Explore the Button Factory’s past and present in "she haunts this place"

[Ceylan Turkeri]

They walk these floors at night. Working in the afterlife. Like the buttons they crafted, we are fastened to our history.

Explore the Button Factory’s past and present in she haunts this place, an immersive performance piece featuring University of Waterloo drama students, members of the Baden Storytellers and videography by Paul Cegys.


Button Factory Arts
25 Regina St South, Waterloo

Performances:
April 24th, 7 and 9pm
April 25th, 7pm and 9pm
Sunday April 26th 7pm

Admission is $15 general, $10 students/seniors/members


The 2014 calendar year marked the 20th anniversary of Button Factory Arts serving the community as an arts centre. But the building it inhabits served the community in a variety of industrial functions, primarily as Roschman’s Button Factory for which it was built in 1886.  While the uses of the building are dramatically different, the space still stands as a place for group work and collaborative creation.

It has been rumoured that some of the spirits of past workers still haunt the Button Factory. Renters, staff and tenants in the building claim to have heard women’s footsteps. It is very reasonable to believe the spirits are those of women, as the Button Factory was one of the few places where young women could find employment. A photograph taken in 1890, found in Waterloo: An Illustrated History, affirms there were many female staff.  The photograph has been very inspirational in the creation process. Many of the staff members were quite young. The production imagines the reality of these girls and suggests that their spirits are still present in the building, and indeed the challenges they faced in the work place still haunt working women today.

She haunts this place, weaves together storytelling, acting, videography and music. It is directed by Andy Houston and features stories told by Brenda Byers, Mary McCullum Baldasaro and Michele Braniff, all members of the Baden Storytellers. University of Waterloo drama students will be performing a physical score to music by Meghan Bunce.
Videography and lighting design has been created by Paul Cegys. Come hear the stories and see the Button Factory transformed.


For more information regarding the performance contact:
Andy Houston, Director: houston at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:houston at uwaterloo.ca>
For more information regarding Button Factory Arts please contact:

Heather Franklin, Executive Director of Button Factory Arts: ed at buttonfactoryarts.ca<mailto:ed at buttonfactoryarts.ca>


Ceylan Turkeri
Administrative Coordinator and Advisor, Undergraduate Studies
Drama, Speech Communication and Digital Arts Communication
University of Waterloo – ML 119A
519-888-4567 ext. 35808
cturkeri at uwaterloo.ca



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