Out of the Box Productions was formed in the fall of 2003. We believe that by combining drama, dance, music and interactive technology in unique multidisciplinary works, and presenting in more intimate venues, we have created a powerful way to tell stories that are meaningful for our whole community.
Further, in our last 3 creations, Chromesthesia, Disrupting Solitude and Rallentando we have investigated diverse methodologies of immersive, digital interactivity; pondering the agency of the human in an increasingly digitally mediatized existence while aiming to disseminate the ecological and social influence of a natural setting on the creative process.
Further, in our last 3 creations, Chromesthesia, Disrupting Solitude and Rallentando we have investigated diverse methodologies of immersive, digital interactivity; pondering the agency of the human in an increasingly digitally mediatized existence while aiming to disseminate the ecological and social influence of a natural setting on the creative process.
A Criminal Waste of Time (2023)
a site-specific immersive physical theatre piece that investigates the grave consequences of sleep debt
Full production at Woodland Farm in July 2023
Creator/Director Gwenyth Dobie
Designer William Mackwood from Out of the Box Productions.
Original text by Danielle Janess, author of The Milk of Amnesia (McGill-Queen’s University Press 2021).
Original music by Toronto-based composer Cheldon Paterson (SlowPitchSound), whose unique style of "scifi-turntablism" has amplified stages around the world.
Actor Christina Penhale (Woman)
Actor Danielle Janess (Promoter)
Dancer and Choreographer Kiera Shaw (Sleep)
Opera Singer and Song Composer Erin Cunes (Crocodile)
Full production at Woodland Farm in July 2023
Creator/Director Gwenyth Dobie
Designer William Mackwood from Out of the Box Productions.
Original text by Danielle Janess, author of The Milk of Amnesia (McGill-Queen’s University Press 2021).
Original music by Toronto-based composer Cheldon Paterson (SlowPitchSound), whose unique style of "scifi-turntablism" has amplified stages around the world.
Actor Christina Penhale (Woman)
Actor Danielle Janess (Promoter)
Dancer and Choreographer Kiera Shaw (Sleep)
Opera Singer and Song Composer Erin Cunes (Crocodile)
Is That You? (2020)
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Is that You? (2020) Affectionately called ITY?- a physical theatre piece, created for The Incubator Projects in the Dance Department at York University. Examining long-term implications of Cosmetic and Plastic surgery and complications and risks of Orthopedic Surgery.
A nightmare fantasy featuring dancers from York Dance Ensemble: Sadie Cahill, Bridget D'Orsogna and Taylor Zeller. ITY? investigated the use of interactive technology; triggering sound effects by the dancers from an iPad and having video content manipulated and controlled through the use of Vuo and Qlab. |
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Chromesthesia (2018)
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Chromesthesia (2018) Three powerful women known as Synesthetes live in Chromesthesia. Using their voices and piano to reach in and through the sounds, they capture the vibrations and translate them to colours. Through this ritual, they gather the power of history and knowledge to forge a place of belonging.
The collaborative team included: Gwenyth Dobie, William Mackwood, with Animator Performers: Soprano: Adria McCulloch, Mezzo: Bó Bárdos, and Pianist: Christina Faye. The only software used was Vuo (https://vuo.org) in a single composition that analyzed the voices for pitch (converted to hue), and volume (converted to intensity). The piano was only analyzed for volume (hue was selected by the media animator). In order to isolated the sources, we used contact mics on the singer's throats and the piano soundboard . . . which worked amazingly well. |
Disrupting Solitude (2017)
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Disrupting Solitude (2017) premiered at The Space Between: The Incubator Festival: an interdisciplinary exploration in technology, movement, sound, design and performance featuring talent from the Departments of Dance, Theatre and Computational Arts at York University.
It used 4 kinect cameras, 4 projectors, 6 laptops and a cylindrical projection screen. Disrupting Solitude invites participants to artistically explore the dynamic relationship, tension and potential that exists between people, between people as mediated through technology and the invasive seduction by technology in contemporary life. We question the impact of a virtually mediated relationship, while your potential partner exists in the flesh across the room. Disrupting Solitude ponders the agency of the human in an increasingly digitally mediatized existence. Posthumanism often critically reflects on the deconstruction of the human condition through heightened isolation and the demise of virtuosity: that humanity loses self-differentiation as “technology proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies” (Turkle) |
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Rallentando (2016)
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Rallentando- (2016) Presented at Hub14, Toronto ON.
