“We need theatre like this.” (James Laird Beard)
reset
A Collaboration with Sage Theatre and Emil Agopian Film
March 18 – 22, 2026 / hosted by Contemporary Calgary and Stride Gallery
reset explores what it means to be artificial. Four figures awake in an isolated environment, with no knowledge beyond the fragments of a single experience. One each. A memory. Perhaps.
reset is a mystery. Four figures slowly realize they need to figure out which one of them is human. Being human could be a liability.
reset is an immersive puzzle, as each night the performers begin without knowing who will end up human in this iteration.
So, please, pay attention.
reset explores intimacy, perception, discrimination, the pull towards fear—and maybe, just maybe, a different response to difference.
A staged reading of reset (with the working title aiam) was presented by Sage Theatre as a staged reading at the Pumphouse Theatre in October 2019.
A film version of reset was recorded in collaboration with the Calgary-based videographer Emil Agopian in July 2021.
A final hybrid version of reset, incorporating live and mediated performance, received it’s world premiere at Contemporary Calgary March 18 – 21, 2026.
reset also received a one-time-only, ‘unplugged’ presentation at the end of its Contemporary Calgary run, on Sunday, May 22nd, hosted by Calgary’s Stride Gallery—a truly unique experience for the experimentally adventurous.
Preview articles for reset:
Written and Directed by Bruce Barton
Created with and Performed (film version) by Braden Griffiths, Melanee Murray-Hunt, Jamie Konchak, and Julie Orton
Further Developed with and Performed (live event) by Braden Griffiths, Jamie Konchak, Julie Orton, and Michael Tan
Associate Direction by Jason Mehmel
Videography by Emil Agopian
Dramaturgy by Pil Hansen
Photos of Julie Orton, Jamie Konchak, Mike Tan, and Braden Griffiths by Jason Mehmel and Mike Tan © 2026.
reset poster design by Kurt Firla © 2025.
