It's always time for Car Stories !!!

Montreal's longest running theatre experiment just finished it's longest and farthest-reaching season yet - or did it?

After a successful run as part of  Montreal's Second-Annual infringement Festival, we hit the road to Ottawa, Buffalo and New York City as part of the international infringement circuit, played in Journée de la culture-jam and, for the first time ever, put on sCARe Stories for Halloween.  Add to that numerous fundraiser performances and a winter version soon to come, and you'll realize, as I have, that this is one project that doesn't want to stop - and we should all be glad for that.

And just what is Car Stories, well, it depends on who you ask. For some, its artistic freedom in its purest form, for others, its street theatre with a message and for others, its “the most fun you’ll ever have in the backseat of a car.”

I’ve always seen it as a challenge. A challenge to see the urban wonderland that we all walk, run and, yes, drive through every day as a theatrical playing space. A challenge to see theatre as a vibrant, changing milieu where truly anyone at any time can play any role they want. And a challenge to the all the hegemonic thought patterns that put art in a box and people in a rigid hierarchy.

Who’s up to the challenge, I am and hopefully you are too! Car Stories only needs three things to work: cars, stories and people.

Cars: Yes, your car can be a star!

Stories: These are our stories, told by us, and your stories, too.

People: Whether you’re an urban guide, car player, spect-actor or someone who just happens to be there, you’re part of this unique and fun experience.

So hop in, cause Car Stories is coming to town! Glasses on!

Misty's Message

“Transforming familiar streets into an urban wonderland; leading you through dark, unseen alleyways, down crowded streets, past neighbourhood parks, and unconsidered parking lots; then escorting you into the backseat of a parked car - the door slams and a story unfolds in the intimate space, a story in which you are quickly included.  When you emerge back into the streets you can no longer decipher who is playing a role and who is not, this is the effect of Montreal’s longest running experimental street theatre project, Car Stories.”

Car Stories is an interactive street performance experience.  It is composed of several short theatrical presentations staged in actual parked cars.  The three spectators on the extraordinary journey encounter upwards of dozens of characters, both on the streets and in the cars.  Pedestrian characters, which we refer to as “Urban Guides”, first appear as common pedestrians on the street; until they intercept the audience. They interact with the spectators as they escort them to and from cars.  Encouraged to play along, in the same way that Alice in Wonderland might interact with the characters she meets, people are welcomed to transform themselves from spectators into “spect-actors”. 

The exploration of the ‘hero’s journey’ and the epic have influenced the structure of Car Stories; however, we have responded to this form with a modern twist, shifting the focus to the audience rather than an epic hero.  Furthermore, the journey you embark on takes place in your own city, thus giving you a new perspective of a daily setting.  Car Stories’ effect is one of unprecedented theatrical intimacy; both the show’s participants and the spect-actors themselves shape the performance.

Come play with us and share the magical experience that is Car Stories.

“All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts…”

Misty-Lee Selinger

Artistic Facilitator and Chaos Organizer

Montreal, QC