Magnetic North writes a letter home

by Megan Flynn

Gentle Readers,

Monday, June 7th, 2010

I am sitting in the back room of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival Hub at 91 King Street West in Kitchener. The festival staff is all in the same room for the first time since the launch in March. Ken Cameron and Naomi Campbell arrived last night, as did Christian Barry with the Homage crew, and Kris Nelson (Encounters Series) was the last to arrive today after touring with Ame Henderson and Public Recordings in Europe, and a fly-by to his apartment in Montreal. (Ame will be part of Who’s Afraid of Academia? in the Heritage Room at Kitchener City Hall, talking about her recent foray back to school.) Marion Sharp and Richard Ellis also arrived today with suitcases, safari-style hats ,and a camera slung around Richard’s neck – these two volunteers have been with the festival since the beginning, volunteering in their home town of Ottawa and traveling each year to the festival’s new host city; there is an award named after them now.

So it’s official. We have about 51 hours until Mump & Smoot Cracked kicks off the festival, and we are trying to see each other over the boxes piling up around our desks.

I wanted to write something to shed some light on what Magnetic North is all about. Although I imagine that most of you have at least heard of the festival, I’ll give you the low-down. First of all, this year it’s in Kitchener-Waterloo, about an hour from Toronto (check out the info below for details about how you can take a bus to and from Toronto to the festival on June 14, 15 and 16). It’s a festival of contemporary Canadian theatre in English. It happens in Ottawa every second year and in the years in between the whole operation picks up and moves to a different Canadian centre. It serves a couple of important purposes – it puts the host city in the national spotlight, and each year casts the net further and further to build a network for artists and presenters to move work around the country and to get Canadian work out into the world. It’s the only festival of its kind in Canada. Over the years Brooke Johnson’s Trudeau Stories, Lauchie, Liza and Rory (Mulgrave Road), Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland), April 14, 1912 (Theatre Rusticle), So Many Doors (Sour Brides), The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets (November Theatre) and Nevermore (Catalyst Theatre) are some of the productions that have toured, nationally and internationally, in part because of their exposure and the connections they made at Magnetic North.

So this year, there are 10 shows from across Canada in the festival which opens on June 9: Mump & Smoot’s Cracked, Norman (Lemieux Pilon 4D Art), Homage (2b theatre company), The Last 15 Seconds (The MT Space), Elephant Wake (Globe Theatre), The Greatest Cities in the World (Theatre Replacement), Another Home Invasion (Tarragon Theatre), Dedicated to the Revolutions (Small Wooden Shoe), Monster Makers and Children’s Choice Awards (Mammalian Diving Reflex). To see all the details, go here.

There are lots of other events, happenings and performances as part Magnetic Encounters – which brings the audience really close to the work through direct interactions with the artists. And the festival is also a meeting ground for artists, presenters and other culture workers to discuss the relevant ideas and issues of the moment. This year, there are over 60 presenters, and we expect almost 250 delegates to take part in the Industry Series altogether. We’re going to be talking about touring, education, presenting, agency. We’re also going to host a panel discussion with Their Excellencies The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and M. Jean-Daniel Lafond. You can check out the full Industry Series schedule here.

It’s really exciting to be here in Kitchener-Waterloo; not only am I staying in the guest room at my parent’s place, and my mom wakes me up in the morning and makes me oatmeal with almond milk and berries, but I’m working downtown where I spent most of my teenage years – and can see the slow shifts that are happening in this town as the high tech industries and universities move into the abandoned factories that once made shoes, buttons and furniture. As kids we said that there was something in the water in Kitchener (a little less perhaps in our slightly more sophisticated better half, Waterloo). I realize now that it’s a magnet actually. It’s a force that brings people back, or together. Fitting I suppose that Magnetic North is here.  I’m surprised how excited I am to bring the country into this place with all its quirks and characters.

Anyway, I’ll be here. Come find me and I’ll tell you where to meet new friends, where to walk at one in the morning to see the stars, and where you’ll find the best dim sum in Ontario. And I’ll see you around the festival of course. I’ll be one of the lunatics ever smiling…

See you at the Festival Bar!

Megan

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THE TORONTO SPECIAL:

For June 14, 15 and 16 Toronto arts practitioners can buy a one-day special for $100. It includes the bus from Toronto to K-W and back, access to the day’s Industry Series programming and tickets for two shows. SPILL Feast is extra. All reservations must be made in advance through Gayle Diguer at GDiguer@nac-cna.ca or 1-519-772-3783.
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