Piaf: Love Conquers All, presented by Tone Poet Productions and written by Canadian playwright Roger Peace, is about the life and times of Edith Piaf. The Brooklyn-based production has amassed momentous success worldwide; it was picked as “Top Ten of the Fringe” at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2005, and has been performed as far as the Philippines.

The play’s associate director Adam Blanshay, who graduated from McGill in 2004, is especially enthusiastic about returning to Montreal to share his work. “McGill was definitely an amazing ground for student theatre and I got unbelievable training there.”

Piaf: Love Conquers All focuses on the last decade of Piaf’s life, with flashbacks to her younger years. The intimate production portrays a sprightly character with a certain joie-de-vivre. Director/designer/producer Naomi Emmerson, who plays Edith Piaf, says her interpretation is based on “how [Piaf might] speak to you and tell you her story if you were in her living room and having a cocktail.” Blanshay adds, “We focus on the relationship between the romances that she had in her life and their influence on her music.”

Emmerson explains that the aesthetic of the production’s vintage set is inspired by Charles Kiffer – a French artist whose iconic art-deco posters advertised entertainers such as Piaf. She continues, “Nothing is in parallel lines. It’s off-kilter; it tries to give a sense that there’s an unbalance, an unsettledness to her story.”

To prepare for the part, Emmerson studied Piaf’s mannerisms, by watching her films and taped live performances. She will be performing the songs herself, supported by a live acoustic piano and an accordion. “It’s definitely Naomi [Emmerson]’s interpretation that impresses them the most,” says Blanshay. Emmerson adds, “I own about 12 biographies and two autobiographies. A lot of the things I take [as inspiration] are what Piaf says about herself – she’s very honest in her self-reflections.”

The play’s songs are performed in French, but the dialogue is in English. “People don’t really need to speak French to understand or to get the full gist of the performance,” Blanshay explains. “We’ve performed the same version in South Carolina. These songs are so resonant and descriptive, that no matter [the audience’s] level of French, they’ll get the full dramatic tone of what Piaf is saying.”

Get out of the McGill bubble for a night of cultural entertainment at the Centaur Theatre in the Old Port.

Piaf: Love Conquers All runs from January 28 – February 8, and there are many student discounts to take into account: there is a discounted price for students to all performances at $30, ten rush tickets will be available for purchase at the box office an hour before each performance for $24, and there are two pay-what-you-can performances – the 28 at 3 p.m., and February 4 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the Centaur Theatre web site: www.centaurtheatre.com

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Realwheels Theatre Company aspires to create and produce world-class art that deepens the audience’s understanding of the disabled experience. The company pursues the universal desire of flying with its innovative play, Skydive, as a means of furthering its raison d’être. Skydive has conquered the West Coast – Vancouver and Calgary – racking up stellar reviews and award nominations and wins, and has finally landed in Montreal for us to enjoy.

The two-actor play unfolds in the 30 seconds of a skydiving free fall, frequently reverting back to moments that preceded the jump. With the technological help of ES Dance Instruments, the characters rarely touch their feet to the stage. Morgan, played by the quadriplegic James Sanders – the founder of Realwheels – is the older brother; Bob Frazer plays Dan, Morgan’s hermetic, agoraphobic, younger sibling.

Morgan, a middle-aged couch-surfer, acts as Dan’s therapist. He decides that the ultimate therapy technique for his younger brother is to jump out of a plane and face his fears. The two brothers embark on a trip down memory lane and discover what caused their falling-out as adults, reconnecting as brothers as a result.

Skydive consists of a wry and witty screenplay, very believable actors, and an incredibly pert eighties soundtrack (from Tom Petty to Corey Heart), but the underlying message is of a more serious nature. Skydive attempts to defy attitudinal barriers that persons with disabilities often face. Sanders doesn’t try to overcompensate for his lack of physicality by presenting himself as a excessively intelligent. In fact, the character of Morgan is lacking not only in smarts, but in all aspects of life. The able-bodied Frazer plays a quirkier, neurotic character who is very intelligent, but manifests all sorts of psychological problems. Skydive destigmatizes disabilities by demonstrating that all people have them, from phobias to paralysis.

Skydive has everything to do with physicality; the actors swing vertically and horizontally throughout, and break out into classic dance moves at times. If the constant movement isn’t enough to keep your attention, the sharp and amusing dialogue is.

