Whalefall
An original Infinithéâtre production
in collaboration with La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines
co-presented with Festival international de Casteliers
A love song to whales, an ode to our oceans, and a call to better care for the planet and each other - Whalefall weaves interviews with scientists and experts with original music, live projections, and large-scale puppetry.
Whalefall is available for touring in both English and French.
For inquiries, get in touch at zach@infinitheatre.com!
“More shows like this one may be exactly what we need”
— Megan Hunt, Intermission Magazine
“Un spectacle qui touche par sa poésie”
— Caroline Coicou Mangerel, JEU revue de théâtre
WHALEFALL nominated for 10 METAs!
Congratulations to all our nominees from the Whalefall team, including:
Jordana Natale: Outstanding Lighting Design
Violette Kay: Outstanding Sound Design/Composition
Ashe Lang: Outstanding Emerging Artist - Puppet Designer
Jordana Natale: Outstanding Emerging Artist - Technical Director + Lighting Designer
Abi Sanie: Outstanding Emerging Artist - Stage Manager
Zach Fraser & Ashe Lang: Outstanding Contribution to Theatre - Puppet Design
Violette Kay: Outstanding Contribution to Theatre - Live Musician
Abi Sanie: Outstanding Contribution to Theatre - Stage Manager
Riley Wilson, Zach Fraser, Ashe Lang: Outstanding New Text
The entire Whalefall team: Outstanding PACT Production
We are honoured to have been recognized by the META jury, and are extremely grateful for all the support that helped Whalefall make such a splash!
In May 2020, Montrealers awoke to an unlikely and magical sight. Between the Clock Tower and the iconic Ferris Wheel, a fluke broke the water, announcing the arrival of a young humpback whale that had strayed over 400 km upriver. Her presence captured the city and the nation at a time of isolation and confusion.
Born from a profound love for whales and the oceans they inhabit, Whalefall examines the bonds between whales and humans, asking how we might learn from them. It uses large-scale puppetry, low-fi projections, object theatre, and original live music to convey findings from interviews with various experts in the field.
“When artists start telling whale stories beside the stories that we scientists are telling, then we get more reach, and I think we will develop more will to share the environment with these animals.”
- Robert Michaud, Director of GREMM (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals)
Creative Team
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Director, Co-Creator, Co-Puppet Designer
Zach is a Montreal-based director, producer, actor, puppeteer, puppet maker, teacher, and Artistic Director of Infinithéâtre. Directing credits with Infinithéâtre include Dominoes at the Crossroads, The Sighlence of Sky, Omi Mouna, King of Canada, and Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Stage Play. Other directing highlights include Indra’s Web (NTS) and The Weight of Ants, Fifteen Dogs and Blindness (John Abbott College). The Water Chronicles, which he directed for Geordie Theatre, won the 2020 META for Outstanding PACT Production. Puppet designs include Stars: Together (Crow’s Theatre), L'Asteroïde B-612 (La Roulotte), MacBeth – Walking Shadows (Shakespeare in the Ruff), The Nisei & the Narnauks(Persephone Productions), The Aeneid (Talisman Theatre), Vertip and The Heretics of Bohemia (Scapegoat Carnivale). Zach teaches in the Theatre Department at John Abbott College, the National Theatre School of Canada, and UQÀM, and is the president of the board for the Association québecoise des marionnettistes.
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Co-Creator, Co-Puppet Designer
Ashe Lang is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal, specializing in handcrafted props and accessories for film and live performance. Beginning as a hobbyist costume maker in 2013, she quickly gained recognition, participating in international conventions by 2015 and serving as a judge for fellow creators. Over the past decade, Ashe has honed her craft in intricate, highly detailed prop work for major productions, including Cirque du Soleil (Alegría, Kà, Love), blockbuster films, and local theatre. Passionate about community engagement, she remains active in Montreal’s arts scene. In addition to prop making, her expertise extends to mask creation, costume design, set design, and scenic painting. Ashe is also a passionate writer and has received multiple accolades for her short stories.
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Co-Creator, Performer
Riley Wilson (she/her) is a queer performer, playwright, and musician based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). Her work as a physical performer is rooted in mask, mime, and puppetry, and her creations often explore themes of grief, identity, climate change, and decay. Riley is also a co-founder of Dirty Mirror Collective, a feminist theatre company currently developing its second world-premiere production. Outside of theatre, Riley is a singer and guitarist in the Montreal indie folk band Ruby Creek. Through her work, she hopes to evoke curiosity, foster a sense of belonging, and invite collective action.
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Performer
Jeremy is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). As far as acting goes, their first professional gig was playing a tree. Other professional credits include an ensemble role in the world premiere of a play adaptation of the book Dominoes at the Crossroads by Kaie Kellough (Infinithéâtre); The Antipholus twins in Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach); Claudio and Pompey in Measure for Measure (Bard on the Beach); Lone Voice in Pirate and the Lone Voice(Black Theatre Workshop). As for the other disciplinary stuff, Jeremy is an improviser, a musician, a lyricist, and a pleasure to have in class.
