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The gem that is Quebec theatre

Two Sundays ago, as the rest of the city reveled in the sun-drenched welcoming of spring, I found myself cursing Google Maps, lost in the depths of St. Laurent. Accompanied by fellow theatre lovers, I was searching for the entrance to Infinitheatre, a bath house turned performance space. A matinee showing of Quebec playwright François Archambault’s The Leisure Society was already starting. My frantic search was starting to manifest itself in increasingly blistering glares at the boisterous summer strollers all around us when, mercifully, one member of our crew suggested we swing on to St. Dominique and look for a back entrance. 

The back entrance turned out to be the front entrance, and suddenly there we were; a now-cheery group of people entering the sleek, modern living room that was the set of The Leisure Society. As we settled into our seats my neighbour turned to me and-with eyes wide-said: “I used to think Quebec theatre wasn’t controversial enough.” An hour and a half later, it was clear why she had changed her mind. 

I had discovered Quebec theatre the same way I found Infinititheatre: through the back door. Switching to an English major in my second year led to unexpected exposure to people making art in a way that I had never experienced before. Their raw inspection of social norms and fresh approach at tackling old themes was different from the more famous of the 20th century pieces floating about in the public consciousness. 

The Leisure Society is yet another Quebec theatre gem, exposing the dearth of meaning that can manifest itself in a Canadian upper middle class existence. In the play, a rich and powerful couple fill their lives with anything and everything except for actual, vulnerable relationships. This leads to a whirlwind of unsatisfactory sexual excursions and unsuccessful suicide attempts. The scary thing was how recognizable this onstage reflection was to a broader 21st century Canadian audience. This is becoming the stamp of a great deal of Quebec theatre; it may be conceived in this province, but it has implications for Canada as a whole. 

Wajdi Mouawad’s Scorched is also causing ripples in the theatre world, echoing the cross border journey of its characters. Scenes are set in Montreal and Lebanon as cycles of violence, and the nature of identity, are tied together in ways that make Greek tragedy seem like an after-school special. And adding further to the Quebec literary canon is The Seven Streams of the River Ota by Robert Lepage, which starts with the horrific Hiroshima bombing during World War II, and threads a visually stunning story that connects people from different times and places. 

These are but a few contemporary examples of something special happening in Quebec’s playhouses. Its theatre scene-only half a century ago mostly comprised of a vehement reaction against the surge of American pop culture and the iron grip of the Catholic church-has come into its own in a way that is distinctly its own. 

For the non-local, it might be tricky at first to find theatre created by Quebecois artists, but believe me, finding it is worth it. Even if it means looking for the back door.  

Opinion

Safe space strife

The latest flashpoint of tension at Queer McGill (QM) revolves around the dismissal of Brian Keast, the former treasurer of the club, after an equity complaint filed by Libby Bouchard, the club’s Political Action Co-ordinator. The complaint alleged that Keast, an executive of the group, had violated QM’s anti-transphobia mandate. Some of the detailed aspects of the complaint included not being attentive enough to the complaints of transgendered members and not attending a “Trans Allyship” workshop for QM executives because, Keast claimed, he had to study. The SSMU equity commission, in their binding ruling, sided with Bouchard. Keast declined to speak on the record for this piece.  

I visited Queer McGill’s offices to get a closer view of the situation. I spoke to three of the remaining executives; the social co-ordinators, Lindsey Clark and Sasha Choupique, and publicity director Mona Luxion. They all characterized the reality of the situation as being quite different from the Facebook wall. According to Clark, the contentious atmosphere surrounding the dismissal stemmed from incomplete information provided to club members at the time. In addition, she characterized the debate as a “few loud voices” magnifying the issue. 

All three current executives I spoke to agreed that this episode was reflective of broader debates that often occur in the queer community about how to approach transgender issues. Luxion went as far as to note that the types of oppression that exist in the wider world also exist in the queer community as well. In addition, the three of them expressed confidence in both the equity commission and its decision. In response to my inquiry about the (seeming) lack of transphobic intent in Keast’s comments, Luxion argued that while there is room in a “safe space” for misunderstandings, a refusal to acknowledge the hurtfulness of one’s actions is almost as bad as actually trying to be hurtful.

