Take this workshop or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Ford

by Michael Wheeler

Recently it seems all my actions are direct responses to Rob Ford’s suggestions to Toronto artists.

A month after Ford suggested at The Mayoral Arts Debate that artists raise more money by throwing dinner fundraisers, Praxis Theatre threw its 9th installment of the $110/plate Praxis Gourmet dinner series. The event was our most successful so far with live jazz, a sneak peek at our latest work Jesus Chrysler and a four-course wine pairing that starred Coq au Vin at an upscale Bay Street address.

The latest news out of the Ford administration with regards to the arts in Toronto is that Jeff Melanson, Executive Director of The National Ballet School, has been brought on board in a voluntary capacity as the Mayor’s ‘Arts Czar’. The line is that the Mayor was impressed with an article about Melanson in Canadian Business magazine encouraging artists to be more “entrepreneurial”.

The article does not mention that Melanson is responsible for a budget that receives roughly 40% of its revenue from the government, or that he runs a world class training institution – not an organization with a mandate to actually produce art – but hey, who’s paying attention to those sorts of details now that James Bradshaw isn’t covering the arts for The Globe and Mail anymore?

It’s time for artists whose organizations DIDN’T recently receive over $18 million from the Harper government over the next three years to get off the gravy train!

Playing close heed to this message from City Hall for independent artists to put their business thinking caps on and be serious about things, I present this lecture and workshop taught by the “intrepid” Cathy Gordon and myself on how to be a theatre entrepreneur.

Cathy and I have twice taught this lecture and workshop combo at University of Toronto for their students on how to create their own theatre. For the first time ever we are offering it to the public.

We have over 10 handouts that break down all the basics to be considered when creating the infrastructure that will support you and your work. This is probably the cheapest we will ever offer this course as a measure to spread the word about how awesome it is, so sign up now for the lecture you cannot AF-FORD to miss.  Buh-dum-pum.

PRODUCING AND CREATING INDEPENDENT THEATRE
Cathy Gordon & Michael Wheeler / ADAPT services

“Cathy and Michael’s independent theatre creation workshop at University of Toronto addressed topics that most artists fear to even go near in a way that was both fun and engaging. It helped dispel common misconceptions and confusion about how to get my own work off the ground and left me prepared to take control of my career as an artist.”

Yevgeniya Falkovich (University of Toronto 2010, National Theatre School Directing Program 2013)

Sunday December 12
hub14 / 14 markham street (Queen & Bathurst)
2pm-6pm
$40
To register: adapt.lecture@gmail.com

Lecture topics include:
*Non-profit v For Profit structures- What Are They
*Producing A,B,Cs
*Toronto opportunities – They Do Exist
*Social Media
*Marketing On A Shoestring
*Grant Writing Tips

Practical Exercises:
*Artistic / Company Visioning
*Budget planning

Variation #28: Rob Kempson

Text:

‎”When I was 10 years old my best friend was a girl who turned out to be a boy. Now that’s hot.”

Nina Arsenault

Image:

Sound:

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Rob Kempson is the Artistic Producer of the Paprika Festival and on November 28^th, the Festival is celebrating its 10^th birthday. For the second year now Rob somehow manages to pull together an amazing Festival of new work by young artists. Sure he has help from a stellar executive team, but the guy doesn’t even drink coffee… what gives? Now that’s hot.

Paprika Does Double Digits: November 28^th

A collection of work from the past ten years, performed by current participants, artists, alumni and friends of the Festival

Reception at 7pm, performance at 8pm

Tarragon Theatre Mainspace

Limited tickets available, call the Tarragon Box Office at 416.531.1827

www.paprikafestival.com

Wrecking Ball Toronto #11 writers announced

Check out the lineup on thewreckingball.ca

Variation #27: Bobby Theodore

Text:

The English noun identity comes, ultimately, from the Latin adverb identidem, which means “repeatedly.” The Latin has exactly the same rhythm as the English, buh-BUM-buh-BUM—a simple iamb, repeated; and identidem is, in fact, nothing more than a reduplication of the word idem, “the same”: idem(et)idem. Same (and) same. The same, repeated. It is a word that does exactly what it means.

