The Chemical Valley Project
Protest. Performance. Resilience.
about the show
In Sarnia, Ontario, an Indigenous community of 800 residents, is smothered by the Canadian petrochemical industry. Two siblings from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray, have dedicated themselves to fighting environmental racism and to protecting their community’s land, air and water.
A breathtaking blend of documentary-theatre, innovative projection design, a charismatic script and playful
solo-performance engage and implicate audiences in The Chemical Valley Project. This urgent production delves gracefully into difficult conversations on Indigenous treaty rights, the nature of contemporary Canadian identity and values, and Canada’s notorious “Chemical Valley”.
The Chemical Valley Project - Trailer
The Chemical Valley Project - Trailer by Hoffworks
Kevin Matthew Wong, performer/creator Heather Majaury, facilitator/academic Amy Smoke, water protectors and Broadleaf collaborators Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray, and Julia Howman at The Registry Theatre.
About
Located in Sarnia, Ontario, the Aamjiwnaang First Nations reserve and its 900 residents are smothered by one of Canada’s largest petrochemical corridors: the Chemical Valley. Siblings Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray have dedicated their lives to fighting the pollution that threatens their community’s health, safety, and future. Theatre makers and friends Julia Howman and Kevin Matthew Wong document Vanessa and Beze’s vital activism and journeys as land defenders and water protectors. Through an innovative blend of projection design, object puppetry, and solo-performance, The Chemical Valley Project seeks to spark conversations on Canadian environmental policy, treaty rights and Indigenous relations, and the current nature of Canadian identity and values.
LEARN MORE:
aamjiwnaangsolidarity.org
Water Protectors Beze Gray and Vanessa Gray during the first interview for The Chemical Valley Project. Photo by Kevin Matthew Wong.
The Team
Creator, Writer Performer | Kevin Matthew Wong
Creator, Production Design, Projections Operation | Julia Howman
Dramaturgy and Advisement | Vanessa Gray
Dramaturgy and Advisement | Beze Gray
Co-Lighting Design | John Cabanela
Sound Design | Frank Incer & Kevin Matthew Wong
Music | Frank Incer
Original Stage Management | Heather Bellingham
2022 Touring Stage Management | Tara Mohan
Kevin Matthew Wong in rehearsal for "The Chemical Valley Project." Beze Gray and Vanessa Gray appear on a scrim. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Beze Gray in rehearsal for The Chemical Valley Project.
The Chemical Valley PRoject: Extended
Check out our full interview with Beze Gray, taken during rehearsals in March 2019.
Reviews & Media
NNNN - Now Magazine Critics' Pick
"Wong has a warm, generous and fully present delivery style, and Howman's imaginative production design goes beyond a slide presentation to create something with a grassroots, humane feel....
Wong is sensitive to the idea of cultural appropriation, and so he lets the siblings talk for themselves in audio interviews; in a video clip, he even shows them the work in progress and asks for suggestions, which he then implements"
Mooney on Theatre:
"I highly recommend seeing this show for the important reality it exposes. To its diligent creators: thank you."
alt theatre magazine
"I left The Chemical Valley Project with a sense of the value in stories, and with a model for what it takes to really listen and come to understand others’ lived experience... earnest, accessible, and very well told."
Janis Lacouvee:
"The Chemical Valley Project is moving and disruptive theatre, a call to action beautifully told and executed,
and a must see for any modern Canadian."
The Chemical Valley Project. Photography by Dahlia Katz.
Development
The Chemical Valley Project was the winner of Theatre Passe Muraille's fall 2016 Crapshoot! It has also been shown at the 2017 FOOT Festival at the Centre for Drama Theatre and Performance Studies and "Protest in Performance: Solidarity with the Chippewas of the Thames." The work has been generously supported by Theatre Passe Muraille and the Ontario Arts Council through the Theatre Creators' Reserve Program. The Chemical Valley Project was then developed at the 2017 SummerWorks Performance Festival, where the project was a NOW Magazine Critics' Pick. The Chemical Valley Project is being developed as part of Theatre Passe Muraille's 2018 BUZZ Series, supported by the Laidlaw Foundation.
Post-BUZZ Development of The Chemical Valley Project was been supported by Ontario Arts Council Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators from Studio 180 and Theatre Gargantua. The 2019 Toronto debut of the show was supported by the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
Contact broadleaftheatre@gmail.com for booking details and our show package.
Project and Touring History
January 2017 - Art in Solidarity: Performance in Protest, Toronto, ON
February 2017 - FOOT Festival (Toronto, ON)
August 2017 - SummerWorks Performance Festival (Toronto, ON)
September 2017 - Aamjiwnaang Water Gathering, Aamjiwnaang First Nation
January 2018 - Theatre Passe Muraille BUZZ Series (Toronto, ON)
March 2018 - Registry Theatre (Kitchener, ON)
May 2018 - UNO Fest, Intrepid Theatre (Victoria, B.C.)
May 2018 - Ignite Youth Festival, The Cultch (Vancouver B.C.)
June 2018 - Festival Theaterformen (Braunschweig, Germany)
June 2018 - FOLDA, SpiderWebShow (Kingston, ON)
September 2018 - The Theatre On King (Peterborough, ON)
November 2018 - Parliament of the World’s Religions (Toronto, ON)
April 2019 - Theatre Passe Muraille* (Toronto, ON)
February 2020 - McMaster University, The Black Box Theatre (Hamilton, ON)
March 2020 - University of Toronto, Robert Gill Theatre (Toronto, ON) and Public Energy, Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (Peterborough, ON)
November 2020 - FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Robertson Theatre (St. Catharines, ON)** Co-presented by The Grand Theatre (Kingston, ON), The Rose (Brampton, ON), and the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts (Oakville, ON).
March 2022 - Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg, MB)**
Presented as part of The Bridge: Our Only Earth
September-October 2022 - Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa, ON)
March 2024 - Teesri Duniya Theatre (Montreal, QC)
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The Chemical Valley Project is available for touring nationally and internationally.
Contact us at broadleaftheatre@gmail.com for touring inquiries.
* World Premiere
** Digital Live-Stream Premiere