MISSION STATEMENT
MISSION:
SNAFU creates unexpected spectacles for audiences who don’t normally go see live theatre.
VISION:
To create challenging, meaningful, fiery and free artistic spaces that shed light, share space, celebrate all bodies, and cultivate delight.
CORE VALUES:
- embodied creation through action & active experimentation
- unprecedented and unprecious approach to creation: rough and ready, ramshackle, raw
- weaving stories, weaving mediums, and people
- embrace the forgotten/invisible communities
- giving the audience an active role in the action as it unfolds
SNAFU’s work invigorates people of all ages, creating dynamic spaces for young and old to experience art together under new terms. Our creative collaborations connect multi-disciplinary artists in theatre, storytelling, puppetry, dance, live music, circus, and visual art. We create unexpected spectacles in unusual spaces, including bike trails, public washrooms, theatres, art galleries, fields, heritage sites, parking garages, schools and prisons.
SNAFU targets audiences who do not normally go to watch live theatre. Spectators are invited to have an active role in the action as it unfolds. We work with dynamic visual storytelling with a low-fi, Do-it-yourself aesthetic using repurposed, recycled and found materials as often as possible. Everyone involved in the process is invited to throw ideas into the pot, including stage managers, visiting artists, neighbors, or passers-by. We continually seek feedback from our audiences and other artists and mentors across Canada.
SNAFU creates unexpected spectacles for audiences who don’t normally go see live theatre.
VISION:
To create challenging, meaningful, fiery and free artistic spaces that shed light, share space, celebrate all bodies, and cultivate delight.
CORE VALUES:
- embodied creation through action & active experimentation
- unprecedented and unprecious approach to creation: rough and ready, ramshackle, raw
- weaving stories, weaving mediums, and people
- embrace the forgotten/invisible communities
- giving the audience an active role in the action as it unfolds
SNAFU’s work invigorates people of all ages, creating dynamic spaces for young and old to experience art together under new terms. Our creative collaborations connect multi-disciplinary artists in theatre, storytelling, puppetry, dance, live music, circus, and visual art. We create unexpected spectacles in unusual spaces, including bike trails, public washrooms, theatres, art galleries, fields, heritage sites, parking garages, schools and prisons.
SNAFU targets audiences who do not normally go to watch live theatre. Spectators are invited to have an active role in the action as it unfolds. We work with dynamic visual storytelling with a low-fi, Do-it-yourself aesthetic using repurposed, recycled and found materials as often as possible. Everyone involved in the process is invited to throw ideas into the pot, including stage managers, visiting artists, neighbors, or passers-by. We continually seek feedback from our audiences and other artists and mentors across Canada.
SNAFU Company Mandate
The purposes of the society are:
- To educate and increase the public's understanding of the arts by providing original live theatre performances in public spaces, schools, community centres, educational institutions and government institutions across Canada and by providing seminars and workshops on topics relating to such performances.
- To provide instructional seminars and workshops related to collective creation, physical theatre, and puppetry.
- To foster an open-hearted, anti-oppressive and queer-positive working environment for its members.
- To create work that sheds light on situations where people are marginalized, oppressed, ignored or forgotten.
- To attract and develop the interest of a wide and diverse audience.
- To craft and promote exciting visual design with a low ecological footprint.
SNAFU COMPANY HISTORY - AbridgeD
2006 SNAFU is founded in November 2006 in Victoria, BC, by Victor Dolhai, Ingrid Hansen, and Sarah Jane Pelzer, with several productions of new Canadian work between 2006-2009.
2009/2011 Pretty Little Instincts, performed in the gardens of two national heritage sites, has a sold-out run in Victoria before touring to the SummerWorks Festival in Toronto. (Awarded Victoria Critic’s Choice Award, “Best Dance Show”, “Most Innovative”).
2010-Present Kathleen Greenfield joins SNAFU in 2010 with Little Orange Man. SNAFU's current Co-artistic Directors are Kathleen Greenfield and Ingrid Hansen. Little Orange Man, a puppet theatre piece for all ages, continues to tour across the country, presented by the Centaur Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Centre, The International Festival of Animated Objects, and co-presented by Hectik Theatre in Regina, and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. (Awarded Most Outstanding Overall Production – Ottawa & Montreal).
2010 CHALK: physical theatre behind bars, co-produced by SNAFU and WHoS Prison Theatre Company. CHALK is the first piece to ever be collaboratively created by the men at William Head Prison.
2012 - Present The Belfry Theatre commissions Kitt & Jane: An Interactive Survival Guide to the Near-Post-Apocalyptic Future, a stand-alone sequel to Little Orange Man, which tours nationally to sold-out houses. (Victoria Critic’s Choice Best New Play, the Playwright’s Theatre Centre New Play Prize.) Kitt & Jane receives funding from the BC Arts Council.
2013 Fractured Fables: The Prison Puppet Project, co-produced by SNAFU and WHoS prison theatre, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Capital Regional District Arts Council. Co-directed by SNAFU’s Ingrid Hansen and Peter Balkwill (Old Trout Puppet Workshop).
2013 SNAFU is incorporated as a Not-for-Profit Theatre Society in British Columbia.
2014 Kaleidoscope Family Theatre Festival commissions SNAFU to create Somethingville, a new work for young audiences.
2015 The Next Stage Theatre Festival in Toronto commissions Snack Music. With the success of the show, SNAFU and the Snack Music Collective are commissioned by Theatre Direct to create Table Top Tales, a similar concept show for family audiences. These shows tour to Toronto, Huntsville, and Almonte.
