Sixth annual Canoe Theatre Festival

White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written by Iranian-born playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, will headline the sixth annual Canoe Festival, which runs Jan.24 to Feb. 3 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.
The festival offers audiences and artists alike the chance to check out plays you wouldn’t have the chance to see anywhere else.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
One of the most interesting and internationally travelled shows is White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written by Iranian-born playwright Nassim Soleimanpour.
Banned from leaving the country for refusing military service, Soleimanpour wrote the play at age 29. The show is incredibly unique as it is written as a monologue from the point of view of Soleimanpour and it requires no director, no set, and features a different actor for each performance.
“The way the show works is, an actor, who has never seen the script before and walks up on stage, opens an envelope and inside that envelope is the script,” says Brown. “It’s a little bit about the experience of his generation in Iran and it explores the basics on how everybody has a responsibility to engage with everyone, including politics and the political climate.”
Audience members are encouraged to participate by using their cellphones to send messages regarding the show to Soleimanpour over social media.
“This show is essentially a way for an Iranian person who is quite young and of a younger generation, to have a conversation with people outside of his country,” says Brown.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit will be shown three times throughout the festival (Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 & 2). An after-show, talk-back session will take place following the Feb. 2 performance.