Rallentando is an interactive installation that invokes a multi-sensory virtual forest experience. Using a combination of images, sounds, and interactive performance, "the audience experiences a gradual slackening of tempo, leaving behind the distractions of contemporary urban life." Rallentando was created by Gwenyth Dobie, with William Mackwood leading the technical integration. Rallentando is based on the Japanese idea of Shinrin-Yoku, or forest bathing. It is an environment that creates calming effects through changes in the nervous system—in the same way as exposure to nature has been proven to do.” |
Bugzzz: a cautionary tale (2012)
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Bugzzz~ a cautionary Tale – (2012) Wychwood Theatre, Toronto, Ontario
What will they say about us when we’re gone? Imagine a future where insects rule the earth. Bugzzz takes place on the crumbling steps of the Paris Opera House, where a curious collective of bugs find a copy of Puccini’s Tosca. Enthralled by the mystical symbols, but bewildered by human emotions, they risk everything to find some value in the buried and forbidden human legacy. |
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Opera Erotique (2010)
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Opera Erotique (2010) Tranzac Club, Toronto, Ontario
The show integrates the world’s sexiest opera repertoire with drama and dance in an unabashed exploration of our deadliest desires. Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle stated, “There is a type of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness is inappropriate.” And so it is that opera’s clever, courageous women have, almost without exception, paid the price with their lives. Though Opera Erotique focuses on these women – their erotic power and refusal to conform – it lives in a world inhabited by fantastical characters whose only desire is to make all things possible. |
Sound in Silence (2008, 2009)
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Sound in Silence (2008, 2009) was presented in Toronto at The Theatre Centre in and at the Belfry Arts Centre in Victoria BC
Inspired by the book “The Brain that Changes Itself” by Dr. Norman Doidge, and the story of the plastic brain of a deaf artist named Gwenyth Dobie…Sound in Silence artistically explores how the brain “hears” sound when the ears are damaged; and reveals the phenomenon of Neuroplasticity. |
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Prior Engagement (2007)
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Prior Engagement (2007) Belfry Arts Centre, Victoria, B.C.
Written by Meg Braem. Commissioned by Out of the Box Productions Society A play with music, about a special clothing-optional lake called Prior Lake, situated close to Victoria B.C. People, in all their flesh, sharing the stories behind their scars. You see, I know why people come here. They come here for the stillness they cannot get from their life. They come to let their insides stop racing,to let the stress sweat out and fall back into the lake. Tiny droplets of city sobbing out of their hot backs, leaving a stillness they don’t know how to describe but tend to call peace. The water changes color The deep end of a dock A pink that’s breathing The dark water solidifies A heart, a muscle , an organ Teeth to the sun A painful smile Life leaves its mark |
The Third Taboo (2006)
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The Third Taboo (2006) Premiered at the Metro Theatre, Victoria, Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, Production Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
The Third Taboo is an exploration of the darker side of love. Based on Giraldi Cinthio’s Hecatommithi (the source of Shakespeare’s Othello) with some text brought forward from Shakespeare’s Othello. The script included excerpts from the book The Third Taboo: A collection of poems on Jealousy. Edited by Heather Cadsby and Maria Jacobs Published by Wolsak and Wynn, 1983 Toronto.
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Opera Erotique (2004)
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Opera Erotique (May 2004) The Event Centre, Victoria, B.C. In support of Aids Vancouver Island Opera Erotique (October 2004) The Event Centre -Victoria, Artspring Theatre- Salt Spring Island, Community Centre - Pender Island, Fire Hall Arts Centre - Vancouver. The show integrates the world’s sexiest opera repertoire with drama and dance in an unabashed exploration of our deadliest desires. Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle stated, “There is a type of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness is inappropriate.” And so it is that opera’s clever, courageous women have, almost without exception, paid the price with their lives. Though Opera Erotique focuses on these women – their erotic power and refusal to conform – it lives in a world inhabited by fantastical characters whose only desire is to make all things possible. Opera Erotique stunned Western Canadian opera scene with its passion and virtuosity and received critical reviews. |