Play Dead

Set in a universe of domestic trappings and interlocking stories, People Watching’s new creation Play Dead observes the beautiful, twisted and laughable facets of human behavior. Through its dynamic physicality and visual storytelling, the piece puts forth a surrealist chronicle of the familiar. Far from settling into bored fatalism, ‘Play Dead’ marvels at the absurdity of the mundane and celebrates life with a pulsing desire for connections and intimacy, the same way people desperately dance to the last song before the party ends.

AKNOWLEDGMENTS

2024 Finalist — Propulsion Prize by En Piste
2023 Winner — Coup de Coeur Award by Festival Quartiers Danses

ABOUT PEOPLE WATCHING

People Watching is a collective comprising six multidisciplinary artists currently based in Montreal. Each personally established in their field, they have worked for companies such as The 7 Fingers, Circa, and Cirque du Soleil. Founded in the tumultuous spring of 2020, they were initially moved to investigate ways in which intimacy could be shared with an audience during a time of profound seclusion. The inquisitive nature of this creative process led them to fuse their organic acrobatic research with elements of physical theatre and nuanced choreographic work. By providing the awe-inspiring qualities of contemporary circus with a scaffolding of depth and context, People Watching began to establish a body of work that is intimate and inherently human. Using live performance, film, and photography as a vehicle for their artistic endeavors, they have found local and international recognition, which in turn has fostered collaborations with a multitude of established creatives and companies. Additionally, the collective continues to facilitate workshops while touring, allowing them to foster a cultural exchange with fellow artists and share the physical language and performance methods they have developed in the creation of their personal work.