Praxis Theatre is currently on hiatus! Please find co-founders Aislinn Rose and Michael Wheeler at The Theatre Centre and SpiderWebShow, respectively.
June 14, 2013, by
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Civil Debates Post it Box#CivilDebates 3: Idle No More will include a discussion of 21 controversial statements our speakers have submitted anonymously.

These will inform the section of #CivilDebates 3 that invites audience members to participate through a two minute response to any of the statements.

Read more about the Format and Speakers in #CivilDebates 3: Idle No More 

Here’s a preview of 5 / 21 controversial statements:

Idle No More- SUN

How do we address things like this?

  • Electing a new, different government (Liberal, NDP, etc.) will not change the Canadian-First Nations relationship. 

  • Idle No More has been an urban movement.

  • Harper lied in the apology.

  • Confrontation is likely the key to any real change.

  • The Indian Act is illegal legislation.

Creative Cities Debate - March 15, 2013

Debate 3: Idle No More

June 18, 2013; doors 7pm, debates 7.30pm
The Theatre Centre Pop-Up, 1095 Queen St. West, at Dovercourt
PWYC at the door. No RSVP required.
Hashtag: #CivilDebates

Click here for more information about the Civil Debates series in partnership between The Theatre Centre & Praxis Theatre.

Praxis Theatre Centre banner

June 13, 2013, by
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Section 98 was Praxis Theatre's first serious foray into Social Design

Section 98 was Praxis Theatre’s first serious foray into Social Design

By Michael Wheeler

I have been trying to figure out for a while how to explain what my role is on many of the projects I have worked on in the past five years. Although I am usually engaged as an artist in a traditional way, often I have taken on a role integrating these productions with online tools.

Theatre productions employ lighting designers, sound designers, costume designers, set designers and video designers. As productions become further intertwined with online tools, the person in charge of integrating a production with social media is in charge of social design.

Social Design: The strategic implementation of social media to deepen or broaden the nature of an artistic project.

In performance, the shift to communicating with online tools can be understood as a transition from Monologue to Dialogue.

Until recently, one-way communication tools like advertisements, posters, brochures, postcards, flyers, and notes in programs were the ways theatres and artists communicated about their work.

The arrival of online digital tools has redefined this relationship as a conversation. Social media requires interactive, user-generated content. The exercise is no longer how to blast your message at people, but how to encourage them to engage with you.

The type of interactivity a social designer can facilitate can be broken down into three broad categories:

Click to continue reading on michaelcwheeler.com

Click to continue reading on michaelcwheeler.com

June 12, 2013, by
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Civil Debate 1 Banner

#CivilDebates 3: Idle No More is Tuesday June 18 @ 730pm in The Theatre Centre Pop Up – Queen St. W @ Dovercourt

After rigorous debate on Creative Cities theories and the Role of Arts Boards, we’re excited to announce the speakers for #CivilDebates 3: Idle No More. 

Resolution to be addressed:

The issues that created the Idle No More movement require extreme methods to achieve change.

Speakers:

??2009 alex felipe All Rights Reserved. Native Earth shoot at Six Nations Res.Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, dramaturg and director. Her plays include BLADE, Job’s Wife, Video, Annie Mae’s Movement, Scattering Jake, from thine eyes, Ham and the Ram, The Unplugging, The Birds (a modern adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedy. She is the editor of Beyond the Pale: Dramatic Writing from First Nations Writers and Writers of Colour, and of Refractions: Solo, with Donna-Michelle St Bernard.

Directing credits include Justice, Café Daughter (Gwaandak Theatre), Tombs of the Vanishing Indian, Salt Baby, A Very Polite Genocide, Death of a Chief, Tales of An Urban Indian, The Unnatural and Accidental Women, Annie Mae’s Movement (Native Earth), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre/National Arts Centre), The Only Good Indian…, The Triple Truth (Turtle Gals). From 2003-2011, she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada’s oldest professional Aboriginal theatre. She is currently working on a book on Native theatre in Canada.

HaydenKing

Hayden King is Pottawatomi and Ojibwe from Gchimnissing (Christian Island) in Huronia, Ontario.

He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Ryerson University.

In addition to work in the academy, Hayden has served as the Senior Policy Adviser to the Ontario Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Director of Research for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Scholar-in-Residence for the Conference Board of Canada and Governance Consultant to BeausoleilFirst Nation. 

Follow Hayden on twitter: @Hayden_King

wandaWanda Nanibush is an Anishinabe-kwe mother, curator, image and word warrior from Beausoleil First Nation.