2015 SNAFU and PUENTE Theatre co-produce a roving outdoor production Lt. Nun, written by Elaine Avila, outdoors at Macaulay Point Park, supported by the Capital Regional District Arts Council, winning “Best Drama” and “Best Ensemble.”
2016 Sleeping Giants, co-produced by SNAFU and WHoS prison theatre, funded by the Capital Regional District Arts Council, directed by SNAFU’s Kathleen Greenfield and choreographed by Ingrid Hansen.
2017 SNAFU premieres and undertakes cross-Canada tours of The Merkin Sisters co-produced by Stephanie Morin-Robert and Interstellar Elder.
2018 SNAFU's work is presented by the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, The ACT Centre in Maple Ridge, the Festival of Living Things in Kelowna, the Undercurrents Festival in Ottawa, and Nanaimo's Port Theatre. The Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret, directed by Kate Rubin, is a sold-out hit with WHoS prison theatre.
2019 Kathleen Greenfield directed The Emerald City Project with William Head on Stage Prison Theatre.
2020 We toured Kitt & Jane: An Interactive Survival Guide to the Undercurrents Festival in Ottawa, and premiered Epidermis Circus during lockdown, selected as part of the National Art Centre's #CanadaPerforms initiative. In July we performed The Goosening at the SKAMPEDE Festival, where businesspeople devolved into dancing geese. In partnership with William Head on Stage Prison Theatre, we launched the Creative Exchange, where inside and outside artists shared creative writing and visual art through an ongoing series of creative prompts and group feedback.
2021 Epidermis Circus launched live-at-the-drive in, performing for sold-out audiences in Victoria and Vancouver. In July we performed Atmosphere at the SKAMPEDE Festival, featuring giant brain-sucking sea-squatches. With WHoS, we recorded and launched The Dark Traveller podcast, and began filming a short film series titled Common Threads.
2022 The Prison Theatre Time Machine, a co-pro with William Head on Stage Prison Theatre, launched in downtown Victoria to sold-out audiences. Epidermis Circus toured to the INONOUT Festival, Winnipeg and Edmonton Fringes, and won the Edmonton Fringe Hold-Over Award. We created a new piece for the SKAMPEDE Festival, and completed film co-production on another series of WHoS short films.
2023 New Earth Bandits, a choose-your-own-adventure spectacle premiered in MacCaulay Point Park. Epidermis Circus toured to sold-out houses in Winnipeg and Edmonton, and Suitable Transpo: A Junk Puppet Spectacle, premiered at SKAMpede.
SNAFU company Awards
HoldOver Award, Edmonton Fringe 2022 - Epidermis Circus
Favourite Solo Show, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Best Performance, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Show Design - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Movement/Physical Theatre - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Original New Work - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
PICK OF THE FRINGE – Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Top picks for 2017, Vancouver’s Two Cents & Two Pence - Interstellar Elder
Nominated for Best Solo Performance of 2017 - My Entertainment World Critic’s Pick - Interstellar Elder
Best Ensemble- Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
Best Drama - Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
Pick of The Fringe - Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
New Play Prize - Playwrights Theatre Centre & Vancouver Fringe - Kitt & Jane
Best New Play - Victoria’s Critic’s Choice Awards 2012 - Kitt & Jane
Most Outstanding Overall Production - Ottawa Fringe 2012 - Little Orange Man
Pick-of-the-Fringe Hold Over - Vancouver 2011- Little Orange Man
Volunteer’s Choice Award – Vancouver Fringe 2011- Little Orange Man
Vancouver Playhouse Award – Vancouver Fringe 2011- Little Orange Man
Pick-of-the-Fringe - Victoria 2011 - Little Orange Man
Victoria Critic’s Choice Award – Best Fringe Show 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Victoria’s Favourite Choreographer - Monday Magazine Award – Ingrid Hansen
Best Dance/Physical Show – Victoria Fringe 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Most Innovative Show – Victoria Fringe 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Pick-of-the-Fringe Best Dance/Physical Show – Victoria Fringe 2007 - BLiNK
Victoria’s Favourite Dance Piece of 2007 Monday Magazine Award - BLiNK
Favourite Solo Show, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Best Performance, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Show Design - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Movement/Physical Theatre - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Favourite Original New Work - Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
PICK OF THE FRINGE – Runner Up, Victoria Fringe 2017 - Interstellar Elder
Top picks for 2017, Vancouver’s Two Cents & Two Pence - Interstellar Elder
Nominated for Best Solo Performance of 2017 - My Entertainment World Critic’s Pick - Interstellar Elder
Best Ensemble- Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
Best Drama - Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
Pick of The Fringe - Victoria Fringe 2015 - Lieutenant Nun
New Play Prize - Playwrights Theatre Centre & Vancouver Fringe - Kitt & Jane
Best New Play - Victoria’s Critic’s Choice Awards 2012 - Kitt & Jane
Most Outstanding Overall Production - Ottawa Fringe 2012 - Little Orange Man
Pick-of-the-Fringe Hold Over - Vancouver 2011- Little Orange Man
Volunteer’s Choice Award – Vancouver Fringe 2011- Little Orange Man
Vancouver Playhouse Award – Vancouver Fringe 2011- Little Orange Man
Pick-of-the-Fringe - Victoria 2011 - Little Orange Man
Victoria Critic’s Choice Award – Best Fringe Show 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Victoria’s Favourite Choreographer - Monday Magazine Award – Ingrid Hansen
Best Dance/Physical Show – Victoria Fringe 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Most Innovative Show – Victoria Fringe 2009 – Pretty Little Instincts
Pick-of-the-Fringe Best Dance/Physical Show – Victoria Fringe 2007 - BLiNK
Victoria’s Favourite Dance Piece of 2007 Monday Magazine Award - BLiNK
