THE WELCOMING

invitations
greetings
hospitality
a live performance of welcoming acts

The Welcoming is a series of welcoming-acts observed, collected, and reshaped live by performance students. In questioning what makes a welcoming welcoming, we also looked beneath the mat, behind the door, for those acts and ways of being that we might call unwelcoming. What could we learn about hospitality by taking on the inhospitable? What’s revealed in our greetings when we play them rude, sticky, or foul? When we welcome others, feel welcomed, or unwelcomed, we typically start with some kind of acknowledgement of each other: “I see you, come inside”; or, “I don’t see you, you’re unwelcome here.” Through this dance of recognition, we experimented with perceptual modes for feeling out those forms of invitation and reception in our live art practices and everyday life.

February 24-26th, 2022. Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

Director: Ryan Tacata
Performers: Emma Savic Kallesoe, Rebecca Kabesh, Deborah Koesyonoe, Brittany Martyshuk, Ali McDougall, Marita M, Michele Shen, Tamlin Vetter, Samantha Walters, Liam Wilkins, Alexander Zavorotny
Live Band: Bingo Switch: Brody Halfe (Vocals/Guitar), Zac Daniels (Vocals/Guitar), Christian Abt (Bass), Liam Wilkins (Drums)
Sound Artist: Derek Phillips
Scenic Textiles: Liam Murley
Lighting Design & Production Design Faculty Lead: Kyla Gardiner
Production Manager: Dominik Wu
Technical Director: Theo Ewanchook
Stage Manager: Gabriella Hu
Assistant Stage Manager: Jenny Min
Assistant Lighting Designer & Operator: Yvonne Liang
Sound Operator: Flora Jiang
Scenography Team: Flora Jiang & Leo Chang
Photos by Claire Brown