Para means “beyond” in Latin, and in my opinion, Skydive is a para-fantastic show. The play not only maximizes the physical ability of quadriplegics, but also allows two actors to fulfill the innate human desire to fly – for 90 minutes straight.

Skydive plays at the Centaur Theatre in the Old Port, and runs until December 7. Visit centaurtheatre.com/skydive.html for more information on schedules and prices.

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Kasim Abid, director of Life After the Fall, offers a thorough psychological portrait of the first four years after the fall of Baghdad. Because he interviews his own middle-class Iraqi family, they are uninhibited in front of the camera and allow Abid to document all aspects of their life and family interactions: celebrations, funerals, and employment.

The director takes a step beyond the gore and destruction of the Iraq war and focuses on the mental impact it has had on the country’s people. He covers issues such as abounding unemployment, religious tensions, political corruption, and terrorism, through the personal anecdotes of his extended family.

As the film progresses, so does the depth of the heartache and the desperation among Abid’s family members. Life After the Fall humanizes the people in the country that has been the subject of endless discussion and scrutiny in the media.

If your heartstrings are ready for a few yanks, take this cinematic voyage through Iraq as it hopscotches from one despotic rule to the next.

Head to the Cinémathèque québécoise on November 22 for a screening of Life After the Fall.

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One of the newer additions to the centre is the Creativity Program, started by Montreal artist Sandra Bailey in 1996. Bailey thought that there was a real need for self-expression through the creative arts among the centre’s members, all between the ages of 30 and 60. Over the years, the Creativity Program has expanded into poetry and music in an attempt to become a catch-all program. When I walked into the art room, I was overwhelmed by the rich colours throwing themselves at me. There were skillful paintings in various styles covering every inch of the walls, art books scattered on tables and in shelves, and a cabinet stuffed to the brim with art supplies. The inspiration surrounding me was intoxicating.

I got the chance to sit down with the coordinator of the art studio, Anne-Marie Beaulieu, and the director of the centre, Alain Spitzer, to ask some questions about the Creativity Program. They explained that the art room is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, and the projects pursued are mostly products of the members’ own initiative. The Creativity Program has been supporting exhibitions and community events since its creation. The artists, all members of the centre, are encouraged to sell their work and receive 50 per cent of the purchase price, while the other 50 per cent goes to the Creativity Program to purchase art supplies.

Nonetheless, while a lot of the members “have low-incomes or are on welfare, and making additional money is good for them,” Spitzer explains, “it’s not the purpose of the program.” “I’m not their art agent,” Beaulieu adds.

“In the centre are urban poor, people with mental health issues – basically people marginalized by society,” Spitzer continues. “As children, we dream; when we’re adults, we’re told not to. The people who succeed in life are the people who still have dreams,” he says. “The marginalized aren’t dreaming; they have no self-esteem; there is no creativity there. This program allows their creativity to come back and offers them a launching pad in all dimensions of life. We are offering a workshop that transfers outside the art studio into everyday life.”

Beaulieu believes that mental health problems are essentially “an energy of the mind and soul you don’t understand. Some of the drug and alcohol abusers here are so mixed up in their heads. But when they pick up the paint brush,” he adds, “their art is raw, and it’s so connected to the person.” The art room coordinator insists that when she promotes exhibitions, she wants society to know that these artists are people who are cared for and have the ability to be extremely creative. Spitzer expands: “We want to build community at the lowest level, share ideas and values, and we want the community to respect the people who are bringing the ideas.”

Check out the St. James web site to stay in the know about upcoming events and on how to make donations: stjamescentre.ca/home.html.

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Let me introduce you to a project that will undoubtedly remedy your musical boredom: Jerusalem In My Heart. This project was spawned by a man named Radwan Moumneh, who was suffering from the very same problem when he first got into music making.

The name of the musical project – Jerusalem In My Heart – alludes to his home country, and makes reference to a fairly politically-charged album by the Lebanese artist Fairuz. A Lebanese Christian prima donna, Fairuz shows solidarity with the Palestinians, and courageously demonstrates national unity through her craft. Her album consists of songs relating to Palestine, and its agitated relations with its neighbouring countries. The Palestinians and Lebanese Christians in Lebanon endured particularly tense and violent relationships throughout the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.

Moumneh first arrived in Montreal with his family in 1993, from the Sultanate of Oman, where they were living during the Lebanese Civil War. When he initially moved here, he was subjected to racial slurs by both his peers and his teachers, as well as an insecurity about his identity. “It’s very hard not to feel like an alien when you have never seen peanut butter and the idea of cold milk repulses you.” He explains that “it was a very difficult transition we made coming here when I was in my late teens. I think it, however, shaped me and my sense of what I have to say with my project.”