It seems odd, at first glance, that a noun that we associate with distinctiveness and individuality, with the irreducible uniqueness of each person, should derive from one that denotes (and even sounds like) nothing but mechanical repetition. But once you’ve given it some thought, the etymology of identity makes a kind of sense. At least one way of establishing what something is, after all, is to see whether it always remains itself, and nothing else, over and over again. This is also the case, presumably, for people: you are, endlessly and repeatedly, you, and not some other.

Image:

Sound:

Click here
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Writer for theatre, tv and film, Bobby Theodore is the co-creator (with Ame Henderson) of 300 TAPES – a bold experiment in storytelling exploring how our memories are shaped (and warped) over time. Created over two years as part of The Theatre Centre’s Residency Program, 300 TAPES merges theatre, sound art and choreography.

300 TAPES by Public Recordings runs December 1-12 at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto (before heading to Calgary in Feb 2011). 416-538-0988.

Director in Training: At least I’m not smoking

Brendan Gall’s Wide Awake Hearts now playing at The Tarragon Theatre

by Michael Wheeler

The first time they ever let me in a rehearsal room at The Tarragon Theatre was when I was a Script Coordinator during the 2008/09 Season for Alias Godot by Brendan Gall. Two-and-a-half years later, as Director in Training I found myself once again observing a new work by Brendan be brought to the stage during the tech and preview performances of his latest Tarragon play Wide Awake Hearts.

For me the biggest difference between the two experiences was not going to have a smoke every 1.5 hrs as Brendan and I did pretty much like it was our job regardless of weather during Alias Godot. I don’t know if he’s totally off the rockets, but where there was smoking actually, there are now lines in the play about not smoking:

When busted for abandoning his partner “D” played by Maev Beaty, Raoul Bhaneja’s character “C”, explains: “At least I’m not smoking.” “What do you want a medal?”, she replies. “I don’t know. Can you smoke medals?”, he counters.

I always liked that part, even if it made me want to start smoking a bit – or maybe just try to smoke a medal. They gave me one for finishing the half marathon this fall and it would be a beautiful irony if after using running to get off cigarettes, I then got addicted to smoking the medals they give out to runners.

Anyhow, I asked Brendan if we could chat about the processes and experiences of bringing these plays to the stage on G Chat and turn it into a blog post. He said “yes”. This is the (lightly edited) result during which I entirely forgot to ask him about or bring up the smoking thing:

The Trial of Omar Khadr

Sean Dixon is the author of the play/novel ‘The Girls Who Saw Everything‘ which was just produced (play) by Ryerson Theatre & longlisted (novel) for CBC’s 2011 CanadaReads. He’s currently writing a show around the banjo for Crow’s Theatre & has a new novel coming out with Coach House Press in the spring.

Lately on the interweb

by Michael Wheeler

Here’s a rundown of somewhat-related, hopefully interesting, and only partially self-serving, events and ideas that have been going around the internet lately:

• Over on The Arts Policy Diaries, Shannon Litzberger reports on Arts Day, organized by The Canadian Arts Coalition on Parliament Hill. Advocates took meetings with a number of Cabinet Ministers, while Shannon steered her X-wing straight for the main reactor to have an hour-long chat with Heritage Minister James Moore.
• Also in Ottawa, The Canadian Arts Coalition Canadian Conference of the Arts, organized a series of seminars on all things arts related. The big bombshell: CBC reports that the guy who compiled statistics for Richard Florida’s seminal works thinks it’s time to move past this whole “creative economy” idea, noting that leading policy makers to look at the arts as “dollars and cents…has been a trap”.
• “The insurgent… and uncategorizable”  Cathy Gordon and myself taught a workshop at University of Toronto last weekend titled, Producing and Creating Independent Theatre. More info soon on a non-U of T version available to everyone.
• The Siminovitch people have published Kim Collier’s acceptance speech and it is, well, here just read it. The Electric Company has already destroyed any reputation I have for objectivity on this website. Still, you should probably read it.
• Still bummed about the swath of uninspiring choices that presented themselves candidates for Toronto Mayor? Eye Weekly has a great piece on how a Ranked Ballot (RaBIT) could change the quality of candidate and tenor of debate next election.
• Speaking of which, Wrecking Ball #11: Now What? is coming to The Theatre Centre on December 6th, the evening before Toronto’s new City Council meets for the first time at City Hall. More details as they become available on The Wrecking Ball website.
• With the release of ex-US President George W Bush’s memoirs Decision Points, comes a new Facebook group dedicated to subversively taking the book and placing it in the crime section of bookstores. Don’t ya like it when things are funny cause they’re true?

