"4 Corners"

THE FOUR CORNERS - we did it!

Last Saturday, on the corners of Queen & Bathurst, our live site-specific audio drama recording happened 3 x to sold out audiences!  We ambitiously imagined crowds of people moving around these busy corners in time with each other... and it worked!

Here's how:

Before each performance, the crowd met us inside The Design Republic, a furniture store on Queen West, where they were introduced to our tour guides through a hip hop rap comedy number.  The audience was then divided into groups by colour and were led out to the streets by their guides.

The tour guides recounted the history of the four corners, from architecture patterns, to settlement in the area, to what lived within the walls of the buildings still standing.  And, on each corner, the guides and their groups were met by likely activity.  A program worker, a starbucks barrista, an experiential advertiser and a pair of street buskers intersected the audience and added their voices to the mix, shedding light on the diverse socio-economic class structure that exists on this crossroads of Toronto.

This entire experience was recorded live by a team of sound engineers through locative booms, lavaliere microphones and binaural recorders.  And now, we are busy mixing this site-specific recording together into a 4 podcasts that will be released later this month! Stay posted for these podcasts that allow you to feel like you were right there with us on the corners.

But it's not over yet... in November, THE FOUR CORNERS will hit the studio to record the other side of the story... details to come.

Our live site-specific recording was a true blast.   Thank you to everyone who came out to see this live.  And, if you missed it, here are some pics to tide you over until the podcasts are released to the world!

THE FOUR CORNERS: Live performance produced by FIXT POINT Directed by Lisa Marie DiLiberto. Sound Recording & Production directed by Charles Ketchabaw

Script conceived by Lisa Marie DiLiberto and Charles Ketchabaw, based on neighbourhood interviews, and developed in collaboration with the artistic team.

Corner Characters: North East Corner (Starbucks) - David Brennan South East Corner (CB2) - Adam Paolozza North West Corner (The Meeting Place) - Varrick Grimes South West Corner (Pizza Pizza) - Dan Watson

Tour Guides: Viktor Lukowski (Team Red) Geoffrey Armour (Team Blue) Isaac Kessler (Team Yellow) Rob Feetham (Team Green) Fernando Lara (Tour Bossman)

Community Artists: Katt C. Budd (Musician) Bruce (Meeting Place Member) Terry (Meeting Place Volunteer)

Sound Recordists: Charles Ketchabaw Corby Luke Art Pisanski

Dramaturgy: Aviva Armour-Ostroff

Production Coordinator: Annie Wilson