Purple Divine Will Present its Inaugural Production GOING UP (via BWW Montreal)
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Originally posted November 6, 2019
By Stephi Wild
PURPLE DIVINE presents the premiere of Going Up, a 40-minute psycho-erotic drama by Kiki Dranias, directed by Jen Viens. Featuring Paul Van Dyck and Kelly Craig, the site-specific play takes place in a freight elevator from November 21-30. Not recommended for claustrophobics.
In the immersive environment of Going Up, two strangers get stuck in an elevator and end up being both pawn and key masters to each other's deepest, darkest desires. Here, a man with a death wish comes face-to-face with a suppressed killer, with no way out. This stark, avant-garde theatre piece unravels itself while probing deep-rooted struggles with depression, control, the right to live-and-die, and self-actualization.
From playwright Kiki Dranias: "A writing class once suggested I take my creative voice and exaggerate it. At the time, both a sexual harassment/assault scandal and Canada's assisted-suicide laws were making headlines across the country. The combined stories got me thinking about the license society has to judge. And, how one individual may get restricted and another encouraged, all depending on their adhered-to desire or aversion. Five years later, Going Up is seeing the light!"
Director Jen Viens was drawn to directing Going Up because it asks questions that society tends to shy away from, "Who decides what is right and wrong? From where are our values cultivated? If we were free from social restriction, what desires would we give in to? I appreciate that this story explores these hard questions through two complex people, and it does so without judgement, but rather with curiosity. We need to be talking about things that scare us; to have more of these uncomfortable conversations. Art allows us the freedom to do so," she said.
Going Up playwright Kiki Dranias is the author of Blood is Blue; this is her playwriting debut. A mom, poet and writer, Dranias also works for KidsPlay Mission and Teesri Duniya Theatre. Jen Viens is a director, actor and producer originally from BC. She studied theatre at UBC, and trained with Matthew Harrison at the Actor's Foundry in Vancouver. Viens relocated to Quebec five years ago and currently works in Montreal and Toronto. The movement director is Stephanie Breton; costumes are by Alexa Parker. PURPLE DIVINE promotes and publishes work they deem poetic and beautiful. The company plans to tour the show to Vancouver, Toronto and Athens.
