The Worst Thing I Could Be (Is Happy)
Co-creator, producer, performer, video and original music and sound design | Produced by Tiny Bear part of Why Not Theatre’s Riser Project 2020*, past workshops and presentations at The Diving Bell Social Club (Montreal), Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times (Toronto), and TJ Labs at Theatre Junction (Calgary).
Co-created, Produced, and Performed by Elena Eli Belyea
Co-created, Performed, and Choreographed by Ira Doré
Co-created, Performed, and Video, Original Music, and Sound Designed by Philip Nozuka
Directed, Facilitated, and Dramaturgical Support by Tanya Rintoul
Costume and Prop Design and Dramaturgical Support by Alison Yanota
Technical Direction and Dramaturgical Support by Rebecca Durocher
Outside Eye and Dramaturgical Support by Mel Hague
Emerging Artist Mentee and Outside Eye by Kole Durnford
Additional Dramaturgical Support by Mel Hague, Laurel Green, Tedi Tafel, Andrea Donaldson, and Gianna Vacirca
For RISER Project 2020:
Production Management by Crystal Lee Chettiar
Publicity by Damien Nelson (Want & Able Arts Consulting)
Produced by Tom Arthur Davis
Photo Credits by Geoffrey Simon Brown, Philip Nozuka, and Dahlia Katz
don’t worry, be happy. / be worried, don’t happy.
Philip, Tori, Ira, and Elena just want to be happy. They also recognize the ways this pursuit furthers systemic inequality and causes unprecedented environmental destruction. But Philip, Tori, Ira and Elena still want to be happy… Using live-streams, projections, augmented reality and onstage experiments, this cross-Canadian collaboration is a spontaneous investigation of grief, technology, and the things people do to be happy at any cost.
The Worst Thing I Could Be (Is Happy) is presented as part of RISER Project, a collaborative producing model presented by Why Not Theatre with the generous support of RBC Foundation, TD Bank Group, and the Government of Canada.
PAST AUDIENCE FEEDBACK FOR “THE WORST THING I COULD BE (IS HAPPY)”
“The aches and anxieties of a generation, bound together by an optimistic, compassionate energy.”
– Nick Carpenter, Playwright
“An overwhelming world where everything is FUN and ON SALE and GOOD for you or BAD or BOTH.”
– Audience member
“The absurdity of seeking happiness in a world that is crumbling.”
– Audience member
*2020 presentation was cancelled due to Covid 19
