PLAY DEAD by People Watching

Name: PLAY DEAD by People Watching
Start: Sat, 01/24/2026 - 19:30
Location: Jenny Belzberg Theatre

Date: Sat, Jan 24, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

Location Jenny Belzberg Theatre

On Sale

Wed, Oct 15, 2025 @ 12:00 PM

Duration: 70 Minutes
Content Warning: Partial Nudity / Fake Blood

Tier A

$45.00

Tier B

$35.00

Tier C

$25.00

PLAY DEAD by People Watching, photo by Damian Siqueiros.

Set in a shifting universe of domestic trappings and interlocking stories, People Watching’s debut creation Play Dead brings us a surrealist chronicle of the familiar. The show's inventive mix of acrobatics, dance, and physical theatre casts circus in a fresh and unexpected light. By giving place for seemingly unexceptional stories to unfold, we look closer and marvel at how beautiful, twisted, and sometimes laughable reality can. Far from settling into bored fatalism, this show marvels at the absurdity of the mundane and celebrates life, the same way people desperately dance to the last song before the party ends.

Awards

2024 Finalist — Propulsion Prize by En Piste
2023 Winner — Coup de Coeur Award by Festival Quartiers Danses
2025 Finalist — CALQ Prize; Emerging Work in Montreal

Reviews

“Not only did the six Montreal artists of People Watching offer us the festival's favourite show, but they also created one of the most memorable contemporary circus shows of recent years.” - La Presse; Montréal, Canada (9/10 review)

“Play Dead is currently one of the truly sublime artistic achievements of contemporary circus. It includes the world's highest artistic level of an uncompromising character, captivates with visually engaging images associating tenebrism and naturalism in 17th century painting, and with the overall action on stage draws you into the dreamy timelessness of surrealism.” - Dance Zone; Prague, Czech Republic

“People Watching has created with barbaric finesse, with the subtlety of watchmaking precision, a piece of such power that forces the eye not to want to miss a single detail.” - La Verdad; San Javier, Spain

Image gallery

Biography

People Watching is a Montréal based collective, creating at the intersection of contemporary circus, dance and physical theater. Each personally established in their field, the six artists have worked for companies such as The 7 Fingers, Circa, Cirque du Soleil and Broadway. Founded in the tumultuous Spring of 2020, the collective was initially moved to investigate ways in which intimacy could be shared with an audience during a time of profound seclusion. The inquisitive nature of this creative process has laid the groundwork for a practice that seeks connection over grandiosity. Weaving in the visceral language of contemporary circus with their organic approach to acrobatics, the company has established a body of work that has reached national and international recognition in the performing arts community, and has fostered collaborations with a multitude of established venues, festivals, creatives and companies. In 2025, the collective was named associate artists at Usine C, launching a two-year residency that will serve as a creative engine for new works that challenge form, expand connection, and reflect the evolving human landscape.

Credits

Artistic Direction & Performance: Ruben Ingwersen, Jérémi Levesque, Natasha Patterson, Brin Schoellkopf, Jarrod Takle, Sabine Van Rensburg
Set Design: Emily Nicole Tucker
Sound Design: Colin Gagné
Music: Michal Aloni, Francisco Cruz, Olivier Landry-Gagnon, Stefan Boucher
Lighting Design: Émile Lafortune
Costumes: Camille Thibault-Bédard, Catherine Veri, Jonathan Saucier, Paul Rose
Carpentry: Alastair Davies, Atelier Moa
Dramaturgic Assistance: Peter James, Isabelle Chasse, Gypsy Snider
International Representation: Aurora Nova
Production & Tour Management: Léah Wolff
Funded by: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Montréal
Support: The 7 Fingers, White Wall Studio, Patro Villeray, Phantom Theater