Alanna’s acclaimed play, Sea Sick, a touring phenom.
So, I’m a science journalist and one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done was research a book on how we’re altering the chemistry of the global ocean. It turned into a tale of grand adventure and marvellous discovery with a good dollop of humour, peopled with some of the most fascinating scientists in the world.
So I started giving talks about it and that – to my surprise and ultimately horror – ended up in my being commissioned to create a play, with the help of Franco Boni of The Theatre Centre in Toronto and Ravi Jain of Why Not Theatre, and perform it. Live. In person. Just me. In front of people. In a theatre. The results were interesting. This thing was nominated for a Dora in 2014. We’ve been on the road almost ever since, including to most of the festivals in Canada and lots around the world, thanks to a lot of hard work by the team at The Theatre Centre, especially artistic and general director Aislinn Rose, who never stopped believing in the power of this play.
A personal highlight was a five-week run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, where the play won the prestigious Infallible Awards and got rave reviews. That led to an invitation to perform at the National Theatre in London in March 2020. Alas, the pandemic intervened. But the play kept going. Belfast. Glasgow, coinciding with the climate COP in 2021. And then a full slate in 2022, including our American premiere at The Kennedy Center. (Those were the before times, when it still had that name.)
We’ve slowed down the touring since then and since the most recent performances in Mexico City and Chihuahua, Mexico in December 2023, Sea Sick, the play is in semi-retirement. It’s been called one of the most successful solo shows in Canada.
Here’s how critics described my play: “Shockingly honest”. “Passionate”. “Unconventional theatre”. “A thrilling, yet highly disturbing cautionary tale”. “Riveting and mentally stimulating”. “Unsettling information aimed at provoking change”. “Life-changing”.
Where we’ve toured Sea Sick, The Play
2014
Toronto: The Theatre Centre, March 19-23, 2014 and Oct. 29-Nov.2, 2014
Montreal: Usine C, April 2014
2015
Calgary: High Performance Rodeo, Jan. 2015
Vancouver: PuSH Festival, Feb. 2015
Ottawa: Ontario Scene, May 2015
Victoria: Uno Festival, May 2015
Picton, Ont.: soloFest, July 2015
Mumbai: Tata Literary Festival, Oct.-Nov. 2015
2016
Luxembourg: Fundamental Monodrama Festival, June 2016
2017
Ontario, passim: Ontario Presents: Oct.-Nov. 2017
Darwin, Australia: Darwin Festival, August 2017
2018
Sydney: Sydney Festival Australia, January 2018
Ontario passim: Ontario Presents, Oct.-Nov. 2018
2019
Vancouver: Canadian Non-fiction Collective, UBC Chan Centre, June 2019
Edinburgh: Fringe Festival: July-Aug. 2019
2021
Belfast: International Festival Oct. 2021
Westport, Ireland: Westival Oct. 2021
Glasgow: Tramway Theatre Nov. 2021
2022
Vancouver: The Cultch, Jan. 2022
Winnipeg: Royal Manitoba Theatre, Feb.-Mar. 2022
Washington, D.C.: The Kennedy Center, Mar. 2022
Stanford, CA.: Stanford Live, April 2022
Santa Monica, CA.: The Broad Stage, April 2022
Beaverton, OR.: Reser Center for the Performing Arts, April 2022
Boston: ArtsEmerson, May 2022
Weimar, Germany: Kunstfest 2022, Sept. 2022
Iceland: Arctic Circle Assembly, Harpa Concert Hall, Oct. 2022
2023
Mexico City: DramaFest Mexico, Dec. 2023
Chihuahua, Mexico: Teatro de la Cuidad, Dec. 2023
Alanna Mitchell 