What is Mountain Goat Mountain? Exploring the world of audio-led theatre
What is Mountain Goat Mountain?
Sarah Lockwood and Tahli Corin asked this exact question just over a year ago when the COVID-19 pandemic first began the tide of lockdowns and at-home isolation. For families who had suddenly found themselves educating their children from home and limiting their social interactions, the team were inspired to create something that would allow parents to bring the theatre arts into homes. Thus, Mountain Goat Mountain was born.
“As parents ourselves, we were aware that there was a tension during ‘lockdown’ where we were spending more time together as a family than ever before, but without any sense of occasion, or a known end-point, each day was blending into the next,” says Tahli Corin. “We began to consider how we could create something to enrich this time together, to activate families to engage with each other in new ways.”
For both Sarah and Tahli, the idea of a virtual experience wasn’t a new one, but for theatre professionals with a deep emotional investment in the institution of in-person theatre, they were hesitant to make the leap into the digital realm.
“We’ve had people telling us for some time that we should create digital experiences, but as theatre makers we weren’t confident that what we loved about theatre would translate,” says Sarah. “It quite literally took a pandemic for us to put that scepticism aside, and use the medium, rather than shy away from it.”
Mountain Goat Mountain is a purely audio experience which is divided into two sections. The first part acts as a set-up time, costumes are selected, props are gathered, and the stage is set. It was important to Threshold that there be as little barriers as possible to participation, so the only vital materials are a piece of paper, pencils, and a bed sheet.
“An important part of Threshold’s work is access. How can we bring the things that theatre does so well – the wonder and delight, the moments of shared experience, the deeper conversations about ourselves and our world – into people’s homes and communities?” says Tahli. “Mountain Goat Mountain has been a wonderful success in that regard, and the feedback we have received has not just been about what a great experience it is, but how it has provided a moment of reflection for families or new tools of communication. We hope that this style of working (alongside our physical events) will continue to be a big part of Threshold’s future.”
As we passed the one-year anniversary of the first lockdown, and see the mounting cases of the third wave, Arts Commons felt it was important to share this creative experience with the families of our city.
“We felt that it was important to bring this experience to Calgary families in a time when parents are so challenged to find safe, fun activities to do as a family,” says Jennifer Johnson, Vice President, Programming at Arts Commons. “It’s a really innovative approach to giving families the tools to bring the arts directly into their homes – an artistic balm for a time of stress and anxiety.”
Mountain Goat Mountain will be free to access with registration from May 8 – May 31, 2021. Families are encouraged to play through it as many times as they’d like, discovering new and different surprises at Mountain Goat Mountain. Visit artscommons.ca to learn more.
