Town Criers

(2015-2018)

In a fixed location, writers type out observations of the world unfolding around them. In another part of the same city, or the world, a town crier receives these observations via a tablet — a modern day version of the trusty scroll. The criers ring their bells and declare these observations to the public.

Town Criers Whitehorse. Photo by Alistair Maitland.

Drawing upon patterns of relaying information that mirror Twitter or Facebook, Town Criers treats everyday considerations as the news. Intimate and minute details are transmitted through the ether, and then filtered through the live body in an oratorical sculpture. Directed by Maiko Yamamoto and James Long, Town Criers engages a team of local writers, performers and designers in each location it tours to. The work premiered at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby and toured to Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Whitehorse, Everybody’s Spectacular in Reykjavik, Iceland, A! Festival in Akureyri, Iceland and the EXPERIMENTICA! Festival in Cardiff, Wales.