The three executives also spoke with one voice when I inquired whether QM will move past the situation. Luxion noted that worse disputes have occurred since the club was founded in the 1970s, but the current situation was far more transparent thanks to the Internet. 

The other, longer-term debate surrounding QM has been about the scope of its mission. Is it to be a “support service [for] queer students and their allies,” or is it to take a broader role in on campus politics? Several weeks earlier, another rancorous debate was triggered on the QM page by Bouchard’s posting of a pride flag draped over the sign of the James Administrative Building, in support the sixth floor occupation earlier this year. To get an external perspective on this aspect of the story, I talked to Aliénor Lemieux-Cumberlege, who formerly served as QM’s First Year Representative and Volunteer and Discussion Groups co-ordinator. She resigned from the latter position at the end of last term, citing stresses associated with being on the club’s executive body. On the subject of politics at Queer McGill, she noted that both “are strongly linked at the moment, perhaps to the detriment of the service mandate.” While, in her view, politics are not “irreconcilable” with the service mandate, she expressed worry that queer students would feel that they are not political enough to get involved with QM. 

Luxion, meanwhile, struck a somewhat different tone, arguing that those who become executives on QM tend to be politically and socially involved on campus. The tension between what executives do in their official role and what they do individually, Luxion said, was healthy because it opened discussion on what sorts of things the organization wants to be involved with on campus.  

Queer McGill will almost certainly survive Keast’s dismissal. Lemieux-Cumberlege, Luxion, Clark, and Choupique all agreed to as much when asked. As to whether the club can minimize the impact of such incidents in the future is an open question. 

A previously published version of this article mistakenly claims that a complaint filed against Brian Keast, former Treasurer of Queer McGill, alleged that he had scheduled a club event on the same day as a vigil commemorating transgendered people. The complaint actually alleged that Keast opposed rescheduling a planned event to make way for the vigil. The Tribune regrets this error.

Science & Technology

Speakers discuss green careers

On Wednesday, March 14, three professionals in environment-related fields offered career advice to students interested in pursuing similar careers after graduation. The professional panel session was part of the Career Planning Services’ (CaPS) Green Careers Week, a three-day event featuring over 15 different non-government organizations and a dozen speakers from the field of environment. 

Geneviève Paquin (B.Eng. ’11) and Sonia Voiceson (B.Sc. Ag.En.Sc. ’11), both recent graduates from McGill, shared their experiences and described how they discovered their interests as undergraduates.

Paquin’s exchange at the University of Western Australia shaped her interest in water shortages, and she completed multiple internships in the field. She believes students need to be more proactive in applying for internships by staying well-connected and having a good network of friends and family. 

“Finding the first internship is very hard because you don’t have a lot of experience,” she said. “But you have to be aggressive. The main way to get internships is by contacts.”

Paquin reminded students to not give up and to learn from their first real work experience.

“Once you have completed your first internship, even if it’s not the one you like, you can always take something away from it and use it when applying for your second internship,” she said.

Currently working as an intern at SUCO, Voiceson explained why she had difficulty choosing between two different job opportunities. 

“I had the decision to make between having a stable government job and an internship for 6 months in Nicaragua, and it was difficult,” she said.

After explaining the challenging decision process, she told the audience about the uniqueness of the internship abroad. 

“How many times can you go to another country and work for 6 months?” she asked. “It is a unique opportunity.”

Voiceson went on to explain how the internship in Nicaragua has allowed her to apply what she learned in school to the real world, and at the same time, have face-to-face contact with the local population in attempting to solve their water problems. 

Sophie Daubisse, a director of L’Autre Marché, a local organization focused on bridging the relationship between farmers and consumers by co-ordinating farmers’ markets around Montreal, stressed the importance of putting your skills to work. 

“I think the new generation of students have amazing theoretical knowledge, but need to find and identify their skills to put into projects,” she said. “We need new ideas, new juice, and that is exactly what my company is looking for.”

Science & Technology

A new potential therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

Recent McGill research may have brought scientists one step closer to finding an early marker for Alzheimer’s disease.

