Praxis also came second in the country in the Culture and Literature Category. Congrats to both Brain Droppings who took first place in the division and fellow theatre bloggers at ATP Insider who took third.
Sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for praxistheatre.com!
They were standing all the way to the back doors last night at The Church of The Holy Trinity just west of Dundas Square.
If you couldn’t make it to the Emergency Community Meeting on Monday night organized by One Toronto, Praxis Artistic Producer Aislinn Rose was all over the Praxis Twitter account if you would like to review the evening’s speakers and topics.
For the last 6 weeks, I have not been working as an actress- but rather someone who casts actresses and actors- and I have had my eyes opened wide to the process of finding someone to “fit” a role.. and I want to write the following because I think it needs saying:
Stage actors and actresses are anomalies and jewels – if you have a resume which lists 10 or more theatrical credits in Canadian theatre- you are a national treasure, and you are in a field of a very few. This field is astonishingly smaller than you think. Much smaller.
I know this because I look at Casting Workbook everyday and I receive resumes and headshots… and add to that fact that if you are still active in the theatre after 20 years – YOU ARE A SUCCESS.
I can tell you that I am surprised constantly that resumes are organised with television and film credits first – as if they have more importance than what work you have done on the stage- who decided that?
I can tell you that if you do not celebrate your own accomplishments on the stage – then no one else will either.
I want to know how and why it was decided that holding stage credits up against hollywood credits was interpreted as success.
REALLY? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?
I think that to be successful as an artist: is to despite all the odds; to keep on keepin on … and furthermore to be successful in this craft is to be the HEART of a human being , foibles, flaws, charms and vulnerabilities all – a believable human being in a vastly different set of circumstances/ genres/ stories.
THE END.
If you have a theatre resume, be proud, be so proud because despite all the odds and rejections and POVERTY… despite the pressure of the film/television world, YOU HAVE CONTINUED… and if you are a woman over 40, you have infinitely beat the odds-
Yes film is a visual medium and because its run mostly on the whims of adolescents in North America there is a pressure to look a certain way… but for real artists and grown ups- we are looking for your craft and for your soul and that is something YOU and your HEART and your experience of life brings.
So stop where you are and dont compare yourself or covet what you see as beyond you.
Luxuriate in what you have done, live your life as an extraordinarily lucky person, celebrate yourself, dare to change your resume to show theatre first.
The theatre is something to be proud of in this vast country because the professional theatre is arguably only 60 years old here. The blood, sweat and tears that have made it have come with blind faith and no money – The victories and the magic that happens – is yours, all yours.
Theatre was and will continue to be the reliable source of talent that goes into all the film and television that is made- not just here – but in many other countries in the world. I mean think about Broadway or the West End and how people use it to prove their legitimacy as “serious artists”. Please celebrate the theatre what you have given to its continuance. You are a gift, your craft is a gift, you have a “noble” calling , your numbers are few, and its time that you were celebrated. So I write this to celebrate you all.
You can all join my “agency” anytime, the door is open, the coffee and tea is always on, the table has food and a box of tissue, there are books for your souls and poetry for your heart, there are plays that will build beautiful new worlds, and there is a dram of something for courage when needed, and always a smile, a laugh and a story to remind you: you are loved and you are not alone, never alone.
I will fight for each and everyone of you to hold your heads high.. I raise my glass to you, I salute you and thank you for the courage of your hearts which has brought beauty, laughter, eye opening – consciousness raising challenges and pure love to mine..
Here’s to you: You agents of provocativeness and charm, you Socratic questions all…
xxx
Kristina Nicoll is Assistant Artistic Director of the Tarragon Theatre. She originally wrote this piece as a Facebook note to her friends.
My Gaza, ’tis of Thee co-writers Alex Rubin (L) and Jiv Parasram (R) are Toronto-based actors, directors and playwrights. Graduates of UC Drama at the University of Toronto and founding members of Pandemic Theatre, they have spent the last year focused primarily on politically satirical pieces. Currently, Rubin and Parasram are serving as actor and director (respectively) on My Gaza, ’tis of Thee.
The show runs runs September 16th – 19th & 24th – 26th at 8pm (2pm matinees on the 17th and 19th) at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79A St. George Street (just south of Harbord). $15 General, $12 Senior/Student/Underwaged.
One made by a Cameron, the other created to influence one…
This Ted Talk was part of TED YYC in Calgary and only recently was posted to the TED channel. Most powerful is Ben Cameron‘s clear and accurate argument about how the internet has permanently shifted the means of production into the hands of artists. This cannot be undone and will have a profound effect on the development of the performing arts into the future. Whether or not you buy into every idea expressed in this talk, certainly the shift to an interactive culture with fewer gatekeepers as access to resources is democratized seems to be the future, and this is one of the first attempts to address what that means to the performing arts.
