Photo by Meredith Whitten
The cast of Praxis Theatre’s upcoming production of Tim Buck 2 at the Toronto Fringe Festival reacts to a suggestion by Praxis GM and performer Margaret Evans that the show could be something less than totally awesome.
Want to know more? You can read the media release here.
Unconferencers get their dialogue on at the all-day event hosted by The Festival of Ideas and Creation and Small Wooden Shoe. Photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard
by Michael Wheeler
When I looked out my bedroom window at torrential downpour at 8am on a Saturday morning, the first thing that occurred to me was, “Damn, I’m going to be one of five people at the Unconference.”
I was a little astonished to arrive at a lobby teaming with artists eating danishes and doubling down on coffee, ready to meet people and set their own agendas. The hell with traditional models and top-down thinking – these folks were all here looking for dialogue and the tools to create action-based solutions! Judith Thompson and Daniel Brooks were participants too. It was pretty cool frankly.
Here’s my highlight list:
What is the deal with this so called “Unconference?”
It is a one day meeting of Toronto’s groundbreaking professional artists, arts workers and arts leaders to talk about the future(s) of performance practice and our city’s stages. Facilitated by Trampoline Hall’s Misha Glouberman using techniques drawing from open-space technology and world cafes (the “Un-” denotes a conference with no panels, guest-speakers or pre-determined outcomes), the agenda is crafted by participants and the issues on the table are the ones you want to talk about. All who have stake in the evolution of performance are encouraged to attend to strategize, explore and identify what we can do right now to address our most challenging and exciting opportunities.
Misha Glouberman will unfacilitate.
Click here for more information.
Saturday, June 20, 2009, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., $10 including lunch – Reception to Follow
by Simon Rice
Franco Boni is an organizer.
Or at least that’s the term The Theatre Centre’s current Artistic Director seemed to prefer when I asked him about producing. I met with Boni in his attic office high above the historical Great Hall Building at Dovercourt and Queen. The office is sparse but stylish, echoing Boni’s appearance. There is a picture of Barack Obama pinned to his bulletin board. The neighborhood surrounding The Theatre Centre known for its hipster haunts and booming nightlife can sometimes feel dauntingly pretentious. But Boni, as soon as we sit down by the window is disarming, at times passionate, and at other times displaying a self-deprecating sense of humour. “ Well initially, you know, everybody wants to be an actor, but I found out really really quickly that I couldn’t act,” Boni laughs heartily, “so that was over.”
Boni studied at York University, majoring in theatre and minoring in religious studies. And early on in his words he, “ just started running things.” Boni organized PlayGround, a juried fringe festival for York University now in its 17th year. “I was just trying to find a way for our voices to be heard.” And he continues that quest today. Since taking the reigns of the theatre Centre in 2003, he has started an artists residency program, “a two year structured creation unit offering artists the resources of space, dramaturgy, design input, financial and administrative support.”
Just after finishing university Boni volunteered at the Playwrights Union of Canada and undertook a complete reorganization of their collection. “ I got to know Canadian theatre through the playwrights.” It would be one of those playwrights who would give Boni his biggest break. After seeing Boni’s direction in a dress rehearsal for the Rhubarb Festival, Sky Gilbert decided to take him on as an Assistant Director, for his 1994 production More Divine, which would open the new space at Buddies and Bad Times.
Boni’s work at Buddies would continue as part of its Youth Outreach Program to, “ make young queer youth aware of their history.” The program, for which Boni ran the Theatre Division, connected local Queer thinkers and historians with young people. “ It’s hard being young and queer. I think it really made an impact on these young people.”
From there Boni would go on to run The Rhubarb Festival for three years and then Summerworks for five years, before inheriting the The Theatre Centre job from David Duclose in 2003. The Theatre Centre celebrated its 30th birthday and Boni is proud of its history, but before he hands the reins over to anyone else he would ultimately like to find it a permanent home. The Theatre Centre leases from the Great Hall building, a beautiful Victorian construction, with an interesting history of it’s own. Boni enlightens me that not only was it formerly the headquarters of the West End YMCA, (the actual theatre centre playing space was the basketball court) but famous Canadian runner Tom Longboat used its track to train.
History is important to Boni, but so is social justice, his early theatrical hero was Vaclav Havel, “I really keyed in to these people who were citizens first, but also happened to be artists with artists tools.” And The Theatre Centre is more than a building. It is an idea. With that in mind Boni looks to the future with his eye on a new space for the company better suited to its needs.
