Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• The Ontario Summer Theatre blogger visited Orillia, and caught up with the Orillia Opera House production of The Ladies Foursome by Norm Foster
• Steven Burley wrote about his experience on Driftwood Theatre’s Bard on the Bus tours in “Surviving the Tour, or: I Love Your Silly Faces.”
• For the SpiderWebShow’s #CdnCultTimes “White Privilege Edition”, Tara Beagan, Camyar Chai, and Marjorie Chan given “the freedom to write on whatever topic or issue best addressed contemporary concerns about white privilege.”  (Note: Some language may offend.)
• Phil Weaver-Stoesz wrote on HowlRound about the role of directors in “Managing: Getting Into, and Out of, the Way” and speaks to one of my beliefs about creating an environment where people can do their best work.
• Also from HowlRound, Stephen Spotswood shares his own best practices on “How to Be a Playwright in the New Play Rehearsal Room.”
• Howard Sherman wrote a follow-up to the post we shared two weeks ago on a call for submissions from a Minnesota theatre: “Writing a Different Script about Respect for Playwrights.”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The Ontario Nonprofit Network checked-in on the reforming of police record checks.
• The latest issue of Canadian Theatre Review is on “Performance Futures: Imagining Theatre in 2030” – and Theatre Ontario members can access discounts on subscriptions.
• Sudbury Theatre Centre is launching a dramatic arts academy.

Migrations

• Tim Carroll will be the next Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival.

In Case You Missed It

• Brandon Moore writes about the need for regulations for e-smoking that permit the safe use of vapour devices in the performing arts. Online submissions are still open until August 27.
• More stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring Neil Silcox (trained in directing with Matjash Mrozewski at Canadian Stage), Alexis Scott (trained in artistic producing with David Whiteley at Plosive Productions), Alysse Rich (trained in dramaturgy with Brian Quirt at Nightswimming Theatre), and Mary Elizabeth Willcott (training in directing with Kelly Thornton at Nightwood Theatre.)

You can also receive news from Theatre Ontario every month by email.  Our archives are online and the August issue is now available.