
Dissonant Species
2024-2025 Cycle

Written by Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence
Directed by Jacquie P.A. Thomas
Cast: Heather Marie Annis, Sam Boucher, Malia Rogers, Michael Gordon Spence, HannaH Sunley-Paisley
A man gets aggressively bumped on the street and it leaves him distraught at the (dis)harmony around him. Through his music and teaching, he searches both for answers and for the frequencies that can correct the disrupted vibrations in his universe.
Every day we must share the planet with people who have fundamentally different beliefs from our own. How do we find harmony in the dissonance? Through Theatre Gargantua’s unique and dynamic blend of storytelling, live music, and physical theatre, Dissonant Species delves into the symphony of human discord that surrounds us.
The first instalment of Dissonant Species was presented November 14-17 at Factory Theatre,
Set Design: Michael Gordon Spence
Lighting and Projection Design: Laird MacDonald
Sound Design: Heidi Chan, Christopher-Elizabeth
Costume Design: Jackie Chau
Stage Manager: Andrew Dollar
What is a first instalment?
Creating new work takes time. Theatre Gargantua develops our Main Cycle of work over a two-year period, slow-brewing it to create a richly layered work. We begin with a concept that is explored through a spring development workshop with all of the artists. The first instalment in the fall of the first year of development is the mid-point of our cycle and the first time that we present the work to a public audience. Not a workshop or a development reading, the first instalment presents the show with full technical elements.
With feedback from our artists and audiences we take the show back into development in its second year where every element of the show gets a second treatment as we pull it apart and rebuild it with a focus on the elements that worked well and a reworking of elements we thought could be improved, sometimes being led in unexpected new directions. All of this work culminates in the premiere of the show in the fall of the second year and the completion of that Cycle of Work.
The end result is a stronger work that reflects the complexities of the topics we engage with and the input of all of the artists and audience members who have participated in the development process.
What’s next in development?
Following the first instalment we will hold a post mortem where we will consider the feedback of the audiences and the things that we felt worked or need work. We then take the piece into a spring development workshop with all of the artists to refine the show before starting rehearsals in the fall for the work’s premiere.

