Has anyone handed you a paintbrush dipped in red paint recently? We got one. Canadian Stage has upped its marketing game recently, with some interesting interactive elements for Red in particular.
Click to enlarge
Those red-tipped paintbrushes came tagged with the website EXPERIENCERED.CA and the site offers an opportunity to “interact” as artist Mark Rothko’s assistant using your computer’s own webcam. There are a series of different video responses from Rothko based on how each user responds, so theoretically you could have a different experience every time you interacted with the site.
An experiment in partnership with Toronto ad agency, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Canadian Stage tells us they are interested in exploring how pre-recorded video can be used in different ways to promote a live performance. Most of us have already discovered that staging live scenes for video just doesn’t work.
The site features Red‘s lead actor Jim Mezon in the role of Rothko, allowing users to get a sense of the play, without having to watch pre-recorded stage scenes on film. Check it out!
Help us pick a caption! Best caption in the comments section, or via #PraxisCaption on twitter will win two tickets to a preview of our production of Jesus Chrysler at Theatre Passe Muraille.
We’ll post the results and the best caption at the end of the day. Happy captioning!
UPDATE: And the tickets to Jesus Chrysler go to @CBTstage for best caption!
Written by: Tara Beagan & Directed by: Michael Wheeler Starring: Margaret Evans*, Aviva Armour-Ostroff* and Jeffrey Wetsch* Produced by: Aislinn Rose Costumes & Set Design by: Scott Penner Sound Design by: Verne Good Lighting Design by: David DeGrow Stage Managed by: Dini Conte* Assistant Director: Laura Nordin Movement Coach: Leora Morris
*Appearing courtesy of CAEA
Legendary activist and director Eugenia “Jim” Watts and poet Dorothy Livesay are embroiled in a mix of socialist organizing, sexual relationships, theatre rehearsals, and personal betrayal…
A world premiere by Dora-Award winning playwright Tara Beagan, Jesus Chrysler is an immersive production that revolves around Toronto activist and director Eugenia “Jim” Watts and poet Dorothy Livesay. An unsung icon of 1930s Toronto theatre, Jim had her work banned by a Prime Minister before enlisting in The Spanish Civil War, becoming its sole female ambulance driver. Livesay went on to become a two-time Governor General Award winner for poetry and an Officer of The Order of Canada. Jesus Chrysler invites you to explore their complex relationship in a show that engages with and questions the intersection of art and politics.
Click here to donate & receive a charitable receipt
This is an exciting time for Praxis Theatre. It’s our first production as part of the season of an established Toronto theatre, and the first time we have employed our artists as signatories to the Canadian Theatre Agreement.
All of this costs money and we couldn’t do it without the support of our donors. We are so close to reaching our goal, but we need your help to get us there… so we’re calling on our friends across Canada to help this indie company out.
For a short time, you can donate to Praxis Theatre via Theatre Passe Muraille and receive a charitable receipt. We promise, after Jesus Chrysler, we can leave you alone for a while!
Ride The Cyclone is quickly becoming a Canadian indie theatre legend. Exploding onto the Toronto stage at SummerWorks, it is already selling out houses at Theatre Passe Muraille with a show that opened on Monday night with more buzz than any indie-produced musical in recent memory.
Cyclone creator Atomic Vaudeville is engaged in a robust social media strategy with a convincing YouTube Trailer, Storify for production-related tweets, a recent live twitter chat with the cast via #AskTheCyclone, and apparently their own video game.
Also worth noting is that the show was first performed in Toronto via the infamous Heritage funding earmarked specifically for national companies that would be cut by the Harper Government six months later.
Looking forward to sharing the theatre with Ride The Cyclonenear the end of its run, whenJesus Chrysler will be playing concurrently in the Theatre Passe Muraille backspace .
