Two legends in the game connect for what looks to be a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. From what I can tell it’s like the one-woman-show meets hip-hop. And you know you can’t have hip-hop without the DJ. Really looking forward to this one even though I guess I don’t qualify for the youth price anymore. Gawd damnit!

The theatrical run starts this Friday so get your tickets now and peep the full breakdown below. Shouts to the queens!

Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape, gives rhythm to silenced voices as part of The RISER Project 2016

Written by Motion

Directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa

Produced by MotionLive Collective

April 11, 2016, TORONTO – MotionLive Collective is pleased to present the world premiere of Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape as part of The RISER Project 2016. The RISER Project, the collaborative producing model for independent theatre, returns to the Theatre Centre (1115 Queen St W) for the second time this Spring, Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape runs April 29 – May 12, 2016 (opening April 30).

Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape is a coming of age story that traces the personal and collective journey of Northside-born girls as they grapple with identity, migrate through their histories, and manifest their lineages through ancient, contemporary, and Afro-futuristic soundscapes; finding the multi-layered voices of the B Girl and the DJ, as the traditional storyteller and drummer are reborn in their beats and rhymes.

The piece is a multidisciplinary insight into how women’s voices – musical and otherwise – have been silenced. Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape is a spoken word opera that remixes theatre, music and spoken word, bringing together a piece as insightful as it is entertaining. The piece riffs on music, race, gender, culture, memory, otherness, resistance, ritual, silence, survival and inheritance through its two characters, exploring the historical silencing of Black and women’s voices, and the intertwined revolutions and resistance signified by music and oral culture in the African Diaspora.

Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape is written and performed by playwright, poet and emcee MOTION and composed/mixed by DJ, composer and beat maker L’Oqenz. It is directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa.

Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape is made possible by Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.

About Oraltorio

Directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa

Motion (Writer/Performer)

DJ L’Oqenz (Music & Sound Design/Performer)

Roger C. Jeffrey (Choreographer)

Saccha Dennis (Assistant Director)

Tara Mohan (Stage Manager)

Mariuxi Zambrano (Costume Designer)

Jackie Chau (Set & Props Designer)

David Mesiha (Associate Sound Designer)

Remington North (Associate Video Designer)

Ramon Charles (Video Designer)

Andrew du Toit (Lighting Designer)

Mel Hague (Dramaturge)

MotionLive Collective (Producer)

Newface Entertainment/David Crawford (co-Producer)

IFT Theatre (co-Producer)