Nanibush has published in FUSE magazine, Literary Review of Canada, MUSKRAT magazine and in the book: This is an Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades amount others. She is an Idle No More Toronto organizer and history buff. ”


Unlike the previous two #CivilDebates, this debate will not be modled on the Parliamentary debate system. Discussion will be broken into five sections:

1

5 minutes from each of the speakers responding to the statement:

The issues that created the Idle No More movement require extreme methods to achieve change.

photo (17)2

Up to 5 minutes each for each of the speakers to respond to any of the ideas put forward by the other speakers.

3

Reading of 21 Provocative Statements. 7 each provided by by the speakers, but not-attributed.

4

Opportunity for audience members to respond to one of the statements for two minutes. Debaters may also participate.

5

Conclusion. An opportunity to define the final portion of the discussion to discuss any actions, opportunities or ideas have been illuminated by the discussion.


Civil Debates Post it Box#CIVILDEBATES

Debate 3: Idle No More

June 18, 2013; doors 7pm, debates 7.30pm
The Theatre Centre Pop-Up, 1095 Queen St. West, at Dovercourt
PWYC at the door. No RSVP required.
Hashtag: #CivilDebates

Click here for more information about the Civil Debates series in partnership between The Theatre Centre & Praxis Theatre.

Praxis Theatre Centre banner

June 10, 2013, by
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Andrew Kushnir with Julie Tepperman, Mayko Nguyen and members of the Ensemble in Passion Play. Photo: Keith Barker

The Canadian premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play begins tonight!  Produced by a tryptic of indie theatre companies Outside the March, Convergence Theatre and Sheep No Wool, Passion Play explores the collision of religion, politics and theatre and the impact playing iconic biblical roles has on individuals and communities.  Outside the March’s Katherine Cullen explores the meaning of the word ‘passion’.

The word Passion is an ambivalent word. It has a few somewhat contradictory meanings. According to ye olde, Online Etymological Dictionary Passion can mean the following:

Passionate (adj.): “early 15c., “angry; emotional,’ from Medieval Latin passionatus “affected with passion,” from Latin passio. Specific sense of “amorous” is attested from 1580’s. Replaced Old English polung, literally “suffering” from polian (v.) “to endure.” Sense of “sexual love” first attested  1580’s; that of “strong liking, enthusiasm, predilection” is from 1630’s.

Maev Beaty as Queen Elizabeth. Photo: Keith Barker

Suffering, pain, emotional, desire, love. That’s a real cross to bear for one word. Its various meanings bring forth a varied pallet of human emotions that speak to a duality of experience. It is possible that the word Passion contains in it, then, a promise of what it means to be human: to live in a state of utter ambiguity and vulnerability.

In many ways, Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play explores this social and historical drive of human beings to eradicate this ambiguity from our experience. One way to clean up the mess of human nature is to impose rules and order through various ideologies (organized religion, monarchy, political systems), icons (Jesus, Queen Elizabeth), and leaders and dictators (Hitler, Ronald Reagan). That way we don’t have to feel our passionate discomfort. To be told how to think and act can be easier than thinking for yourself.

To legitimate and sanctify only certain modes of being closes down the countless ways that we perform our humanness. There is a massive ethical price to be paid for the eradication of our inner diversity.  Some of the characters in this play step outside the boundaries of arbitrary power and pay for it with their sanity or their lives.

For such an epic play, the show has a real humility to it. For one, it is very funny and never takes itself too seriously. There is a lot of room for humor when people are trying to fulfill roles they are not suited for. Maybe it is in these moments of laughter where ambiguity can live unencumbered by our desire to separate the black from the white.

(L-R) Mayko Nguyen, Julie Tepperman, Jordan Pettle & Katherine Cullen. Photo: Keith Barker

(L-R) Mayko Nguyen, Julie Tepperman, Jordan Pettle & Katherine Cullen. Photo: Keith Barker

On a personal note, this play reminds me of being a child. Child-logic is different from adult logic. I remember accepting all kinds of ridiculous notions to be true (i.e.  imagining that if I held my breath I would become invisible and could eat as many cookies as I wanted with my mom in plain sight. Didn’t work out the way I planned). I miss that way of thinking, even if it didn’t get me the results I wanted.

In the world that Sarah Ruhl has imagined, there are “big beautiful fish puppets” that carry people off in “enormous boats.” It reminds me of lullabies and bedtime stories. It reminds me that dreamland can merge with reality, and magic feels strangely possible. Maybe this is the place where we are best equipped to handle ambiguity.

Passion Play runs June 6-30th.  For tickets visit:  outsidethemarch.ca

June 3, 2013, by
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Theatre Centre Artistic Director was presented with The George Luscombe Award for Mentorship at The 2013 Dora Nomination Announcement. Pictured here with Theatre Ontario supported Mentee Zoe Sweet.

