OVERHEAR SASKATOON (2016, 2017, 2018)
CO-CREATORS: Torien Cafferata, Amberlin Hsu
DIRECTOR: Torien Cafferata
DEVELOPER: Jacob Niedzwiecki
SOUND DESIGN: Connor Brousseau
STORYTELLERS: Lauren Allen, Erin Brophy, Braden Butler, Yulissa Campos, Amberlin Hsu, Yvonne Emmanuel, Andrea Folster, Bethani Jade, Ali Kharsi, Aaron-Marie Nepoose, Elise Pallagi, Shanda Stefanson, Tina Thebeau
VENUE: Various (promenade)
OVERHEAR PARIS (2017)
CO-PRODUCERS: Lauren Allen, Stephanie Merulla
DEVELOPER: Jacob Niedzwiecki
SOUND DESIGN: Connor Brousseau
STORYTELLERS: Claire Burgess, Rachel Cunningham, Cecilia Gragnani, Martha Patterson
VENUE: Promenade
OVERHEAR TORONTO (SUMMERWORKS 2018)
CO-PRODUCER: Apuka Theatre
DIRECTOR: Natalie Feheregyhazi
DEVELOPER: Jacob Niedzwiecki
SCENOTURGY & TECH DIRECTION: David DeGrow
SOUND DESIGN: Jay Deen & Jason Sadlowski
STORYTELLERS: Kocou Dansou, Alaric Johnson, Chantal Deguire, Eunice Keitan, Julian Bustos, Sue Croweagle, Christian Arellanos
VENUE: Promenade
OVERHEAR PRAGUE (Prague Quadrennial 2019)
CO-CREATORS: Torien Cafferata, Amberlin Hsu
DIRECTOR: Torien Cafferata
DEVELOPER: Jacob Niedzwiecki
SOUND DESIGN: Connor Brousseau
STORYTELLERS: Claire Burgess, Charlene Chen, Sue Croweagle, Amberlin Hsu, Ali Kharsi
VENUE: Promenade
OVERHEAR OUT (OUT Saskatoon Eleganza Extravaganza 2021)
DIRECTOR: Torien Cafferata
SCENIC DESIGN: Amberlin Hsu, Brooklynn Bitner, Torien Cafferata
DEVELOPER: Jacob Niedzwiecki
SOUND DESIGN: Torien Cafferata
STORYTELLERS: Lauriel Chang, Amberlin Hsu, Robert Grier, Torien Cafferata
VENUE: South Saskatchewan River
Overhear (2016+)
Overhear is an ongoing international documentary theatre project and our most ambitious work to date. The journey began in 2016 when various immersive works at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival inspired us to enter a whole new realm of theatre. The result: an app-guided promenade show designed to be experienced by one audience member at a time. The venues: local parks, streets, bridges, any urban nooks the audience can find on the app. The stories: audio monologues, poetry, confessions — secrets of the strangers you pass by on the street. The storytellers: all local, ideally with no classical training, invited to write, record, and stage their stories guided by our dramaturgy. The choreography ranges from holding hands on a walk, sharing a drink at a bar, cloud-gazing, to being invited to dance down the street. The theme and cast varies depending on the city in which an Overhear is produced, but the format is always the same.
Ultimately this project is an experiment in radical listening and seeing both places and non-places in new ways. For us this means a kind of augmented reality. It means learning how to care for one another — as storyteller, as audience, and ourselves as producers and dramaturges. Overhear is a constant non-verbal 1-on-1 negotiation between audience and performer, overseen by ushers for safety, all with connection, consent, and intimacy in mind.
The theme began in Saskatoon as “stories you have been told not to tell” in 2016 with an all femme cast. Then in 2017-2018 it became “home and belonging” and saw largely Indigenous and newcomer casts in Saskatoon, Toronto, and Paris, an endeavour recognized by an Innovation Award in the 2018 SATAs.
At Prague Quadrennial 2019 the experience became part installation, in which audiences had to find, read, write, and hide secret letters in stories about “home and why you left it.”
For OUTSaskatoon’s 2021 Winter Festival, we hid four installations along the South Saskatchewan River in specially chosen locations, each one with a story about queer love — two from here, two from the other side of the world.