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Date: 2/1/2022
AMHERST – The Ko Festival of Performance officially kicks off 2022 with Piti Theatre’s “Canary in a Gold Mine,” written and performed by Piti Theatre’s Jonathan Mirin.
The production, which “uses a comedic lens to explore fatherhood, marriage, and environmental health,” will be shown online Feb. 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. through Vimeo.
The show tells the story of the mysterious symptoms that Mirin’s wife and production partner-Godeliéve Richard began experiencing in 2010. The couple found out that Richard’s severe neurological symptoms are triggered by exposure to electric & magnetic fields (EMF), the wireless radiation that society usually embraces to connect to cell phones and other devices. These EMFs are what caused Richard’s electro-hypersensitivity-or “microwave sickness.” Because of this occurrence, Mirin becomes a public health advocate, activist, and petitioner for a landmark case against the FCC. The show follows this journey and offers a wakeup call to the risks of 24/7 wireless exposure.
“When your partner or someone very close to you becomes very ill for a long period of time, it’s obviously incredibly hard for [her family], but it’s also hard for everybody,” said Mirin, on the experience and project. “But the theatre company has adapted and grown, and the family has adapted and grown.”
According to Mirin, he began writing this performance in 2014, and even toured it as a workshop theatre version of the production out in western Canada before the pandemic. He describes the production as a “comedic, solo, autobiographical,” show. “In the theater world, you can take a little bit of standup comedy, take some theater, you take some storytelling, and it becomes this other thing,” said Mirin, when describing the performance. “It’s like using humor to let people digest hard things, and also help yourself through these hard things.”
The original title of the production was “Hawaii-5G,” which is a play on words inspired by the television show “Hawaii Five-0.” The 5G is a reference to the big cell towers that people can find virtually anywhere, whether it be in places like urban areas, cities like Northampton, and even close to one’s home or business. The problem, according to Mirin, is that these towers are causing major health hazards, especially when they are close to our homes.
“At the beginning of a process like this, you’re putting everything in the hopper,” said Sabrina Hamilton, the artistic director of KoFest. “But then, the piece eventually starts to take on a life of its own, and it starts to tell you. I think this piece started telling us that it really wanted to be this exploration of fatherhood, marriage and environmental health.”
Originally, according to Hamilton, the production was supposed to be performed in-person as part of a Ko Festival theme dedicated to justice, climate change and environmental safety. When that had to cancel because of COVID-19, KoFest moved to creating and producing performances online. “Now that we’ve had time to learn about what the web can do for theater, this is special in that it’s not Zoom theater, it’s not really a movie … it’s really this new form that’s kind of exciting,” said Hamilton. “I think a lot of theater have had to learn how to use [technology] in creative and interesting ways.”
“Canary in a Gold Mine” is in some ways a continuation of Mirin’s past two shows, one of which was about Crohn’s disease, an intestinal disease that Mirin dealt with at one point in his life. In another sense, however, this new show is a departure from those productions due to the unique means in which it was created, especially since Piti is not touring with an audience like they did in the past. “I’ve gained a lot of respect for independent filmmakers,” said Mirin, adding that this is the third video project he has been a part of since the start of the pandemic. “I’m getting used it to it … but this is much more in-depth, detailed work than any previous video project.”
As with all KoFest performances, there will be a discussion portion after the show where people can ask questions or comment using the Vimeo chat function. Additionally, real-time scientists and doctors will follow each performance to discuss the health implications of the show.
“I’m curating to choose performances that will spark civic dialogue,” said Hamilton, referring to her curation process for KoFest. “We’re really talking about the issues in the piece, as well.” Beyond the discussions, the production will also have an online version of Ko’s lobby displays with readings, images, weblinks, and materials to enrich the audience experience. “What our metric is for success is, how sticky can we make the production?” added Hamilton. “And I think Jonathan really has the makings of a sticky project.”
KoFest, founded in 1991, was created by a core group of artists “seeking to shed traditional structures for creating and producing performance as the first step to creating alternatives.” Their festival each year presents original work from artists from all around the world is usually a part of a specific theme each year.
According to Hamilton, a lot of specifics are still “up in the air” for 2022 when it comes to how productions will be distributed and shown to audiences during its 31st year of existence. As of right now, KoFest is considering all possible options, especially in-person and digital ideas. For now, they are kicking off the year online.
In the meantime, people can buy tickets to one of the online performances of “Canary in a Gold Mine” by visiting the KoFest website, https://kofest.com/product/piti-theatres-canary-in-a-gold-mine/. The production is directed by Deanna Fleysher.