Contributing writer, Tiva Quinn, checked out a few shows being featured as part of the rEvolver Festival. This festival featuring young contemporary artists is on now at The Cultch until June 3rd. Get out and see for yourself what’s on. Visit The Cultch for tickets.
BUG
Bug clearly shows that young Ojibwe artist Yolanda Bonnell is a performer and creator to watch. In this one-woman show about addictions, intergenerational trauma and the foster care system, Yolanda portrays a young woman growing up too fast and accepting abusive relationships into her life as a sign that she matters to someone. She also portrays the young woman’s mother, wrestling with her addictions and with questions about whether or not she deserved to have her child taken away by the government. And in a strange and powerful way, she also gives voice to the power of addiction and intergenerational trauma itself, manifesting as Manidoons – the Ojibwe word for bug or worm. The two human characters, mother and daughter, become stunningly real and complex in a short period of time – while the Manidoons are represented as a simple, genuinely creepy being who cares only about gaining more and more control over human lives.
PROBABILITY
Next I went to Probability, a show about two women who may or may not end up in love, and may or may not succeed in making a go of it if they do. Probability managed to be laugh out loud funny in several places, while also digging into some pretty deep material about the things we want and the things we fear in intimate relationships. The improv game technique of having two actors represent the characters in the story while another two represent their inner monologues is used to excellent effect here – a lot of the 
funniest moments and also the most painful, heart-tugging moments come from the difference between what the characters say and what’s going on in their minds. It also means that we get to see the process in motion both when they try to protect themselves and when they try to reveal themselves. All four actresses do a terrific job here, and the set deserves honorable mention as well.
KITT & JANE
Last, I saw Kitt & Jane: An Interactive Survival Guide to the Near-Post-Apocalyptic Future which was also a mix of comedy and serious themes, but with a lot more emphasis on the comedy. Kitt and Jane depicts the antics of two 8th graders who take over their school assembly and decide to present about the coming eco-apocalypse instead of their assigned topic, the life cycle of the salmon. Like actual 8th graders, the actors are incredibly funny at several points along the way, but they also take their obsessions a bit too far and wear on our nerves at times. The show’s creators cite Adventure Time, Big Mouth, and Gravity Falls as some of their influences and the show definitely is a lot like watching human cartoons. If you enjoy the humor in characters who never quite realize when they’ve gone too far, you might just love this show.
Photo Credit: Patricia Trinh
ILiveInEastVan.com 
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