FOLLOW THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jordan Tannahill
Hello Members,
In this instalment of Follow the Playwright, we feature Jordan Tannahill's rihannaboi95, which was included in his Governor General Award winning compilation of plays Age of Minority: 3 Solo Plays. The play gives us a glimpse into the life of 16 year old Sunny, whose videos of himself lip-synching to Rihanna's songs go viral, and the subsequent fallout. A monologue written in the style of a Youtube confessional video, Tannahill calls to our attention the hyperconnectivity of the world we live in.
Lines are blurred between the private and the public, with platforms like YouTube allowing individuals to communicate with an unknown audience. This new medium lends itself to candid, intimate confessions and the opportunity for the performer to find some sort of affirmation. rihannaboi95 is an excellent example of the emerging genre of web-theatre, wherein narratives adopt and incorporate internet technology. That the play was performed live and streamed nightly is proof of Tannahill's awareness of the human voyeuristic impulse- the experience of watching a YouTube video is usually something people do on their own. It is this, combined with Tannahill's masterful skill of creating a beautifully complex character like Sunny, that makes rihannaboi95 such a disarming piece of theatre.
"I make these videos for you—whoever you are—watching in your bedrooms with the volume low down, or on your headphones, under your covers. I love you. And I need you tonight. More than ever."
(from rihannaboi95)
Rosalie Villanueva
Programs and Services Coordinator
communications@playwrightsguild.ca
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rihannaboi95
- Characters: Male (1)
- Acts: 1
- Running Time: 45 minutes
- rihannaboi95 centres on a Toronto teen whose world comes crashing in when YouTube videos of him dancing to songs by his favourite pop heroine go viral
- a viral play: rihannaboi95 was first produced by Suburban Beast and performed nightly April 23-28, 2013 in an inner suburban Toronto bedroom and live-streamed over the internet.
- Won the 2013 Dora Award for "Best New Play", Theatre for Young Audiences Division
- Published in Age of Minority: 3 Solo Plays, which won the 2014 Governor Gener's Award for Drama.
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photo credit: Lacey Creighton
Biography
Jordan Tannahill is a playwright, theatre director and filmmaker. Through his company Suburban Beast, Jordan stages plays in theatres, galleries, and non-traditional spaces. His plays explore themes of gender politics, youth culture, and marginalized identity through the playful combination of documentary elements and magic realism. In 2014 he received the Governor Generals Award for Drama for his book Age of Minority: Three Solo Plays, the John Hirsch Prize for directing, the inaugural Buddies in Bad Times Emerging Artist Award, the Toronto Arts Foundation's Emerging Artist Award, was named Canadian Artist of the Year by The Globe and Mail, and Toronto's top theatre artist by NOW Magazine and the Toronto Star. In 2013 Jordan won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play for Young Audiences for rihannaboi95, a play performed over Internet live-stream. He is currently in-residence at Canadian Stage, Buddies in Bad Times, and Tarragon Theatre and has upcoming productions at the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Harbourfront Centre's World Stage, the 2015 Pan American Games, and The Kitchen in New York City. He teaches at the National Theatre School of Canada. His book Theatre of the Unimpressed will be published by Coach House Press in the spring 2015. His films have been widely exhibited at festivals and galleries including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the British Film Institute. In collaboration with William Ellis, Jordan runs the alternative art-space Videofag, out of a defunct barbershop in Toronto's Kensington Market. The Globe and Mail recently called Jordan "...the poster child of a new generation of (theatre? film? dance?) artists for whom "interdisciplinary" is not a buzzword, but a way of life"
http://www.jordantannahill.com/
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