CANCELLED: The Pratfall Affect

An examination of economics, addiction, ice cream and community told through harmonica and dance in six foot intervals.

“The Pratfall Affect” looks at the relationship between increasing drug-addiction rates and the demise of industry and employment, and vice versa. Set in one of Peterborough’s most visibly drug influenced quarters, at the corner of Simcoe Street and Bethune Street, with the dismantled Baskin Robbins(BR) factory as the backdrop, “The Pratfall Affect” is a work of creative nonfiction combining current stories of the addict and sex-worker communities with a history of the BR factory including its dismantling and current partially demolished, static condition due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The location and subject matter are relevant to the project as Peterborough is in the midst of an ongoing opioid / fentanyl epidemic and this intersection is the hub of much of the activity. Bringing audiences to this location, often maligned due to the current addict and sex-worker activity, merges art with reality in an undeniable fashion. The show is a study of economic poverty set to harmonica, an overview of human conflict staged with ice-cream and fencing, and an examination of community resilience at 6-foot intervals.

The action of falling (affect) as metaphor for relapse and recovery (effect) is the main physical theme repeating throughout the piece. The creators of the piece have their own relationships with substance use and recovery, most as users and one as a witness, and they each bring their own creative energy to the project. The show is structured to promote socially distanced rehearsals where performers are many metres apart and often work in isolation. The Covid-19 protocols are worked into the performance through signage and operatic vocals.