 Alzheimer’s is one of the most menacing chronic illnesses, one which attacks the brain by degrading the neural tissue necessary for thoughts and normal brain function. The disease manifests by erasing the self, as the memories, relationships, and beliefs central to one’s identity are  eroded. Friends and family are left to watch helplessly as loved ones succumb to Alzheimer’s, haunted by the fact that despite the advancements of modern medicine, nothing can be done to stop its progression.

 With an aging population, it is predicted that the number of Alzheimer’s cases in North America will roughly triple by 2050. This poses a great burden to our health care system-currently, the pathology of the disease is still not fully understood, which complicates the search for effective treatments. To make matters worse, the degeneration of the brain is asymptomatic. An Alzheimer’s diagnosis carries with it a degree of hopelessness, because existing therapies have proven to be only mildly effective, being unable to target the underlying condition.

 What is understood is that the cortical cholinergic system plays a prominent role in cognitive processing and that a progressive degradation of this system is partly responsible for the cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease. A molecule called the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) has previously been identified as a protector of these cholinergic neurons.

 Research led by Dr. A. Claudio Cuello of McGill’s department of pharmacology and therapeutics found an imbalance in the metabolism of NGF in Alzheimer’s-afflicted brains. NGF is secreted in an inactive form, and must change form outside the cell in order to become functional.  In brains with Alzheimer’s, this maturation process is compromised and NGF is degraded.

 Cuello and his team attempted to reproduce this imbalance in rats. 

“[We wanted to] validate that this pathway is indeed responsible for maintaining the cholinergic phenotype in the Alzheimer’s system,” he said.

They pharmacologically blocked the NGF maturation pathway, forcing an accumulation of the inactive form. They found that this disruption led to the degeneration of cholinergic neurons and the onset of Alzheimer’s-like cognitive impairment. Conversely, when the degradation of mature NGF was inhibited by drug intervention, there was a significant increase in cholinergic contacts which are required for proper neuronal communication, demonstrating that NGF is crucial for the health of these neurons. This is an enormous breakthrough which points toward the regulation of NGF as a potential Alzheimer therapeutic target.

 Dr. Cuello identified a few barriers in place that must be resolved before NGF-targeting drugs can be developed. First, there is no marker that allows us to diagnose Alzheimer’s because it is asymptomatic when loss of neural tissue is already taking place. This is the one of greatest obstacles that scientists need to overcome. Since there is no tell-tale sign, it is very difficult to target those who are at risk and to determine what stage they are at during neural decline.

 In order to attack the underlying condition and stop the progression of the disease in its tracks, a patient must receive proactive treatment prior to the onset of any symptoms. In addition, there need to be drugs targeted to specific parts of the brain, because the secretion of NGF is spatially specific, meaning that the drug cannot be applied universally. The drugs applied to animal models in this study were very powerful and unsuitable for human intervention as they could produce adverse effects.

 In spite of these roadblocks and the difficult nature of Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Cuello noted that many researchers are striving to discover pre-clinical indicators of the disease, which once identified, will reveal the brain’s hidden sickness and provide patients with necessary time to take action.

“We are in a position of optimism,” Cuello said.

Science & Technology

Jet stream and snowless ground bring summer weather

Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune

Last week, as unusually hot temperatures hit Montreal, McGill students flocked to green spaces all over campus, trading winter coats for shorts and tank tops.

The peak of the hot spell hit on March 21, with the temperature reaching 25.8 C degrees, according to Environment Canada.

Wednesday’s high exceeded the record high temperature for March 19 by 10 degrees. 

“Beating a record by 10 degrees is unheard of,” Frédéric Fabry, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, said. 

The unusual weather was caused by a combination of the mild winter and a north-south intrusion of a strong air current in the upper atmosphere called the jet stream,  which blocked cooler weather from reaching the east coast. 

Fabry explained that most Montreal weather travels west to east, driven by the jet stream. Occasionally the usual path of the current is disrupted by north-south air currents. When this happens, the weather gets trapped in place while the current is disrupted. This phenomenon is referred to as a block.

