WAIL (2026)

Running time: 70 mins, no intermission

Performers on stage: 6

Team on the road: 8

Venue: Traditional Theatre Venues / Blackbox / Alternative Spaces

Premiere: January 2026, partners The Dance Centre, Music on Main + PuSH International Arts Festival

WAIL emerges as a new group work from Action at a Distance, directed by Vanessa Goodman. Crafted as a poem for our present moment, the work intertwines performative systems of sound and movement to embody the texture of shared experience. The collaborative team includes performing artists Anya Saugstad, Ryan Jackson, Shion Skye Carter, Marisa Gold, Hayley Gawthrop, and Allison Lang, with lighting design by James Proudfoot, sonic mentorship by Brady Marks, design by Ben Didier, and dramaturgy by Fay Nass.

The work unfolds as a shared act of listening. It begins before language, through vibration, and the low hum of voices finding one another in space. Voice and movement are inseparable in WAIL: humming songs, whispered words, and sustained tones pass through bodies, tuning the group moment by moment. The choreography is slow and attentive, guided by sensation rather than spectacle, allowing resonance to accumulate and dissolve.

In a time marked by stark social contrasts, the six performing artists navigate the delicate work of holding joy within community. Drawing inspiration from the natural world, WAIL moves through botanical distortions and auditory illusions, creating a fragile, immersive environment that feels at once intimate and expansive. Gestures ripple outward and return; sound bends perception; attention is continually recalibrated.

Rather than offering a narrative, WAIL creates a living field of co-regulation, attunement, and care. Grief and celebration coexist. Emotional landscapes are amplified through collective presence, deep listening, and shared timing. The result is a multisensory experience that invites audiences to settle, to soften, and to feel connection as something physical—resilient, humming, and quietly sustaining amid chaos.

Janet Smith’s Stir review of WAIL by Action at a Distance:

“A soothing, multisensory meditation on connection and co-regulation, WAIL sculpts voice and movement into humming songs, whispered words and hypnotic choreography that feels exactly what we need in a chaotic world.”

“Humming songs, whispered words and hypnotic movement bring a sense of serenity and connection to a chaotic world.”

“A timely and transformative work that weaves sound and movement into an intricately crafted, poetic experience.