Play explores sex abuse

By Noah Richardson

Jessica Ruano remembers how the high-profile trial of former CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi left her with many questions about how the Canadian legal system deals with victims of sexual violence.

“If I was a person who had to go to court, would I know how to go about it? Would I know what to expect from being interrogated by a lawyer?” she said.

The Ottawa-based theatre director and writer is the mind behind The Ghomeshi Effect, a dance theatre production that completed its premiere run at Little Italy’s Gladstone Theatre last month.

Ruano said the play was inspired by her desire to help others better understand the complexities of the legal system, particularly when it comes to cases involving sexual violence.

“For myself and for other people who might not have that knowledge, I wanted to do some research and actually speak to lawyers and speak to people who had engaged with the legal system in some way,” Ruano said.

The play is a culmination of the more than 40 interviews Ruano conducted with men and women from the Ottawa area, including those who have experienced sexual violence.

Despite its name, Ruano said the play has nothing directly to do with Ghomeshi, who was acquitted in the case.

“I’m not saying anything about Ghomeshi. I’m not saying whether or not he was guilty. All I’m saying is that his trial had an effect on the way we speak about sexual violence now,” she said.

The play’s script was developed from transcripts of her interviews. Ruano collaborated with Amelia Griffin, a local choreographer, who created original dance moves to accompany the script.

Griffin, a classically trained dancer and a victim of sexual violence, said she understands the difficulties of grappling with the topic of sexual violence, but that working on the play has been particularly empowering.

“Art is my life, it’s my career and it’s how I understand the world, and so to be able to work through it in an artistic medium has been very helpful,” she said.

But Griffin also admitted that dealing with such a heavy topic was emotionally challenging.

“I mean, of course it impacted me. Any of the people involved with the show will tell you, you know, as soon as we got the script and as soon as we really read through it, it’s devastating, you know. We all had time to cry. We all had time to get angry.”

Griffin said despite its serious subject matter, the public’s response to the Ghomeshi Effect has been overwhelmingly positive.

“What we received back was a lot of gratitude, gratitude for having gone there and having done the show and for just being real and honest. I think it’s been healing for a lot people,” she said.

Ruano agrees. She says the play had one sold-out show and averaged about 100 people per performance in the 234-seat theatre.

“The audiences have been very responsive. We’ve received like a lot of great feedback, people have been writing us messages, we’ve been getting some very positive reviews.”

In addition to the 11 shows at the Gladstone, the play’s creators received a grant to help them stage the show at Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans for one night only on Feb. 2.

The grant, courtesy of the AOE Arts Council’s ARTicipate endowment fund, supports local artists involved in collaborative projects.

Christiane Doherty, the communications director for the council, said the play’s subject matter made it a strong contender for the grant.

“Art is a social practice,” she said. “It’s taking the art as a medium to address issues and to create that sense of empowerment and giving the community a voice.”