This animated video was created by artist David Shrigley in response to anticipated cuts to arts and culture in Britain by its newly elected coalition government led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. Of particular interest to Canadians is the video’s attempt to address rural and urban sensibilities about the meaning and utility of art, a paradigm which also defines our cultural politics. Certainly the video makes an intellectual argument for why arts and culture are important to fund and preserve, but its sense of humour and watchability make it the type of clip that already has almost 30,000 hits.
Last week Calgary’s annual theatre awards, The Bettys, took place. It was a good night for Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP), which garnered eight awards, but especially for ATP Artistic Associate Vicki Stroich, who accepted an Outstanding Achievement Award for her work as a dramaturg and advocate for new work.
Word of the awesomeness of her acceptance speech has spread far and wide, so we were pleased to see it posted on the ATP blog, which we have reprinted below with her permission.
Vicki Stroich holds her Outstanding Achievement Award after giving an outstanding speech
I have a lot of people to thank because any contribution I have made has come with the support, guidance, encouragement and inspiration of the people around me.
First, thank you to the Betty Mitchell Awards Steering Committee and especially Adrienne Smook for this surprising and humbling honour.
I have to thank my teachers, my friends and my family. My parents (who are here tonight) for showing me the value of hard work and for supporting my choice to live a life less ordinary.
I need to thank all the collaborators and co conspirators I’ve worked with, all the playwrights, directors, actors, designers, stage managers and crew for the amazing and unique experience of creating new things together year after year, with all the challenges and triumphs that process brings.
I want to thank my fellow dramaturges, the ones in this room and the ones across Canada, across the border and in other parts of the world for reminding me what a vital role we have.
I thank the Canadian theatre community and most especially I have to thank this community of artists here. I grew up here in Calgary both as a person and an artist and every year I am reminded that this is a community of artists who make things happen. There is ambition and heart and an ingenuity here that is constantly inspiring. No matter how big and bold the idea, I know we will find a way to make it happen. And that’s rare. And I treasure it.
And I must thank Alberta Theatre Projects and the people who have raised me up in the theatre, who supported me, gave me not only the encouragement but the resources to foster the work and make things happen and who have done so with a great deal of love and a massive amount of good humour; Bob White, Dianne Goodman, Vanessa Porteous, Lyndee Hansen and all the great people I have worked with.
I can appreciate what goes into supporting someone or something. It’s what I have chosen to do. And as someone who has chosen to support and advocate for the vision and work of other people, it seems strange to be up here at the mic alone accepting an award for something that is meant to be behind the scenes.
But when people ask me what it is I do, exactly, I use that word “support” a lot. I also use words like listen and witness. On the surface these words might seem passive, but I have learned not to think of them that way. It has been my experience from working with artists that the act of listening, the act of witnessing is a powerful and rare contribution to someone’s work. I used to take it for granted. I don’t anymore.
The other part of that “support” is more vocal; I ask questions and advocate. I use my voice to help people understand their work better (at least that’s the goal) and if I can, I help them gather the resources and team together to make their project everything it deserves to be. I used to take that for granted, too; my voice. I don’t as much anymore.
I chose to support people because I wanted to make some contribution to the world they wanted to create, to the voice they wanted to express, to a vision they wanted to share. The unique quality of theatre to create an exchange of ideas and emotions and most of all, energy, captivates me. I didn’t think about what the result of 9 years of listening and witnessing and questioning and advocating day to day would contribute. I choose to do it everyday because, like you, I love the theatre. Because I wanted to contribute to it. Because it means something.
That I am standing here being given an award for the sum of those contributions (so far) is truly humbling. I will not take it for granted. It inspires me to contribute my eyes and my ears and my voice and my heart tomorrow and the next day and the next day and on and on.
Listening and witnessing and questioning and advocating is something we can all do. These are contributions that we can all make to our community, to our culture and to this art form that we all love. Please don’t take your own individual contributions day to day for granted. They mean something.
Alison learned about life in the theatre from her Mom
By Alison Broverman
Last month my mother, Sue Foster, made her Toronto Fringe debut in Act Two Studio’s Leacock Live in the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace. She’s 59. I’m allowed to tell you that, because you probably won’t believe me anyway (especially if you happened to see her at the beer tent that one night when she was buying us all drinks).
A few weeks ago I trapped her in the car on our way back from a cottage and made her tell me all about her first Fringe experience. I have adapted that car ride into a short play for your reading pleasure. Please contact me regarding performance rights. Thank you.
Act 1: Inside a Toyota Highlander driving down the 400 on a hot August day. The air conditioner is on. Alison and Sue are eating Twizzlers. Sue is driving. Alison subtly – she hopes – pulls her digital audio recorder out of her purse. She feels awkward about what she is about to ask, but it is for the greater good of the Praxis theatre blog.
