Oskar and the Screaming Drum, Or A Tiny History of Violence

Oskar and the Screaming Drum, Or A Tiny History of Violence is the combination of documentary theatre and literary adaptation loosely based on Nobel-winning German writer Günter Grass’ novel, The Tin Drum. The novel’s protagonist, Oskar, the child of a German father and a Polish mother, receives a tin drum on his third birthday and refuses to grow up ever after. Drumming his way through World War II, Oskar witnesses the ways in which fascism changes their city and family, and explores artistic means of intervention.

Inside the skin of the borrowed story of The Tin Drum, however, there is another subterranean storyline that resonates with the contemporary repercussions of the Global War on Terror in everyday life from a Chinese perspective, raising questions about the relationships between security and terror, technology and freedom, center and periphery, and the iterative, violent distinctions constructed between an “us” and a “them.” This half-hidden story—presented through documentary episodes—may echo or interrupt the fictional world of The Tin Drum, or may be completely irrelevant (or at least apparently so). In the meeting between these two worlds, and between artistic media, we attempt to ask: What do we trade with power for protection? Who are we being protected from? How might we live a good life in the age of surveillance, spectacle, and war?

Starring a child mannequin and actors in non-traditional casting, this production explores new possibilities for identity visibility and experiments with aesthetics in intercultural and intermedial theatre.

The performance is approximately 100 minutes in duration without an intermission.

A talkback/panel with invited guest speakers, on topics relating to documentary theatre, surveillance, and intercultural/intermedial translations/conversations, will take place after the Sunday matinee. You are welcome to join the discussion regardless of which performance you’ve attended. Refreshments will be provided.

Fri. April 21 @ 7:30 PM

Sat. April 22 @ 7:30 PM

Sun. April 23 @ 2:30 PM + Talkback/panel with guest speakers @ 4:30 PM (1 hour long with refreshments).

This is a free event with limited seating. Please be responsible for the tickets you order. Please cancel your ticket in advance if you cannot make it.

Performances @ Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse

Second floor of the University College Union (UC Union) building, 79 St. George Street.

*The Playhouse is only accessible by stairs as the elevator is in repair. We apologize for the incovenience.

Talkback/Panel @ Front and Long Rooms

Ground floor of the University College Union (UC Union) building, 79 St. George Street.

Written by Yi Zhou (she/her)

Directed by Yi Zhou and Myrto Koumarianos (she/her, they/them)

Dramaturgical Consultants: Myrto Koumarianos, Siting Yang (she/her)

Production and Stage Manager: Q** (he/him)

Assistant Stage Managers: L.Z. (she/her), X.X. (he/him)

Set and Light Designer: Evan Moritz (he/him)

Projection Designer: Noel Pendawa (he/him)

Sound Designer: Devlin Flynn (he/him, they/them)

Costume and Prop Designer: Lindsey Griffith (she/her)

Puppetry Consultants: Amelia Blaine (they/them), Devlin Flynn

CDTPS Manager of Theatre Operations: Ariel Martin-Smith

CDTPS Technical Director: Adrien Whan

Katelyn Doyle (she/her) as Puppeteer

Monica Kopec (she/her) as Oskar’s Voice

Siena-heesoo Jang (she/her) as PAPA

Micah Chu (he/him, they/them) as DADA

Bebe Leung (she/her) as MAMA

Tofu Mitchell (they/them) as Bebra

Hannah Mitchell (she/her) as X, Female Guest, Schoolchild, Civilian, Judge, Marxist student A, the Duster gangster, etc.

Madeleine Thompson (she/her) as Y, Male Guest, Security, Inspector, Marxist student B, the Duster gangster, etc.

Lindsey Griffith (she/her) as Z, Schoolmaster, Prosecutor, Marxist student leader, the Duster gang leader, etc.

Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Toronto.

SGS Sponsorship Fund, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto.

Student Initiative Fund, Division of Student Life, University of Toronto.

Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79 Saint George Street, Toronto, Canada