Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• I’m excited to see Playwrights Guild of Canada launching “The Play Map of Canada.” With the goal of improving the number of Canadian plays in Canadian communities (with a focused eye on the upcoming sesquicentennial in 2017), I was impressed by HowlRound’s New Play Map, and wondered out loud if something similar could inspire our communities to share the breadth of success stories in producing our works. And PGC ran with it. Join us for the launch on Monday, January 11, with a Twitter Chat from 12pm to 2pm EST.
• Jini Stolk, the Creative Trust Research Fellow with the Toronto Arts Foundation, suggests a mistake to avoid in 2016: don’t forget your past Board member as soon as they leave your Board.
• The mathematics is rather complicated—but this study of the National Theatre Live program in the UK suggests that broadcasts of theatre productions within the theatre’s community does not affect attendance.
• As you plan your blog posts for 2016, this ArtsHacker blog post by Jonathan Eifert should remind you of the principle that “content marketing isn’t ‘repurposed advertising’, but about creating something worth talking about.”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

St. Marys Community Players production of Cabaret. SMCP
is the proud recipient of an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant.
Photo by Lucid Musings Photo.

• St. Marys Community Players received an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant for renovations to the Town Hall theatre. It’s always good to see OTF supporting this important work in our communities.
• Native Earth Performing Arts unveiled their recipients of their 2015-2016 Theatre Creators Reserve program … as well as sharing how Weesageechak Festival Producer Jessica Lee Fleming will be training in B.C. through our Professional Theatre Training Program.
• Welcome to the newest member of the Ontario Fringe Community: the Windsor-Walkerville Fringe Festival.

In Case You Missed It

• Theatre for Literacy by Alexsandra Marzocca – A partnership between Frontier College and Theatre Ontario empowering students with drama techniques that develop their communication and literacy skills.