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Artificial Eden

May 21 & May 22 | 7:30 PM + May 23 | 2:00 PM | FREE | Vimeo

Content Warning: Artificial Eden contains strobe lighting and touches upon themes of addiction and one*s mental state under isolation.

What does the landscape of the mind look like in-between states of being?

Artificial Eden was created and filmed on the unceded, traditional lands of the Squamish (S?wx?w迆7mesh ?xwumixw), Tsleil-Waututh (s?l?ilw??ta??), and Musqueam (x?m?牟k??y??m) Nations.

This work was originally written as a hybrid performance piece to be presented live. Due to the pandemic, we followed COVID19 safety guidelines and had 32 hours to film, working across 4 different countries, including: Hong Kong; Johannesburg, South Africa; Karachi, Pakistan; and Vancouver, Canada.

Inspired by Nasa*s HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) Experiment, which was an Analog Habitat for Humans on Mars designed to simulate the effects of isolation and group dynamics; the documentary Dogville Confessions; 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick; Solaris by Andre Tarkovsky; Paradis Artificial by Baudelaire; Charles Bukowski*s poems; the documentary Spaceship Earth about the Bisophere 2 experiment; and near death experiences and rebirth. We also kept in mind the alien forensic who might decipher the meaning of our existence, our continued concerns about the current state of the world, and our treatment of the environment.

Cast

ADAM WAKEFIELD / BUKOWSKI: Blake Hobson-Dimas

EVE WAKEFIELD: Halima Moola

LILITH: Eve Middleton-Meyer

GARY: Zack Faulks  

FRONT DESK: Hassan Babar

HARDY / HOTEL HOUSEKEEPER: Sterling Weran

JAX: Garvin Chan

VIVIAN: Ami MacFarlane  

EMILY DICKINSON / Paramedic 2: Tamlin Vetter

SILVIA: Sonja Tan  

LAUREN / NEWSCASTER: Sabrina Yu

PARAMEDIC 2: Cande Andrade  

Extra: Henry Ho as himself

UNDERSTUDY for / GARY & HARDY: Brett Hubich

Collaboration

Direction: Erika Latta

Assistant Director: Marina Buston

Director of Photography / Editor: Cande Andrade

Set Design: Marsha Ginsberg

Sound Design: Cristian Hobson-Dimas + Beni Hobson-Dimas (Sleepy Gonzales), Stefan Smulovitz, and Yiannis Christofides

Lighting Design: Jacob Ross

Script / Dramaturgy: Erika Latta in collaboration and co-written with the students of the School for the Contemporary Arts / 間眅埶AV: Hassan Babar, Garvin Chan, Blake Hobson-Dimas, Zachary Faulks, Ami MacFarlane, Eve Middleton-Meyer, Halima Moola, Sonja Tan, Tamlin Vetter, Sabrina Yu, Sterling Weran, Brynne Harper, Emma Savi? Kalles?e, and Annabelle Egwalu. Colgate University Students: Rosie Coyle, Matt Cary, Sebastian El Abdellaoui, Clinton Obi and Lindsey Wiley, Brett Hubich, and Marina Buston.

Set Constructions: Great Northern Way

Sound Supervisor / Dialogue Clean Up: Stefan Smulovitz

Director GCA Productions / Events: Miles Lavkulich

Video / Sound Assistant / After Effects: June Hsu

SCA_Production Design (Supervisor): Kyla Gardiner

SCA Technician / Set Install: Paula Viitanen Aldazosa

Costume / Styling and Props: Suzie Zhong / Erika Latta

Stage Managers: Tanvi Doddihal, Yifang (Irene) Weng

Technical Direction: Claudia Chan, Lief Liu

Production Assistant: Brett Hubich

Sound / Audio technician: Rodney Fenske

Lighting / Video technician: Darryl Strohan

SCA Technical Direction: Ben Rogalsky

CA471 Teaching Assistant: Nicole Lamb

SCA Technician / Set Construction: Paula Viitanen

Video Consultant: Wladimiro Woyno

SCA Production Coordinator: Gillian Hanemayer

Film Equipment Supervisor: Corbin Saleken

Communication + Graphic Design: Brady Cranfield

Cantonese Translations: Derek Chan 樁篕 from rice & beans theatre

URDU Translations: Hassan Babar

Quotes: Charles Bukowski, Carl Sagan, Salvador Dali, Beyonc谷, Nina Simone, Emily Dickinson, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchhill, Heiner M邦ller, The Habitat Pod Cast Interview.

Text / Characters inspired by the documentary Dogville Confessions; 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Shining by Stanley Kubrick; Solaris by Andre Tarkovsky; the documentary Spaceship Earth, and the near death experiences of Adam Tapp.

Additional Music

I Don*t Want to Play in Your Yard by Peggy Lee. Sung by Eve Middleton-Myer, accompanied by Sterling Weran on the Ukulele.

Acapella version of Creep by Radiohead

Additional Video Clip

Excerpt of Alfred Hitchcock*s ※Lifeboat§ with Tullulah Bankhead and Mary Anderson.

Filmed on Location

Adam*s Hotel Room: Delta / Marriott Hotel, Vancouver, BC
The Pod: Studio T 每 School for the Contemporary Arts, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Front Desk: KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Second Unit Director: Hassan Babar
Director of Photography: Wamiq Aziz
Additional Director of Photography: Zara Imran Hassan
Sound Equipment and Consultant: Anser Soomro
Sound Capture: Wamiq Aziz
Production Co-Consultant: Salar Jatoi
Drone Footage by: Suleiman Sethi
Set Designs, Props and Costumes: Hassan Babar
Extras: Zain Imran Hassan, Shariq Imran Hassan, Wamiq Aziz and Shahzad Aziz
Special Thanks: Mom and Dad
No camels were harmed in the filming of these scenes.