Theatre Centre Artistic Director was presented with The George Luscombe Award for Mentorship at The 2013 Dora Nomination Announcement. Pictured here with Theatre Ontario PTTP supported mentee @ Theatre Centre, Zoe Sweet.

INDEPENDENT THEATRE PRODUCTION DIVISION

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

BOBLO – Co-Produced by Kitchenband and The Theatre Centre

The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Mr. Marmalade – Outside The March

THE WAR OF 1812 The History of the Village of Small Huts, 1812-15 – Presented by VideoCabaret in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts

Laws of Motion – Small Elephant Co-op, Dani Kind and Kate Zeigler

OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY 

Adam Seybold – The De Chardin Project – The Quickening Theatre

Daniel Karasik – The Biographer – Tango Co.

Jordan Tannahill – Post Eden – Suburban Beast

Michele Smith and Dean Gilmour – As I Lay Dying – Theatre Smith-Gilmour

Sky Gilbert – A Few Brittle Leaves – The Cabaret Company

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION

Christopher Stanton – Laws of Motion – Small Elephant Co-Op, Dani Kind and Kate Zeigler

Melee Hutton – The Dumb Waiter – Wordsmyth Theatre

Michael Hollingsworth – THE WAR OF 1812 The History of The Village of Small Huts, 1812-15

Mitchell Cushman – Mr. Marmalade – Outside The March

Soheil Parsa – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE 

Andrew Musselman – Catalpa – Blood in the Alley

David Ferry – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

David Fox – When The World Was Green : A Chef’s Fable

Gavin Crawford – A Few Brittle Leaves – The Cabaret Company

Mark Wilson – The Dumb Waiter – Wordsmyth Theatre

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE 

Amy Keating – Mr. Marmalade – Outside The March

Cynthia Ashperger – Feral Child – Suburban Beast/ Jordan Tannahill

Deborah Drakeford – BEA – Actors Repertory Company

Michelle Monteith – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Virgilia Griffith – Honesty – Suburban Beast / Jordan Tannahill

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE  – ENSEMBLE

The Ensemble of BOBLO – Co-Produced by Kitchen Band and The Theatre Centre

The Ensemble of Mr Marmalade – Outside The March

The Ensemble of THE WAR OF 1812 The History of The Village of Small Huts, 1812-15 – Presented by VideoCabaret in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts

The Ensemble of Laws of Motion – Small Elephant Co-Op, Dani Kind and Kate Zeigler

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN

Anahita Dehbonehie – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Andrea Mittler – The Dumb Waiter – Wordsmyth Theatre

Jon Grosz/ Mitchell Cushman – Mr. Marmalade – Outside The March

Jung-Hye Kim – Boblo – Co-Produced by Kitchen Band and The Theatre Centre

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Angela Thomas – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Astrid Janson – THE WAR OF 1812 The History of The Village of Small Huts, 1812-15 – Presented by VideoCabaret in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts

Jon Grosz/Mitchell Cushman – Mr. Marmalade – Outside The March

Sheree Tams – A Few Brittle Leaves – The Cabaret Company

Teresa Przybylski – As I Lay Dying – Theatre Smith-Gilmour

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

Andre Du Toit – As I Lay Dying – Theatre Smith-Gilmour

Andy Moro –  THE WAR OF 1812 The History of The Village of Small Huts, 1812-15 – Presented by VideoCabaret in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts

Jason Hand – The De Chardin Project – The Quickening Theatre

Michelle Ramsay – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Rebecca Picherack – BOBLO –  Co-Produced by Kitchen Band and The Theatre Centre

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN/COMPOSITION

Andrew Penner – Boblo – Co-Produced By Kitchen Band and The Theatre Centre

Jake Blackwood – THE WAR OF 1812 The History of The Village of Small Huts, 1812-15 – Presented by VideoCabaret in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts

James Mckernan – The Dumb Waiter – Wordsmyth Theatre

Thomas Ryder Payne – The Lesson – Modern Times Stage Company

Thomas Ryder Payne – The Biographer – Tango Co.

June 1, 2013, by
1 comment

Text:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his ending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
– William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 –

Image:

Chair & Window - Variation on Theatre - Empty Boxes 2013

Sound:


AJ Laflamme - PLAYWRIGHT-PRODUCER
AJ Laflamme is the writer of Empty Boxes

May 30 – June 9
Presented by Homestead Theatre Project at the Red Sandcastle Theatre
922 Queen St. E. (at Logan Ave.)

When you move out, how do you decide what to take and what to leave behind?

Tickets $15
Online at Eventrbrite
Phone Reservations: 416-845-9411

May 31, 2013, by
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Good news praxistheatre.com readers:

HATCH2014Praxis Theatre is guest curating the 10th anniversary HATCH Season in 2014. We are very excited about this partnership. The experience Praxis Theatre had at HATCH creating Section 98 in 2010 was integral to our development as a multi-platform performance creator.

