{"id":132,"date":"2015-09-24T14:09:03","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T18:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sewerlid.com\/?p=132"},"modified":"2023-12-03T00:27:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T05:27:16","slug":"when-tv-watches-back-coyote-collectives-like-a-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/24\/when-tv-watches-back-coyote-collectives-like-a-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"When TV Watches Back: Coyote Collective\u2019s Like a Generation<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThe terrifying thing about watching a lot of TV is that most of the damage it causes is both delivered and received with a smile. Understanding this smile is the central concern in Like a Generation<\/em>, the latest play from Toronto\u2019s Coyote Collective.<\/p>\n

It chronicles the relationship between Anna (Susannah Mackay), Calvin (Eric Welch), and Mr. Flowers (Stephen Joffe), the host of one of their favorite TV shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set against sharp, monolithic screens over a nostalgia factory of a score, they explore the frustrations and delights of fighting for three-dimensional existence in a mediated world where two\u2019s the norm.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mr.<\/a>

Mr. Flowers (Stephen Joffe). Photo courtesy of Coyote Collective.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mr. Flowers acts as Anna and Calvin\u2019s motivational guru, preaching the idea that your real life experiences should be pursued as if they were stories on TV, as if you knew the ends of the plots before they happened to you. He does this in blind faith, convinced of his good deed like a 17th<\/sup>-century doctor giving a bloodletting.<\/p>\n

Anna and Calvin are in a state I suspect more of us are in than we\u2019d like to admit. They know real life doesn\u2019t unfold simple and tidy like it does on TV, but they want it to, unconsciously expect it to and are devastated when it doesn\u2019t. They give form to the vicious circle of believing TV is a valid source for building one\u2019s identity. It promises you uniqueness \u2014 it\u2019s just you and your TV after all \u2014 but this applies to anyone watching, making us all carbon copies who feel happy because we\u2019ve seen it work so well on screen, but we\u2019re really just pretending and we end up boring one another for lack of novelty. This makes for lonely people.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/a>

Anna (Susannah Mackay), surrounded by Mr. Flowers\u2019 movement chorus. Photo courtesy of Coyote Collective.<\/p><\/div>\n

Like a Generation<\/em> excels at documenting how television manipulates Anna and Calvin to think living well and being entertaining are synonymous concepts. They are then paralyzed by a fear of boredom that renders them emotionally immature, which they can only rid themselves of by allowing their loneliness to become unbearable.<\/p>\n

When they brush their lives against each other, they remind us that human connection is a more sustainable proof that you\u2019re alive than how many shows you\u2019ve binge watched; that it gets more mileage out of aging, weakness and defeat in the way of self-realization than their abridged Hollywood counterparts; that it\u2019s way better at helping us be fine with who we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show boasts virtuosic writing by Max Tepper, a stellar cast, and a set that compliments its meta, madcap style with a corporate starkness. It\u2019s as hilarious as it is poignant.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you waiting for?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Coyote Collective<\/a>‘s Like a Generation <\/em>runs September 23-27 at<\/span> Dancemakers<\/a>\u00a0313 Theatre.<\/span>
\n Buy tickets<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Trevor<\/a>Trevor Abes<\/strong>\u00a0is a poet, arts writer and member of the Toronto Poetry Slam Team. Find his interviews and essays in\u00a0Sequential<\/em>, Torontoist<\/em> and The Toronto Review of Books<\/em>. Find his poetry in\u00a0(parenthetical)<\/em>,\u00a0The Toronto Quarterly<\/em> and untethered<\/em>.\u00a0Say\u00a0hello\u00a0at<\/span> trevorabes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The terrifying thing about watching a lot of TV is that most of the damage it causes is both delivered and received with a smile. Understanding this smile is the central concern in Like a Generation, the latest play from… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewerlid.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}