Nicholas Eddie, HannaH Sunley-Paisley, Michael Gordon Spence, Heather Marie Annis, and Malia Rogers in Dissonant Species | Photo by Michael Cooper
Dissonant Species contains multitudes. In only an hour, Theatre Gargantua presents an audio-visual marvel that is both intimately specific and cosmically expansive. Music theory and sound science provide a scholarly framework for this deeply human story that feels genuinely in tune with its audience and the world we’re currently contending with.
Writers Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence have crafted an intelligent, whimsical modern fable that addresses how the smallest gestures can resonate far deeper than we expect. An aggressive bump while walking along the street, for instance, sets a gentle yet passionate music teacher (Spence) spiralling into murderous fantasies of vengeance that press him to question his very nature.
Along for this ride, battling their own demons, his students find themselves in debate and self-examination. The class is a deconstruction of counterpoint, highlighting the genius of Bach. The ideas of harmony and dissonance are in direct conversation with theoretical physics—fixating on the postulation that all phenomena are the result of energy vibration, that frequency is the distinguishing feature that makes everything in the universe what it is. Classical structure argues with the improvisations of jazz; conservative values argue with progressive ideals.
In their established fashion, Theatre Gargantua allows these conflicts and connections to unfold in a dynamic blend of text, physical theatre and expressive audio-visual design held together by Jacquie P.A. Thomas’s playful and astute direction.
Flanked on either side by musical instruments hanging in the wings, a huge circle is a dominant backdrop of Spence’s deceptively simple set, onto which Laird Macdonald projects supportive imagery. A hypnotic component here is a suspended set of crystalline spindles that twist around a horizontal axis in elegant fluctuations, representing a waveform. A series of scrim chalkboards dance in and out of scenes, establishing the scholastic vibes while also providing a series of dynamic frames. Christopher-Elizabeth and Richard Lam’s evocative sound design is especially crucial here as it must embody many of the core tenets of this thoughtful and stirring work.
Interstitial scenes see the ensemble dressed in lab coats, wheeling out experimental contraptions to demonstrate sound science concepts. It’s all quite nerdy in the best way. And all this conceptual stuff is deftly balanced with well-drawn, distinct characters and interactions that feel both authentic and archetypal. Grounded by honest writing, the ensemble (Spence, Annis, Nicholas Eddie, Malia Rogers, HannaH Sunley-Paisley) sustains the authenticity.
Dissonant Species is also a touching tribute to the healing properties of sound. In the background of all this discord and discussion, an experimental treatment for dementia hovers precariously between academic rigour and personal investment. One of the most graceful and affecting episodes of this compelling work is a sequence of fraught, primal screams—an expression of individual torment—evolving into a full-bodied collective harmony. I could feel the audience align itself with the performers as raw distress transforms into a visceral symphony of hope.
Dissonant Species
November 14 to 17, 2025
Factory Theatre, Main Stage
(125 Bathurst Street)
60 minutes
Malia Rogers and Michael Gordon Spence in Dissonant Species | Photo by Michael Cooper in Dissonant Species | Photo by Michael Cooper