t c h)

Trumpeter/Actor Guy Few

Actor/Collaborator 

Buckfast 

Directed by  Duncan Finnigan
A woman does the unthinkable to protect her daughter from the man who would harm her..

GAS VAN SAINTS

Directed by Gary Kirkham

Two petty criminals come up with a foolproof scheme to make easy money....  what could go wrong?

Featuring Badih Abou Chakra, Nicholas Oddson  with DP Duncan Finnigan 

The RUNAWAY  

Directed by  Duncan Finnigan
Based on an improv by Brenden Soloman and Gary Kirkham.

Filmmaker

IN THE PRESS

“The Last 15 Seconds is timeless.
Rarely does a piece of theatre come along that accomplishes so much.”
“…it is the ferocious commitment and the skill these five performers bring to the project that involves every aspect of theatre and movement, masterfully shaped and channelled by Bou-Matar's confident and assured direction that impresses…”
“In a world where we are quick to demonize, they have taken the time to humanize instead and thereby have moved us closer to understanding, if only by a single step.”
“And by such small steps, one suspects, great bridges can be built.”

— John Coulbourn, TORONTO SUN

“Falling: A Wake,” is masterfully crafted. It is an a stunning tribute to everything that matters in the theater....Oh, this is incandescent writing.

By Carol King Daily Gazette

Sometimes the darkest hour really is just before dawn. Sometimes we are most tired just before we wake up. And sometimes there is a play that we absolutely must see to help us understand ourselves better. This is one of those plays.

THE Scoop by D. Lefas

Queen Milli of  Galt.... 

"A breezy, witty, warmly romantic. One of the most promising new plays I have seen in the last five years!" 

CBC - Robert Mitchell

"

...engaging, moving, well deserving of the standing ovation."

- The Citizen

“Pearl Gidley is a modest play. But it is modest in the way Carol Shields’ novels are modest, Alice Munro’s and Ernest Hemingway’s short stories are modest or Anton Chekhov’s plays are modest.”

The Waterloo Record

 

“The audience gave this play a standing ovation, and for good reason…the play touches the heart.”

The Globe and Mail

The Last 15 Seconds  creates an exciting and provocative night of theatre, blending imagery, movement and drama in a powerful way.” 

Atom Egoyan, Filmmaker

In The Press

Video Design

PROject  ProJECT
(ˈproʊ dʒɛkt)          (prəˈdʒɛkt)

There is always a trickery in film... maybe in all art.  By using “old school” film techniques and live projections,  I hope to trick at least a few eyes.

"I have always been fascinated by special effects before the digital revolution, where worlds were created using miniatures, painted glass and various optical illusions. I love the tactile authenticity which digital effects cannot replicate. And rather than recording them and projecting on a screen, I plan to create them live and project on 3D objects, floors, and bodies so that, at some point, the audience does not know whether what they are looking at is real, a projection or both."

My Channel

My Channel
Search video...
3D projection on Sphere

3D projection on Sphere

01:07
Play Video
UnSilent Night Projection Test on Building

UnSilent Night Projection Test on Building

01:06
Play Video
Live analog 3D projections.

Live analog 3D projections.

01:43
Play Video

BIO

Gary Kirkham Playwright  (photo by Tom Vogel)

Photo by Tom Vogel

Gary is a playwright, actor and filmmaker. His plays include Falling A Wake, Pearl Gidley, Queen Milli of Galt, Rage Against Violence (with Dwight Strorring) and Pocket Rocket (with Lea Daniel) .
     Gary is an artistic associate with the MT Space and has worked in collaboration with the company on several shows including The Last 15 Seconds, Seasons of Immigration, Body 13, and AMAL.
      He has written several adaptations including Radio Leacock, Easter by August Strindberg, and Bottom and The Mechanicals

     His plays have been produced by over 50 theatres across Canada and internationally. His plays have been translated into French, Italian and Arabic.

    For the last 6 years he has helped run the MT Space Newcomer Theatre. The program uses theatre as a vehicle for newcomer youth to tell their stories, has mentored over 400 students.

   He was the Blyth Festival’s Playwright in Residence in 2008.
  Gary is a video designer and has created designs for CAFKA, UnSilent Night, The MT Space, Summerworks, NightShift, The Randolph Academy, Greenlight Arts  Canadian Arab Theatre, and Cactusbloem 
He was the 2017 Video Artist in Residence at Idea Exchange.

His awards include: 

Fuse (theatre Calgary)  KW Arts Award, Bernice Adams Award,  Samuel French Playwriting Award, The Tom Hendry Comedy Award (short-listed twice), and 
KM Hunter Theater Award (short-listed )

Video Designer
Bio
Braille daigram of eye.jpg

Transformed Through Touch

Transformed Through Touch was a collaborative project with the deaf/blind community and with myself and artists Gareth Lichty and Meghan Sims. Inspired by a series of creative experiences at the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind
The final project was concieved and designed by 15 year old student Cerenna-Tee Racey.

 

My name is Cerenna-Tee Racey. I am a 10th grade student at W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind. Due to major hearing loss over the last few years, I am now deafblind. I was asked by the Cambridge Art Galleries Idea Exchange to portray what  my world is like on a daily basis. A large part of my world and enjoyment every day comes from music, so I have created music and sounds to allow you a glimpse into my “hearing” world. Everyday social settings are very hard for me to partake  in and I hope that through this installation you can have a better understanding of how diffcult they are to navigate and have a true understanding of what I go through every day. The “secret hideout”and“keyless piano” represent how I am  apart from society and different from the people around me and how I work to fit into the hearing/seeing world around me. I hope you gain a better understanding of deafblindness through this installation and that my creativity also brings you  great enjoyment! I am truly thankful for the opportunity to take part in this project! 

                                                                      - Cerenna-Tee Racey, Project Lead

 

This project was made possible through the Ontario Arts Council Artists in Communities and Schools Projects Grant and the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.   

Thank you to Grand River Sign Design for your in-kind contribution to this exhibition

Transformed Through Touch

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Photo: The Last 15 Seconds
Badih Abou Chakra and Trevor Copp
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