Dawn Matheson: Tongues in Trees
A Sound Installation
January 11 to June 10, 2007
Created by Guelph multimedia artist/writer Dawn Matheson, Tongues in Trees is an audio intervention commissioned by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre for the sculpture park featuring Shakespeare’s best known monologues recited by adult literacy learners from Action Read Guelph: Richard Dankert (Romeo and Juliet 2.2), Kendra Dewar (Romeo and Juliet 2.2), Dave Harnden (Macbeth 5.5), Deborah Murray (As You Like It 2.7), Andrew Saunders (Henry V 3.1), Kathryn Ssedoga (The Merchant of Venice 4.1), Cheryl Turner (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.2), and Shawn Turner (Hamlet 3.1).
The genesis of Tongues in Trees is rooted in Matheson’s experiences as a interdisciplinary artist and writer. Matheson describes her relationship to Shakespeare and the growth of the Tongues in Trees project:
‘In Shakespeare’s day, everyone went to the theatre: the commoners, or “groundlings,” were packed in at ground level; the nobility, displayed above in the balconies. Shakespeare’s stories were for all people: a beautiful inclusivity. You didn’t have to be cultured, educated or even know how to read to get Shakespeare (the majority of his audience was “illiterate,” some scholars even doubt Shakespeare’s own level of literacy). You need only have had the experience of being alive, to have ever pondered your purpose, or to have asked the question: “What is this quintessence of dust?”’
‘Today, Shakespeare is quoted in the university classroom, not so much on the park bench downtown. In the theatre, the main floor seats are now top-priced, inaccessible to most. Shakespeare is used as an icon of literary achievement; he is not seen as an artist of Everyman, Everywoman. Still, Shakespeare’s influence has been immense. At the very heart of the Shakespeare—Made in Canada festival is the question: Who owns Shakespeare? I believe the answer to be: Anyone who stakes claim does.’
And, so, adult literacy learners from Action Read Guelph perform Tongues in Trees, their literacy challenges a result of learning disabilities and/or limited access to education due to troubled or low-income histories. Few knew of Shakespeare’s work. Once introduced, each participant handpicked their monologue, based on personal life experience.
The title, Tongues in Trees, is taken from a phrase spoken by the banished Duke in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. In the forest, outside the “painted pomp” of the palace walls, the Duke revels in the natural world where anything can happen, life is raw, people are real, and “tongues [are] in trees.”
Dawn Matheson thanks Mira Clarke, Sarah Dermer, and Kimm Khagram from Action Read; Gord Rand for his acting expertise; and Daniel Fischlin, Darina Griffin, Judith Nasby, and Dawn Owen for their encouragement with the project. She especially thanks the Tongues in Trees performers, “her greatest teachers of the Bard’s work to date.” Technical direction for this piece was done by Toronto-based composer/improviser Nick Storring <www.nickstorring.com>.
Artist’s Talk with Dawn Matheson and participants from Action Read Guelph
Tuesday, March 6 at noon
Image: Andrew Saunders performs a monologue from Henry V (3.1) in the sculpture park.
(Photo by Don Russell)