HATCH is designed to incubate and foster invention and innovation in performance practice and over the past decade has become a vital laboratory for development within the local performance ecology. The opportunity to work and experiment with support and resources from Harbourfront is a significant one.

For a decade, HATCH has empowered many of Toronto artists to push the boundaries of contemporary performance including: Erin Shields, Anita Majumdar, Joan Kivanda, Brendan Healy, Hannah Moscovitch, Small Wooden Shoe, Trevor Schwellnus, Jordan Tannahill, Jess Dobkin, Philip McKee, UnSpun Theatre, Reena Katz, and Derek Kwan.

For HATCH 2014, we are particularly interested in projects that experiment with how social media can be used artistically in creation and performance. The deadline for applications is July 12, 2013.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Ame Henderson and Evan Webber in Dedicated to The Revolutions (HATCH 07)

We invite projects from emerging creators as well as established artists engaging in new collaborations or entering into new artistic territory. Performance proposals from artists working across all disciplines, including, but not limited to: dance, theatre, performance art, music, digital art, etc. are encouraged. Of specific interest are proposals that demonstrate how HATCH will benefit the development of the project and the artist.

In addition to providing mentorship over the course of a year, HATCH enables the concentrated experimentation and incubation of an idea that culminates in a public presentation, recognizing how vital audience feedback is to the creative process. Companies and artists selected to participate in HATCH will receive a one-week residency in the Studio Theatre, located at Harbourfront Centre.

The Studio Theatre is an intimate, 192-seat proscenium venue featuring a full lighting grid, raked seating and sprung stage floor. Use of the residency period is at the discretion of the artist and needs of the project (i.e. workshop, rehearsals, performance, etc.) but there must be at least one presentation of the work for the public at some point in the week.

Deadline for Submissions: July 12/2013

HATCH Website

Application Form

Call for Proposals

Studio Theatre

Mrtvolka--Daniela Sneppova and Penn Kemp (11)

Mrtvolka – Daniela Sneppova and Penn Kemp (HATCH 2011)

May 29, 2013, by
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Text:

“Women don’t have penis envy; men have pussy envy.”

~ S.C.U.M Manifesto, Valerie Solanas

Image:

The painting SATURN by the Spanish artist GOYA.

Sound:


Death Married My DaughterNina Gilmour stars in Death Married My Daughter alongside Danya Buonastella, written in collaboration with Michele Smith and Dean Gilmour.

Death Married My Daughter is the story of two Bouffons who come back to settle an old score. Tonight it’s the Revenge of Ophelia and Desdemona: Poetic and grotesque; Charming and disturbing.

Toronto Festival of Clowns 2013 – May 29-June 2 @ The Pia Baumen Studio Theatre (6 Noble st) Tickets are $15 here.  

Toronto Fringe Festival 2013 – July 3-14 @ The Tarragona Mainspace (30 Bridgman ave)

Hamilton Fringe Festival 2013 – July 18-28

Death Married My Daughter — Official Trailer

May 22, 2013, by
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Text:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night Holmes woke Watson up and said: “Watson, look up at the sky, and tell me what you see.” Watson replied: “I see millions and millions of stars.” Holmes said: “And what do you deduce from that?” Watson replied: “Well, if there are millions of stars, and if even a few of those have planets, it’s quite likely there are some planets like Earth out there. And if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life.” Holmes said: “Watson, you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent.”

Image:

trip

Sound:


caminoThe Accidental Mechanics Group presents
El Camino or The Field of Stars
Written & Performed by Stewart Legere
Directed by Christian Barry

A dark, playful fairy tale about a fairy prince. As the unnamed protagonist in his new solo show, Stewart Legere weaves together tales of a doomed relationship, a trip to Italy gone wrong, and a mysterious fascination with El Camino Santiago de Compostella, an ancient walking pilgrimage through France and Spain. Working through fear, awkwardness, and shame, he charms, cajoles, pushes and pulls, provokes, and consoles his way through stories of love, loss, and the complex struggles of a young queer couple dealing with internalized homophobia.

May 23 – June 2
Wed – Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm
Videofag, 187 Augusta Ave

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door

May 21, 2013, by
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Greta gets under a Classic Ontarian Loon Blanket with Amy Lee Lavoie to discuss Stopheart’s journey to the Factory Stage.

Stopheart runs until May 26th at the Factory Theatre.

Greta Papageorgiu is an actor, teacher and director. She has taught and performed in Ontario, Quebec and Germany.  Her next class starts September 10th at The Fringe Creation Lab. For details go to meisnerwithgreta.ca.