CarePlay
Ruth Howard | Toronto, ON
August 9th – 11th from 12 – 4 pm
Betty Speers Theatre Lobby, Capitol Centre
150 Main St. E, North Bay
Ruth Howard’s CarePlay explores and expresses roles and routines of care (caring for others and being cared for) throughout our lives. It is a portable, interdisciplinary work blending installation, performance, play, and public engagement, loosely drawing on the notion of a ‘Doll’s Hospital’: a whimsical and serious zone of caring, without commentary or conclusion, only objects and actions to be inhabited and witnessed.
For this year’s Duality program, Ruth, joined by some artistic companions, is hosting a series of drop-in creative sessions for participants of all ages and abilities from 1 – 4 pm on August 9th, 10th, & 11th. Pre-registration is not required. All materials will be provided, but you’re invited to bring along a toy or other small items holding a care memory or in need of a bit of care (you’ll get them back unharmed!). Drop by, play and share a story!
About the Artist:
Ruth Howard is an interdisciplinary artist and the founding Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre + Arts: a Toronto-based company with a Canada-wide reach, that makes art with, for and about people, and places and the, sometimes hidden, stories they hold. With Jumblies for 20+ years, Ruth has created multi-year residencies in Toronto neighbourhoods, each involving dozens of artists and hundreds of community participants, producing large-scale performances (Twisted Metal & Mermaids Tears, Once A Shoreline, Bridge of One Hair, Like An Old Tale), and sparking lasting community-based Offshoots (Arts4All, MABELLEarts, Community Arts Guild); produced cross-country tours (Train of Thought and Four Lands), and festivals of new works (Touching Ground Festival); published books (Xaa Sawaa Tiri – And Then She Said, A Treaty Guide for Torontonians); and guided many other collaborative community-engaged projects. Ruth has worked across Canada and in the UK as a theatre designer, taught at many universities, colleges and schools, mentored numerous artists and organizations, and won awards and recognition for her work, most recently a Jayu Foundation Arts for Human Rights Lifelong Achievement Award. Her recent multi-year projects include Grounds for Goodness, exploring the theme of ‘social goodness’, and CarePlay expressing routines of care through our phases of life. As of 2023, Ruth has moved on from artistic direction of Jumblies, retaining a role as Founder & Consultant, while embarking on new creative adventures and collaborations for her senior years, with her new flexible artistic collective, Rockwalker Arts.