Synopsis
The creators revise an archetypal comic plot to serve as the basis for choreography in a true hybrid of contemporary theatre and dance. In Revisor, eight Kidd Pivot dancers embody the recorded dialogue of some of Canada’s finest actors, exploring conflict, comedy and corruption in the potent relationship between language and the body.
Creators Note
We began with an old, well-known story about mistaken identity.
The story is based on an anecdote that surfaced in Russia in 1833, and quickly spread. It is now widely accepted as probably true.
In 1836, the story took shape in a five-act play. The play premiered in St. Petersburg before the Czar, who according to reports, laughed and applauded, and is said to have remarked “Everybody gets it, and I most of all!” The play was in disguise as a comedy. Underneath the superficial subject of mistaken identity there were, of course, deeper subjects such as deceit, tyranny, greed and corruption. Willful blindness and complicity. Bureaucracy and officialdom. Human suffering. The coming storm. The promise of change. Imminent overthrow. Salvation on the horizon. Retribution just around the corner. Justice at the gate.
There is evidence from the critical response that its arrival on stage was unwelcome; it was said to be unoriginal, improbable, coarse and vulgar. It turned on a stale anecdote everyone knew, it was a rank farce and the characters were mere caricatures. It didn’t matter: the rank farce about mistaken identity quickly took its place as a national institution.
Reports indicate that the Playwright of the rank farce raged against the “unctuous, cloying, farcical style” of the original production — a style that nonetheless became convention for decades. The Playwright insisted that he had been misread, and that his text contained an urgent moral indictment, a religious allegory, and a portrait of the universal soul in exile.
(Incidentally, the play is called The Inspector General, or, in the original Russian, Revizor, and the playwright is Nikolai Gogol. Gogol repeatedly tried to revise Revizor to prevent further abuses of his underlying intentions, all in vain.)
Since the 1830’s, the play has been translated and adapted countless times. We approached the original text as a matrix for both voice and body, and found it to be malleable and resonant. Our quest has been to locate and portray a glimpse of the soul within this most unlikely frame: a well-worn farce about corruption and deceit.
We would like to thank all of our performers and collaborators for their essential contributions to the making of Revisor. They are the lifeblood of our creation; each of them masterful, generous, and truly inspiring. We are deeply grateful.
Jonathon and Crystal
Supported through the generosity of this logo soup.
About the Company - Kidd Pivot
Integrating movement, original music, text, and rich visual design, Kidd Pivot’s performance work is assembled with recklessness and rigour, balancing sharp exactitude with irreverence and risk. Under the direction of internationally renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, the company’s distinct choreographic language — a breadth of movement fusing classical elements and the complexity and freedom of structured improvisation — is marked by a strong theatrical sensibility and a keen sense of wit and invention.
Kidd Pivot tours extensively around the world with productions such as Betroffenheit (2015), The Tempest Replica (2011), The You Show (2010), Dark Matters (2009), and Lost Action (2006).
Biographies
Crystal Pite – Co-creator, Choreographer, Director
Photo by Manda Townsend.
Crystal Pite is a former company member of Ballet British Columbia and William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. She has created over 50 works for companies including The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater I, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, and Ballet British Columbia. The recipient of numerous awards for artistic excellence, including three Olivier Awards and, most recently, the 2018 Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, Pite is an Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells, London. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University. In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot in Vancouver.
Jonathon Young – Co-creator, Writer
Eric Beauchesne – Associate Artistic Director
Doug Letheren — Performer
Rena Narumi — Performer
Production Credits
Creative Team
Original Music and Sound Design Owen Belton
Alessandro Juliani
Meg Roe
Set Design Jay Gower Taylor
Costume Design Nancy Bryant
Lighting Design Tom Visser
Assistant to the Creators Eric Beauchesne
Dancers Doug Letheren
Rena Narumi
Matthew Peacock
Swing Renée Sigouin
Voices Kathleen Barr
Ryan Beil
Alessandro Juliani
Acknowledgements & Thanks
Production and Development Partners
Co-produced by:
Sadler’s Wells (London, UK)
Théâtre de la Ville/La Villette (Paris, France)
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Banff, Canada)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (North Carolina, US)
Canadian Stage (Toronto, Canada)
National Arts Centre (Ottawa, Canada)
DanceHouse (Vancouver, Canada)
Dance Victoria (Victoria, Canada)
Danse Danse (Montreal, Canada)
Seattle Theatre Group (Seattle, US)
Creation Partners:
Canada Council for the Arts New Chapter
This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter Program. With this $35M investment, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.
National Arts Centre National Creation Fund
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Foundation of BNP Paribas
Kidd Pivot benefits from the support of BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of its projects
Canada Council for the Arts
Government of British Columbia
British Columbia Arts Council
City of Vancouver
Kidd Pivot gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia, British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver, and countless individual and business supporters.
Eponymous gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Kidd Pivot would like to thank: John Murphy, Mark Chavez, Artemis Gordon, Arts Umbrella, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, UBC Theatre, Michael Slobodian, Malcolm Dow, and the generous financial contributions from the Friends of Kidd Pivot.