Alison: So remember that night at the beer tent when you bought us all beer?
Sue: Yes…
Alison: People want to hear about your first Fringe experience.
Sue: Who?
Alison: Readers of the Praxis theatre blog.
Sue: Ok…
Alison: So can I interview you?
Sue: Really? I guess so…
Alison: So can we do it now that I’ve trapped you in the car?
Sue: Ok, sure.
Alison: Ok, so…how was your first Fringe? As a performer? [My mother was instrumental my 2007 Fringe production of Expiry Dating, building and transporting the set, hosting the opening night party, and tap dancing at the fundraiser.]
Sue: It was fun! It made me feel like I was part of a special kind of club, even though I was a performer in a show with 15 other people. Which is kind of a big cast for a Fringe show.
Alison: Not the biggest cast. I bet it wasn’t even the biggest cast this year.
Sue: I bet it was the cast with the most number of years, if you added up all our ages.
Alison: I bet that is definitely true. [The entire cast of Act 2 Studio’s Leacock Live was over fifty, several were over 70, and at least two were over 80.] So what was your favourite thing about being in the Fringe festival this year?
Sue: Hm. My favourite thing about the Fringe festival. This is gonna sound strange, but…handing out the little flyers. [She laughs.]
Alison: Why?
Sue: Because I got to say “come and see this show, I’m in it!” But without having the pressure of being the star or anything. And I thought our little bookmark/flyers were kind of cute.
Alison: They were. [They really were.] Were you nervous at all before the festival, or worried about anything?
Sue: I was worried that it was going to be lame. That we were going to be lame. But I think we…weren’t. I hope we weren’t.
Alison: I don’t think you were lame. [I’m a good daughter, obviously, but they really are not lame. Adorable, yes. Not lame.]
Sue: I was a little bit worried that we would be lame, but then once we got a bit of feedback from people who attended rehearsals, and from some of the members of Act 2 who were going out to help us publicize, I figured we wouldn’t be lame.
Alison: You sold pretty well.
Sue: Yeah, we did. [Modestly] Best of the venue. So that’s pretty good.
Alison: And what was the worst part? Was there anything that sucked?
Sue: Ummm…hm. Not really. Because the thing I don’t like sometimes about a big group of people is that somebody gets nitpicky and grumpy about things. But I was able to avoid them.
Alison: Who were the nitpicky grumps?
Sue: Oh, just various people from time to time. Because they’re old, some of them, and some of them get tired easily.
Alison: Did you read any of the reviews?
Sue: I did…but I tried hard not to take them personally.
Alison: But some of them were very good.
Sue: Some of them were very good, yes. J. Kelly Nestruck was very sweet. One of our cast members responded to his first article about the Fringe, where he called us as “old actors”, and he called her back within an hour of her e-mailing him and apologized and said he was in a hurry when he wrote it, and then he gave us a really nice review once we were up and running. So that was pretty nice. The guy from…I can’t remember if it was Eye or Now, he was not very complimentary about some things, but whatever…I think I’d better take this exit and get some gas. The light just came on.
A publicity shot for Leacock Live
Alison: Ok.
Sue: I didn’t just miss an exit, did I?
Alison: I don’t think so…no, look, there’s a rest stop up there.
Sue: Oh yeah, perfect.
Alison: How did you come to be in Leacock Live in the first place?
Sue: Well, the director asked me to be in it. I think she did that because I’d done the part before…[they arrive at the gas station and fill up the car and eat more Twizzlers.]
Act 2: Back on the road
Alison: You were in the middle of saying something about…something.
Sue: Yeah, something about how the director picked me…
Alison: Oh yeah. And do you know why Act 2 chose Leacock Live for their Fringe show?
Sue: Yeah. One of the Act 2 members entered the Fringe lottery on our behalf, and she really wanted us to do Leacock Live. So we figured, since it was her entry that got us in, we did what she wanted us to do. She wasn’t able to be in it because of her work schedule, but she loved it, so that’s nice.
Alison: And what were some of the follow ups to the Fringe afterwards?
Sue: One of the people in the cast decided to contact Orillia and invited their council to come. And they invited us to kick off their Leacock Festival at the Stephen Leacock Museum. So we did the show there on late July, and they loved it, and said “Bring this back every year!”
Alison: And what else?
Sue: What else? [Sue looks at Alison quizzically.] Got any hints?
Alison: Weren’t you invited to a high school in Aurora?
Sue: Oh yeah! We were invited to a high school in Aurora. It’s a dramatic arts high school and we’re going to show them some Readers’ Theatre, I guess…And expose them, maybe, to Leacock. I was astounded to discover that Leacock is no longer taught in public schools. And it’s very sad, because he’s a historic figure in Canada. So there were many people under 30 who came to our show who actually had never heard of Stephen Leacock. You’ve read Leacock, right?