“We just happened to be on the right side [of the block],” Fabry said, referring to the fact that warm weather hovered over Montreal while snow continued to fall in western Canada and heavy rains pounded Texas, causing flooding. 

In a normal Montreal March, deep snow would have cooled the warm air that travelled north from the Gulf of Mexico. The mild winter, caused in part by the fact that cold Arctic air stayed farther north in Canada than usual, meant the snow was thinner on the ground and melted quickly without significantly cooling the temperature.

Fabry stressed that while there is plenty of evidence of gradual warming, this stretch of weather should not be considered proof of global warming. He pointed out that despite the mild winter in eastern Canada, Eastern Europe experienced much colder temperatures than usual.

Meteorologists can see weather coming a week or so in advance by watching air currents and monitoring the weather conditions upstream. However, predicting the types of combinations of complex phenomena that resulted in the unprecedented warm spell last week is a difficult task.

Although websites like The Weather Network were predicting warm weather, the temperatures exceeded expectations. The bout of warm weather, which brought a snow-free St. Patrick’s Day, was a pleasant surprise for most.

Frostbite, an on-campus ice cream shop, sold so much ice cream that they had to close briefly to wait until more stock arrived. The unprecedented melt also surprised the city of Montreal, which responded by starting street cleaning operations much earlier than usual this year.

In the coming week, the weather is expected to cool down again. Optimistically, Fabry pointed out that one last unexpected frost could kill off the mosquito larvae, making for a much more pleasant summer.

Arts & Entertainment

Delta Spirit: Delta Spirit

Delta Spirit’s self-titled third album sees the band attempting to shake their “rootsy Americana” label, offering their sleekest, most polished, and accessible record to date, for better or worse.

The new direction isn’t completely unexpected considering the prominence of rock-based songs on their sophomore effort History From Below, but it is surprising how enthusiastically they’ve committed to the change. This time, it’s all amplified, with acoustic guitar making only a few fleeting background appearances and a widened sonic palette including synths and drum machines. Sometimes the new sounds and timbres work well-the hazy, washed out guitars on “California” do an excellent job of evoking romanticized images of said state-but achieve underwhelming results elsewhere (“Tellin’ the Mind” feels overstuffed in particular).

Singer Matthew Vasquez’s voice remains the band’s greatest asset, running the gamut from soothingly tender on “Yamaha”  to impassioned, throat-straining cries that make “Money Saves”  the cathartic highlight of the album. The songs themselves focus on the “big picture,” addressing philosophical questions about life, love, and coming to terms with one’s own mortality, but there’s a persistent musical optimism even with the heaviest lyrics (“Empty House,” “Into the Darkness”).

Fans might lament the band’s move away from their rootsy foundations, especially considering how good those songs were, but “classic” Delta Spirit would have derailed the record’s sonic cohesiveness. In the end, focusing on what the album isn’t misses out on what it is-a band putting a new foot forward and mostly succeeding.

Arts & Entertainment

Darrelle London: Eat a Peach

The tone of Eat a Peach, the sophomore release of self-described “quirky Canadian piano-pop singer-songwriter” Darrelle London, can be easily construed by the title of the album itself. Not only does London impressively blend clever quirkiness in a way that is similar to modern British indie-pop icons like Lilly Allen and Kate Nash, but she also manages to create lyrics that are sophisticated and relatable.

The album’s opener, “First Date,” a snarky recounting of a first date gone horribly wrong, is an excellent preview of the tone of the rest of the album, which features humorous interpretations of common interpersonal problems. While some female artists mix heavy subject matter with morose and wailing vocals, London’s witty, light persona is extremely refreshing, as are her simple yet charming musical arrangements. “Forgot My Words” is the standout song of the album with its catchy chorus and strong vocals, and “Fine” also deserves recognition for its ability to catch your interest just as well as the rest of the album, despite being the only relatively mellow track.

Although the lyrics are well-written and the piano accompaniment is exceptionally catchy, the most alluring aspect of the album is London’s engaging and free-spirited personality, which shines through on every track. Her raw, yet skillful vocals draw you in from the beginning of Eat a Peach, and, no matter your mood, put a smile on your face.

