Curated by Nathaniel Hanula-James
Various locations in Barrie and area
Calling all couples, singles, polycules, platonic soulmates, situationships, and awfully devoted roommates.
This September, you’re invited to I DO, I DON’T, I DARE! This festival is a celebration and subversion of marriage, weddings, and commitment. Enjoy immersive performances by a line-up of incredible artists wedded to their crafts, in unexpected locations around Barrie, Ontario. You’re guaranteed a warm and whacky reception.
Say yes to the fest!
Various locations in Barrie and area
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Curated by Nathaniel Hanula-James
Calling all couples, singles, polycules, platonic soulmates, situationships, and awfully devoted roommates.
This September, you’re invited to I DO, I DON’T, I DARE! This festival is a celebration and subversion of marriage, weddings, and commitment. Enjoy immersive performances by a line-up of incredible artists wedded to their crafts, in unexpected locations around Barrie, Ontario. You’re guaranteed a warm and whacky reception.
Say yes to the fest!
Various locations in Barrie and area
We acknowledge that immersive and site specific theatre can pose unique accessibility challenges. The entirety of I Do, I Don’t, I Dare! takes place in non-traditional theatrical spaces and we are prepared to accommodate accessibility needs that may arise. Please let us know how we can help by calling 705-792-1949 or email at cara@tift.ca.
The Province of Ontario requires proof of vaccination to attend all indoor theatre events. Please note that we will require:
-Proof of Vaccination & Valid ID upon entry.
-Patrons complete a Covid-19 Self-Assessment for contact tracing purposes.
-Patrons wear their mask at all times when in the building (except when actively eating or drinking)
Only book tickets if you have received your second vaccination at least 14 days prior to the performance. If you do not have proof of vaccination and proof of identity, unfortunately, you will not be allowed access to the building.
A security charge of $0.01 CAD is required to validate booking. Patrons can cancel or reschedule up to 48 hours before the performance without charge. Please email admin@tift.ca to make any changes.
In the event a patron fails to cancel or make alternate changes and does not attend the performance, a $25.00 charge will be applied per ticket to the patron’s credit card. This charge will be used as a donation to the theatre and a tax receipt will be issued.
Curated by Nathaniel Hanula-James
Calling all couples, singles, polycules, platonic soulmates, situationships, and awfully devoted roommates.
This September, you’re invited to I DO, I DON’T, I DARE! This festival is a celebration and subversion of marriage, weddings, and commitment. Enjoy immersive performances by a line-up of incredible artists wedded to their crafts, in unexpected locations around Barrie, Ontario. You’re guaranteed a warm and whacky reception.
Say yes to the fest!
Various locations in Barrie and area
We acknowledge that immersive and site specific theatre can pose unique accessibility challenges. The entirety of I Do, I Don’t, I Dare! takes place in non-traditional theatrical spaces and we are prepared to accommodate accessibility needs that may arise. Please let us know how we can help by calling 705-792-1949 or email at cara@tift.ca.
Coming from Toronto and in need of transportation? We have a shuttle bus available which leaves at various times from The Sheraton Hotel, 123 Queen Street West, across from City Hall. Click Here for departure times and to purchase tickets.
Written by Nathaniel Hanula-James
Directed by Sadie Berlin
September 19, 8 p.m.
September 20, 8 p.m.
September 21, 7:30 & 9 p.m.
September 22, 7:30 & 9 p.m.
September 24, 8 p.m.
September 25, 8 p.m.
September 26, 8 p.m.
September 27, 7:30 & 9 p.m.
September 28, 7:30 & 9 p.m.
September 29, 8:00 p.m.
Hampton Inn Guest Laundry Room
74 Bryne Dr, Barrie
In the nowhere town of Peplum, Ontario, three days before prom, two teenagers steal a wedding dress and unleash a frightful force. Staged in a laundry room at Barrie’s Hampton Inn, this short play by festival curator Nathaniel Hanula-James is a claustrophobic horror-comedy about the meaning of marriage, and the desire to keep your loved ones close.
September 19-29
Meridian Place
The first Telephone of the Wind (風の電話) was created by the Japanese artist Itaru Sasaki, in 2010, in response to the death of his cousin from cancer. Sasaki purchased a derelict phone booth, installed a disconnected rotary phone, and set it up in his garden. In 2011, after a tsunami in Japan left over 15,000 dead and over 2,500 missing, Sasaki relocated the phone booth to a hill near the town of Otsuchi: the place with the highest number of recorded missing persons. It has become a place where people from Otsuchi, Japan, and all over the world can come to “call” people they have lost.
Over the years, different people and organizations have created new Wind Phones in many different locations around the globe.
During the festival, Talk is Free Theatre invites you to find the Wind Phone we’ve installed in a solitary corner of Memorial Square, and make a call to a lost loved one.
Designed by Jawon Kang, Julia Kim, Bianca Guimarães de Manuel, and Christine Ting-Huan 挺歡 Urquhart
Location to be discovered by you!
Talk is Free Theatre has asked four intrepid designers to create wedding dress installations around a theme of their choice. We’ll place them around the downtown core of Barrie in top-secret locations for you to find!
Closer to the festival, we’ll post a series of clues on our website to lead you to each of the dresses. During your scavenger hunt, you might find yourself writing a letter to a dress — and who knows? A celebrity from the festival may just write you back!
By Mammalian Diving Reflex/Darren O'Donnell
September 21–12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
September 22–12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
Meridian Place at the Barrie Cenotaph
Everyone is, in some way, committed to something. Inspired by Mammalian Diving Reflex's internationally acclaimed social acupuncture workshops and performances, Everyone is Interesting: The Committed Edition is a community walking project that aims to explore, play with, and unite the individuals who call Barrie home.
