a love & loss story between
PLUTO & JUPITER
best friends. sisters. sworn enemies.
queer lovers. witch hunt survivors. warrior animals.
modern day black & brown vampire slayers.
ancient leaders. future revolutionaries.
two shape shifters, time travellers,
ordinary humans &
OTHERWORLDLY GIANTS
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PLUTO
written & directed by
Shaunga Tagore
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This theatre-film hybrid project is a multidisciplinary-multiverse play shared in multiple languages including: spoken/heard english, ASL-english, movement & dance, energy healing, sound medicine, visual art/animation, psychic communication, oracular listening and prophecy.
Shaunga originally wrote the full 80-minute script in 2019. During the height of the pandemic, she did multiple live script readings in online spaces and in context of community ritual and ceremony.
In 2022, PLUTO brought together a team of QTBIPOC artists / artists with a background and interest in Astrological-Ancestral theatre, for an initial collaborative incubation, exploring this story for the stage and screen.
Our 2022 workshop culminated with filming several scenes from the script. Then we hosted a community ‘show and tell’ on Thursday (Jupiter’s day) March 23, 2023 (the day Pluto entered Aquarius).
Check out our little teaser from one of the clips we filmed below! In this scene, SIRIUS (a reincarnation of JUPITER) confronts PLUTO in The Wailing Woods.
In 2022, we also hosted a separate creative process with our Deaf artists to work on adapting Shaunga’s play into ASL-English. This process has its own trajectory, timeline and pacing. Stay tuned – we will eventually share clips from our ASL process here, too!
In Divine Timing, the full story of PLUTO will find its way to a stage/screen near you <3
This work is supported by Green Apu Productions, Canada Council of the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and, most enthusiastically, by the Animals, the Ancestors, and the Planets.
COLLABORATORS
Writer, Director, Executive Producer
Shaunga Tagore
Partner Producer
Green Apu Productions
Movement Director
désirée freda
Visual Artist
Rosemary Reyes
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Featuring
Irma Villafuerte as PLUTO
& Nickeshia Garrick as JUPITER
With, Deaf Artists
Thurga Kanagasekarampillai (ASL Director / PLUTO 2023)
Natasha “Courage” Bacchus (JUPITER)
& Tamyka Bullen (PLUTO, 2022)
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Producer
Najla Nubyanluv
Filmmaker Consultant
Ev Marquee
On-Site Videographer
Ana Higuera
Make-Up Artist
Trixi Jones
Team Mentor
Deanna Downes
Outside Eye
daniel jelani ellis
Community ‘Show and Tell’ Host
Dr. Stephanie R. Burns and the Funky Tribe
Production Assistant
Alvis Choi
Venue
Aluna Theatre
Animal Elder Care Support
David Udayasekaran, Julie Hirt
ASL Interpretation
Kimberley Johnson, Vanessa Bailey, Carmelle Cachero