FRACAS
A play in one act by Margaret Sweatman
Toronto October 22-25, 2026
Fredericton November 16
Halifax November 19-21
Produced by Chartier Danse. All photos by Rebecca Driedger
A play in one act by Margaret Sweatman
Directed by Arne MacPherson
Performed by Marie-Josée Chartier & Sébastien Labelle
Sound design by Ashley Au
Additional songs by Daniel Roy & Geordie Haley
Lighting design by Andy Rudolph for Winnipeg
Lighting design by Emerson Kafarowski for Toronto and touring venues
Stage management by Miah Lewis
Marketing Design by 7pirouettes
Social media by Christina Litt Belch
Video editing / trailers by Ed Hanley
Produced by Chartier Danse
FRACAS
FRACAS explores our contemporary culture on the threshold of transformation, as it’s situated in the psyche of one dead person split into two entities: Bardom (Sébastien Labelle) and Ziggy (Marie-Josée Chartier) awaken into the light bewildered and destabilized in a liminal interval before their final annihilation (or rebirth). These two disintegrating psyches are in a vulnerable encounter with the forces of military/capitalist power. Stories, riffs, songs and their personal histories inhabit them, as if they’re unwilling resonators for conflict and delusions. They’re subject to rapid alterations of their situation and emotions, visited by sensual recollections of political, social, familial and artistic disasters, which they seem to have perpetrated themselves or failed to modify when they were alive.
As Chartier and Labelle are francophones some of the riffs are in French, easily contextualized for a mono-lingual audience as well as portraying the language minority reality in their personal history. We inspire the audience to envision our dramatic settings – a folk festival, a corporate convention, a bombed schoolyard, combustible home renovations, a contagious plague, climate catastrophe and war. With the world in such turmoil these days, we present Fracas with heartfelt gratitude to our audience for coming to share our terrors, our laughter, our love.
In Toronto at the Deanne Taylor Theatre,
home of VideoCabaret, 10 Busy Street
October 22-24, 2026 @ 8 pm /Oct.25 @ 4 pm
Tickets; $30/25 early bird until October15. Seating is limited so book early!
Tickets: https://www.videocab.com/fracas
In Fredericton at the Ted Daigle Theatre presented by Black Box Productions
November 16, 2026 @ 7:30 pm
Tickets: to reserve by email at theatre@stu.ca and to arrange any accessibility accommodations. Pay at the door.
In Halifax at the Bus Stop Theatre presented by Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax
and Easter Front Theatre
November 19-20 @ 7:30 pm/ Nov.21 @ 8 pm.
The Creative Team
Margaret Sweatman
Writer
Margaret Sweatman is a playwright, novelist, lyricist and librettist. Her plays include: Flux, a musical (music by Glenn Buhr), Manitoba Theatre Projects, the Guelph Spring Festival, and SummerWorks Toronto; Thirst, (Theatre Projects Manitoba); Hectic, Popular Theatre Alliance; and Fox, PTE. Margaret’s libretti include god of war, Vancouver New Music Festival; Red Sea, Toronto Summer Music Festival; Dear Abelard,Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She has published seven novels. Awards include the Rogers Writers Trust Award for Fiction, the Margaret Laurence Award, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Award, the Sunburst Award for Literature of the Fantastic, and the McNally Robinson Award. https://dreamplay.ca/margaret-sweatman
Arne MacPherson
Director
Arne MacPherson is a Winnipeg-based theatre maker who has dedicated his 35-plus years as an artist to creating live performance, starting out as an actor, then moving into theatre direction, and then into movement-based experimental work. He has worked on all of Winnipeg's professional stages, and across Canada, including at the National Arts Centre. His practice has focussed extensively on new work (he has helmed more than two dozen premieres), Shakespeare (he was a founder of Shakespeare in the Ruins), and independent theatre (he has directed and co-produced dozens of indie productions).
Devised/experimental theatre and contemporary dance performances include: Glory! (We Quit Theatre), Moving In, Moving Out, (Weather Parade Dance Theatre), petites danses (Chartier Danse/Gearshifting), Much Too Much to Say (Company Link/Zorya Arrow). Through his association with sick + twisted theatre, Arne has worked extensively with the Deaf and disability performance community. In 2022, he co-produced and directed Antigone, a new musical adapted from Anne Carson’s translation of Sophocles, which featured a cast of deaf, blind, disabled, and able-bodied performers.
