We have just turned the corner into a new year, stepping into the early days of 2025. The start of a new year often sparks reflection and a desire for personal growth. It is a time when many of us set New Year's resolutions, aiming to make our lives more meaningful and fulfilling as we embark on this fresh chapter.
Starting this Friday January 17th and going to Sunday, January 26th, The Manitoba Theater for Young People in collaboration with DynamO Théâtre and Guilaume Doin is presenting a show that deals with the idea of getting on the bike for another year and looking back at ourselves and our family history.
Called Life-Cycle, this show deals with some of the questions of life and family history, while at the same time fully engaging and entertaining audiences both young and old.
Part acrobat show, part puppetry, part circus, part magic show, Life-Cycle creates a dreamy world where reality is bent, and audiences are left asking “how did they do that.” While viewing this visual feast for the eyes, audiences can also see the story of a man who goes on a journey of discovering his roots after being away from home for a long period of time.
This is a show that is entertaining and thought provoking on many levels and is sure to captivate both children, and their parents.
The idea of looking back on your life and knowing where you come from was something the Artistic team and MTYP thought was very compelling. Sarah Flynn is an Artistic Associate with MTYP, as she states, “there are so many things about Life-Cycle that draw you in. There is something really special about this story...about connecting with who you are and connecting with your family and your history. It is a universal experience of trying to figure out who you are in this world. There is some beauty in looking back on it in different parts of your life and thinking ‘who I thought I was then is not who I am now anymore.’ It is an interesting story that we feel is important for young people to start talking about.”
All these ideas are presented in a way that will fully engage children. DynamO Théâtre and Guilaume Doin have created a stage spectacle that is truly memorable and is sure to WOW audiences. As Flynn explains, "As a playwright you tend to sit alone in a room and write. As a company they [DynamO Théâtre] get in a room with a bunch of people and a bunch of stuff and they make art in a very physical sense.”
Guilaume Doin is the lone actor and cyclist on stage. The production has no spoken words. “Guilaume does all sort of things on his bicycle, things I did not think were possible. He’s balancing on the bike, he’s biking backwards. At one point on one side in a high heel shoe. It’s incredible what this guy is able to do on a bike,” says Flynn.
Added to the bicycle acrobatics, Life-Cycle makes use of various props and puppeteering to convey ideas. Objects on stage take on their own personality. For Flynn it is the desk in the middle of the stage that creates a great deal of wonder. “My favorite part is the desk almost becomes a character that the main actor is connecting with. The desk starts responding to him and disagreeing with him, opening drawers when he closes them. It becomes this relationship with this inanimate object that has become animated.”
The themes of life and exploring where you come from are presented in a way that is up for children's interpretation. Flynn describes the play, “I think one of the most beautiful things about a wordless show is that there is a little bit more ‘up for interpretation.’ You might not always get the exact same thing as the person beside you., It’s going to be dependent on your life experience and the way you view what is happening on stage...but you are still going to understand the essence of what is happening and then it is the little bits that speak to you specifically that allow you to fill in that story and your experience of it.”
Life-Cycle as presented by MTYP in collaboration with DynamO Théâtre and Guilaume Doin is a thoughtful and entertaining show that will engross audiences with the physicality of what is happening on stage, while conveying ideas and thoughts that anyone can understand, whether you are 8 or 98.
This is a show that must be seen!
MTYP’s and DynamO Théâtre’s production of Life-Cycle runs from Friday, January 17th through to Sunday, January 26th.