I am putting forward an individual member’s motion at Equity’s next AGM on the evening of February 23rd.
The motion is as follows:
“WHEREAS Equity members who create their own work (Member-Creators) are under-represented on Council;
AND WHEREAS there is dissatisfaction among such Equity Member-Creators with the current options to engage Equity artists, including The Independent Artists Projects Policy (the “Indie”), Small Scale Theatre Addendum and Co-op Guidelines that are available to its members;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT steps be taken by Equity staff to address this dissatisfaction by consulting with a committee made up of volunteer CAEA Member-Creators whose purpose is to field concerns and suggestions, gather information and seek advice from fellow CAEA members as well as examine alternative options, devise revisions or alternatives to the current agreements and policies and report back to the business representatives, senior staff and the membership at large.”
I am asking all Equity members in good standing to arrive at 6 p.m. sharp and support this motion when it appears on the agenda. I also request that members be courteous and polite during this meeting. A member’s motion is rare and the President brought this section of the AGM to the general membership’s attention in good faith and with a desire to let all points of view be heard. Now is the chance for you to make a difference in shaping the future policies of your association. We hope that you will attend.
~ Mark Brownell
Praxis Theatre is a member of the Indie Caucus and supports this motion. We encourage CAEA Member-Creators who share our concerns to arrive before 6pm at the Austin Gallery, 1 King St W., 12th floor, Toronto. (@ King Subway Stn.) on Monday February 23rd, 2009.
In a classic case of careful what you wish for, days after wondering aloud to a colleague how anyone ever got to be part of a Wrecking Ball, I found myself at the centre of the technical side of one.
This was hilarious for many reasons. These included:
It is possible that some of the alcohol from the Stranger closing night party was still in my system when I arrived at Theatre Passe Muraille on Monday morning.
I had no real knowledge about how digital projectors worked, but would be running one.
I had never used Powerpoint before, which all of the images I was responsible for would be stored in and manipulated by – on one of two laptops. I would be unable to determine which one until I arrived.
As I have stated previously, I believe The Wrecking Ball to be the most exciting thing going on in Canadian theatre right now, and I felt a heavy bias towards not fucking one up.
Moon Mission 3 Who: Evan Webber, with actors Hannah Cheesman and Ker Wells, and design by Sherri Hay. Where: The Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto, Canada.
When: February 11th-15th @ 8 pm.
What: A science-fiction romance play about the return of humans to the moon. Why: Because the astronauts are praying for you. Web: www.relativesafety.com Buzz: The buzzing is because we’re running the contact mics directly into the PA. Don’t worry, it’s intentional.
CIUT’s Catherine Kustanczy sat down with Praxis Theatre Co-Artistic Director Simon Rice last week to discuss the company’s current production of Stranger at The Theatre Centre in Toronto. Here’s the interview.
By the way, this weekend is your last chance to catch the show.
We’re also offering a special blog-reader discount for our closing weekend. Here’s how it works: If you’re buying your tickets at the door, say the words, “Theatre is territory” at the box office and we’ll reduce the price of your ticket by $5 . . . down to a cool $15. Sweet!
Back-to-back articles have appeared in Toronto’s two most-read newspapers, The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, regarding creativity and artists that seem to underscore a dissonance between government spending and economic objectives.
The first piece in The Star titled “Report urges ‘creativity-oriented economy’ for Ontario”, summarizes a multi-million dollar report prepared for the provincial government on how to prepare our economy for the future. Amongst the recommendations:
“- Set a goal of having more than 50 per cent of Ontario’s employment in “creativity-oriented jobs” by 2030. Currently, 30 per cent of jobs are in that category, accounting for nearly half of all wages.”
The second piece in The Globe titled, “Starving artists? That’s not far from the mark”, analyzes a report based on the 2006 census commissioned by The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, and The Department of Heritage. Amongst the conclusions:
“What makes the situation even more distressing is that artist earnings have been decreasing since 1990 – a decline likely to intensify over the next two years. While average earnings for the overall labour force rose by almost 10 per cent from 1990 to 2005, artists experienced a slide of 11 per cent – to $22,731 from $25,433 – at the same time as the cultural-sector work force tripled in size. Actors experienced the sharpest decline in average earnings among artists, dropping 34 per cent to about $18,000 in 2005.”
Both of these studies come on the heels of the Department of Heritage announcing a new strategy to spend $25 Million to create The Canada Prizes, an American Idol-style competition that uses big money cash prizes to attract non-Canadian talent for a one week in June in Toronto.
These two studies seem to contrast greatly with the latest funding announcements made by brand new Heritage Minister James Moore. Will the trickle down economics of this one-week bonanza reap dividends for taxpayers seeking to revitalize a domestic creative economy? What role do artists play in a society seeking to increase creativity-oriented jobs by 20%? If your country’s artists are living in poverty and the situation is getting worse, can you expect to make this economic shift?
Talking to Chris Dupuis Who: Chris Dupuis. Where: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto, Canada. Thursday Feb 5th, 12th, and 19th.
@ 7 pm! What: Part interview, part performance, artist and journalist Chris Dupuis chats with artists presenting work at the 30th Rhubarb Festival. Why: Do You Like Talking? Do You Like Art? Do You Like Chris Dupuis? If you answered YES to any of these questions, this show is for you. Web: www.chrisdupuis.com Buzz: May contain Nudity, Mature Content, Foul Language, Cigarette Smoke, Strobe Lights, Self Indulgence, General Wankery .
The Wrecking Ball is back, just in time for Valentines Day. Theincredible success of the 2008 Federal election nation-wide series of Wrecking Balls has just added fuel to the fire, or should we say, detonation?
Round 8:
Boonaa Mohammed, spoken word poetry.
Tara Beagan writes, Weyni Mengesha directs.
Matt MacFadzean writes, Michael Healey directs.
Anand Rajaram has a secret plan.
Theatre Passe Muraille has agreed to leave the bar open during the event. Iggy’s Sweaty Teste will be the preferred beverage. You have to have two before it hits you in the face!
This week’s federal budget contained few surprises, but there was one item that came out of left field, shocking the cultural sector: Luminato founders David Pecaut and Tony Gagliano, pictured above, have been granted $25 Million to create the Canada Prizes for the Arts and Creativity.
A number of artists have expressed ire that this announcement comes on the heels of the cancelation of the PromArt program, abandoning the federal government’s commitment to promoting Canadian artists abroad. This new money will be used to host a pre-Luminato competition, where prestigious panels of judges will adjudicate international competitors in the fields of dance, music, art, and dramatic arts. The winner gets cash and a slot in the two-year-old festival that recently received another unprecedented $15 Million donation from the Ontario provincial government. New Conservative Minister of Heritage James Moore calls The Canada Prizes “the largest cultural prize-giving in the world“.
What do you think? Is this a genius ploy to make Toronto an international hub for arts and creativity? Is this a genius ploy to to fund culture without rewarding Canadian artists for depriving the Conservative government of a majority in the recent election? How the heck do these two dudes get multi-million dollar grants from any level of government that no one else can apply for?
Three questions for any theatre people out there who are using the social networking tool Twitter:
1) How does Twitter help you be a better theatre professional? 2) How do you find other theatre people on Twitter? 3) Who would you recommend Twitter to?
Come to think of it, any thoughts on Twitter and its relationship to theatre would be awesome and of interest.
Some company news: Praxis Theatre’s new play opens tonight . . . and just in case you’re looking for some Stranger love before the show, you can find us here:
“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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