The World Premiere Of MASHUP PON DI ROAD Will be Presented in Toronto

From July 19 to 27, co-directors Bahia Watson and Liza Paul will bring the show to neighbourhoods around the city.

By: May. 26, 2022
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The World Premiere Of MASHUP PON DI ROAD Will be Presented in Toronto

MASHUP PON DI ROAD by Bahia Watson is an outdoor, bashment circus variety show-on a big truck. Punk in spirit, island in vibe and vaudeville in staging, this joyful rebellion will hit Toronto streets this summer for its world premiere. From July 19 to 27, co-directors Bahia Watson and Liza Paul will bring the show to neighbourhoods around the city. Performances are free, and registration is encouraged: more information can be found at welcometodicircus.com; come one, come all!

"We want to bring some joy and lightness and play to the people of our city," says Paul. "We've all had an especially rough ride the past couple of years; we could all use a moment to free up ourselves and have fun!"

"All the music and comedy and characters are spun around to create a portal for people to enter our universe and exit feeling freer than when they came, that's the intention," adds Watson. "I want them to look out at what was once an ordinary world on the brink of implosion and see another possibility. I want people to leave feeling themselves, and feeling good."

Produced by Paul Watson Productions, in association with Why Not Theatre, MASHUP PON DI ROAD fuses raucous humour with whip-smart cultural critique to poke fun at the constraints of the patriarchy, the expectations of womanhood, and the end of the world as we know it. Through a series of vignettes and songs, two ringmasters and their band of colourful misfits give audiences a funhouse mirror look at the sheer absurdity of this oppressive world.

The full experience begins at 8 p.m. with a pre-show warmup featuring music and local food and drink vendors. The shows begin at 9 p.m. each night, with post-show cool down until 11 p.m.

Performance Dates & Locations:

Community Preview: July 19, 2022, gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. @ Assembly Park
(80 Interchange Way - Sponsored by QuadReal Property Group)

July 21-23, 2022, gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. in The Heart of Little Jamaica
(Green P Lot, 1531 Eglinton Ave West)

July 27, 2022, gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. @ The Bentway (250 Fort York Blvd - Presented in partnership with The Bentway)

"We're very excited to be launching the world premiere in Little Jamaica! Especially after the endless years of horrible construction along Eglinton West we really felt that the community deserves a lot of love and joy and hope MASHUP can bring some of that," says Watson.

MASHUP PON DI ROAD will be performed by Bahia Watson and Liza Paul with Chelsea Russell and Ayaka Kinugawa, with music direction by Maiko Munroe. See the full creative team, here.

Costumes for MASHUP PON DI ROAD have been created by Toronto-raised Mriga Kapadiya and Amrit Kumar of NorBlack NorWhite.

Following their run in Toronto, Liza and Bahia will take another new iteration from the MASHUP universe (called MASHUP ting!) to New York City as part of Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre. Bahia and Liza are part of the Public's New York Voices program, supporting the creation of new works by critically-acclaimed musicians and performers. Fall performance dates to be announced. See more info here.

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welcometodicircus.com

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Paul Watson Productions

welcometodicircus.com
Founded by Liza Paul and Bahia Watson, Paul Watson Productions is a force dedicated to creating politically conscious work that doesn't take itself too seriously. pomme is french for apple, their first collaboration and international sensation, was a simultaneously Caribbean and vaudevillian exploration of the absurdity of women's lives, from Toronto to London to the too-tight crotch of the pants. Paul Watson Productions is a company in residence with Why Not Theatre's SHARE programming platform.

Why Not Theatre

whynot.theatre
We push boundaries, build community, and find new ways. Rethink how stories are told. And who gets to tell them. We MAKE great work that takes chances, and tours all over the world. We SHARE everything we have because more artists mean more stories. We PROVOKE change because we believe art should be for everyone. At Why Not we make things, better. Connect and share: @WhyNotTheatreTO

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MASHUP PON DI ROAD is produced by Paul Watson Productions in association with Why Not Theatre, and supported by Why Not Theatre's SHARE Platform which is sponsored in part by TD Ready Commitment.

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MASHUP PON DI ROAD also received grant funding as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022 (artworxTO.ca), a year-long celebration of Toronto's exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.

Working closely with artists and Toronto's arts institutions, ArtworxTO will deliver major public art projects and commissions, citywide, from fall 2021 to fall 2022. Supporting local artists and new artworks that reflect Toronto's diversity, ArtworxTO is creating more opportunities for citizens to engage with art in their everyday lives. This September, the City of Toronto invites the public to discover creativity and community-everywhere.

From June through October 2022, the City of Toronto's Cultural Hotspot (toronto.ca) shines a spotlight on arts, culture and communities in Little Jamaica and Golden Mile, inspiring a new vision about where culture thrives in Toronto. MASHUP PON DI ROAD is in part supported by the Cultural Hotspot initiative, as a SPARK project to engage community members. Other virtual and in-person Cultural Hotspot projects include visual arts, music, dance, film, youth mentorship and employment, public art animations and installations and more.

MASHUP PON DI ROAD is produced with the support of Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council; presented at Assembly Park, York-Eglinton BIA ("The Heart of Little Jamaica"), The Bentway; with Production Sponsor QuadReal Property Group; and in-kind space partner The Theatre Centre.



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