The piece concludes with 5 core points about why CAEA needs to reform its policies with regard to independent theatre that still remain true, valid, and urgent to this day:
The future of the theatre in Canada lies in a new generation of hybrid producer/artists. There are very few artists under 35 who categorize themselves solely as “actors”. We are all using the same computer software to create the script in Word, the budget in Excel and make a presentation to the board with Powerpoint. This engager/actor framing device Equity is using to talk about this is at least thirty years out of date.
The average audience for theatre in Canada is very old and this must change for us to survive and thrive. If there is going to be anyone to see the work we make in fifteen years, we are going to have to reach new and younger audiences. Unlike the fictional Youthquake of Slings and Arrows fame this is not going to be caused by a slick marketing campaign – it will be addressed when work by new, younger and more diverse artists is supported instead of punished.
We are at a competitive disadvantage with the US.Contracts like the Showcase and 99 Seat Agreement in the US make new and innovative work much easier to produce. Lots of these shows become nothing. Some become hits and tour to Canada. We are at a particular disadvantage given that our current complicated indie agreements don’t even address touring or TYA productions. Is our major contribution to world drama this decade going to be limited to exceptional remounts of Andrew Lloyd Webber?
Canadian theatre has really sub-par engagement with diverse communities. Both in terms of audience and practitioners our industry is overwhelmingly white. This despite Canada being home to several of the most multicultural cities in the world.Equity needs to wake up to the fact that when they curtail and limit indie theatre, whichis farmorediverse, they are actively making this problem worse.
This multi-year battle is wasting everyone’s energy and time. How much energy has gone into our multi-year internal battle to have CAEA stop treating its younger and self-producing membership like they are committing a crime for trying to create new plays subsidized by their sweat and hard work?
Yes, we’ve posted this before, but it’s still funny and, apparently, still relevant.
Our post from Spring of last year was motivated by the frustration that came from there being not one – but two consecutive votes at AGMs (One in Toronto and one in Montreal) by a combined vote of 138 – 5 to address the problems facing indie theatre.
After more than two years or stalling and delays, The Independent Theatre Review Committee was set up and commissioned a study to look into the indie issue. An executive summary of the report has recently been posted to the CAEA website, but moves to release the entire document have been met with more stall tactics.
In terms of the existing small-scale agreements, satisfaction levels are highest among the Festival Policy (formerly Fringe Waiver) and the Guest Artist Policy. [It is worth noting that the Festival Policy was recently changed to closely mirror the TorontoTheatreAgreement originally proposed by The Indie Caucus and presented to CAEA Executive Director Arden Ryshpan in 2008.]
45% of respondents had engaged fellow Equity members to work on a theatre project.
25% admitted to having worked off-contract
80% said working on small-scale projects is very important or somewhat important to their career.
Factors more than 50% deemed “very important” included the ability to “work in a flexible schedule that permits other work or commitments”, opportunities to “work with people they admire or respect”, and the desire to “create new/original work”.
More than 66% were willing to waive quotas of Equity vs. non-Equity members within a given show, as well as pay for a full work week regardless of their level of participation.
Equity members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of steps being taken to address significant dissatisfaction among members with regards to small scale and independent theatre creation at two consecutive AGMs, beginning in February 2008.
Deadlines have come and gone, and Equity seems no closer to action. It must be asked: how much more time does Equity need to implement the clearly expressed will of membership?
This question goes to the heart of the future of Canadian theatre. Will we see more theatre made for a predominantly wealthy, white, elderly audience created by major institutions, or will we see more theatre made for and by the vast, diverse and eclectic population of Canada?
Membership has already clearly stated which option they would like to pursue, the question now is whether Equity will listen and adapt or continue to ignore and deflect.
The CAEA Ontario RAGM is Sunday, November 20th at 7pm at the Wychwood Barns, located at 601 Christie Street. All members in good standing are welcome, and it’s recommended you bring your membership cards with you.
As a result of the City of Toronto’s KPMG Core Service review, and the city’s public consultation process, Council recently voted in favour of looking into selling its city-owned theatres.