Newsroom filmed in HONG KONG

Writer*s Hotel room filmed in SOUTH AFRICA
2nd Unit Direction: Halima Moola
Videography: Ayesha Moola
Props and Costume: Halima Moola
Little girl in Lemon tree scene: Yaseerah Ally Kotty
Special thanks: Fahm Supplies

In-kind Contributions

Delta / Marriott Hotel, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Thank You

To the amazing team and to the students who devised Artificial Eden, Hassan Babar, Garvin Chan, Blake Hobson-Dimas, Zachary Faulks, Ami MacFarlane, Eve Middleton-Meyer, Halima Moola, Sonja Tan, Tamlin Vetter, Sabrina Yu, Sterling Weran, Annabelle Egwalu, Brynne Harper and Emma Savi? Kalles?e. First Exploration at Colgate University Students: Rosie Coyle, Matt Cary, Sebastian El Abdellaoui, Clinton Obi, and Lindsey Wiley.

Special Thanks

Elspeth Pratt, Stefan Smulovitz, Cande Andrade, Marina Buston, Kyla Gardiner, Miles Lavkulich, Paula Viitanen, Rodney Fenske, Corbin Salekin, Brady Cranfield, April Sweeney, Anna Labykina, Cristian Hobson-Dimas, Carmel Amit, Anabella Alfonzo, Chris Bouris, Greitje Van Dijk, Arts Club Theatre Company, Delta Hotel Managers: Allison Knott and Amber Douel, #.. and the camel.

Erika's Thanks

For my daughter Marlowe Wilder McMahon

In Memory of Maverette Butler

Cast Biographies

Hassan Babar

From Karachi, Pakistan, Hassan Babar is your fellow neighbourhood coffee connoisseur, devourer of all things delicious, and a man sometimes out of time. As a Muslim and as an immigrant, he aims to provoke that which is deeply visceral by incorporating writing, directing, and performance into theatre and film. Though based in Vancouver, Canada, he is currently on an alien planet attaining mastery in his crafts.

Garvin Chan

Garvin Chan is a theatre artist and wannabe poet from Hong Kong. His usual interest in exploration is in combining body, language, and the passage of time, drawing from personal and political histories and thrusting them into imaginary realms.

Zack Faulks

Zack Faulks is an actor born and raised on the unseated k?ik?????m, Tsleil-Waututh and x?m?牟k??y??m territories, now called Coquitlam. He has steadily been going insane during the pandemic, and so he very much appreciated this chance to express some of that. He looks forward to developing his devising process and creating work with all of the incredible artists surrounding him.

Blake Hobson-Dimas

Blake likes the climb up rivers and float down the stairs.

Eve Middleton-Meyer

Eve (she/her) was born in Calgary, Alberta on the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 people. She currently lives, works and plays on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples每S?wx?w迆7mesh (Squamish), St車:l身 and S?l?赤lw?ta?/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and x?m?牟k??y??m (Musqueam) Nations also known as Vancouver, British Colombia. Eve is an interdisciplinary artist with training in performance, dance, music, visual art and writing. She is currently working on new projects with several 間眅埶AV student collectives and is looking forward to graduating soon.

Halima Moola

Born and raised in the countryside of the vibrant Johannesburg, South Africa, Halima Moola is an international student. Known for its world-class hospitality and the most humorous folk, South Africa overflows with diversity. Coming from a land that is rich in religions, cultures and traditions, she is an Indian, Muslim woman. taking her knowledge and experiences to South Africa and giving back to local communities is close to her heart. Through her art, she aspires to educate and bring about impactful awareness of her heritage, cultures and religion.

Sonja Tan

Sonja Tan was born and raised on the Indigenous homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututh First nations, in the place now commonly known as Vancouver. She was always curious about the film world and being in this project gave her a little taste of what it*s like. She hopes to further explore the world of film and television in the future.

Tamlin Vetter

Tamlin Vetter was born and raised in Salmon Arm B.C. on the lands of the Secwepemc迆l'ecw (Secw谷pemc) nation. Though her background training has been extensively in dance, she has recently taken a dive into the world of film and theatre. Her current endeavours revolve around the intersection of film and theatre and the creation of new mediums in this pandemic gripped world.

Collaboration Team Biographies

Marina Buston | Assistant Director

Marina Buston (b. 1996, Calgary) is a writer, director, performer, theatre-maker, and occasional barista living on the stolen lands belonging to the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Indigenous Peoples. She makes up one half of Lo-Fi Spectacle Club, a new performance collective, and graduated/emerged from 間眅埶AV*s Theatre Performance program in the spring of 2020. Her interests in the theatre include, but are not limited to queering form (as a political and aesthetic act), drag and clown as forms, as well as the aesthetics and implications of mess, indulgence, excess, abundance, cheapness (out of necessity and choice). Past works include collaborating on the adaptation of Eddy Van Wyk*s award-winning Fringe show into a film, adaptation and direction of THE LEVEE AND AN OBLATION based on The Levee by Taylor Mac and An Oblation by Taylor Mac, adaptation and co-direction of notnothamletmachine, a clown performance based on Heiner M邦ller*s Die Hamletmachine, which is itself an adaptation.

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May 23, 2021