Going Up
GOING UP by Kiki Dranias.
Actors Kelly Craig and Paul Van Dyck with audiences on board Elevator #1 at Le 5800 St. Denis, Montreal, during 14 performances.
GOING UP is when a man with a death wish comes face-to-face with a suppressed killeress, and there’s no way out.
Winner of three awards at the 2020 Montreal English Theatre Awards, including Outstanding New Text, Outstanding Emerging Playwright & Producer, Outstanding Independent Production, GOING UP by Kiki Dranias received seven nominations at the 2020 META (Montreal English Theatre Awards).
The script also received Award Winner at the New York Independent Cinema Awards 2021 and the Los Angeles Independent Women Film Awards 2021.
Intended as an immersive, site-specific theatrical experience, GOING UP unfolds entirely aboard a moving freight elevator—transforming a confined freight space into a stage for raw human intimacy. For each performance, cast and audience share the same enclosure as the story unravels in real time, blurring the line between witness and participant.
What begins as an encounter between two strangers evolves into a darkly compelling power exchange, where each becomes both pawn and key master to the other’s deepest desires. The result is a tense, voyeuristic journey into obsession and surrender.
The production was aptly announced as unsuitable for claustrophobes.
This stark, avant-garde theatre piece explores themes of control, the right to live-and-die, depression and self-actualization.
Written by Kiki Dranias / directed by Jen Viens / starring Kelly Craig and Paul Van Dyck, GOING UP had its theatrical debut on Nov 21 - Nov 30, 2019, on board Elevator #1 at Le 5800 St. Denis, Montreal / All 14 performances were sold-out / Not suited for claustrophobes.
GOING UP by Kiki Dranias / Produced by Purple Divine receives three 2020 Montreal English Theatre Awards (META) for Outstanding New Text, Outstanding Emerging Playwright & Producer & Outstanding Independent Production.
Kelly Craig & Paul Van Dyck during dress rehearsal.
