What We Want is Free ...is a book that we love. It was late fall or winter or it was May 2008--we don’t remember--but we do know that it was mia who was busy shelving books at the Calgary Public Library when “what we want is free” fell to her feet. It was fate or chance or actually somebody from the other side of the shelf pushed it to the floor. And there on the shelf: a temporary gap in the numbers that organize and arrange these busy books from left to right. It was in this new shadowy space between books that mia could see new things, like a boy named eric on the other side. They immediately knew that what was free, was meeting people and funny tricks. They knew that gifts plus people equal happy and uncertain, and that uncertain meant that they were happily made for each other...
Calgary citizens and Alberta Theatre Projects audience members are invited to become cultural (secret) agents!
Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis’ newest project, Each Other--a free shop located in the lobby of the Martha Cohen Theatre until March 7 . Open before performances during Alberta Theatre Project’s 24th Annual playRites Festival, you will find free handmade supplies that bring together elements of craft, performance, and civic participation. The supplies are designed specifically to send you back into the city to complete an activity. (In theatrical terms, we are giving you stage directions and the props required to undertake an action).
The purpose of Each Other is to lead participants towards an experience of civic participation. By engaging the city and other citizens through performative gestures (i.e., dropping things on other peoples heads! making seed stencils, or getting lost), participants are engendered as active agents and collaborators in creating and negotiating temporary public
Visit the shop on Sunday Feb 28 at 1:00 p.m. when we will lead a public workshop.