This presentation of Everyone is Interesting: The Committed Edition is made possible in part thanks to the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario & grants from the Canada Council for the Arts touring programs.
About Mammalian Diving Reflex: Mammalian creates performances by looking for contradictions to whip into aesthetically scintillating experiences. They create site and social-specific performance events, theatre productions, participatory gallery installations, videos, art objects and theoretical texts to foster dialogue and dismantle barriers between individuals of all backgrounds by bringing people together in new and unusual ways.
By Other Hearts Collective
September 21, 3:15 p.m.-7:15 p.m.
September 22, 3:15 p.m.-7:15 p.m.
Barrie by the Bay Commercial Complex
80 Bradford Street
Still Life is a reflection on the ephemeral nature of human culture. Drawing on the histories of Western art, this series of performances reflects on the opulence and rich symbolic language of still life painting, while considering how these images (and the cultures they communicate) may be interpreted after our disappearance. This is the second in an ongoing series of works by Other Hearts that re-contextualizes our key moments of ceremony and community through the lens of a post-human world, rendering these familiar moments both strange and strangely beautiful.
At the end of the performance, glasses are filled, and time stands still as the audience is invited onto the stage, for the last wedding.
Created and Performed by Dillan Meighan-Chiblow
September 21, 6:00 p.m.
September 22, 1:30 p.m.
September 27, 6:00 p.m.
September 28, 1:30 p.m.
September 29, 1:30 p.m.
Donaleigh's Irish Public House
28 Dunlop St. E., Barrie
In this cabaret set in bonnie Scotland, an Ojibwe man in his early twenties heads to Glasgow to find himself again — only to find himself swept up in a Gaelic romance. Hear Dillan share the story that changed his life, told with humor, song, and a wee bit of Scottish charm!
Written by Eden Middleton and Mitchel Raphael
September 21, 6:15 p.m.
September 22, 12 p.m.
September 27, 5 p.m.
September 28, 5 p.m.
In front of Samson's Salon and Spa balcony
50 Dunlop Street East, Barrie
A cornucopia of performers will deliver exciting micro-performances: a series of brief manifestos and hot takes on marriage, relationships, and the nature of love.
Devised and Facilitated by Richard Lam
September 28, 12-4 p.m.
September 29, 12-4 p.m.
Barrie by the Bay Commercial Complex
80 Bradford Street, Barrie
Have you ever considered counselling for you and your partner, best friend, or beloved houseplant? Do you need advice about love, relationships, or life in general? Sign-up to talk to The Marriage Council: a panel of historical figures who should absolutely not be giving advice. In fact, the only thing they're qualified to do is make you laugh!
Created by xLq Pop Art Performance
September 28, 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.
UPDATED LOCATION:
Town & Country Steakhouse
75 Dunlop Street West
Calling all people with a special someone with whom you want to renew your vows. Whether your promise is days or decades-old, spend a summer day with xLq, your hosts, renewing oaths made across partnerships, friendships, and kinship in the company of fellow renewers. You don’t need to be married to take part! Bring your special someone (or just bring yourself) to experience a participatory event that unearths the beauty in commitments old and new. Tunes will be provided by a DJ, along with a spread of light snacks.
xLq is a performance art drag duo that sprung from a decade-old friendship between Maddie Bautista and Jordan Campbell–who have their own vow to renew!
By Keara Voo
September 29, 1:30 p.m.
Springwater Provincial Park, Main Pavilion
You are cordially invited to hear a reading of a new play-in-development by a dynamic young playwright. This play is still growing: it needs plenty of sun and fresh air. It’s only natural, then, that this reading should take place outdoors, in Springwater Provincial Park!
Bring a picnic, sit back, and enjoy a brand new script brought to life by a team of incredible actors. In keeping with the outdoor setting, it is suggested that audience members come dressed as woodland creatures, or in their most fashionable foliage.
Something Old
Lily Chan is getting married. Her mother, Stephanie, is excited to begin the wedding planning and embark on this once-in-a-lifetime journey with her only daughter. Lily, too, is excited, but has a slightly different vision for her wedding: Lily is biracial, and wants to throw a Chinese wedding to celebrate her Chinese heritage. When Lily asks her beloved Pau Pau to help her plan the wedding, Stephanie — who is white — feels more and more alienated. When tragedy strikes, Lily’s family must rally to help Lily pull off a wedding that, while it may not end up being the most traditional, is one that honours where their family has come from and who they are today.
by Iris Rhian
September 29, 4:00 p.m.
Springwater Provincial Park, Main Pavilion
You are cordially invited to hear a reading of a new play-in-development by a dynamic young playwright. This play is still growing: it needs plenty of sun and fresh air. It’s only natural, then, that this reading should take place outdoors, in Springwater Provincial Park!
Bring a picnic, sit back, and enjoy a brand new script brought to life by a team of incredible actors. In keeping with the outdoor setting, it is suggested that audience members come dressed as woodland creatures, or in their most fashionable foliage.
Baby
Starring TIFT darlings Jake Epstein and Vanessa Smythe with more to be announced, Baby features Baby, a precocious twelve-year old on the cusp of womanhood (the beginning of her menstrual cycle). Unable to get her period, and fearing the worst (infertility), Baby navigates bewildering misinformation latent in the doctrine taught by the fundamentalist cult where she resides. When the cult’s leader abandons his disciples, and Baby becomes impregnated through mysterious means, she must divest her conscience from God, and her extremist community, to forge her own path toward redemption.