Photo of Kemi King

Kemi King

Past Contributor

Kemi King is a writer, director, performance artist, and divisor. She is the Artistic Director of YIKES Co. Working within her practice, theatre of critical care, Kemi emphasizes relation and exploration in her work. She believes there are better ways for arts institutions and artists to co-exist, allowing for the true liberation and the radicalization of community consciousness.

Articles by Kemi

Photo of Erin Ball using aerial silks against a white background.

5 Q’s with Erin Ball

  • Artist
  • Interview

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  Erin Ball identifies as a white, Mad (from the Mad Pride Movement), Disabled treaty inhabitant. She is a double below knee amputee and circus artist based in Katarokwi/Kingston. She is the director of Kingston Circus Arts and is the co-founder of […]

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A black and white photo of Tracey Guptill smiling against a plain background.

5 Q’s with Tracey Guptill

  • Artist
  • Interview

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Tracey Guptill: a movement based actor, stilt walker, and collaborator. Along with establishing anARC Theatre, and its coLABoratory method for Research-Creation, she co-created When I get There as a part of her Masters in Environmental Studies at […]

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Photo of Alyssa Vernon against a white background.

5 Q’s with Alyssa Vernon

  • Artist
  • Interview

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Alyssa Vernon. Alyssa is a Queen’s University graduate in Gender Studies, with History and English teachables. As an educator, Alyssa strives to continually advocate for marginalized students and believes in the power of art as resistance, paired […]

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Aisling Murphy in a blue shirt in front of a grey background.

5 Q’s with Aisling Murphy

  • Artist
  • Interview

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Aisling Murphy. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Aisling is a playwright, critic, dramaturg, and academic. Aisling is a staff reporter at the Toronto Star, the senior editor at Intermission Magazine and president of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association. […]

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Jill Glatt smiling outside in a blue shirt.

5 Q’s with Jill Glatt

  • Artist
  • Interview

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.   This interview is with Jill Glatt, a Katarokwi/Kingston-based illustrator, printmaker, arts educator, and French teacher with the Limestone District School Board. She has developed and delivered programming for the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, Kingston Arts Council, Centre Culturel Frontenac, […]

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A blue poster with 'Return of the Megafauna' written in the bottom left, 'The Kick & Push Festival' written in the bottom right, and a curve of lines in the top right.

De-extinction and Puppetry: Speaking with Seymour Irons

  • Artist
  • Festival
  • Interview
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance

Return of the Megafauna created by Bad New Days is a physical theatre piece that was a part of the 2022 Kick and Push festival. The piece is contextualized through the company’s understanding of post-humanism and de-extinction, where the images of the future are utopic rather than dystopian. De-extinction is defined as the process of generating an organism that either resembles or is an extinct species.  I encountered the piece […]

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In block letters reads 'KIM'S CONVENIENCE,' the 'Kim's' being red and the 'convenience' being green.

A Beloved Comedy! But let’s talk about Audience…

  • Review
  • Thousand Islands Playhouse

What do we owe our parents? And what do theatres owe their audiences?  Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi is a play loved by many in the greater Toronto area, and after the success of the TV adaptation on CBC, it has gained national attention. The story is an endearing family comedy following a day in the life of Mr. Kim: a convenience store owner who immigrated from Korea to start […]

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Drawings and paintings with text explanations on a white board at Jesse H. Wabegijig's installation of Pictures at an Exhibition displayed at the Tett Centre.

Making a Fairy Tale with Jesse H. Wabegijig

  • Artist
  • Indigenous Theatre
  • Interview
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance

Jesse H. Wabegijig is one of the artists for the 2022 Kick & Push Indigenous residency.  They spent the residency working on their new play, where Jesse was able to put together an installation that went up in the Tett Centre for creativity and learning. On the opening night of the installation I got the chance to speak to them about the time in the residency, and to hear a […]

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Never Swim Alone, or when male egotism catches up with itself

  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston
  • TK Fringe

Never Swim Alone is a Canadian classic that just needs a little more reinvention than what the script calls for. My understanding of the work is that it’s meant to be a critique of the ways in which men have been socialized, yet the play as it stands does not offer anything more than making toxic masculinity known.

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Who/What/When/Where defines you? — Anthropic Traces

  • Indigenous Theatre
  • Review

The word anthropic is defined as informing or concerning the existence of human life, or simply, caused by human beings—anthropogenic. To me, Anthropic Traces is about the water, in which it concerns: movement, borders, and gatekeeping. Through war, displacement, and governing bodies, many of the characters experience displacement. The piece has so many different stories for all walks of life to relate to. Though it was not for me to speak back to, I still wanted to speak about the work with friends.

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Everybody gets one…chance at proving they’re good at improv.

  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston
  • TK Fringe

Too Much Information Improvised was a part of the 2022 Kingston Fringe, produced by the Kick & Push Festival. It is performed by two real life exes, Paddy MacDonald and Steph Haller. The allure of the work is the fact that they used to be in a romantic relationship with one another, so the expectation is that maybe there is fighting, and lots of tension. It was a lovely surprise that there was not, like none at all, unless the performance called for it.

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‘Brown Butter’ Heals from the Inside Out

  • Review

Something is brewing at Agnes Etherington’s former home. Correction: something is rising, proofing, marinating, braising, and burning at the Agnes.

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