The Waste Land Project will be a live, hybrid exchange—across borders and boundaries—between poets and audiences in Toronto, Ukraine, and other parts of the world, to help frame a powerful, global discussion about some of the timeless themes of T.S. Eliot’s 100-year-old poem, “The Waste Land,” including the impact of war on families and communities, environmental and societal collapse, colonial violence, and pandemics.
Originally published in 1922, following the devastation of both WWI and the Spanish Flu, "The Waste Land" reflected the challenges of its time. With its clear present-day parallels, such as growing inequality, the war in Ukraine, the ongoing impact of the pandemic, and the ever-present threat of climate change, the poem resonates deeply with the challenges of the present moment.
This free, public event, presented by Theater of War Productions and the Toronto International Festival Authors, will feature the actor Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) reading selections from “The Waste Land” on Zoom, followed by a group of poets, in-person and on Zoom, reading poems in response to “The Waste Land,” culminating in a guided audience discussion.
The Waste Land Project will feature readings by Madhur Anand (Canadian poet and professor of ecology and sustainability), A.F Moritz (poet laureate of Toronto), Erin Robinsong (poet and interdisciplinary artist working with ecological imagination), Halyna Kruk (poet, translator, and Medieval literature professor at Lviv State University), Iryna Shuvalova (poet and scholar from Kyiv, Ukraine, based in Nanjing, China) and Alex Averbuch (literary historian, poet, and translatior.
The Waste Land Project will take place on Zoom Webinar and can be accessed on personal devices. The event Zoom link will be distributed via email and available to registered attendees starting 2 days prior to the event. This hybrid event will be broadcast live from the Toronto International Festival of Authors and will engage a large, global audience on Zoom.
This event will be captioned in English, with Ukrainian and English audio interpretation.
All of Theater of War Productions' events follow the same format:
- The poets and performers will read and respond to the texts.
- We will open the discussion to the audience, facilitated by Bryan Doerries. During the discussion, please raise your hand using the button at the bottom center of the screen. If called upon, please accept the invitation to be promoted to speak and you will be visible and heard by the entire audience for the duration of your comments. If you would prefer not to be seen, please disable your video.
Cast Members
-
Jeffrey Wright
-
Madhur Anand
-
-
Iryna Shuvalova
-
Erin Robinsong
-
Alex Averbuch
-
Halyna Kruk
The Waste Land Project Partners
Explore Projects
-
RacismFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass is a project that presents dramatic readings of Douglass' speeches by professional actors as a catalyst for powerful dialogue about racism, inequality, civil rights, education, and the legal system with the objective of fostering compassion, understanding, and positive action.
-
Addiction & Substance AbuseThe Dionysus ProjectThe Dionysus Project is an innovative public health project that presents readings of scenes from Euripides' Bacchae, an ancient Greek play about the destructive power of intoxication, as a catalyst for town hall discussions about the impact of substance abuse and addiction upon individuals, families, and communities. The project uses an ancient Greek tragedy, written nearly 2500 years ago, to engage audiences in crucial discussions about the timelessness of the human struggle with substance abuse and addiction, as well as resources and solutions that communities can utilize today.
-
Domestic ViolencePatient and Impatient GriseldaTheater of War Productions and Margaret Atwood return to the Toronto International Festival of Authors with an exciting new collaboration exploring power and control, domestic violence, and family dynamics by way of two versions of the same story, one written by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1348 during the bubonic plague and the other by Atwood in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Bocaccio’s version, a woman named Griselda remains in an abusive and controlling relationship, showing great patience and forbearance in the face of her husband’s sadism and cruelty. In Atwood’s version, Griselda takes matters in her own hands and, with the help of her sister, turns the tables on her husband.
This free, public event featured a live, dramatic reading of the “Patient Griselda” story from Boccaccio's Decameron by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Fleishman is in Trouble), Maev Beaty (Beau is Afraid, Mouthpiece), and Araya Mengesha (Tiny Pretty Things, Nobody). Then, in response, Margaret Atwood performed “Impatient Grisleda,” a story that is narrated to a group of humans in quarantine by an alien that looks like an octopus. The readings of both texts was followed by immediate responses by community panelists and culminated in a guided audience discussion, facilitated by Bryan Doerries (Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions).
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions and Toronto International Festival of Authors.
This hybrid presentation took place in person at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre Theatre and on Zoom Webinar on September 30, 2023.