Catherine Kidd solo performance at Griffintown’s historic New City Gas
One night only • Saturday, November 27, 8pm • 950 Rue Ottawa (Metro Bonaventure)
Entrance FREE • Stay and enjoy refreshments after the show

(Montreal) This November 27^th an enchanting experience awaits audiences as two Montreal originals combine for one special evening of performance poetry in situ.

Beneath the rafters of New City Gas’s Dalhousie Hall, Catherine Kidd will preview works from her upcoming solo show Hyena Subpoena (to be launched in 2011) alongside road-tested favourites from previous works Sea Peach and Bipolar Bear. The pieces will feature original soundscapes by DJ Jacky Murda (Barcelona) and video environments by Kidd and Geoff Agombar.

This performance marks a return to source for Catherine, following an extended absence from Montreal stages to work on the Hyena Subpoena manuscript – a series of stories that interweave personal traumas in the life of narrator Ramona Morse with experiences and wildlife footage collected by Kidd and Agombar during a 2007 tour of South Africa.

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Built in 1859-61, New City Gas was a key player during the industrialization of Montreal, producing and distributing gas which lit the city’s streets, homes and factories. The buildings’ stone masonry, vaulted spaces and stout, open rafters stand in testament to the ambitions of a bygone era of social upheaval and energy revolution. Today this industrial heritage lives on as the complex still houses a paper warehouse, even as various sections are converted to fresh uses as galleries and ad hoc performance spaces.

• More information available at heritagemontreal.org/en/new-city-gas or griffintown.org/corridorculturel/nuitblanche.

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An incontournable of Montreal’s spoken word scene since the early ’90s, Catherine Kidd has forged a reputation as one of the nation’s most surprising and inspiring voices for page and stage. Her award-winning multimedia poetic creations have toured Europe, Asia, Africa, UK, US and Canada.

Slight but dominating this ‘goddess of beats’ transfixes with her adult blend of Dr. Seuss and Aesop’s Fables. — The Scotsman (Edinburgh)

“Our city’s newest superstar… a knockout… This Kidd is pure gold.” — Montreal Gazette

Catherine Kidd’s performance style makes me think of Dr. Seuss meets Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom meets David Suzuki meets Vaudeville meets Patti Smith. Yeah, it is that good. It’s a musical theatre crash course in punk rock zoology. — T.L. Cowan (Calgary International Spoken Word Festival)

Clearly one of Canada’s most talented wordsmiths. — Broken Pencil (Toronto)

Samples of Kidd’s work are available at www.catkidd.com , youtube.com/catkidddotcom

Contact: hyenasubpoena@gmail.com, 514.276.0839