“We have an extraordinary opportunity to relocate to a magnificent heritage building one block from our current home. This building is a former Carnegie Library located at 1115 Queen Street West. It is owned by the City of Toronto and is currently used as offices for the City’s Public Health Department. The building is located in the heart of the West Queen West neighbourhood where intense redevelopment is disturbing the traditional artists’ habitat. Concerns raised by the City and the public about the plans for this community resulted in landmark settlements being reached between the City and two developers whereby one developer will provide new office space for Public Health and the other will contribute 1 million in cash towards the renovation of the Carnegie Library as a creative hub.”
When I try to get Boni to talk about what he thinks is wrong with the Toronto theatre scene he doesn’t quite jump at the opportunity. “ Theatre is quite a conservative form, and maybe there is too much cautiousness out there. But I don’t like to focus on what other people are doing wrong. It’s better to focus getting right what you are doing. And just keep doing things.”
Hello Gentle Reader,
Welcome to the new and improved Praxis Theatre Blog and Website.
As you can see we’ve integrated the whole thingamabob into one site here at praxistheatre.com. If you haven’t (re)bookmarked us yet, please take the time to do so.
What can you expect on this newfangled webpage?
Please enjoy and give us your feedback. Special thanks to the many-talented Graham F Scott for his patience and skill bringing about this exciting new stage of online Praxisness.
* Original Canadian Theatre Paparazzi
Photo by stuartpilbrow licensed under Creative Commons 2.0
The new address of the Praxis Theatre Blog is:
praxistheatre.com
Our integrated website with a much more functional blog on the homepage will be up and running June 16th.
Please take the time to update your blog rolls and bookmarks.
See you on the flipside!
INDEPENDENT THEATRE PRODUCTION DIVISION
OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY/MUSICAL
Layne Coleman Tijuana Cure
Brendan Gall, Mike McPhaden, Rick Roberts & Julie Tepperman The Gladstone Variations
Tara Beagan Miss Julie: Sheh’mah
David Yee lady in the red dress
Anton Piatigorsky Eternal Hydra
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION
You Fancy Yourself Produced by Contrary Company in association with Theatre Passe Muraille
The Gladstone Variations Convergence Theatre
lady in the red dress fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Eternal Hydra Crow’s Theatre
Appetite Volcano in association with the Exchange Rate Collective
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
Mary Francis Moore You Fancy Yourself
Rebecca Benson, Alan Dilworth, Ruth Madoc-Jones & Aaron Willis The Gladstone Variations
Nina Lee Aquino lady in the red dress
Chris Abraham Eternal Hydra
Sarah Sanford Appetite
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE
David Ferry Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me
R.H. Thomson Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me
Steven McCarthy Norway.Today
Ins Choi lady in the red dress
David Ferry Eternal Hydra
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE
Maja Ardal You Fancy Yourself
Janet Amos The Gladstone Variations
Christine Horne Miss Julie: Sheh’mah
Karen Robinson Eternal Hydra
Liisa Repo-Martell Eternal Hydra
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Victoria Wallace Mourning Dove
Teresa Przybylski Miss Julie: Sheh’mah
Camellia Koo lady in the red dress
John Thompson Eternal Hydra
Gillian Gallow Appetite
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Shawn Kerwin Miss Julie: Sheh’mah
Julia Tribe + Reva Quam Wise.Woman
Gillian Gallow Appetite
Barbara Rowe Eternal Hydra
Victoria Wallace And Up They Flew
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Andy Moro Miss Julie: Sheh’mah
Trevor Schwellnus minotaur
Michelle Ramsay lady in the red dress
John Thompson Eternal Hydra
Rebecca Picherack Appetite
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN/COMPOSITION
Christopher Stanton minotaur
Romeo Candido lady in the red dress
Richard Feren Eternal Hydra
Robert Perrault Appetite
Waylen Miki An Inconvenient Musical
These changes were the result of the Off-Off Broadway Committee, which is made up of members of Equity who have worked under the code and producers who have produced under the code.
The 2009 CAEA AGM held on February 24th in Toronto saw a massive turnout to support a Member Resolution calling for Equity to provide a Showcase-type agreement for use by its membership. The final vote in support of this motion was 96-1. The issue brought out so many members, that the minutes to several previous AGMs were passed by an assembly that had finally achieved quorum. Clearly CAEA has a mandate to come up with a new system that supports members that want to hustle to get something off the ground, but no one knows what will be proposed.
There is a 10 question quiz making the rounds on Facebook that allows users to determine definitively Your True Theatre Calling.
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