“12” on the big stage
A wonderful love story from your kids to you, about our shared planet.
My regular reader knows I’ve been involved with the lovely Kristina Watt and her production, “12,” for a few years now. I wrote about the play in the Citizen once, then twice. I’ve been following the work of these young actors, documenting it and even bringing my teenagers along — one who took pictures with me and the other who drew sketches of the production.
This week, after so much work and so many repetitions and so many iterations and changes and rehearsals and ups and downs and what have you, the play reaches the stage at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. It opens Thursday and there are shows available through the weekend.
They are set-your-price tickets (you choose whether you pay $8, $15 or $20 — the experience is the same) and there’s plenty available. Proceeds will go towards financing more such youth productions.
I’m copying the press release below, which includes details about the play and the people involved in its production. I highly encourage you to see it. It’s a unique experience. Everyone I know who has seen it has been blown away by the experience, the drive and talent of the young performers, the seriousness of the message, the urgency of their love for the planet and their touching hope that humanity will somehow come together and make things right.
I’ll be there Thursday night. Hope you make it.
12, “an urgent love story between generations” opens May 4 at GCTC
The revolution is not yet over. Opening May 4, 2023 and running for just three days, the 100 Watt Youth Ensemble brings 12 to the GCTC stage. 12 is an intergenerational love story towards the planet we share. It is a playful theatrical invitation by youth to all ages to stop, listen, and consider what it really means to take action.
12 is theatre for audiences of all ages but –by necessity– co-created and performed by youth. The script is built from conversations with 11 teens, interviews they had with citizens of Ottawa (all ages), text from COP24 in Poland, and words by global youth activists such as Boyan Slat, Greta Thunberg, Xuihtezcat Martinez and the Australian high school students who were told by their Prime Minister to be “less activist.”
Created and directed by Kristina Watt Villegas, in collaboration with the youth ensemble, 12 gives voice to youth with regards to the climate crisis and a future that they’ve inherited. 12 is not blame, nor is it despair. A playful collision of numbers and truth, outrage and humor, and resilience and frailty, 12 is a theatrical invitation led by youth to stop, listen, and question what it means to take action together at the 11th hour.
“In 2018, I met a group of 12 youths,” says Watt Villegas. “That same year, I put my focus on creating theatre that puts the youth perspective at the centre of the story, and performs for audiences of all ages.”
Five years later, Watt Villegas has now known some Ensemble members for a third of their lifetime. “I’ve witnessed their artistic growth, but also, I have seen them evolve through a pandemic, handle broken hearts, and make epic life decisions. 12 is as much a story about what it is to be a teenager today as it is about a climate crisis.”
In a world inundated with multiple crises, Watt Villegas asked the cast “why should people come to show about climate change?” They answered. “Because we still need you.”
12 will offer five shows over three days at GCTC’s Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre. There will be a Visual Art Exhibit in GCTC’s lower and upper lobby spaces that showcases the art of youth in response to building 12 and to climate change.
Creator and Director: Kristina Watt Villegas
Performers and Co-Creators: The 100 Watt Youth Ensemble
Cast
2022-23 Performers & Collaborators: 12 youth ages 15 - 18
Sofia Henson Preibisch as #1
Sébastien Cimpaye as #2
Olivia S. Smith as #3
Ethan Whidden as #4
Anna Wiebe as #5
Marisol Cavas as #6
Sophie Dean as #7
Ana Clara Bouffard Lima as #8
Jax Young as #9
Natasha Knight as #10
Brianna Lortie-Chartrand as #11
Taiya Peckham as Swing Understudy
Production Artists: 2022-23
Rachel Van Lanen | Stage Manager
Drea | Rehearsal Stage Manager, Production Assistant and Disability Consultant
Rhea Sawan | Assistant Stage Manager
Kyle Ahluwalia | Lighting Design
AL Connors | Sound Design
Kristina Watt Villegas | Sound Concept
Kristina Watt Villegas, Olivia Smith (with Jax Young & Sofia Henson Preibisch) | Set & Costume Design
Carmelle Cachero and Jo-Anne Bryan | ASL Interpretation Artists
142_Azure | Youth Music Composer
TICKETS
Tickets are general admission, and available at gctc.ca or at the box office. To provide more financial accessibility, tickets for 12 are based on a Pick-Your-Price model. Audiences can choose from the following prices: $8, $15, $20. All tickets will provide the same experience. Audiences are encouraged to pick the ticket price that makes the most sense for them. Proceeds from ticket sales support future professional theatre projects with youth.
ACCESSIBILITY & PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
ASL Performances: This show features ASL interpretation at the Friday May 5 12PM performance as well as the Saturday May 6 2PM performance.
ABOUT GCTC
GCTC is celebrating its 48th Season in 2022-23. We continue to foster, produce and promote excellent theatre that provokes examination of Canadian life and our place in the world. GCTC aims to increase the diversity on its stages, in its creative teams, make its work inclusive for more audiences and deepen their experience. GCTC also continues to embrace artistic risk and to ensure a wide range of theatrical experiences.
https://www.gctc.ca/
ABOUT 100 WATT PRODUCTIONS
100 Watt Productions: Innocent Anarchy is an independent theatre company that creates and produces theatre that questions our relationship to the planet and with one another. Kristina Watt Villegas leads the anarchy.
https://12-100watt.com/