SMOKE
Shortlisted for the 2020 Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama.
Produced by Tiny Bear Jaws in 2022 (winner of the 2023 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding Independent Production) and Downstage in 2019 (nominated for the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play).
2 characters (written to be performed with alternating casts— the text has been constructed so Jordan may be played as a cis-woman and cis-male on different nights). Run time of approximately 90 minutes.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Aiden’s ex, Jordan, appears at her apartment, seeking clarity around sexual assault allegations Aiden recently made against Jordan to a mutual friend. Jordan swears to have no idea what Aiden is talking about, but Aiden is unconvinced. Together, they work to untangle the events of a university party years before, attempting to find the truth, hold each other accountable, and figure out what next. Smoke is an urgent, nuanced, and vulnerable provocation, that challenges audiences of all ages’ preconceived notions of justice, trauma, love, and forgiveness.
Smoke was published by Playwrights Canada Press in Fall 2022 and is available for purchase here.
Past Productions
2022 Production, produced by Tiny Bear Jaws
CREATIVE TEAM
Written and Produced by Elena Belyea
Directed by Jenna Rodgers
Stage Managed by Steven Sobolewski
Performed by Hayley Moorhouse, Gabe Richardson and Jade Robertson
Dramaturgy by Andrea Donaldson and Jenna Rodgers
Associate Produced by Helen Belay and Mac Brock
Set design by Madeline Blondal
Sound design by Daniela Fernandez
Costume and Lighting Design by Whittyn Jason
Design Assistant: Ariadne Mayumi Belle
Intimacy Direction by Sam Jeffery
Production Management, Technical Direction, and Producing by Tori Morrison
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2019 Production, produced by Downstage
CREATIVE TEAM
Written by Elena Belyea
Directed by Christine Brubaker
Dramaturgy by Andrea Donaldson, production dramaturgy by Jenna Rodgers
Stage Managed by Carissa Sams
Performed by Alex Dawkins, Chantelle Han, and Joel David Taylor
Set design by Anton deGroot
Sound design by Daniela Fernandez
Costume design by Jordan Wieben
Lighting Design by Graham Frampton
Production Assistant: Katherine Penhale
Intimacy Direction by Sam Jeffery
Publicity by Aldona Barutowicz
Production Management, Technical Direction, and Producing by Tori Morrison
Selected Press + Audience Responses
“I was in the company of genius for 105 minutes at the Big Secret Theatre. Belyea is a brilliant dialogue writer.” - Calgary Herald | Full review here.
“In the very competitive indie and new play categories, the Tiny Bear Jaws two-cast production of Smoke, directed by Jenna Rodgers, took home the Sterling in the former. Elena Belyea’s challenging play, set in the smouldering ruins of a relationship, explores the aftermath of sexual assault without being definitive about cause and blame. A heterosexual couple alternated nightly with a queer one.” Liz Nichols (12thnight.ca) | Full article here.
“A shattering and forceful drama that demands audiences reckon with deeply complicated questions. Gender, sexual assault, and relationships are stripped bare by Belyea and her incredible capacity for language, and audiences are the luckier for it. Smoke is one of the rare plays that brings urgency, heart, fully realized characters, nuanced insights into complex questions, and pure theatricality. Belyea whips the characters from rage to regret to desire and back to rage with such nimbleness you can’t imagine what these characters will say or do next, and also can’t wait to witness it.” – A compilation of juror’s remarks from the 2019 Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s Literary Awards
“Belyea has written two characters who are both as convincing as they are flawed. Aidan isn’t defined by her victimhood, just as Jordan isn’t defined by his/her/their transgression, and Belyea continually orchestrates surprising, shocking and challenging situations between the two of them that offer new perspectives on maybe the most discussed (or woefully under-discussed) subject of the day. But where many conversations break trying to quantify and compare hurt, assign and deny responsibility or draw clear lines between what is and is not truth, Smoke seems to be reaching at something larger, something beyond our current understanding of objectivity and mutual understanding, that requires the heart and the body as much as the mind. Smoke is compelling, dangerous and utterly breathtaking theatre.” - Chris Duthie, Playwright
Archival and promotional photos from the Tiny Bear Jaws production, taken by Brianne Jang.