The Firehall Arts Centre Presents… CAIN AND ABEL The Biting School

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. […] And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” – The Bible, Genesis

The Firehall Arts Centre is pleased to present The Biting School’s Cain and Abel from Wednesday, October 3 to Saturday, October 6, 2018.

Directed and performed by brothers Arash and Aryo Khakpour, Cain and Abel explores the idea of jealousy and sibling rivalry, which leads to fratricidal violence, fueled by the patriarchal society we inhabit.

The inspiration for this work is the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Performed in two parts, the first half of the production studies the depiction and sensation of killing one’s brother in different contexts, and is highly physical, aggressive in rhythm and stereotypically masculine. The second half of the performance presents a reaction to the absence of women from the biblical story. Inspired by Jean Genet’s The Maids, this second act is a study of Cain and Abel as two sisters.

The Firehall’s Artistic Producer Donna Spencer says, “When I consider the Cain and Abel story now, it serves as a metaphor for the jockeying for power between governments and global corporations, and how in that jockeying to control territory, resources and social values, their choices lead to violent confrontations, collapse of local economies, and displacement of thousands of individuals. With this production, The Biting School explores both the traditional story and the possibility of what might have happened had Eve given birth to daughters and encourages us to ask the question: would our current reality indeed be different if Cain and Abel had been born female?”

Credits for Cain and Abel:
Directed and Performed by: Arash & Aryo Khakpour
Sound and music by: Alex Mah
Lights by: Parjad Sharifi & Sophie Tang
Costume by: Elika Mojtabaei
Video Documentation by: Amirnaeim Hosseini, Sepehr Samimi, & Ryder Thomas WhitePast collaborators of this piece: Eric Chad & Taylor Janzen

For more information on the Firehall Arts Centre, please visit the following platforms:

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About The Biting School

http://www.bitingschool.com

About the Firehall Arts Centre:

The Biting School is a company of brothers with backgrounds in dance and theatre. The company has been presented at Dancing on the Edge Festival, Dance Days Victoria, rEvolver Festival, Dance in Vancouver, and VIDF over the past five years. The company was founded as a meeting ground for dance, theatre and performance art.

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Located in a heritage fire station built in 1906, the Firehall Arts Centre produces a season of eclectic theatre, dance and interdisciplinary performances, and acts as a host to visual arts exhibitions in its intimate gallery/lounge. Each year, FAC hosts over two hundred performances bringing audiences into the heart of the city to enjoy artistic works, view art works in the gallery, and sip a beverage in the enclosed courtyard. The building that is now home to the Firehall Arts Centre served as a fire hall – the first motorized fire hall in North America – until 1975. Minor renovations to turn the building into a theatre were undertaken at that time but it was not until February 25, 1982, that the building opened as the Firehall Theatre. Later the decision was taken to change the name to the Firehall Arts Centre to better reflect all of the different arts activities that are housed in the bustling centre that we are today.www.firehallartscentre.ca