Happy Anniversary

TODOS Productions & White Rooster Theatre
presents
in partnership with Neighbourhood Dance Works

- Happy Anniversary -
by Vanessa Cardoso-Whelan

Poster by Stubby Cryons

Vanessa Cardoso-Whelan began writing Happy Anniversary during TODOS' 2020 Writing Mentorship with Robert Chafe and Santiago Guzmán. Happy Anniversary has been developed through PARC (2022), Women's Work Festival (2021), and the 5th Annual St. John’s Short Play Festival (2020). Three years later, this play will have its world premiere on April 27-30, 2023 in yet another co-production between TODOS Productions and White Rooster Theatre, and a partnership with Neighbourhood Dance Works.

In Happy Anniversary we meet Marta and Carlos, a Portuguese-speaking couple celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary. Through the juxtaposition of a dinner celebration set in the present alongside memories from their early relationship, we learn how these two characters have grown apart and how violence has perpetuated harm and trauma at the hands of Carlos. Cardoso-Whelan handles domestic violence artistically, using tango music and dance to express tension and its physicality. As bookends for the play, we hear testimonies from other women who had experienced domestic violence.

Starring Ana Luísa Ramos, a Brazilian singer-songwriter residing in St. John's, playing Marta, and Bruno Vinhas, a Brazilian visual artist living in CBS, playing Carlos, and Alicia Cruz, a Mexican emerging actor, playing Mel.

Directed by Ruth Lawrence, assistant directed by Cardoso-Whelan herself, and with dramaturgy by Sara Tilley. Tilley will also take on the role of multimedia designer, Meghan Greeley the set and props design, Nico Paulo the costume design, and Bob Stamp the lighting design.

Andrya Duff and Nicole Rose Bond, acclaimed dancers/choreographers, will participate in the development process to forge a movement language that will add to the play's drama, tension, and sensuality.

Meet the Playwright

Vanessa Cardoso-Whelan (she-her) is a playwright, multidisciplinary artist, street performer and clown from Brazil, with a passion for contemporary theatre and body movement awareness, especially related to Flamenco dancing. Graduating in Theatre Arts in 2004, she has performed with several artistic groups onstage and in street productions, as an actress, Flamenco dancer, puppeteer and fire flow dancer. Vanessa has been actively engaged in the local arts scene since moving to NL in 2014, participating in diverse artistic workshops and festivals. Currently wearing different hats she’s involved in theatre productions, Tv shows, dance adventures and clown studies. Vanessa also loves to perform as a Living Statue in the streets when the weather is nice.