A Mystery Play As part of our grand opening event on Saturday, November 6, 2010, Plug In ICA presents “A Mystery Play” - a project by Shezad Dawood, commissioned for Plug In, featuring a newly commissioned score by Michael G Mills, the Wyoming-born composer who has been a former composer-in-residence with both the London Philharmonic and the Deal music festival. The lm installation was produced in Winnipeg as part of Plug-In’s annual Summer Institute in 2010. For “A Mystery Play”, Dawood reprises his interest in Buster Keaton as well as his connection to Harry Houdini, via the Vaudeville Circuit of the 1920s, which coincidentally included Winnipeg, with both performers having performed at the Pantages Playhouse, which is still in use as the Playhouse Theatre. The new work was staged and lmed between the Playhouse, the Manitoba Legislative Building, the Winnipeg Zoo’s lion cage, and various outdoor locations. Drawing on research into the Masonic symbolism inherent in the Legislative Building, parallel ideas of magic, or visual sleight-of-hand encompassed in the work of both Keaton and Houdini, the lm also maps out various other histories and narratives contained within Winnipeg and Canada. Historic gures are introduced, for example, Mademoiselle Adgie, the burlesque dancer who performed with lions for the opening gala of the Pantages Playhouse and Canadian magician, Dai Vernon, known as “the man who fooled Houdini.” The lm itself is an atmospheric black and white short, of thirteen minutes in length, with the action a lyrical interweaving of the plausible connections between the various characters and the city , intercut with the various stages of initiation incorporated into the architecture of the Legislative Building. The lm builds to a nal climactic scene, restaging one of the key stunts from Keaton’s classic 1928 Steamboat Bill Jr., where a house appears to spiral down to the ground in a storm, and Keaton steps through the door, thus bringing together the strands of architecture and screen magic. Event Dates November 10 - December 19, 2010 Address Organization: Plug InInstitute of Contemporary Art ICA Plug In Institute, Unit 1 - 460 Portage Avenue Hours Opening reception: Saturday, November 6 @ 7pm.Gallery hours:Wednesday - Saturday @ 12noon - 9pm, Sunday @ 12noon - 6pm Accessibility Yes Contact Information Phone: 204.942.1043 URL: http://www.plugin.org Ticket Information Free admission Back.
Event Details. Location:
1 - 460 Portage Avenue @t pantages playhouse, winnipeg zoo, who fooled houdini