Making Up Canadian History: Fact, Fiction and Cliche
Playwright Michael Hollingsworth, Performance Artist Deanne Taylor Dish-Up Satirical Look At ėPivotal' Moments in Canadian History During York U. Millennium Wisdom Symposium Event

TORONTO, February 3, 2000 -- Playwright Michael Hollingsworth and performance artist Deanne Taylor, best known for their Toronto-based theatrical ensemble VideoCabaret, will revisit some of Canada's pivotal moments -- New France, Trudeaumania, free trade -- and perform from Hollingsworth's satirical play The History of the Village of the Small Huts, Mon., Feb. 7, 4 p.m., York University Bookstore, 4700 Keele Street.

The event, entitled Making Up Canadian History: Fact, fiction and cliche, is part of the on-going Millennial Wisdom Symposium series organized by York University's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies along with the Royal Ontario Museum. The symposium, which explores how we recreate the past in contemporary culture, is the brainchild of Susan Swan, York Professor, novelist and Robarts Millennial Scholar.

"The ability to look in the mirror and laugh about our shared recent, and not-so-recent, past is a uniquely Canadian trait," said Swan. "The way in which we retell our history frequently combines historical fact, myth and our national specialty -- down and dirty deadpan wit. That is why I have invited two of Canada's leading theatre satirists to help us make sense of it all."

Michael Hollingsworth co-founded VideoCabaret after attaining both celebrity and notoriety in the theatre scene. He has written and directed the twelve-part play The Village of The Small Huts, which satirizes the colonial history of Canada, from the creation of New France to the life and times of former prime minister Brian Mulroney. His plays have won more than forty nominations and awards. Hollingsworth and Taylor will begin producing their new play The Village in Rep this spring.

Deanne Taylor, who co-founded VideoCabaret, is the writer and director of the legendary Hummer Sisters' multi-media operas, including Nympho Warrior, Hormone Warzone, and Second Nature. She is also co-author of an award-winning new libretto for Verdi's Rigoletto. She has staged ten plays satirizing pivotal political media events, and has helped develop unique ėvideo-cabaret' stagings, including Art vs Art / Hummer For Mayor about the Toronto Mayoralty campaign and Canada or Can't (webcast live from the cabaret) about the 1995 Quebec Referendum. Taylor also co-authored the Dora-nominated play, The Life And Times of Brian Mulroney.

The Millennial Wisdom Symposium series, which runs October 1999 through April 2000, has included such luminaries as Anne Michaels, Alberto Manguel, Ronald Wright, Carol Christ, Rosalind Miles, Dionne Brand, Karen Connelly and Tomson Highway. The next symposium event, entitled Making Up Toronto, is scheduled for Thurs., March 2, 7:30 p.m., Royal Ontario Museum Theatre. It will feature internationally acclaimed novelist Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces, non-fiction writer Greg Gatenby, author of Toronto: A Literary Guide, and ROM archeologist Dr. Mima Kapches, who will be talking about her book, Toronto's Hidden Past, which describes how Toronto looked before the arrival of white settlers. For a complete agenda of events, please visit: http://www.robarts.yorku.ca or contact the people below.

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For further information, please contact:

Prof. Susan Swan
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-5499
sswan@yorku.ca

Sine MacKinnon, Sr. Advisor/Director
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
sinem@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/013/00