Written & Performed by Carmen Aguirre
Directed by Brian Quirt
Factory presents a Nightswimming production
Do you want to know how I actually broke my tailbone?
An unforgettable salsa lesson that’s sure to have even the most reluctant dancer up on their feet from award-winning actress, writer, and CBC Canada Reads winner, Carmen Aguirre. Drawn from her personal experiences in Canada’s Latinx dance halls, Broken Tailbone is an irresistible story of intimacy, politics, and culture. Accompanied by the powerful beats of DJ Don Pedro, this daring and sexy Toronto premiere will leave you exhilarated with the power of radical resistance and connected to your body, broken tailbone and all.
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL BE ON YOUR FEET FOR THE DURATION OF THE SHOW. COMFORTABLE SHOES ARE RECOMMENDED.
Patrons who are not able to stand for the length of the show or who require accessible seating, please contact our Box Office Staff to arrange for accomodations. Our Box Office can be contacted at (416) 504-9971 or by emailing .
Salsa! Merengue! Arms flailing and booty shaking! This interactive slash dance lesson took Latinx dancing to a whole new level...Not to be missed
Vancouver Arts Review
Wear comfortable shoes and dance if you're able, for as long as you can; surrender to the life force at the heart of Aguirre's theatre revolution
NOW Magazine
[Broken Tailbone] turns out to be Aguirre's latest, lightest and certainly most kinetic iteration of her fascinating life story
The Globe and Mail
About the Playwright
Carmen Aguirre
Carmen is a theatre artist and author, and a core artist of Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre. She has written and co-written over twenty-five plays, including The Trigger, The Refugee Hotel, and Blue Box. Her new play for Electric Company, Anywhere But Here, featuring rap pieces co-created with Shad, is received its world premiere at The Vancouver Playhouse in February 2020. She is working on an adaptation of Euripides’ Medea for Vancouver’s Rumble Theatre, and an adaptation of Moliere’s The Learned Ladies for Factory Theatre. Carmen is the author of the #1 national bestseller Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter (winner of CBC Canada Reads in 2012), and its bestselling sequel, Mexican Hooker #1 and My Other Roles Since the Revolution. She is the star of the independent feature Bella Ciao!, for which she was nominated for a 2019 Leo Award for outstanding lead actor. Carmen has won multiple awards for her work, has over eighty stage, film and television acting credits, and is a graduate of Studio 58. carmenaguirre.ca
About the Director
Brian Quirt
Brian is the Artistic Director of Nightswimming, and Director of the Banff Centre Playwrights Lab. He was Dramaturg at Factory Theatre from 1998-2004. As a director, his credits include premieres of these Nightswimming commissions: Anita Majumdar’s The Fish Eyes Trilogy (2014-18 national tours, including Factory Theatre) and Same Same But Different (Theatre Passe Muraille/Alberta Theatre Projects), Carmen Aguirre’s Broken Tailbone (US premiere in October 2017; national tour 2018-19) and Blue Box (2012-2014 national tour), and Anosh Irani’s Bombay Black (Cahoots Theatre and Arts Club Theatre). He has created eight of his own plays, most recently Why We Are Here! (with Martin Julien; Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo; Toronto’s Harbourfront; Victoria’s Belfry Theatre) and These Are The Songs That I Sing When I’m Sad (with Jane Miller; Vancouver’s Boca del Lupo; Blyth Festival). He is the current Board Chair and a past-President of the Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas, and two-time recipient of LMDA’s Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy; and Board Chair of SpiderWebShowPerformance. nightswimmingtheatre.com
Creative Team
Pedro Chamale
DJ Don Pedro
Neha Ross
Stage Manager
Brittany Ryan
Producer
Olivia Shortt
Associate Producer