Mayor Rob Ford has since created the Mayor’s Task Force – Arts & Culture to investigate the “city’s rationale for owning and operating live theatres”. You can read the announcement of the task force here, and the press release announcing two public consultations on the issue here.
From the press release:
The panelists will investigate the impact of these theatres on the local economy and make recommendations on what changes may be required in terms of their operations to meet the City’s objectives. We will consider a variety of options. As part of the process in making recommendations, we need the input of the community and stakeholders like you.”
Praxis Theatre Artistic Producer Aislinn Rose will be Live Tweeting one of the two public consultation sessions today, from 9:30am to 11:30am at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. Join in the conversation whether you are there too, or following along from home or work.
Last month I was able to spend an afternoon with Frank Cox-O’Connell and Evan Webber (and Christopher Stanton on the sound board) as they worked on their piece Ajax.
This intimate piece will be staged alongside Little Iliad this spring. I was able to watch them work through two sequences – the beginning and the end – of the piece. The show will only accommodate a very small audience so I’d urge you to book tickets really early – all of the tickets for this year’s World Stage season have just gone on sale on November 1st.
Materials: Vellum, Tape
About the show: Ajax & Little Iliad will play from April 4-8, 2012 as part of this year’s World Stage season at Harbourfront Centre.
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Shira Leuchter makes performance stuff and other art stuff. She recently worked with UnSpun Theatre on a new piece that was performed as part of Harbourfront’s HATCH program.
Her website is here and she collects all of her shallowest thoughts here.
Our 1930s-themed, open-bar, live art, performance and music soiree is shaping up to be the most memorable Praxis Party so far. Email info@praxistheatre.com to reserve your sliding scale $50-$75 ticket today while they are still available.
761 Bay Street on Friday November 4th from 6:30pm to 10pm.
Who wants to hit the open bar with Jim Watts? Photo by Will O'Hare
Artwork created on the spot to be auctioned off by:
LIKE THE FIRST TIME Cast l-r: Cathy Murphy, Dov Mickelson, Elva Mai Hoover, Jessica Salgueiro, Andrew Moodie ~ Photo by Yuri Dojc
by Adam Seelig
O.P.P. (Other People’s Plays)
Last spring, while living on a kibbutz in Israel, I sat down and rewrote — yes, stole — a little known play by Italian theatrical innovator and Nobel Prize winner, Luigi Pirandello. “Come Prima, Meglio di Prima,” Pirandello’s play from 1920, the year before his obscenely famous “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” has been transformed into “my new play,” LIKE THE FIRST TIME.
The good news is that I have Pirandello’s blessing. In his own words:
Theatre is not archaeology. The text remains intact for those who want to read it at home for personal pleasure; those who want to enjoy themselves will go to the theatre, where the text will be presented cleansed of withered parts and unfashionable terms, and adapted to contemporary taste. The work of art in the theatre is no longer the work of a writer… but an act of life to be created moment by moment on the stage and together with the spectators.”
Thank you, Luigi.
Looks Hard Sounds Easy
These two pages from my new play might look hard at first, but the actors make it sound easy. And it is easy: to the ears of an audience the dialogue of LIKE THE FIRST TIME is totally basic. Most folks won’t know it’s written this way, and that’s just fine. What’s important is that the text has given the actors (Elva Mai Hoover, Dov Mickelson, Andrew Moodie, Cathy Murphy, Jessica Salgueiro) the freedom to emphasize what they want, when they want.
The text isn’t king, it serves the actors. It’s up to Andrew Moodie, playing Sylvio, to deliver his opening line — “dog shit” — however he likes.
Two pages from LIKE THE FIRST TIME by Adam Seelig:
For those who want read the text at home, it’s free online from BookThug:
For those who want more information on when and where to see LIKE THE FIRST TIME, onstage now until Nov 13, at the Walmer Centre Theatre, visit www.OneLittleGoat.org
This week, more than a hundred members of the Canadian Arts Coalition met on Parliament Hill for meetings with more than a hundred MPs and Senators.
