In this edition of 2 Minutes with Greta, Greta speaks with Ciara Adams from bluemouth inc. about Dance Marathon and immersive versus participatory theatre.

Dance Marathon runs May 18th and 19th at the Enwave Theatre as part of Harbourfront’s World Stage Festival get your tickets here.

Greta Papageorgiu is an actor, writer, teacher and director. She performs and teaches throughout Ontario and Quebec. Greta loves the theatre and hopes to share some of her love with you through 2 Minutes With Greta.

by Michael Wheeler

Last fall I spent a bunch of time at Occupy Toronto and Occupy Wall St.

In Toronto, I marched in the streets as well as scheduling meetings in St. James Park with various Praxis collaborators (free wifi!). In NYC, I did a lot of reading in the library, reviewed Alan Filewod’s book Committing Theatre for rabble.ca, and went to some offsite meetings about how Occupy Wall St. was organizing itself online.

During all of this I had my camera-phone with me which I used to snap pics with throughout. Below is a gallery of the best 20  and one photo that someone else took and was spotted by a friend on Facebook. Thanks for sharing Kelly Ricketts!

Not sure what will happen to the movement now that the frost has lifted. Looking back at these made me remember that whatever happens will happen because we made it happen.

Michael Wheeler & Krista Jackson. Photo by David Cooper

Since mid-February I have been working along with Krista Jackson as one of two Neil Munro Intern Directors at The Shaw Festival. The Theatre Ontario and Sun Life Financial sponsored program inserts us into three shows at the festival as assistant directors, as well as running sessions with the Shaw Academy. It concludes with The Directors Project: we choose a one-act from the Shaw Festival mandate and create with festival actors and designers.

Krista and I will present our top three picks for this text to a committee led by Program Director Eda Holmes in mid-June.  In early-July once the selection has been approved and confirmed, we discuss with the committee appropriate actors for specific roles who are then asked if they would like to volunteer to be part of our project. Rehearsals begin in August for invite-only presentations in September.

We both hope our thoughts as we go through this process will be interesting to theatre blog readers and thus we have elected to write the occasional co-blog on The Directors Project and what is going on with us at The Shaw Festival.

Click image to enlarge

Krista Jackson

April 27, 2012

Writing on a rainy afternoon in my little cottage in Niagara-on-the-Lake – Misalliance directed by Eda Holmes is in previews and we are in the thick of blocking His Girl Friday directed by Jim Mezon– the second of three shows I am assisting on.  I am staring at my pile of one act plays on my coffee table which includes the large red binder Neil Munro assembled of “good ones”, wondering which one to crack this afternoon. I have read nineteen so far bypassing the shows done in the director project’s recent past.

So what is swirling around in my head? Translations are always an issue with pieces that aren’t American or British, but at this point I’m not ruling out anyone. When chatting with ensemble members and stage managers about the project many have talked about comedies being preferable to work on – and see – by the end of a long season.  Still, I want to narrow it to three shows that excite me and make me ask the most questions.

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre just celebrated Shaw in this year’s Master Playwrights Festival and I directed a production of Village Wooing for my company, zone41 theatre. So, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to do a Shaw again, but after working on the brilliant Misalliance I was seduced into reading some of his other one acts and have found one I really like.  Michael and I have made a pact to use both music interns Beau Dixon and Scott Christian to compose some original music for our shows, so I am also keeping that in mind as I read. A one act with multiple scenes perhaps? More reading to do…

Today I’ll dive into Feydeau, First to Last – a compilation of 8 one act farces. Bring on any suggestions – and thanks for reading!

Click image to enlarge

Michael Wheeler

May 4^th 2012

So far the majority of my experience here has been working as an assistant director with Shaw Festival Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell on Ragtime at The Festival Theatre and with director Alisa Palmer on A Man and Some Women at The Courthouse Theatre.

