Mortal Coil Performance Society is dedicated to creating imaginative theatre and spectacle for audiences of all ages. Our artistic vision is grand. We bring a sense of magic and myth to our performing characters through the use of stilts, puppets,masks and fantastic costuming.
The company’s creative and original work is presented at festivals, in theatres and at site-specific events. We also develop and teach classes, workshops and lecture/demonstrations on the performing arts to the general public, educators and professional performers.
We acknowledge and honour that our work takes place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Peter Hall, Artistic Director: Stage and film actor, director, puppeteer, teacher and writer, Mr. Hall's career in professional theatre has spanned over forty years. As the Artistic Director of Mortal Coil, he directed Letters from Lithuania, Salmon Row, The Faerie Play and Our Creation Story. His acting assignments have taken him across Canada and as far away as the Central Arctic and to Japan. Additional directing credits have include original productions at the Caravan Farm Theatre, Runaway Moon Theatre, Kaleidoscope Theatre and Sen,klip Native Theatre, where many of these productions involved the exploration and synthesis of puppets and actor. He also has produced/directed many Ghost Train offerings in Stanley Park and is also an instructor of diverse theatre disciplines.
Marietta Kozak, General Manager: Marietta Kozak has been producing theatre in Vancouver since 1980, and includes productions such as The Number 14, Sex Tips for Modern Girls, Whale Riding Weather and more recently, Salmon Row, The Faerie Play and Our Creation Story in her experience. She is one of the developers of the Arts Factory, a 23,000 square foot artist studio space and a principal of the Great Northern Way Scene Shop, a local scenic building shop. She has also worked as a consultant and bookkeeper for local performance companies.
History
Mortal Coil has been in existence since 1991, during which time the company has done everything from developing and producing new Canadian site specific productions presented in and around Vancouver to developing, producing and touring theatre for young audiences that have toured nationally and internationally, and presenting stilted characters that perform every year in various events around BC and North America.
Most recently and over the past ten years, we have been working almost exclusively with Tsatsu Stalquyu (Coastal Wolfpack) a Coast Salish performance group, in developing new work centred around Coast Salish stories and performance. This collaboration led to a new production: the animation of Our Creation Story, a myth passed down in a Tsarlip First Nation (Southern Vancouver Island) family for generations that tells the story of the creation of our shared world.
Mortal Coil's productions utilize the spectacle based techniques the company is known for such as highly theatrical elements like our 12 foot puppet as Xe:ls the Transformer, the one who creates all the life that populates the earth, and tasks us humans with caring for it in Our Creation Story. Our adult/family site specific productions Letters from Lithuania and Salmon Row and a recent TYA production, The Faerie Play, all used puppets, stilts, live music and other spectacle techniques to explore story through place in ways that bring audiences into the live theatre experience in exciting and vital ways.
Mortal Coil is proud to be the Artistic Director for the Stanley Park Miniature Train Ghost Train and Bright Nights,events that further the comany's commitment to community and to youth development.
Contact
Mortal Coil Performance Society
Mailing Address
281 Industrial Avenue
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6A 2P2
Telephone
604.874.6153
Email
info@mortalcoil.bc.ca
Chix on Stix Booking Agent
info@mortalcoil.bc.ca
Tel: 604.874.6153
Board of Directors
Fiscal Year 2020
President
Gayle Murphy
Treasurer
Stephen Heatley
Secretary
Liesl Jauk
Director at Large
Sharon Bayly
Director at Large
Rita Buchwitz