Comments on: Praxis Theatre survey: identifying a knowledge gap

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Interesting idea Amrita. I think the ideas of location and venue are huge when it comes to defining what independent theatre is.

By: Amrita

Amrita — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:37:00 +0000

food for thought: Does “independent” mean seperate from a location?

By: mike

mike — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:58:00 +0000

blue man is part of the avant garde if you consider their groundbreaking attempts to screw over the theatre union in this country new and exciting.. and hey, i’m nonunion – but i would like to see those big venues have good wages and job security etc. so if i ever got one of those gigs i would be treated as a professional and receive a reasonable share of the box. they are produced by clearchannel, which has gotta be one of the more evil and profit centred media organizations around. oh yeah, they closed, really early, see ya blue man. thanks for fixin up the theatre too.

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:00:00 +0000

I was talking to someone on Friday who argued that Blue Man Group was part of the avant garde. I haven't seen it, but had assumed it was mainstream . . .

Are there specific economic/popular alliances a production has to have (or not have) to be considered "independent"?

By: mike

mike — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:09:00 +0000

Okay I have shitloads of opinions on this, so I’ll try to be concise and only address one og these issues. I would define Independent Theatre in Toronto as anything that is not produced BY (as opposed to AT) Tarragon, Canstage, Factory, Passe Muraille, Buddies, Soulpepper, Mirvish or anything on Yonge St. I’m sure the Dora committee has codified this somehow.

I think the quality thing is just a reflection of many people having had the misfortune of being stuck in a really bad show. Unlike the movies, you can’t leave. All those things that make theatre so powerful when it’s good – the immediacy of being in the same space as the performers – the sense that it will only be this way once – also make the show that much worse when its bad. So people want increased quality. And who can blame them? There’s increased risk compared to going to a film. At least if you go see the Leafs and they suck you can still have a couple of beers and talk to your buddy. When theatre lacks quality you may do nothing but suffer in silence.