Alice Canton

Alice Canton (born 1986 or 1987) is a New Zealand theatre-maker and performer of Chinese and Pākehā descent.

Alice Canton
Born1986 or 1987 (age 36–37)
NationalityNew Zealand
Occupation(s)Theatre-maker and performer
Notable workOrangutan, White/Other and OTHER[chinese]

Early life

Canton was born on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand in either 1986 or 1987.[1] Her mother is a New Zealander of Chinese Malaysian descent, with family origins in Sarawak, Borneo. Sources differ whether her mother is a second generation,[2] or third generation[3] New Zealander. Her father is a fourth generation New Zealander of Welsh descent. Canton was raised in Christchurch.[3][2]

She is a graduate of the University of Canterbury and Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School, where she graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting).[4][2]

Career

Canton has worked as an actor, director and theatre-maker in New Zealand, and her career since 2011 has included work in arts, education and marketing.[5][6] Canton creates work with the collective White_Mess, that draws upon theatre making and social practice.[7] Her notable works include Orangutan, White/Other and OTHER [chinese].

Orangutan

In 2011, Canton travelled to Southeast Asia with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, to study performance traditions in mask and shadow puppetry. The trip included time in Indonesia learning the art of Balinese mask carving and dance.[6][8][5] In 2015 after a five-week residency with the Christchurch dance organisation Movement Art Practice Canton created a solo performance Orangutan that she performed drawing on her experience in Indonesia. The show is set in the rainforest of Borneo and is performed with a mask and without spoken language. It tells the story of the struggle of the orangutan resulting from resource extraction and industrialisation. Canton says about the work:[9]

I wanted to develop a non-verbal work that could be viewed widely and without the limitation of spoken language. Masks can be profound and universal, and I wanted to paint rich images that could speak to multiple layers.

Orangutan premiered at The Basement Theatre, Auckland from 30 June - 3 July 2015.[8] In 2016, Canton staged Orangutan at Edgewater College and five other schools around the city, as part of Basement Theatre's schools programme.[10]

White/Other

In 2016 Canton created White/Other, a solo performance piece about racial identity and racism. The show uses poetry, metaphor, observations, dance and projection and premiered in April 2016 at The Basement Theatre, Auckland.[3][1]

OTHER [chinese]

OTHER [chinese] is a documentary theatre project involving live documentary, and deals with issues of identity and belonging. Audiences experience insights from those who identify as Chinese. The show premiered at the Q Theatre in Auckland in September 2017.[2][11] The project was part of the 2021 Dunedin Arts Festival and Festival of Colour in Wānaka.[12]

Honours and awards

In 2015, at the Annual Auckland Theatre Awards, Canton won the Equity New Zealand Award for Best Show by an Emerging Artist for her work Orangutan.[13]

In 2017, Canton won Best Show of 2017 (Metro Magazine) for her documentary-theatre project OTHER [chinese].[14] This production also featured at the Auckland Theatre Awards where she won the Excellence Award for Overall Production, and the Hackman Cup for Most Original Production, presented by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.[15]

References
  1. "Dual Identities in White/Other". RNZ. 17 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. Cynthia Hiu Ying Lam (2019). "Master of Arts thesis:Staging Chinese Voices - Chinese Representations in New Zealand Theatre" (PDF). Massey University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2021.
  3. Christian, Dionne (9 April 2016). "Dealing with racism on a daily basis". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  4. "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  5. "Tour to build theatrical tiers between New Zealand and Asia". Asia New Zealand Foundation. 12 August 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  6. "Alice Canton". Festival for the future. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  7. "WHITE_MESS". WHITE_MESS. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  8. "Production information - Orangutan". Theatreview. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  9. Christian, Dionne (27 January 2015). "The Mourning After: Using humour to rebuild lives". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  10. Chen, Liu (1 August 2016). "Award-winning Orangutan show tours schools". Stuff. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  11. Te, Mandy (28 July 2017). "Auckland show invites 100 Chinese people to share their stories". Stuff. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  12. "Project explores experience of being Chinese in NZ". Otago Daily Times. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  13. "Auckland Theatre Awards winners". Metro. 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  14. "The best of Auckland 2017". Metro. 28 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  15. "Another Huge Year for the Auckland Theatre Awards". Scoop. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
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