Naomi Klein returns to The Great Hall to support G20 arrestees

November 11, 2010 @ 1087 Queen St. W.

7:00pm
Pre-event with Naomi Klein
Food and drinks provided
Tickets: $100 available at GalleryAC (includes pre-event and main event)

8:00pm
Naomi Klein, Hawksley Workman & LAL
Hosted by Martha Chaves
Tickets: $50 in advance / $60 at the door

Tickets available online at Gallery AC
In person at Rotate This, Soundscapes, Toronto Women’s Bookstore and Another Story

Facebook event here, and while you’re at it, why not follow Naomi on Twitter here

Full event info here

Hey – remember a few months ago when the federal government elected to turn downtown Toronto into a police state, the provincial government violated the charter  creating phantom laws they later claimed never existed, while the chief of the municipal police force admitted to consciously lying to the public and the media throughout a weekend that resulted in the largest series of civil rights violations in Canadian history?

I do.

So do those arrested under fictitious charges and draconian bail conditions that are a blatant attempt to criminalize dissent. Disagreeing with the government is not a crime. Preventative arrest disregards many of the basic tenets of a legitimate democracy. Police officers that remove their name tags while assaulting peaceful demonstrators in a government sanctioned protest area face at worst a $300 fine, while social justice advocates who engage in their democratic rights face tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and an uncertain future.

If you got 50 bucks – democratic principals and rule of law ain’t going to restore themselves.

Project: Humanity @ Passe Muraille: Reflection, expression, discussion

By Catherine Murray

With every one of our initiatives or creations, Project: Humanity (P:H) has endeavoured to expand awareness of local and global human issues using the arts.  We’ve aspired to works that can serve as reflecting pools – allowing audiences to see themselves a bit more clearly, a bit more as part of a community.  Our documentary-style play The Middle Place by Andrew Kushnir is currently playing at Theatre Passe Muraille and looks to broaden audiences’ perspective on homelessness and further introduce them to our company’s socially-minded aesthetic.

This current incarnation of the piece has been three years in the making.  In 2007, we invited Andrew to join us in the youth shelter system, where Project: Humanity had started to provide day-programming in the form of drama/improv workshops.  Andrew had felt compelled to do one-on-one interviews with some of the youth living there and hoped to create a piece of verbatim theatre employing their words (something he had never done before as a playwright).

The members of P:H had all been affected by the shelter populace in much the same way – these at-risk youth had us seeing anyone and everyone’s proximity to homelessness.  As one caseworker told Andrew: “Sometimes it just takes one event…one thing that does or doesn’t happen to you, that decides whether you’re on this side or that side.”  Our work with them had us shedding our preconceived notions of what a homeless youth was and Andrew wanted to build a play that would replicate that experience for the uninitiated while validating the community-of-origin.

Not only did the shelter administration go for it (they had a long-standing interest in raising awareness about youth homelessness to the greater community) but much of the youth population embraced the opportunity to anonymously relay their experience.  It was explained to them that their real names would never be known and actors would communicate their words to an audience.  And this ensured anonymity coupled with the trust we had built up through our drama programming factored heavily in the intense candour we encounter in the play.

