The Cage is a Stage is a multi-compositional project composed of two gallery exhibitions, a billboard, a short performance at the Blackwood Gallery, an evening-length performance that premieres onstage at The Power Plant’s Harbourfront Centre Theatre, and a publication. By scrutinizing animality, the project examines some of the deep-seated compulsions of the human species, such as the need to control, tame, punish, and play. Mast constructs a landscape of stylized vignettes in order to expand on ideas that John Berger puts forth in his essay “Why Look at Animals,” in which he compares zoos to art galleries. Stating that each cage acts as a frame around the animal inside, he proposes that visitors stroll from cage to cage in the zoo much like they stroll from artwork to artwork in an exhibition. Like a theatre set, zoo décor is pure illusion, and what is outside of these delusory environments therefore holds the promise of being “real.” As a result, what’s inside becomes a fictionalized account of the “natural,” revealing more about who we are as storytellers than the subject of the story itself.

During the development of her project Mast researched both animal captivity and human confinement. She conducted interviews with animal experts, including a zoo curator, an anthrozoologist (who studies the interaction between humans and animals) and a telepathic interspecies communicator. At the same time, she examined emotional expression in animals, the affective bonds between humans and animals, and the intersections of speciesism, racism, and sexism. To highlight her findings, she cast a core group of performers to physically interpret and embody her integrative points of interest. Her cast is comprised of a method actor who specializes in emulating ape movement, a Butoh dancer who explores animal and human social psychology, a ballerina turned cirque performer, an artist who works with the animal/human gaze, and a child actor and horse fanatic. In her collaborative work with them, Mast has generated scores that serve as “frames” in which to explore and examine both the political implications of marginalization and the behaviour of humans through a cultural understanding of animal nature.

The Cage is a Stage was developed in collaboration with and performed by Heyward Bracey, Kiara Gamboa, Garrett Hallman, Angelina Prendergast, and Joe Seely.

A five channel video installation featuring five consecutive rehearsals of one section of the evening-length performance. With performances and cinematography by Heyward Bracey, Kiara Gamboa, Garrett Hallman, Angelina Prendergast and Joe Seely.

***Proof—A print made by an artist or under his supervision for his own satisfaction before he hands the plate over to a professional printer.

**Bleed—When an image or type is intended to run off the edge of the printed page, it is said to “bleed.” Printers have their own specifications for how far the image has to extend past the edge of the paper to allow enough room for manufacturing variances. In offset printing it is standard to allow one eighth inch for bleed. Some digital printers, due to the looser manufacturing standards of their equipment, require one-quarter of an inch for bleed.

***Fleuron—A fleuron, also called a “printers’ flower” is a naturalistic symbol, or glyph, that is used as an ornament for typographic compositions.

****Book block—The complete interior of a book after the individual signatures have been printed, folded and gathered together and before being covered with a paper cover or hardcover case.