Praxis Theatre

News and views from around the #theatrosphere

Morro and Jasp decide the only way to bring about positive change is to take to the streets

by Michael Wheeler

Here’s a round-up of some items in or around theatre and the interweb.

• This kinda flew under the radar for such an important position in the national theatre ecology, but earlier this month, the Artistic Director of Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver, Brenda Leadlay, was named the new Artistic Director of The Magnetic North Theatre Festival.
• The Jessie Awards also took place in Vancouver earlier this week. Tear The Curtain, which I blogged about extensively on this site as Assistant to the Director, received awards for Original Script and Lighting Design in the Large Theatre category as well as nominations for performance for all three leads. Congrats to all involved.
• On that note, the Dora Awards are coming up in Toronto. To keep the hype building, TAPA has released, In The Wings: Episode 2 – Richard Lee. The awards go down Monday, June 27 at 8pm at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in the Bluma Appel Theatre. Praxis will be live-tweeting from the event – but maybe not so much about the results.
• The Executive Director of ACTRA Toronto argues that at its core, attending a live event is more powerful than watching a broadcast on a screen. The best broadcasting can offer “is finding ways to broaden out the experience without losing it.” Brian Topp then goes on to make a few other salient points – including not closing the door on collaborative progressive partnerships.
• Earlier this week, cycling advocate Dave Meslin put on a bit of political theatre, in a clinic on how to combine media, on-the-ground activism and digital self-publishing, to achieve a tangible result in forcing the city to revise their cycling statistics for John St. Too bad the next day, four suburban city councilors out voted two downtown city councilors to remove bike lanes from Jarvis St. Have you bought/renewed your membership with The Bike Union? It seems they will be in need of additional resources.
• Here’s some things I was wondering about in the cultural world: What’s going on with The Canada Prizes and Rob Ford’s New Arts and Culture Advisor? Or will none of these things exist in the future? If this is the case will there ever be a press release about the absence of these things – or will they just slowly melt away?