asses.masses

Canadian artists Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim invite us to take part in an exhilarating and extraordinary day of gaming—with no instruction manual. The epic adventure of a herd of donkeys unfolds across a wide variety of game genres, with everything from witty dialogue to scenes of copulation, reincarnation, and revolution.

Facing unemployability in a post-industrial world, the asses set off on a quest to get their jobs back. Will humans agree to give up their machines so that the donkeys can get back to work? In this politically charged, interactive experience, the animals’ success lies in the hands of the audience, an ad-hoc community who become the show’s only performers. Slowly but surely, as power is shared and solidarity spreads, the theatre is transformed by revolutionary fervour.

Produced by Patrick Blenkarn + Milton Lim
Co-direction, text, programming, pixel art, 2D animation Patrick Blenkarn
Co-direction, text, sound design, video, shaders, 3D visual effects Milton Lim
Dramaturgy, text, touring producer Laurel Green
Original music, sound design, audio implementation David Mesiha
Pixel art, 2D animation Clarissa Picolo + William Roth
3D environments Ariadne Sage
Additional programming Samuel Reinhart
French Translation Gilles Poulin-Denis
Created with residency support from Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (Burnaby) + The Theatre Centre (Toronto) + VIVO Media Arts (Vancouver)
Developed with financial support from Creative BC (Vancouver) + British Columbia Arts Council + Embassy of Canada to Argentina and Paraguay
Produced in association with National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund (Ottawa)

Co-presented by Centaur Theatre

Premiered at Risk/Reward Festival for New Performance (Portland), on June 28, 2019

Written by Sara Fauteux
Translated by David Dalgleish