Alison: Of course! I read Leacock in grade 7. [At the nerd high school you sent me to, Mom.] So did you spend a lot of time at the Fringe tent during the festival?
Sue: I spent a few hours there…I at least passed through at least six days, and a couple of those days I stayed for a couple of hours. So yes, I guess I spent a good amount of time at the Fringe tent.
Alison: And did you see anything else good?
Sue: Yeah, I think I saw about 12 shows. [They babble for awhile about how Craplicker was such a great show with such an unfortunate title.]
Alison: Any other thoughts you’d like to add about making your Fringe debut at the age of 59? It is ok if I put your age in there, right?
Sue: Sure, I don’t care if you tell people I’m 59. They won’t believe you anyway. I just think it might be fun to do another Fringe show sometime, something different. It made me think anything’s possible.
Alison: Do you feel differently about the Fringe now, having been in a show yourself?
Sue: Not really…I think I’m going to take Black Creek. We should go to the Danier outlet.
Alison: Ok!
[Alison and Sue drive to the Danier outlet, where Sue buys Alison a blue leather jacket as a belated birthday present. You see what happens when you try to interview your mom?]
The Next Stage Festival is a juried uber-fringe held each January at The Factory Theatre. It offers audiences and industry programmers the chance to see both new and reworked productions by successful Fringe artists as they take the leap into the Next Stage of their careers.
Next Stage in the Factory Theatre Mainspace:
At The Sans Hotel
Created & performed by Nicola Gunn Designed by Nicola Gunn with Rebecca Etchell, Gwendolyna Holmberg-Gilchrist and Luke Paulding
In a deserted Hotel strewn with familiar remnants, a woman is marooned in a bathtub. She suggests something terrible has happened or is about to happen…
Duel of Ages
by True Edge Productions (with a cast of 21)
This anthology of duelling scenes begins in the 16th century and goes, all the way to its impact on the modern psyche in the age of cinema.
Fairy Tale Ending: The Big Bad Family Musical
Presented by Role Your Own Theatre from Toronto
Music and Lyrics by Kieren MacMillan & Jeremy Hutton
Fairy Tale Ending is a topsy-turvy yet touching tale of a young girl coming to grips with loss and the reality of growing up. NSTF’s first family show for kids and grown-ups – matinees and kids pricing TBD.
The Grace Project **World Premiere**
by Judith Thompson & the ensemble
The Grace Project features courageous young adults sharing their true, life-shaping experiences living with chronic illness.
Next Stage in the Factory Studio Theatre:
The Apology
by Darrah Teitel
Directed by Audrey Dwyer, Performed by: Brendan McMurtry-Howlett, Natasha Greenblatt, Sascha Cole and Daniel Chapman-Smith.
Teenage sexuality coupled with inspired political ideology fan the flames of this anachronistic work set in early 19th century British high society that discusses the tensions between maternity and feminism, ideology and love in an original story of sexual revelation.
Eating with Lola
Presented by Sulong Theatre
Written and performed by Catherine Hernandez, Directed by Ann Powell
Part confession, part revelation, Lola’s epic tale unravels the entire modern history of Manila from the time of the Thomasites to the second wave of Filipino migration to the United States – one spoonful at a time. A one woman (and one puppet) tour-de-force.
Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale)
By Carol Cece Anderson
Directed by Mark Cassidy, Music Performed by Hilario Duran, Featuring Lili Francks, John Blackwood and Bridgett Zehr
Inspired by Swan Lake, the piece combines Afro-Cuban-Latin-Jazz, various dance styles and story to navigate a the forty year relationship.
Tom’s a-cold
By David Egan
Directed by Daryl Cloran, Featuring Shane Carty & Brendan Gall
In 1845, HMS Terror and Erebus set sail from England seeking the Northwest Passage through the Arctic. Neither ship was ever seen again. Three years later, two men sit in a lifeboat.
“It’s the cliches that cause the trouble. A precise emotion seeks a precise expression. If what I feel is not precise then should I call it love? It’s so terrifying, love, that all I can do is shove it under a dump bin of pink cuddly toys and send myself a greeting card saying, ‘Congratulations on your Engagement’. But I am not engaged I am deeply distracted. I am desperately looking the other way so that love won’t see me.”
Laurel Green is an Associate Producer with the 2010 SummerWorks Festival. She is spending her summer vacation helping to organize their first-ever Performance Bar: a collision of theatre, music, and performance hosted by improv heroes The National Theatre of the World.
Fiasco Playhouse runs August 5 – 14th at 9PM on the Ground Floor of the Lower Ossington Theatre (100A Ossington Avenue). PWYC. Full Bar. Air Conditioning
“After the years and years of weaker and waterier imitations, we now find ourselves rejecting the very notion of a holy stage. It is not the fault of the holy that it has become a middle-class weapon to keep the children good.”
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