Overhead projection meets performative research essay meets personal narrative as Claren attempts to reconcile her Alberta oil-industry roots with the current environmental emergency. The project was born of a frustration with divisive Canadian politics, rampant hypocrisy, and a lack of team spirit when facing impending doom. It unpacks some of the forces that drive global warming and Western alienation in a personal account of what it is to live in a modern, capitalist environment, be a self-serving organism, and also care about the earth and fellow creature kind. What does it really mean to sacrifice and to survive? How can we harness our agency and responsibility in a global crisis?

The production features projected drawings courtesy of the talented Emily Jung. The performer has been styled by Ami Blaxland. ASL Interpreted nights feature hearing interpreters Rogue Benjamin and Savannah Tomev. I love the smell of gasoline has been developed with dramaturgical support from Andrea Donaldson, Cherish Violet Blood, and Keshia Palm. Originally workshopped in 2021 with Jay Northcott, Emily Jung, Taylor Young and Lu Linares as projectionists and collaborators and their participation helped shape the visual score of the piece.

I love the smell of gasoline was presented as a work-in-development as part of the RUTAS International Performing Arts Festival in October 2022. It premiered in March 2023, presented by Nightwood Theatre.

Photos by Raf Antonio

Photos of Sage Lovell and Claren Grosz by Eden Graham

This project was developed and presented with support from Nightwood Theatre, Aluna Theatre, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council with funding from the City of Toronto.