I am learning a ton  – it is a very different creative process when you are rehearsing a show for half-days over a two-month period with some of the best actors in the country. Not that Praxis actors aren’t some of the best in the country also, in fact Tim Buck 2 co-creator Ben Sanders stars in The Shaw Festival’s production of Misalliance, but I digress.

In terms of picking a one-act, so far my reading has begun with classics one would expect to read if picking a play written during Shaw’s lifetime (1856-1950). Shaw, Chekhov, Brecht, a little Synge and Coward.  I have already come up with a few texts that fascinate me. The size of cast is a question I am considering currently: Do I want to work with an ensemble or with a smaller cast on some really detailed work? Either way we get the same amount of rehearsal time. I think the answer to that question will inform my eventual choices for texts and the process that we work with.

In any case, look forward to more specific posts as the deadline approaches and I have to make some choices. I don’t intend to be too coy about the whole thing and will throw out some titles that I am considering next time around. Please feel free to leave us your thoughts and ideas about what to read next in the comments.

The Harold Awards are on Monday night

The 2012 Harold Awards

Hosted by Caroline Gillis
With musical guests Blair Irwin and John Hughes on piano

Since 1995, The Harold Awards have come to represent the independent and hard-working spirit of Toronto’s vibrant theatre community – a kind of rabble-rousing alternative to the Dora Awards. Each year the innovators, instigators and architects of the Toronto theatre community descend upon a local establishment to honour our fellow devotees and to celebrate. The evening is riddled with giddy secrecy, as those about to be Harolded don’t know it.

To be Harolded is an honour of the highest subversive order. Awards are bestowed from one individual to the next in recognition of an outstanding and often under-recognized dedication on or off the stage. The Harolds is the only awards night of its kind – as unique as the man himself – an evening of surprise, pride and serious celebration.

Monday May 7th
8pm sharp
$10 at the door – cash only. (please bring a canned food item to donate)
El Mocambo 464 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON (just south of College)

“Never miss the Harolds!”
Jacoba Knaapen – Executive Director, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts

Omar Majeed and Ryan Mullins tell us what frog princes and punk rockers have in common and weigh in on the recent Telefilm and NFB cuts.  The two directors are in town for HotDocs to promote their film The Frog Princes, a documentary about a troupe of developmentally challenged actors staging a production of The Frog and the Princess.

“When anyone has this debate over why we fund the arts for young people, I say ‘Watch this documentary.’ I challenge anyone not to cry.”

– Ange-Aimée Woods, CBC Radio

To buy tickets and see the trailer, click here.

The first screening was yesterday, but there are two more chances to see it: Tuesday, May 1st @ 4:45pm and Saturday, May 5th @ 9:45pm.

Greta Papageorgiu is an actor, writer, teacher and director. She performs and teaches throughout Ontario and Quebec. Greta loves the theatre and hopes to share some of her love with you through 2 Minutes With Greta Papageorgiu.

Where's the beef? * Fringe Waiver has been replaced by the Festival Agreement.

by Michael Wheeler

CAEA is about to change how it interacts with indie and self-producing artists in Canada.

Before this goes down, CAEA Executive Director Arden Ryshpan is engaged in a cross-country tour to get feedback on what this new agreement should look like.

The snarky part of me wants to cite the numerous concrete suggestions and even a model contract that has undergone extensive public consultation ALREADY, forming the basis for not one, or two, but three overwhelming votes by membership at AGMs to reform the way indie theatre is contracted, as well as the great work done by the Independent Theatre Review Committee. But let’s let bygones be bygones. If moving forward to the agreement membership wants means pretending none of this happened and now is the time to make suggestions, so be it.

Any Equity member in good standing who makes theatre in or around Toronto and has thoughts on this will be able to speak to Arden directly on Sunday May 6th at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.  Doors at 6:00pm, meeting begins at 6:30 sharp. Light refreshments will be served. Bring your Equity card.

If you are a CAEA member and don’t want to complain for another decade about a confusing array of prejudicial contracts that make it impossible to create your own work, please organize your schedules accordingly. Last chance to make an impact. Your voice is required (again).