Arts & Entertainment

Music for her grandchildren

radioscreamer.com

Stacey Jackson might not be your typical dance diva, but this down-to-earth mother of four knows how to get a party started. Her latest EP, Live It Up, is a compilation of upbeat, feel-good dance songs that Jackson hopes will convey the mantra she lives by: “Life isn’t a dress rehearsal, you’ve got to live it.”

Jackson is refreshing and relatable, and her rapid road to stardom  catapulted her the number two spot on the UK dance charts. Over the last 18 months, her chart-topping single “Live It Up,” featuring rapper Snoop Dogg, has made a major splash in the dance scene. The somewhat unlikely pair bonded quickly, sharing similar stories about their children and their longevity, traits that are somewhat scarce in today’s ageist music industry. Jackson’s genuine demeanour is what persuaded Snoop Dogg to work with her.

“He loved that I’m coming from a different place,” Jackson says. “I’m not affected by the music industry. I’m mature, so my choices are slightly more business-slanted and I am totally open to working with people and having my music remixed and fattened up.”

Now based in London with her husband and children, Jackson manages to balance her hectic career with family life, two roles she would never want to give up. Described as a “grown-up Hannah Montana” by friends, her stardom projects a positive message to youth, particular ly young girls.

“My intention is to show that no matter who you are, how old you are, what you do, if you have a dream, you go and do it,” Jackson explains.

She certainly seems to be doing everything she’s ever dreamed of; not only was she seated between Lady Gaga and the Scissor Sisters on the UK Commercial Pop Charts, she is also a philanthropist. Teaming up with Music for Youth, a music education charity in the UK that provides access to performance and audience opportunities to children, Jackson raised over $30,000 by collaborating with young musicians. Her previous album, Upside Down, incorporated children from all over the country and sprinkled their voices throughout the tracks, allowing them to have the unique experience of being part of the recording process.

Jackson has only been back in the music industry for a few years now, but she doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon.

“What I always wanted my whole life is not necessarily a Grammy or an IDMA. I want my grandchildren to go to a club and be dancing to one of my songs, or listening to it on the radio,” she says.

Her ultimate goal is to have one hit that transcends generations and becomes “anthematic.”

“When my grandchild is at a wedding and they are playing “I Am A Woman,” or “Live It Up,” and it actually transcends, they are going to go, ‘That was my grandma’s song.’ How cool is that?” she exclaims.

Doors are opening for Jackson, who has her own record label and is interested in working with other popular musicians and DJs. She has also been approached by television production companies to star with her family in a reality show, but is waiting to see which path makes the most sense for her career.

“I’m not in the business of pimping my kids out,” she says.

Whichever path Jackson chooses to take, her passion and spunk are important attributes not just for her role as a mother but as an artist with dance-pop potential.

Arts & Entertainment

No Room for Rockstars makes some noise

me-review.net

No Room for Rockstars, which chronicles the 2010 Vans Warped Tour, faced the seldom attempted, and typically unmet challenges set to all music documentaries. On the one hand, it is obliged to focus on the bands and organizers who make up the annual music and extreme sports festival, sating the fans who see the film for more of their favourite fare. On the other, it must combine hundreds of hours’ worth of concert footage into a cohesive, palatable story for those who know little of the tour.

The Warped Tour began in 1994, with a series of small punk and ska concerts. Over the next 17 years, the tour has grown into a behemoth two-month affair, with as many as 100 bands playing some of the dates. With size came bands with record deals and greater popular appeal, a push to sell merchandise, and a backlash from those who railed against the commercialization of music.

The ace up the sleeve of a film that would otherwise have surely been a Jackass epigone comes in the form of its producers and crew, many of whom have the quintessential Gen X documentary pedigrees. Agi Orsi and Stacy Peralta, in charge of production, were previously responsible for the excellent skating documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys (Peralta, who directed, was on the Zephyr skate team profiled in the film), while editor Joshua Altman had worked on the highly acclaimed We Live in Public, the morbidly gripping portrayal of the dawn of the Internet age. Rather than showing the highlights of the tour’s saturnalia, they chose to focus on how three artists see the Warped Tour and its gradual evolution.

