“Canary in a Gold Mine” tells the story of Jon Mirin’s wife and production partner, Godeliève Richard, developing a disabling condition called electrical hyper-sensitivity or “microwave sickness.” Real-time discussions with doctors, scientists, thought leaders and the creative team will follow each performance.
By Cori Urban | Special to The Republican, masslive.com, Updated: Feb. 06, 2022
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| (Choice of photo by Editor, "Towards Better Health") |
The Ko Festival of Performance will showcase Mirin’s piece, which uses a comedic lens to explore fatherhood, marriage and environmental health — to call attention to a new genre of theater work for the small screen born as a result of COVID-19. It will be presented Friday through Sunday, Feb. 11-13.
“Canary in a Gold Mine” tells the story of Mirin’s wife and production partner, Godeliève Richard, developing a disabling condition called electrical hyper-sensitivity or “microwave sickness.”
“People suffering from this condition are essentially refugees from contemporary society because they experience severe neurological symptoms from exposure to the wireless radiation which is now everywhere (or almost everywhere),” he said. “Like with any disabling condition, when one person suffers, it impacts the whole family. ‘Canary’ offers a prism where people who have suffered from environmental illness (or any chronic condition) can experience a feeling of being understood. … The same goes for their friends and family.”
Personally and artistically he chose to find as much humor or lightness as possible in the situation: “No one who is suffering wants to go to the theater (or the web) and suffer more.”
The production will be shown online Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 13, at 3 p.m. Real-time discussions with doctors, scientists, thought leaders and the creative team will follow each performance.
“Being able to ask questions and hear the perspectives of MD’s and scientists who have devoted their careers to this research can help clarify misunderstandings,” Mirin said.
Audience members will be able to ask questions or comment via Vimeo’s chat function.
The production will have an online version of Ko’s lobby displays with readings, images, weblinks and materials that enrich the audience experience. A captioned version will be available.
All shows at the Ko Festival are original works created by the same artists who perform the work. Often, as with “Canary in a Gold Mine,” they are documentary or autobiographical.
“I think that in this time when COVID-19 has done so much to keep us apart, the authentic and personal nature of this work creates a really intimate experience,” said Sabrina Hamilton, artistic director of the Ko Festival of Performance in Amherst. “Jonathan’s talking directly to us — and it’s a true story. We see him as a father and as a husband, whose life has been completely upended by his wife’s acute sensitivity to wireless. He’s been working on related environmental health issues in all the ways he knows how — endless local government regulatory meetings, as part of a groundbreaking lawsuit against the FCC, working with local, national and even international groups organizing about this issue.”
Ko tries to present work that’s timely, and this production is no exception. “This show takes a complex issue, and instead of a dry scientific lecture, puts a human face on it. Funny, sweet and entertaining, it’s a 21st-century love letter and eco-justice adventure,” Hamilton said.
Tickets must be purchased in advance so that the Ko Festival can send the weblink two hours before the event begins.
Tickets are $32 patron price, $22 standard price and $11 discount price.
For more information and tickets, visit kofest.com.
https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2022/02/ko-festival-of-performance-to-present-canary-in-a-gold-mine-online.html
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