Marie-Josée Chartier
Performer
A versatile artist, whose talents transcend the boundaries of dance, music, opera and multi-media, Marie-Josée Chartier moves easily between her many roles as choreographer, performer, director, vocalist, educator and mentor. Her dynamic choreography is influenced by contemporary music, literature and the visual arts as she explores and deconstructs the vulnerabilities of human beings. Her acclaimed pieces have been presented at major festivals and by dance companies across Canada, Europe and Latin America. Her work was the subject of several documentary films. Since 2003, in addition to her activities as a performer and choreographer, Marie-Josée directs/stages contemporary opera and multi-media productions for Gryphon Trio, Architek Percussion, Tapestry Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glenn Gould School, Théâtre Français de Toronto, Theaturtle and l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM+).
Chartier receives the following awards: Jacqueline Lemieux Prize (2015); K.M. Hunter Artist Award (2001), 9 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations; recipient of a Dora for fifty- one pieces of silver (2002) and shared two Doras with the collective URGE for And by the way Miss (2005). Marie-Josée formed Chartier Danse in 2003 to support her projects and create a cornerstone for large scale productions and partnerships in Canada and abroad.
Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh
Andy Rudolph
Lighting Design for Winnipeg
Andy Rudolph is a freelance sound and lighting designer whose work spans nearly all facets of audio/visual creation: post-production, mixing, composition, music production, live performance, installation, field recording, hardware/software development and many points in between. His work in film has been shown at major festivals all over the world (Berlinale, TIFF, Tribeca, NYFF, Cannes, Rotterdam, Annecy, Venice Biennale, and more). Hardware and software designed by Andy has toured extensively alongside numerous bands, performing artists and art installations. He is co-owner of microsonic waves, an audio post-production company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Ashley Au
Sound Design
Ashley Au is a Winnipeg-based bassist, composer, sound artist, arranger, music educator, and queer creative. A multifaceted musician, Ashley specializes in the upright and electric basses—performing, touring and recording extensively. As a composer and sound artist, Ashley’s work can be found behind various theatre, opera and dance productions as well as Winnipeg’s ephemeral pop-up stages. After completing a degree in Jazz Bass Performance (B. Mus) at Brandon University, Ashley has become an active member of Winnipeg’s arts and cultural community as a performer, administrator and organizer. Ashley is the artistic director of Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival and the stage producer for the Pride Winnipeg Festival. She also co-ordinates a BIPOC poetry writing workshop series through Contemporary Verse 2, Canada’s oldest poetry journal.
Current and past projects include work with Weakerthans frontman, John K. Samson, folk roots songstress, Carly Dow Carly Dow; internationally-acclaimed Americana tastemaker, Scott Nolan; Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers and Polaris Prize-nominated Canadian live hip-hop outfit, Super Duty Tough Work.
Photo by Buio Assis
Sébastien Labelle
Performer
Sébastien Labelle is the Artistic Producer for Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax, a presenting organization that celebrates visions of a better world through its annual Festival of Working People & the Arts. He is a long-time creative collaborator with River Clyde Arts in PEI and former Executive Director of the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op which he successfully led through a campaign to save its building from redevelopment. He is also an actor and dancer, as well as a community activist and former union organizer. His involvement in both the arts and social movements has informed each other to reinforce his strong belief in the capacity of art to propel social change. He is an accomplished performer who has worked with numerous Nova Scotian theatre and dance companies, including Matchstick Theatre, Halifax Theatre for Young People, Eastern Front Theatre, Mocean Dance, SiNS Dance, Zuppa, Workshirt Opera, Shakespeare By the Sea, Villain's Theatre, 2b Theatre and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre. His work on stage has earned him four Theatre Nova Scotia Merritt Award nominations. His journey into dance started relatively late in his career when he joined the cast of petites danses, choreographed by Marie-Josée Chartier and produced by Mocean Dance. Screen credits include Sullivan's Crossing, The Good House, Chapelwaite, Diggstown and Black Cop.
Photo by James MacLean