Of these, the most popular and successful is Mike Posner. Posner, who never failed to sound as if he had just awoken from a thick stupor, is surprisingly industrious, following his Warped Tour sets with club performances and studio work. He made his pragmatism clear-although he was lucky to be making music for a paycheck, he readily admitted that he was a brand, and needed to sell himself while the iron was hot.

By contrast, Chris Drew, the painfully teenage frontman for Never Shout Never, reacted with asperity to the indelible undertow of business he encountered. Drew, who resembles a tattooed Justin Bieber and is fawned over by teenage girls, began playing music seriously when his parents threw him out of home. While lyrically clumsy, Drew is imbued with some measure of teenage pain and hope; I was struck by how candidly he spoke of his fear that the grind and money that dominates touring would leave him burned out.

The only band profiled that wasn’t part of the tour was Forever Came Calling, who try with adolescent tenacity to crawl and claw out of their small desert hometown by following the tour and selling records outside the venue to pay for their fuel. Broke and often nearing despair, their only goal is to get a chance to play on stage.

Unfortunately, while No Room for Rockstars is produced well, there is a dearth of necessary footage to tell the story. Honest insights into the life of a touring musician are quickly superseded by concert scenes, after which the camera must leap to another artist. Of course, a plethora of perspectives would have made for a worthwhile history of the Warped Tour. The personal approach the creators tried to take, however, held the unrealized promise of the rare amalgam of relatability and documentary that I’m still hoping to see.

Sports

Around the Water Cooler

In case you were too busy camping out for the Hunger Games premiere, here’s what you missed this past week in the world of sports …

NCAA BASKETBALL – The madness is growing and thousands of brackets were torn apart in the college basketball world, as the remaining teams competed in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight this past weekend. Only one major upset occurred, as Louisville defeated number one seed Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen. Louisville then faced Florida in the Elite Eight, and overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to earn the first ticket to the Final Four in New Orleans. Ohio State will follow Louisville there after taking down Syracuse, the number one seed in the East region. Kentucky and Kansas were the last two to advance to the Final Four after beating Baylor and North Carolina, respectively. Seeing as Kentucky could probably beat the Charlotte Bobcats, we’re going to make a bold prediction and say that the Wildcats will win the tournament next weekend. 

HOCKEY – On Sunday, Quebec City mayor Regis Lebeaume, alongside Quebecor Media magnate Pierre-Karl Peladeau, announced that construction of a new amphitheatre will begin this coming September. Projecting the costs of the new building at about $400 million, Lebeaume and Peladeau hope that the project, which is expected to seat 18,000, will finally cement Quebec City’s hopes of getting a second chance at an NHL team. “The dream is becoming a reality,” Lebeaume  said at the beginning of the press conference. Now, Lebeaume and the rest of Quebec City will move on from dreaming to praying that an NHL team will actually be brought in, reviving the Quebec Nordiques once again.

FOOTBALL – With the Peyton Manning signing in Denver, the Tim Tebow sweepstakes began. None other than the New York Jets received divine help and acquired the iconic quarterback on Wednesday afternoon. We can’t wait until Jets fans start chanting Tebow’s name after Mark Sanchez throws his first interception. In more controversial news, commissioner Roger Goodell doled out the punishments for the New Orleans Saints’ bounty program. As the school kids say, “he laid the boom”-Head Coach Sean Payton is suspended for the season, defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely, and the Saints lose their 2012 and 2013 second-round draft picks. Goodell has yet to announce the punishments for the players involved in the program, but expect them to be just as harsh. At least Mardi Gras was fun, right New Orleans?

GOLF – Ladies and gentleman, golf is relevant again. Nine hundred and twenty-three days had passed since Tiger Woods won his last PGA tour event, but on Sunday, the drought ended as Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five strokes. It was Woods’ seventh time winning this event at Bay Hill, and more importantly, it comes just two weeks before the Masters tournament at Augusta. Golf fans and analysts are undoubtedly riding the wave of momentum, wondering whether he can reclaim his past glory. He remains just four major tournament wins away from tying Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18. Expect this win to dominate the golfing world for the weeks leading up to Augusta. 

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