Don’t live in Toronto? Here are the other tour dates:

VANCOUVER, BC
Date: Monday, May 7, Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (PT)
Doors open: 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Location: Revue Stage on Granville Island – 1601 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC

CALGARY, AB
Date: Sunday, May 13, Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. CT
Doors open: 5:30 p.m. CT
Location: Lunchbox Theatre – 160 115 9 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB
Special instructions:
Additional Information: Socializing at the Auburn Saloon will follow the meeting

EDMONTON, AB
Date: Monday, May 14, Time: 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. CST
Location: Second Playing Space at the Timms Centre for the Arts (University of Alberta campus in Strathcona).

WINNIPEG, MB
Date: Sunday, May 27, Time: TBA
Location: Prairie Theatre Exchange (Unit Y300 (3rd floor) – 393 Portage Avenue, Portage Place, Winnipeg, MB

SASKATOON, SK
Date: Monday, May 28, Time: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. CST
Doors open: 6:15 p.m. CST
Location: The Refinery Arts & Spirit Centre – 609 Dufferin Ave., Saskatoon, SK

MONTREAL, QC
Date: Sunday, June 3, Time: TBA
Location: TBA

OTTAWA, ON
Date: Monday, June 4, Time: TBA
Location: TBA

HALIFAX, NS
Date: Sunday, June 10
Time: TBA
Location: TBA

This winter I worked with editor and activist Brigette DePape to write an article about Praxis Theatre. Titled Creating Political Theatre on The Internet, it looks at a number of projects Praxis has been up to and includes an excerpt by Tommy Taylor from his Facebook note turned theatre piece, You Should Have Stayed Home. It is published in Power of Youth, Youth and Community-Led Activism in Canada.

DePape came into the public eye as the rogue page who interrupted the first throne speech of the Harper Majority Government (elected by a minority of Canadians) with a silent protest holding a STOP HARPER sign.  Since then amongst other activities, she has been busy editing this book published by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and more recently organizing against the unsuccessful Harper-aligned Wildrose surge in Alberta.

Powe of Youth is divided into three sections STOP, SPEAK, and ACT and includes essays and interviews with young activists from across Canada on the work they are engaged in and the ideas informing these movements. The official launch of the book will take place Wednesday May 16 from 5:00-7:00pm at Under One Roof at 251 Bank Street in Ottawa and will include an informal panel about youth activism and challenges and vision for the future.

If you can’t make it to pick up a copy in person, just use the handy order form below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1Ci9e730I

]]> http://praxistheatre.com/2012/04/power-of-youth-edited-by-brigette-depape/feed/ 0 http://praxistheatre.com/2012/04/dispatches-from-the-booth-2-field-observations-byron-laviolette/ http://praxistheatre.com/2012/04/dispatches-from-the-booth-2-field-observations-byron-laviolette/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:52:33 +0000 Praxis http://praxistheatre.com/?p=8859

by Pip Bradford

Subject: Byron Laviolette
Date: Friday, March 16^th, 2012

I met Byron several years ago, at the Fringe when he was with a Morro and Jasp show. This is the record of a day we spent together, to better understand the life of a man who runs with clowns.

Noon: The subject suggests we meet at B Espresso, a trendy coffee shop on East Queen at noon. At ten minutes past noon, the subject appears wearing a rumpled overcoat, a white tshirt, and a hangover. I think maybe this is a “sad clown” look.

Inside the subject orders a coffee: a double Americano with “cream for colour, sugar for taste, and cinnamon for ‘shapam’” I don’t know what that last word means. Maybe it is Clown for “delicious”.

12:30 pm: The subject has brought me to what appears to be a terrorist cell meeting. Or maybe it’s for a show. It’s hard to tell. If they are terrorists, they’re really nice about it, which I suppose is what I should expect of Canadian terrorists. None of them appear to be clowns.

