We met at Concordia University where she was enrolled in theatre performance and I was working on a theatre major. We had the same first year production class, which involved learning how to hang lights. (So many C clamps.) We also had mutual friends from Ottawa where we both grew up. However, until last Thursday night I hadn’t seen or spoken to Norah since I graduated in 2012.
I figured it would be good to start with Norah for this project. She could help me kick off the blog by introducing me to people in the theatre scene. It would also give me the chance to reconnect with an old friend.
Activity
We had initially planned to go skating on the canal, but it was snowy and blizzard-y on the night we were supposed to meet up. Norah suggested that we hang out at the National Gallery. Apparently it’s free on and open late on Thursday nights. Who knew?
Fast facts on Norah
- Norah is currently working for the federal government on a casual contract. 90 days of work = money to travel and produce shows.
- She lives in Ottawa with her parents. “My dad is just too good a cook,” she said.
- She wants to buy a van, install a wood stove in it, and go on a trip.
Norah’s Projects
Like any good theatre artist, Norah has many things on the go. Perhaps the most notable is her play Burnt Out, which she wrote and performed at the Fresh Meat Festival in Ottawa this past Fall.
Burnt Out is based on recordings of conversations Norah had while at the Burning Man event in Nevada. For those who don’t know, Burning Man is a week-long event that takes place in the middle of the Nevada desert. Every August, approximately 65,000 people show up to build a huge tent city and create a completely wild carnival atmosphere. On the last day of the week, participants burn a giant wooden effigy.
Norah’s motivation to attend this event and gather recordings from participants was driven by her desire to do more theatre that is grounded in academic research.
“If you’re going to put on a show to try and evoke some kind of social change, it better be well researched,” said Norah.
The project is ongoing, her Burnt Out performance being just the first result of her preliminary round of research.
Philosophy on why and how we do theatre
Norah and I talked a lot about why she does theatre. Norah struggles with feeling self-indulgent.
“I do it because I like it. I do it for me, but I want to do something good for the world. I want to be able to say that something I did helped somebody,” she said.
The problem with theatre is that any effect you may have is completely intangible.
Another problem Norah struggles with is getting trapped in a bubble.
“You go to theatre school and are surrounded by theatre kids and then you go to university for theatre and are surrounded by even more theatre kids and then you graduate and make stuff and you’re like, ‘Wow why isn’t this connecting with anyone?’ Well, maybe because you’ve only been hanging around theatre kids for the last few years. You’re super out of touch with … people.”
Ottawa VS Montreal
Throughout our meeting we spent a decent amount of time comparing our hometown with our university town. We both feel as though opportunities are easier to come by in Ottawa, and that it’s difficult to really pinpoint why that is.
“I feel like a lot of people still trying to do theatre in Montreal are struggling,” she said.
Norah didn’t even intend to settle into the community here. She started doing shows in Ottawa almost by accident and now plans to stay here for at least another year.
We spent most of our time in the Canadian Biennial exhibit. We watched a video installation by Jeremy Shaw called “Variation FQ” and we were both struck by the beauty of the movement but also the Beyoncé-ness of it.
We also saw a guy who looked exactly like her dad.
“I swear to god he has the same hair. The exact same length, same colour, everything,” she whispered to me. “And to top it all off, he’s wearing the same sweater my dad has.”