The voices in The Middle Place do humanize a stigmatized group in our community – but P:H wanted to advance that experience.  For our current run at Theatre Passe Muraille, we’ve created an installation around the play called the Urban Youth Experience (the UYE). The UYE includes a number of physical installations such as art created by homeless youth through our partnership with SKETCH as well as a shelter photo installation by photographer Shaun Benson.  We’ve programmed numerous post-show events including talkbacks with shelter caseworkers – kicked off at last week’s benefit performance for Youth Without Shelter.  We’ve partnered with researchers at University of Toronto OISE who are offering audience members a chance to turn the camera on themselves and participate in a post-show interview to share their (verbatim) response to the play.  Our goal has been to expand the traditional theatre setting into a community setting that encourages reflection, expression, and discussion.

One of the things we’re most proud of us is P:H’s free City Resource Guide.  Each and every audience member can walk from the show with a guide we created listing numerous organizations that provide assistance to youth in need, as well as organizations that offer the general public a way to get involved and help.

Check out these links to learn more about the Urban Youth Experience and Project: Humanity. The Middle Place runs at Theatre Passe Muraille until November 13th and has shows Thursday – Saturday at 7:30pm, with 2:00pm matinees on Saturdays.  A special “Suitcase Showcase” performance has been added for November 22, at 7pm.

Catherine Murray is a co-founder and Program Director of Project: Humanity. A graduate of the BFA Dance program at Ryerson University, Catherine has been doing arts facilitation within the youth shelter system for over 3 years.

Kim Collier wins 2010 Siminovitch Prize for Direction

The Electric Company Theatre‘s Kim Collier is the fourth director in Canada to receive the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.

There is no more prestigious or lucrative prize in Canadian theatre than the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize. The annual award cycles through directors, playwrights and designers each year. This year, it was awarded to a professional director who advances Canadian theatre through a body of work achieved in recent years, while influencing and inspiring younger theatre artists. $25,000 of the award must be awarded to a protege of the winner’s choice – this year Collier chose director and The Chop Co-Artistic Director Anita Rochon.

Both Rochon and Collier work out of Vancouver’s Progress Lab 1422, where Rochon is also Associate Artistic Producer with Rumble Productions . Neither director is stranger to Toronto: Collier’s No Exit dazzled at Buddies last year while her Studies in Motion comes to Canadian Stage in November. Meanwhile Rochon’s Kismet One to One Hundred wowed audiences as part of Free Fall last year at The Theatre Centre.

Congratulations to both, and indie theatre in Vancouver a little bit too.

Kim Collier
Prior to her career as a director, Kim studied acting at the University of Victoria, physical theatre at Mime Unlimited in Toronto and in 1994 graduated from the 3 year acting program at Studio 58 in Vancouver. A year later she co-founded Electric Company Theatre whose work quickly became recognized nationally as a driving force behind the resurgence of activity in Vancouver’s independent theatre scene.

Under the direction of Collier, the company has created a dozen original works through an intensive collaborative process including three landmark site-specific productions. Kim also has a growing presence on major stages and festivals across Canada with productions at Theatre Calgary, Festival TransAmerique, National Arts Centre, the Citadel Theatre and Canadian Stage. In 2011 her live-cinematic interpretation of No Exit is being presented by the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Kim is the recipient of multiple awards including three Jessie Richardson awards for directing, a Betty Mitchell for Best Production and in 2009 the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award.

Previous Siminovitch Prize Recipients:

Toronto director, Daniel Brooks in 2001;
Montreal playwright, Carole Fréchette in 2002;
Montreal designer, Louise Campeau in 2003;
St. John’s director, Jillian Keiley in 2004;
Toronto playwright, John Mighton in 2005;
Toronto set and costume designer, Dany Lyne in 2006;
Montréal director, Brigitte Haentjens in 2007;
Toronto playwright, Daniel McIvor in 2008;
Calgary and Toronto designer, Ronnie Burkett in 2009.