An NAC English Theatre / NAC Orchestra / NAC Digital Experience and Design Co-production

Irresistible Neighbourhoods: Walking on Water

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Written by David Yee
Music Composed by Chris Thornborrow
Directed by Nina Lee Aquino

In 2035, a podcaster investigating the mysterious disappearances that befell a young family a decade earlier near Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park sets the scene for a suspenseful narrative about a very peculiar house. Could a strangely luminous painting unlock long-buried secrets of what flowed beneath their home?

Featuring Erica Anderson, Zach Counsil, Paul Thomas.
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet: Shauna Barker, Cello: Daniel Parker, Piano: Frederic Lacroix, Percussion: Nathan Petitpas.

The Woman of One Thousand Years
Written by Berni Stapleton
Music Composed by Duane Andrews
Directed by Sarah Kitz

A lonely radio host, broadcasting from a far shore in Newfoundland, inadvertently opens a transmission portal between times. The story that unfolds offers an unforgettable journey from the past, to a life beyond the present, suggesting that everything we need to know is already in the air. Remembering the future is possible for all.

Featuring Deidre Gillard-Rowlings, Anne Hamels, John Koensgen.
Viola: Magali Gavazzi-April, Trumpet/Flugelhorn: Amy Horvey, Double Bass: Paul Mach, Cello: Daniel Parker.

Sound Design and Live Foley: John Gzowski, Dramaturg: Ric Knowles, Climate Dramaturg: Vicki Stroich, Stage Manager: Jackie McCormick

For the second volume of Irresistible Neighbourhoods, English Theatre and the NAC Orchestra join forces as part of the NAC SPHERE Festival to present an intriguing double bill of live radio dramas offering glimpses of imagined futures for two neighbourhoods in Canada, and their evolving relationship with water.

Playwrights David Yee from Toronto and Berni Stapleton from Newfoundland and Labrador, 2023 Siminovitch Prize laureate and nominee, respectively, collaborate with composers Chris Thornborrow and Duane Andrews to craft compelling stories about their selected Canadian locales. As climate challenges prompt us to shift our thinking from ‘what is’ to ‘what if,’ these gifted artists share hopeful visions for their communities, inviting us to consider what might make our own neighbourhoods… irresistible. 

These audio commissions will be recorded in front of a live audience, radio play style, featuring actors, musicians and live foley sound effects. Join us on a journey through the places we call home, where the first step in creating regenerative futures is having the courage to imagine them. 

Listen to the episodes from Irresistible Neighbourhoods Volume One: Ottawa 2044.