Despite his ostracized youth, once Moumneh entered the music scene in 2003, he found the community much more supportive of his project. He claims that “people in the art world are very safe people. I don’t feel that people would criticize something ‘ethnic’ in the same way that they’d criticize a local indie band. No one wants to come across as the person who ‘didn’t get it’ because they might seem ignorant, and that’s sad.” Regardless of the acceptance he has received, Moumneh remains skeptical about his audience’s approval. “It does present a certain element of orientalism, and it is a hard thing to process. Nothing lamer than feeling like you are a circus monkey performing to a bunch of privileged anglophone white art school students.” Surprisingly, Radwan asserts that it’s easier to generate a non-Arab crowd. “What I do is weird for a lot of Arabs. Recently, however, more and more Arabs have been approaching me and telling me about their interest.”

Moumneh has been nurturing this project, which he calls his “defective child,” for the past four years or so – and each performance has been unique. He began performing alone, but the numbers have grown; member counts and instruments used vary with each show. There will be a hefty rhythmic aspect to his upcoming shows on October 23 and 24 at Montréal arts interculturels, he says. “The beast will come from four percussionists and roughly 35 women who will be stomping and kicking their feet to the beats.”

Moumneh insists that he receives his influence both from western music and Arabic music. “I am a fan of ambiguity in art,” he says. “I do it because I need to do it and that’s all there is to it. Pure expression and pure emotion. I haven’t made a record or tried to tour this or anything. I’m just content with doing it here and now.” The pieces performed are an equal blend of re-interpreted classic songs and original compositions. Go treat your ears to this true buffet of music, and indulge in an experience that will never compromise its genuine style.

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I wasn’t really sure what sex workers’ art would consist of. I was further discouraged by the “must be of legal age to enter this site” notice that appeared – I must be getting into something really taboo, I thought. I kept scanning the room to see if anyone was looking, and subtly lowered the screen on my laptop. Nothing to see here, people. The site finally loaded, and I thought I’d typed in an incorrect web address; it was all so unassuming.

SWIRL was born in January 2007 and put to rest in May 2008; the webcast was switched to audio archives as of August of this year due to economic and other problems. It was a project created – and still coordinated – by sound artist Judy Dunaway, as part of her graduate dissertation in music composition. She rallied current and retired sex workers and activists from around the globe to put together a mishmash of interviews, poetry, music, and radio plays. SWIRL is not-for-profit; its primary goal is to artistically promote positivity within sex worker communities.

As I perused the archives, I noted that the majority of the pieces were not at all what I’d anticipated. I had assumed that I’d be listening to emotional responses to objectification and terror. This conclusion most likely stemmed from the negative stigma associated with sex workers. Essentially, they are cast either as the oppressed and destitute, or as an oversexed community running an immoral night empire corrupting our community: neither portrayal is particularly jubilant or positive.

I began listening to L. Elise Bland’s narrative “Cheezy Boots” and started searching for my sunglasses and my kleenex – I was prepared for the heart-wrench. But a few minutes into the story, the strangest thing happened: I laughed. There’s something undeniably funny about a man who gets turned on by a woman squishing a McDonald’s cheeseburger with her knee-high boots. This whole experience had me very disoriented; I couldn’t have been more wrong about my preconceptions.

The SWIRL radio lounge has managed to create a strong backbone for sex workers worldwide. They’re depicted as social workers, proactive in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, as well as human rights activists working against violence and discrimination of gay and transgendered people. And in some cases, the sex workers are depicted as patriotic citizens. Take, for example, Mike Jones, the sex worker who outed Ted Haggard, a politically influential evangelist preacher in the U.S. who publicly denounced homosexuality, all the while engaging in a same-sex relationship. SWIRL offers sex workers across the globe a voice to unite against the oppression and victimization they so often face, but also helps foster creativity and hope within the community. They are humanized here in a way that puts Pretty Woman to shame.

So if you’re interested in jumping into a life you’ve most likely never experienced, there’s a plethora of risqué aliases to click on that will provide you with comedic tales, intelligent panels and interviews, and melodic musical pieces that will potentially change your perception of the sex workers’ community from uneasiness to understanding.

Check out SWIRL online at

. jeweltone16.org/swirl.

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