Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Joseph Recinos writes on Intermission: “There has been an incredible outcry from artists of all artistic mediums in Toronto for equitable and diverse practices. This outcry is a much louder echo of the cry our senior artists and champions of diversity have made through the years, which slowly began to alter the artistic landscape of our city. Through their combined victories and their struggles with adversity, we emerging artists—new blood—have with renewed energy and vigor taken up the call and now march with our elders, treading new paths amongst our urban jungle.” The Game Changer: Fires Ablaze.
• This week’s #CdnCult Times from SpiderWebShow is “all about power and culture.” Christine Quintana looks at the hiring practices of our artistic leaders. Thomas McKechnie examines the late capitalist economic system that defines power in our society and how it is reflected in our cultural institutions. Devon Ostrom and Michael Wheeler discuss a recent CBC article on ‘the 1%’ in the arts and what that term means to them.
• Hearing the stories of abuse out of Chicago’s Profiles Theatre, Travis Bedard poses questions on 2amtheatre: What can help keep our communities free of this sort of abuse? What are the best ways to enable our artists to protect themselves in such a vulnerable industry? He outlines some good answers as well.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

The Stage Manager's view at Classic Theatre Festival in Perth

• There’s still one more week of the Ottawa Fringe Festival… and then it’s on to the next stop of the Ontario Fringe Theatre summer: the Toronto Fringe Festival opens June 29.
• Behind the scenes at Classic Theatre Festival in Perth: stage manager Jennifer Stobart describes her work to a non-theatre audience.
• Great Big Theatre Company’s day camps were featured as one of the organizations supported by the Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund. 

Migrations

• Eleanor McMahon is the new Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

TO Toasts

• ... to the recipients of the City of Hamilton Arts Awards, including Radha Menon—recognized for her work in theatre. She chose Rose Hopkins—an alum of Generator’s Artist Producer Training Program—as her emerging artist recipient.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring Dan Watson, Deborah Lim, and Elizabeth Thomas.
• Join Us at our Adjudicators Symposium—and catch up on stories from past symposia.

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

We’re off next week, and the following Friday is Canada Day—so this column will return in three weeks on July 8.