Sinking Neptune II February 9, 2008

Sinking Neptune II: Controversial anti-racist play revived
After thwarting the official 400th anniversary re-enactment of Canada's "first play", Marc Lescarbot's racist "Theatre of Neptune in New France", Montreal's Optative Theatrical Laboratories has set its sights on another Eurocentric celebration - the 400th anniversary of Quebec City.
Sinking Neptune subverts "Canada's first play" and exposes it as unbearably racist against First Nations people. It consists of multi-media dramaturgical analysis and critical deconstruction of Lescarbot's play juxtaposed with a verbatim theatre exposition of uncritical performers desperately wanting to re-enact the original racist version. The performance points to the connections between "Canada's first piece of [Eurocentric] literature and drama" and contemporary Native issues in post-colonial Canada.
Sinking Neptune has played in Montreal at the Anarchist Theatre Festival, the infringement Festival and at McGill University, and appeared at the so-called "400th Anniversary of Theatre in Canada" in Halifax and Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (November 14th, 2006). The debate about the roots of "Canadian theatre" is still simmering…
Sinking Neptune II is the second inception of this project; and focuses on how history is commemorated and celebrated in present-day Canada. Plans for the 400th Anniversary of Québec City play prominently within the deconstruction, and indeed OTL intends to perform it in La Capitale Québecois to cause reflection. Sinking Neptune II continues in the tradition of using original text and verbatim materials to create media-texts and critical performances that expose racism against First Nation Peoples and call into question predominant cultural authority.
Sinking Neptune II plays the George Luscombe Theatre at the University of Guelph (north wing of the Mackinnon building), one night only, Saturday, February 9th at 8pm. Pay-what-you-can donations. All proceeds go to charity.
A Question and Answer period will follow the performance.
For more information on the project, including video trailers, scripts, and ways the public can get involved in this innovative project, please log onto www.optative.net/neptune

Official Website: http://www.optative.net/neptune