Queen West Project

Queen Street West has a long-standing relationship with mental illness and rehabilitation. The Provincial Lunatic Asylum first opened in 1850, and today, the 27-acre site between Shaw and Dovercourt is home to the Centre For Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where an ongoing redevelopment project is transforming the area into an integrated community.

Audiences have a chance to explore the revitalized grounds in the Queen West Project, an immersive theatre experience created by Deborah Pearson and Allison Cummings as part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s Fall 2012 season. The company puts a literal spin on its name “Theatre Beyond Walls,” as the city becomes a stage, and we all play a part in the urban narrative.

The show begins at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (952 Queen Street West), where six participants are given maps and headsets, before taking to the streeets. Separated into two groups of three, we follow an assigned leader to the sound of ambient music until we are left to follow the instructions on our own. Walking and listening, each member of the audience must find a spot marked with an X, where a dancer is waiting to take us on the next leg of the journey.

Touring the CAMH site is a surreal, almost out-of-body experience, and yet we are definitely present as passersby look curiously on. Every gesture and movement performed by my guide (the graceful Kevin A. Ormsby) gives off a magical quality, while Pearson speaks softly in my ear about her experiences with depression and the stigmas surrounding mental illness, addiction and homelessness. In the end, the piece comes together in a beautiful dance sequence (choreographed by Allison Cummings), leaving those of us lucky enough to be involved feeling hopeful and alive.

Don’t miss your chance to experience this imaginative Toronto show.

Queen West Project runs until September 23. Visit passemuraille.on.ca for more information and to buy tickets.

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