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Sound Designer
Violette Kay is a queer and disabled sound designer, composer and multidisciplinary performer who studied acting at John Abbott College and violin performance with Alexandre Da Costa at the Conservatoire de musique de Gatineau. Past projects include: From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea (Geordie Theatre, META award for Outstanding Emerging Artist), Counter Offence (Teesri Duniya Theatre), Caravan (Tableau D’Hôte Theatre), Alice in 24 (Dense & Stage Theatre), Amélie (Penumbra Theatre) and Lesbian Wilderness Retreat from Hell (Misfit Films). Violette has also been on the board of directors of Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture and hopes to help create accessible and anti-ableist work environments whether it be onstage, behind the scenes, or behind an office desk. She can usually be found in her dimly lit Associate Producer office at Geordie Theatre, puppeteering various household objects, or improvising with her trusty loop pedal.
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Projection Designer
Félix Robitaille is a queer theatre artist, dramaturg, and tinkerer who draws on puppetry, textile arts, sound and projection design to develop original works that are political, poetic, and grounded in empathy.
As co-founder of Theatre Sous Pression, in 2021 he premiered Vertige 3030: a psychedelic, intra-apolyptic piece of dance-theatre. As a dramaturg, he has collaborated on upcoming works such as Dirty Mirror Collective’s Carved, and Ali Naqi’s My Gulabi Baby. Currently, he is pursuing the production of Dear Boy, a puppet fairy-tale-horror examining the medieval origins of capitalism in the English countryside.
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Technical Director + Lighting Designer
Jordana Natale (Jo) is a Montreal based lighting designer for theatre and dance. Jo grew up in Orangeville Ontario and developed a passion for theatre from a young age. In 2023 Jo graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada, in the Production Design and Technical Arts Program. Over the last few years Jo has taken on many projects as a collaborator and associate to lighting designer Paul Chambers. Jo has recently started a part-time undergraduate program in Studio Arts at Concordia University where she hopes to grow a practice in painting and textile art.
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Set Designer
Stavri Papadopoulou is a scenographer, creative director, and producer, specialising in evocative performing environments and experiences. Her work spans theatre, film, contemporary dance, and installations, including set, prop, and costume design. Originally from Cyprus and now based in Montreal, Stavri holds an MA in Theatre Design from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, an MA in Interior Design, and a BA in Architecture from the University of Westminster, London. In 2017, she founded Once In a Blue Moon (OIBM), a platform for pioneering immersive performances and experiential events, supporting local and international artists. Her work was recognised in spatial design at World Stage Design, Calgary (2022), and she was a semi-finalist for the Linbury Prize at the UK National Theatre (2019). Alongside that, she mentors artists and leads innovative projects, including her ongoing collaboration with the Larnaca Biennale, the largest international art and culture festival in Cyprus.
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Stage Manager
Abi Sanie (she/they) is a director, stage manager, intimacy director, educator, and theatre maker currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She is so grateful to be returning to Infinitheatre as a Stage Manager after a Production Management Internship in 2023! A graduate of Concordia University’s Theatre program, specializing in Performance Creation, Abi’s work explores queerness, protest, love, and liberation. Their artistic vision is deeply influenced by their Moroccan Jewish heritage and experience as a first generation American. Abi’s current practice is a long term exploration of the intersections of discipline and care in the theatre process, which she approaches from her multidisciplinary artistic perspectives. A proud Puppeteer with Bread and Puppet Theater, Montreal English Theatre Awards Committee Co-Jury Liaison, and newly appointed Artistic Director of Dense and Stage Theatre, Abi is dedicated to fostering artistic expression and joy in her community. Love always to their friends, family, and amazing partner Jack. Visit abisanie.com for more.
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Production Assistant
Oliver Gullikson (he/they) is a scenographer and stage manager based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. While primarily a props and set designer, Oliver has made it a life mission to collect as many tricks and trades as possible. His work is detail-oriented and character-focused, with a primary objective of making the worlds he helps create feel lived-in and human. They are currently in the final semester of their BFA in Scenography from Concordia University. Recent credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Assistant props/set, Repercussion Theatre), Concord Floral (Co set/props designer, Concordia University) and Personal Best (Designer, Paper Sailor Theatre).
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Puppetry Consultant
Comédienne et marionnettiste de formation, Jessica Blanchet participe à plusieurs spectacles de création théâtrale en théâtre de marionnettes destinés à la scène, ainsi que plusieurs spectacles de marionnettes et objets improvisés. Diplômée en 2009 du DESS en Théâtre de marionnettes contemporain de l’Université du Québec à Montréal, elle parfait sa formation par divers stages de jeu, de mouvement, de manipulation et de fabrication au théâtre de marionnettes auprès de compagnies québécoises et européennes.
Elle travaille depuis plus de quinze ans à la création de spectacles, d’animations, d’ateliers et de projets de médiation culturelle pour les enfants, les adolescents et les adultes, qui ont un impact direct dans la communauté et qui allient à la fois le plaisir du jeu et la pédagogie.
This play explores some challenging themes. For more information, please contact zach@infinitheatre.com.
This production is supported by The Zeller Family Foundation, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal