Preview
MUMMENPANSZ
Theatre of the Living Statue and Ground Zero Theatre
Written and performed by Anita Miotti
Directed by Abby Charchun
Runs May 9 to 14
Big Secret Theatre (Epcor Centre)
You are Anita Miotti’s pants. These pants, of course, would be no ordinary pants, just as Miotti is no ordinary performer. Oh, no. These pants are malleable. Big, black stretch pants. Playful pants designed to be whimsical, weird and beautiful. And these pants promise no less than enlightenment.
Now they are stretching their way back to Calgary, two years after their hit debut at the Solocentric Festival.
Ground Zero Theatre is presenting the encore of Theatre of the Living Statue’s Mummenpansz, a show written and performed by Miotti from the point of view of a young woman’s pants.
"It’s a metaphorical tale about the end of a relationship and the beginning of another," says Miotti. "The girl is falling out of love with a dead dog, and into love with the alley cat. And the alley cat is sort of this Tom Waits kind of character – a smooth musician type."
Actor-violinist Matt Woodward, who has also provided the show’s musical score, plays the cat.
Miotti describes Mummenpansz as a dance theatre piece. "There’s lots of movement and lots of text… and it’s poetic, but really whimsical, really fun, and (there’s) lots of inside-the-pants stuff going on."
But what is the cat and dog metaphor all about?
"I’ve often heard people identify themselves by their loyalty to either cats or dogs," says Miotti. "Like, most people don’t say ‘Oh, I’m a gerbil person,’ or ‘I’m a fish person… or a rhinoceros person,’" she says with a laugh.
"I used to be a dog person – I grew up with dogs," she continues. And then she met her future husband, Ty Semaka, lead vocalist of The Plaid Tongued Devils. "He was this total cat person and there were, like, nine cats in the house… and at first it was kind of weird, ’cause I hadn’t really had a lot of exposure to cats." But her exposure to his felines converted her.
"I’m their mom," she says. "I’m totally in love with them and I couldn’t imagine my life without them. So I guess that journey for me was part of falling in love with my husband."
In her show, cats and dogs represent two different kinds of love. "A dog is about loyalty and love," she says. "Dogs love you, and it’s obvious they love you. A cat is not so obvious. A cat watches you, or a cat waits, but rarely do cats ever really show affection. They show that they want affection, and you have to work for the cat’s love."
After its première at Solocentric, Mummenpansz went on to tour the summer fringe festival circuit in 2004, playing Montreal, Winnipeg and Saskatoon to sold-out houses. Although it’s set inside a pair of pants, director Abby Charchun says Miotti’s offbeat work appeals to audiences because it isn’t contrived, but honest.
"She’s really found a lot of truth with her words, and I think that speaks to people," says Charchun.
Of course, she concedes, it’s still a weird show. "I mean, it’s linear, but it’s absolutely weird – and that’s what’s lovely about it." |
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