Cosmic Fishing Theatre is a professional experimental company led by Viktorija Kovač and  Nada Abusaleh | ندى أبو صالح, based in the Region of Waterloo, ON. We stage plays and create unique performances and events for adults, youth, and very young children (0-8) with a mission to serve a truly intercultural and intergenerational audience. We draw on multiple cultural influences in our work to amplify women’s artistic voices in direction, design and creation. We often explore the possibilities of visual theatre through interdisciplinary approaches in scenography, puppetry and object theatre.

WHO WE

ARE

WHAT WE

DO

  • ☆ For us - Experimental Theatre is (this will take us some time to cough up) plus Puppetry and Object Play.

  • ☆ We serve intercultural audiences and artistic teams by embracing the intercultural lens.

    ☆ We pursue dramaturgical investigation and explore the meaning of a theatre director’s role as auteur.

  • ☆ We question the role of the performance creator and who gets to stage stories and how.

    ☆ We discover the intersections of identities within the idea of a Canadian intercultural society.

  • ☆ We ambitiously build on our artistic skills and lived experiences to reach an authentic form of collaboration with our intergenerational and intercultural audiences.

    ☆ We are interested in developing successful models of collaborative leadership and co-direction.

  • ☆ We push the dramaturgical and practical inquiry of scenography through experimentation and world building.

  • ☆ In the vein of experimental theatre, we embrace animation of objects and often work involving different approaches to object theatre and the art of puppetry.

  • ☆ We assist young families by building a vibrant intercultural community through unique theatrical performance experiences.

    ☆ We have an interdisciplinary approach to creating professional performances and theatre for very young audiences.

  • ☆ We have a wealth of experience in special events, and we extend this to our diverse audiences in unique and exciting ways.

    ☆ We find new ways to connect with audiences who do not traditionally engage with theatre and performance, due to marginalization and lack of access.

  • ☆ We produce, present and co-present theatrical performances and events.

    ☆ We love partnering up with other Region of Waterloo arts and community organizations and beyond, to help grow audiences and participation in professional theatre and performance.

EXPERIMENTAL

THEATRE FOR EVERYONE

A Presentation Series for Children

  Coming to Waterloo Region in 2025

Our project-turned-presentation-series, is bringing high-end theatre and interdisciplinary performances to the Region of Waterloo, catered to children ages 0-8 and their families. Launching in 2025, you can cross paths with us sooner through our unique artistic encounters and outreach activities, coming to you and your nearest library and community centres. Join us for theatrical adventures that will spark your imagination in surprising new ways.

NEW PERFORMANCE CREATION

  • DiSCoVeR (2021-2023)

    Created and directed by Viktorija Kovač
    Co-created with Nada Abusaleh | ندى أبو صالح,
    Cameron Slipp, and Kate Kamo McHugh

    This original workshop project was part of Cosmic Fishing’s artistic residency at THEMUSEUM in Kitchener. This is a theatre for early years project devised and curated for children ages 1-6 to be immersed in performance alongside their caregivers. The 2021 iteration of the project was presented virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic through IMPACT21 Festival. The project finally toured in-person across the Waterloo Region and engaged its youngest audiences in 2023 for their very first experience of theatrical performance.

  • SHADED (2021-2022)

    Workshop and filmed performance
    Created by Nada Abusaleh | ندى أبو صالح
    Directed by Viktorija Kovač
    Composed by Janice Jo Lee

    A young woman living in the diaspora clashes with traditional cultural expectations…the kind that typically arises for a 20-something year old, unmarried woman. Following a prospective match for marriage, levity and hilarity turn sinister when the bride-to-be grapples with the superstitions that are in place to ensure her prosperity in life. Explored through magical realism, shadow puppetry, and mime, this filmed performance and workshop asks what happens if the consequences of superstition become real?

  • The B Party (2017-2021)

    Created by Viktorija Kovač
    Co-created with Nada Abusaleh | ندى أبو صالح,
    Andy Houston and Brooke Barnes

    There once was “The B Party”, a marketing and special events duo, presenting various iterations of this project, through in-person and digital pop up performances, to share an autoethnographic narrative of a millennial-immigrant woman’s coming of age and her journey to motherhood. Using the iconography and prosperous world of Barbie, this project captures the essence of the modern feminist struggle: women who grew up in the golden age of Mattel’s driven worldview that leads them to believe that they can have it all. But, at what cost?

ADAPTATIONS

  • Exit the King (2020, 2024)

    Written by Eugène Ionesco
    Directed by Viktorija Kovač
    Adaptation dramaturgy by Maria Colonescu
    In association with MTSpace associate artists

    This adaptation is an ongoing experiment that is artistically considering how to best reflect Waterloo Region’s revolutionary intercultural and interdisciplinary company, MT Space, through an absurdist play that explores universal values of what it means to face your ego, as an artist and a leader.

  • Theatre of Heartbreak(s) /Constellations

    Directed and adapted by Viktorija Kovač

    A project that hopes to open up intercultural and intergenerational conversations with audiences about contemporary dating, romantic partnerships, and expectations. Working off of Nick Payne’s romantic dramedy Constellations.

  • King Lear (2016)

    Written by William Shakespeare
    Directed by Viktorija Kovač

    The adaptation of "King Lear," explores how the ensemble animates a human sized puppet of Lear, while simultaneously portraying the other key characters that cause his demise. This aesthetic performance experiment uses a bunraku puppet and tests it against Shakespeare’s storytelling emphasizing Lear’s experience of his relationships, grief, and isolation.

SPECIAL EVENTS

  • Baby Space Disco

    In partnership with THEMUSEUM

  • Kids World Wide Disco

    In partnership with Neruda Arts

  • Artistic Encounters

    Outreach programming for families with young children