A hectic day of meetings for this group was capped off with a reception in the Speaker’s Lounge where the Minister of Heritage, James Moore, addressed an “electric” closing reception. From his speech to the arts advocates around the country:
“The tone of the coalition, and the way you are all coming together, in a very positive leading way, a forward leading way, this is what we aspire to, this is what we hope that we can do in terms of public policy achievements, and reaching out and talking to us. And it’s so important that that be the process, and it not be adversarial.
This is a majority Parliament and it’s not going anywhere for four years. The mix of MPs that you saw in the House, that you saw today, will be the fact of the Federal Parliament for the next four years. So we have to work together, we all will work together to keep that professional effect.”
Intrepid arts advocate and blogger Shannon Litzenberger live-blogged the meetings she went to including meetings with highly placed officials from Finance and the Minister himself. From each of these meetings, the message seemed to be the same: The arts will receive a 5% cut and it would really be in the interest of artists to not speak out against this government.
In fact, Conservative officials and MPs seemed to quite appreciate the efforts of the coalition to normalize relations between artists and the Harper Government, which have never been great, and have been terrible since the PM’s “Ordinary Canadians don’t care about the arts” statement in the 2008 election and the funding cuts to touring grants that preceded it.
Nevertheless, it was hard not to see the stick they were wielding to enforce this normalization of relations, when it was explained that some areas would be deemed “priority areas” with less cuts, which means of course that some areas, deemed not a priority, would be cut more.
Of course this is exactly the sort of thing that drives me nuts, and led me to leave a lengthy comment on Shannon’s blog, which you can read in its entirety here. Below is a portion of that response:
I found the comments from Finance’s Andrew Rankin….shall I say unnecessarily prescriptive? They can be translated as “Stop complaining and start celebrating our initiatives”. The problem is, their initiatives are worth frank discussion. Cutting SummerWorks, shifting Heritage funding to celebrate acts of war, cutting touring programs, funding totally BS festivals like the Walk of Fame Festival (Has ANYONE ever heard of this festival before?). It all adds up to bumbling, ideologically driven, poor public policy.
I also had a question about independent art and artists and the degree to which their needs are on the radar of this government. We have ushered in a new era where funding goes to major institutions who agree to “play ball” and thus can be controlled through access to this funding. Meanwhile the core generators of the cultural ecosystem, independent voices that are more difficult to be silenced, will continue to be starved of access to funding. Then later they will say, “But we increased arts funding!”, when in actuality they have just increased funding to organizations who will agree to be a sympathetic mouthpiece, or at least an uncritical one.
Canada's purchase of new fighter jets is projected to cost $30 Billion, or 192 times the amount distributed annually by The Canada Council.
In the twelve hours since I left that comment, it seems the government has also found a new way to cut money from arts funding and other social programs that improve quality of life for Canadians.
The Globe and Mail reports a significant plan to change charitable giving “in which businesses and citizens shoulder more of the cost of giving.” This comes on top of plans to spend billions on jails, fighter jets, and oh – this just in – nuclear submarines. Is it just me or are some departments being asked to shoulder the burden of balancing the budget more than others?
The Minister of Heritage concluded his speech to MPs and arts advocates with the statement:
“I know that there are those of you that support all sort of political parties and that’s fine….It doesn’t matter. I almost think that supporting culture isn’t a left-wing issue or a right-wing issue, it’s the right thing to do.”
If nothing else, let’s agree to reject this statement as duplicitous, dangerous and insulting. This is a right-wing government that has decided to spend billions of dollars on militarization and corporate tax cuts, while shrinking the money available to all sorts of the social programs that have defined what is great about Canada, including a 5% cut to culture.
Lets not kid ourselves, even if we are stuck with a government the majority of Canadians did not vote for over the next four years, practically any other government would do better.
“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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