Nancy Dahn

An old hermit, living with his ducks in the woods, is kidnapped for not conforming by the state's children's army. In prison the old man undergoes a torturous re-education by fierce classical musicians. A courageous fellow prisoner heals him with love and they attempt an escape.

In the fall of 2021 playwright Robert Chafe set out on an interview tour of eastern Newfoundland, asking residents of coastal communities why they live where they live, and how they might see their future. The responses offer a new way to think about the love, risk, and resilience of living on the edge of a changing ocean. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Barbara Doran and Jerry McIntosh, Taking on Water takes the audience through the process of developing the musical-dramatic performance of the same name from local conversations about ocean and coastal change to final performances on the stage.

Newfoundland violin and piano classical team Duo Concertante perform a moving piece by Dawn Avery, and director Nicola Hawkins accompanies with striking mixed media imagery.

Newfoundland’s Duo Concertante perform the Juno-nominated classical composition “Coeur À Coeur” by Canada’s Alice Ping Yee Ho. This piece is conceived as an imaginary conversation between two voices: exchanging inner thoughts, and it pairs beautifully with the footage of northern gannets at Cape St. Mary’s.