That Night Follows Day

By Tim Etchells
(2010)

That Night Follows Day

You feed us. You dress us. You sing to us. You make promises that you think we won’t remember. You explain to us the different causes of illness and the different causes of war. You whisper softly when you think we can’t hear. You explain to us that night follows day. A play for adults performed by children, That Night Follows Day starts out from observations of how the adult world shapes the world of the young. With humour and great clarity, the evening explores the economies of parenthood, upbringing, discipline, control and care that define the adolescents’ worlds. As he so often does in his equally poetic and analytical works, Etchells turns the spotlight on the actual situation of the performance. In That Night Follows Day, this revolves around the social and aesthetic construction that makes adults the audience, listening to children and adolescents on stage as they talk about the way adults project their world onto them. But also about how both — adults and children — are imprisoned and shaped by language when they imagine and try to appropriate their own future.

Originally produced by Victoria in Ghent, That Night Follows Day is directed by James Long and Maiko Yamamoto with lighting design by John Webber and set design by James Long. Featuring: Ailish Elisabeth, Margot Berner, Luke McAndless-Davis, Andrew Warner, Garnet Barret, Jordan Zanni, Rebecca Zanni, Phoebe Conway, Na'ku'set Shepherd Gould, Dexter van der Schyff, Yuki Nakahara, Sofia Newman, David James Wilson, Keita Dueck, Leina Dueck, Elena Anderson Kirby and Kino Roy. A tri-production between Theatre Replacement, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival & On the Boards in Seattle, with support from the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre. The show was presented at the PuSh Festival in Vancouver and On the Boards in Seattle.