In bocca al lupo - In the Mouth of the Wolf

Description:

While in residence at Western Front, Rita McKeough developed and performed In bocca al lupo - In the Mouth of the Wolf, a feminist punk “mutant rock opera” incorporating a multilayered choral soundtrack, slide and video projections, and a cast of seventeen performers.

The performance took place inside a massive two-storey structure shaped like a woman’s body. The audience was seated on piles of books on the floor, embedded within the installation itself.

In bocca al lupo set out to open up anger—to examine it and allow it to be fully expressed. The performers embodied and named distinct forms of anger: What’s Inside of Her Comes Out (Elizabeth Burr), Parts of Her Go Up in the Air (Tagny Duff), Burden (Yoko Takashima and Keiko Okamura), My Heart Beats Too Fast (Rita McKeough), Opponent (Jude Major), Dangerous Animal (Deirdre Logue), Heat (Celina Carroll), and Fire (Kathleen Yearwood). These characters moved throughout the set, interacting with one another and the audience, their actions cued by a continuously playing prerecorded audio track.

The live band featured vocals by Kathleen Yearwood and Celina Carroll, guitar by Elaine Stef, bass by Rachael Melas, drums by Rita McKeough, and a choir composed of Heather Hodson, Andrea Kohl, Ann McDonell, Sue McGowan, Annie Moss, and Amie Stafford.

Like much of McKeough’s work, In bocca al lupo created a space for activating agency and interrogating gender, repression, destruction, fear, and isolation. Dedicated to those working to end violence against women, the performance externalized the often unspoken impacts of violence and toxic masculinity. Through layered, dissonant choruses and symbolically extroverted costumes, In bocca al lupo formed a collective corporeality that made trauma visible and impossible to ignore.

Co-sponsored by Presentation House Gallery, and supported by  the Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, The Van Dusen Fund, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, The United Way New Ventures Fund through the North Shore Neighbourhood House, Gastown Printers, and The Vancouver Sun