Innovative Production Demonstrates the Impact of Filipino Community

Everything Has Disappeared will premiere live, February 1 – 4

WINNIPEG — Prairie Theatre Exchange is proud to present its second World Premiere production this season, and first live production of 2024. From the local artists at UNIT Productions and internationally acclaimed Mammalian Diving Reflex, EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED is a live performance experience conceived, written and directed in collaboration by Hazel Venzon and Darren O’Donnell and featuring Venzon starring in the one-woman show.

What would happen if every Filipino person in our society suddenly…disappeared? This is the premise upon which the ambitious production centers. Using a blend of performance and digital interactive technologies – and a little bit of magic – EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED focuses on the unique relationship the Filipino diaspora has to the global economy: in short, they are everywhere. Central threads in a tapestry that defines human dignity itself.

“The team at Everything Has Disappeared has done the research, crunched the numbers and is here to tell you exactly what would happen if every single Filipino person in the world suddenly vanished without a trace. Hint: It’s not pretty.”   – Hazel Venzon, Co-Director

Recipient of the National Art Centre’s prestigious National Creation Fund, EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED was developed with support from the artists at Kampnagel (Hamburg, Germany) and Theatre Rosendal (Trondheim, Norway). The work began with an extensive series of interviews with members of the Filipino community, as well as research economists, demographers, sociologists and geographers. The production has been described as “a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of performance,” that blends hard data, soft magic, virtual reality, mentalism and Filipino Indigenous knowledge, to astonishing effect.

The uniquely multifaceted, creatively ambitious production also features eye-catching illustrations by David Oro (Studio Sari Sari), mind-bending mentalism by Toronto-based illusionist Erik Mana, set, lighting, and video design by award-winning Montreal-based media company potatoCakes_digital, immersive sound design by Dasha Plett, costume design by Brenda McLean, and social & economic research support by Dr. Geraldine Pratt.

“Everything Has Disappeared is a mesmerizing, interactive, immersive, data-driven, revelatory, hallucinatory, handshake with the quantum field and a hug from the sharp corners of every-day reality. Is your frequency in need of an upgrade? You’ve come to the right place.” – Hazel Venzon, Director

EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED will be presented in PTE’s Cherry Karpyshin Mainstage Theatre for a limited time, from February 1 – 4, 2024. An accessible performance featuring live ASL Interpretation and available Audio Description will take place the evening of Saturday, February 3. More on accessibility can be found online at PTE.mb.ca. Tickets for all five performances are on sale now via the online box office, or by contacting a box office representative at 204-942-5483 or boxoffice@pte.mb.ca.

A Media Call will be held at Prairie Theatre Exchange on Wednesday, January 31 at 1:00PM.

For all media requests & inquiries, please contact:
Madeline Sweetland, Publicity & Social Media Manager
madeline@pte.mb.ca | 204-925-5257

EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED

by Mammalian Diving Reflex & UNIT Productions

Conceived and directed by HAZEL VENZON & DARREN O’DONNELL

Produced by ISABEL AHAT & RYAN LEWIS

Illustrations by DAVID ORO

Set, Lighting & Video Design by POTATOCAKES_DIGITAL

Costume Design by BRENDA MCLEAN

Sound Composition by SIMON CAMPANA

Sound Design by DASHA PLETT

Production Management & Technical Direction by JAMES THURMEIER

Stage Management by WEI QING TAN

Assistant Direction by HERA NALAM

Illusions by ERIK MANA

Social and economic research supported by DR. GERALINE PRATT

EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED is supported by the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund, The Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Kingfisher Foundation, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Kampnagel and Rosendal Teater.

Prairie Theatre Exchange is supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and Prairie Theatre Exchange Foundation Trust.

About Prairie Theatre Exchange – A nationally recognized theatre company, Prairie Theatre Exchange is deeply rooted in community and has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands in Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba. Prairie Theatre Exchange actively looks for new ways to continue to be a centre for innovation in theatre practice: a home for interdisciplinary and diverse works that offer audiences something they cannot experience anywhere else. Each season, we prioritize making space for Indigenous stories. This is our answer to the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. To make space, to support, and to be led by Indigenous collaborators. This is our way of honouring Treaty 1 Land, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota and Red River Métis nations and the home of many other Indigenous nations and Peoples. We further recognize that our drinking water comes from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, where residents do not have access to clean water. All of us at PTE are committed to reconciliation, and to moving forward, together, in a good way.