Also what my Existentialism notes looked like

12:55 pm: The subject makes sure to keep me in the loop during the meeting. Meanwhile, I doodle pictures in my notebook of cream pies and red noses, and pretend I’m making notes.

1:00 pm: It is, in fact, a meeting about a show called ZED.TO. It’s a really neat immersive, experiential concept piece, but there are no clowns in it.

1:15 pm: The meeting adjourns. We smoke a cigarette.

1:30 pm: Social media break. I upload a picture of a lemur to my Facebook page.

1:40 pm: We get on the subway to go to Woodbine. On the way, we gossip about people we don’t like. Then we talk about shows we loved. Then we talk about my new job.

We do talk briefly about clowns.

Seriously, where are we?

2:05 pm: We arrive at our destination. Upon emerging from the subway station, it appears we have gone into the Heart of Darkness: the extreme East End of Toronto. We smoke a cigarette and check our smartphones.

2:30 pm: We arrive at the house of one of the subject’s associates, Amy Lee, a known clown, to examine a red carpet with sun damage. The subject needs it for a benefit event on the following Tuesday, and he’s hoping to call upon my dubious expertise. Eventually we decide to simply cut off the yellowed bits. We smoke a cigarette and agree to go get another coffee.

3:15 pm:  We get lunch at a café on the Danforth. Nothing humourous happens.

Not clowning around

4:00: The subject tells me that this part of the day is normally his office hours. This appears to consist of finding an empty park bench and fooling around on his laptop. After I take a few photos with my iPhone, we decide to go visit one of his associates in the neighbourhood.

The home of a known clown

4:15: We arrive at the home of Heather Annis, another known clown. I accept the tea she offers. The subject has a beer. There is a small dog present – a common prop in clowning – but said dog is notably absent of the ruffled collar and cone hat I was expecting.

Not Pictured: Cone Hat and Ruffle

The subject tells me about the project I observed a meeting for that morning. I ask him why there are no clowns in it. He points out that it is possible to do more than one thing. This is very exciting news.

5:00 I leave for work.

Byron Laviolette is a Canadian director, dramaturg, writer and critic. In addition to working towards a PhD in Theatre at York University, he is also a co-creator of the Morro and Jasp series and is the lead narrative member on the Mission Business’ ZED.TO. He is also an excellent sport.

Sarah ‘Pip’ Bradford is the Mainspace Technician at Tarragon Theatre, the Youth Outreach Coordinator for the Toronto Fringe Festival, and the founder of Art Is Hard, a grassroots arts philanthropy project. She is also a noted lemur enthusiast. If you like what you see here, she blogs (infrequently) at The Christopher Pike Project, and posts daily to Tips From Pip, an unsolicited Tumblr advice blog. She has nine followers.

Welcome to my new video column for Praxis Theatre: 2 MINUTES WITH GRETA.  You might remember me as the person behind an earlier series for Praxis called Celebrity Theatre. Now I am taking a more in depth look at the personalities who tread the boards of Toronto’s stages. For this first installment, I talk to Nina Lee Aquino on the set of SIA about being an Artistic Director, wearing different hats and what Toronto theatre needs.

Today is your last chance to see SIA, 2:30pm in the Factory Theatre Studio. Click here to buy tickets.

Mortified – click to enlarge

by Shira Leuchter

I’m a big fan of Harbourfront’s HATCH program, and the 2012 season begins this week with Mortified, a performance that “creates a sonic experience through movement and mayhem.”

Jenn Goodwin and Camilla Singh invited me into their jam session one morning late last month, and I was able to get a glimpse of their process as they rocked their drums for hours. Here’s a piece that reflects the work that I saw.

Check out the sole performance of Mortified:

Saturday April 14^th
8pm
Studio Theatre
York Quay Centre

Materials: Wood Board, encaustic, oil

Shira Leuchter is an actor who also makes performance stuff and other art stuff. She co-stars in the short RUNG, which will be having its International Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month. She is an Associate Artist with UnSpun Theatre.