An award-winning living installation about stories of transformation
How does change shape us?
How have you changed?
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Trophy is an award-winning performance installation built around stories of transformation that has been touring nationally and internationally since 2016.
Audiences explore up to one hundred architectural tents in a public space. Inside each tent is a local community member telling the true story of a turning point in their life. Following each story, audiences are encouraged to write their own stories on colourful transparencies. These are attached to the tents, transforming them into multicoloured, translucent structures. Through each interaction, the installation transforms into a living trophy or monument to the experiences that make up our lives.
The tents have been built with sustainability in mind. We have a parallel project of repurposing a portion of our tents as seasonal greenhouses, which we have left with community organisations in the cities in which we have toured.
Collaborators
Director, Producer & Co-Creator: Sarah Conn
Installation Designer & Co-Creator: Allison O’Connor
Dramaturgs: Laurel Green and Joël Beddows
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Each performance is developed in collaboration with local artists including: Marisa König Beatty, Erin Kang, Laura Teasdale, Peyton LeBarr, Laurel Green, Lisa Anita Wegner, Dustin Harvey, and Change of Address.
Partners
Developed with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, Arts Network Ottawa, the City of Ottawa, Canadian Heritage, and STO Union.
Photo: Tim Matheson
Photo: Tamara Him
Photo: Vincent Kimber
Photo: Tim Matheson
Touring
Trophy has toured to 15+ national and international festivals from coast to coast in Canada and across Europe. We have presented Trophy in rural communities (Antigonish NS) and large metropolises (London, England); at theatre festivals (UNO Fest); performance festivals (National Arts Centre’s Canada Scene); design festivals (Prague Quadrennial); municipal performance venues (Vancouver Civic Theatres) and more. The languages the stories are told in reflect the places we’re in. Stories have been shared in English, French, Swiss German, Hungarian, and more.
Past performances
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2014 - Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau, Ottawa (ON)
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2016 - In the Soil Arts Festival, St Catharines (ON)
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2016 - SummerWorks Performance Festival, Toronto (ON)
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2017 - National Arts Centre's Canada Scene, Ottawa (ON)
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2017 - Dublin Fringe Festival, Dublin (IE)
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2017 - Nocturne: Art at Night / Secret Theatre, Halifax (NS)
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2018 - The High Performance Rodeo, Calgary (AB)
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2018 - Harbourfront Centre's Brave Festival, Toronto (ON)
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2018 - Lift Festival private presentation, London (UK)
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2019 - Worldviews Conference, Toronto (ON)
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2019 - Prague Quadrennial, Prague (CS)
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2019 - Intreprid Theatre's UNO Fest., Victoria (BC)
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2019 - Public Energy's [in]SITES Series, Peterborough (ON)
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2019 - Vancouver Civic Theatres, Vancouver (BC)
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2019 - Antigonight: Art at Night, Antigonish (NS)
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2022 - Nuit Blanche North, Toronto (ON)