Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Kate Werneburg wrote for Intermission about “theatre in the park” and how we share public space with people who are not housed.

David Parry receiving our Michael Spence Award in 2017

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Studio Theatre Perth has named their new volunteer appreciation award in honour of David and Patricia Parry. David is a past recipient of our Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre in the province.
• Nightwood Theatre in Toronto has unveiled their lineup of “the most exciting emerging female playwrights in the city” for their Groundswell Festival 2018.
• Ontario Culture Days is coming up on September 28, 29 and 30.  Among the theatre events registered at press time are an open rehearsal with The MT Space in Waterloo, an hour backstage before call at Burl-Oak Theatre Group in Oakville, a youth company rehearsal and tour at Georgetown Little Theatre, a live radio show at Grey Wellington Theatre Guild in Harriston.

Migrations

• Emma Stenning is the new Executive Director of Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto.

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Opening this week in Toronto—and with many more shows now playing in communities across Ontario.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, grant deadlines, calls for submissions, pre-recorded webinars, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

Rebecca Perry (second from the left, with Cole Alvis, Ted
Dykstra, Kevin Hanchard, and Grace Lynn Kung) was one of the
amazing panelists at Next Generation Showcase in January.
Hear her in conversation at Dark Nights on June 13.

• Rick Roberts made a moving video for Intermission about "Barbara Fingerote, Super Audience" about the long-time Toronto theatre volunteer and audience-goer.
• The news of physical and psychological abuse at Profiles Theatre in Chicago is a disturbing, but important story for all theatre-makers—especially as it relates to "cult of personality" in theatre companies.
• As an addendum, theatre critic Christopher Piatt offers a "mea culpa" about the failure to challenge the worldview expressed by that theatre’s programming.
• Susan Fish on Charity Village has written a good analysis of issues associated with criminal record checks—and whether or not they are a valuable screening tool or a barrier to volunteering
• Rebecca Perry is the guest at Dark Nights in Toronto on June 13.
• A Theatre Mom’s perspective on her child’s first production—from Elana Gartner on the A Child Grows in Brooklyn blog.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• With the London Fringe Festival wrapping-up, the next stop for the Ontario Fringe Theatre lover is our nation`s capital—the Ottawa Fringe Festival opens June 15.
• Lisa Codrington was featured on CBC`s Q on Monday, talking about her experience adapting The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God at Shaw Festival: "This is a white man exploring the story of a black girl and taking her on a journey, and for me, at times, I felt like I don't know if the voice of the black girl is as specific as I would like it to be," Codrington says. "How can I make this black girl a character as opposed to ... a vessel for ideas about religion?"

Migrations

• Alexandra Isenor is the new General Manager of a Company of Fools in Ottawa. 

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring Krista Colosimo, Thom Allison, Deanna Choi, Lisa Karen Cox and Viktor Lukawski
• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring Sehar Bhojani, Matthew Thomas Walker, Donna Marie Baratta, Michelle Suzanne and Alessandro Costantini

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

Reframed from Acting Up Stage Company
at the Art Gallery of Ontario

• The Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport has released the core elements of Ontario’s draft Culture Strategy. Feedback is invited until May 13.
• Mitchell Marcus shares how Acting Up Stage Company brought three new musical theatre commissions into the Art Gallery of Ontario.
• Olivia Vanderwal, a volunteer with the Hamilton Arts Council, shares three components that make up a meaningful volunteer experience.
• “Building a better Mikado” – minus the yellowface, from Diep Tran on American Theatre.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Ontario’s Fringe Theatre season kicks off next week with the Windsor-Walkerville Fringe Festival, opening May 6.
• Larry Cornies writes in the London Free Press about how the City of London owes a debt of gratitude to outgoing Grand Theatre Artistic Director Susan Ferley.

TO Toasts

• ... to all of the award winners and honourable mentions from QUONTA Festival 2016, now posted on their Facebook page (with Adjudicator’s Awards listed here.)

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• We partnered with Playwrights Guild of Canada to host a Tweetchat around the question of increasing the amount of Canadian plays produced in Canadian theatre. As you would expect, it was a free-form, open-ended, multi-directional conversation—captured on Storify.
• Why Props Matter: What does it take to create great props, especially from a health and safety perspective? Janet Sellery of Sellery Health & Safety shared some terrific resources on the subject.
• This week on #CdnCult Times from SpiderWebShow: “Critics are ambassadors (like it or not) bringing theatre to the general public. What is their role in the changing media landscape?” Three perspectives from Jerry Wasserman, Eric Coates, and Michael Wheeler
• As you assess the success of your year-end donation campaign, ask yourself: Were you bothering your donors, or inspiring them?
• From Charity Village, exploring the question of “waiting but not idle”: how do you keep potential volunteers engaged with your theatre?

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Antoni Cimolino, Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, was chosen for the Order of Canada.
• The Waterloo Region awarded 18 arts grants before Christmas—and theatre/performance looks to have been well-supported.
• Canadian Stage has chosen their RBC Emerging Artist Program participants: the Howland Company (Company in Residence) and Philip McKee & Elif Işıközlü (Director Development).

Volunteer Week across Canada

by Bruce Pitkin, Executive Director

Thank you to all our volunteers who contribute in every way possible to the success of Theatre Ontario.

We are so very grateful for all the moments of time, energies of thought and action that you graciously extend to us. Your acts of kindness foster the collective spirit of community required in creating theatre and for that we express our profound appreciation.

To our Board of Directors, our Youth Advisory Committee, our juries and committees, our Festival participants, and the countless individuals and groups that gather morning, noon and night to lend a hand, we salute and thank you!

 

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Conversation Starters

• The next stop for our Ontario Summer Theatre blogger was Millbrook, where she saw 4th Line Theatre’s production of Doctor Barnardo’s Children.  Among the familiar faces in the company is Herbie Barnes, who taught Improvisation at past Summer Theatre Intensives; and Alex Saul, who won the Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Leading Role at this past year’s Theatre Ontario Festival
• Joel Varty, President of VOS Theatre in Cobourg, issued a call-to-action suitable for any community theatre
• Two reflections on the closing of TheatreBooks: “A Remembrance” from Lynn Slotkin and “Your Browser is No Longer Supported” from Joel Greenberg
• Allan Teichman, President of Canadian Actors Equity Association, wrote a good overview of the new Health and Safety Awareness Training requirements and how it applies to all employees and independent contractors.  Here is our post with links for training for both workers and supervisors
• The Cultural Value Project is trying to advance how we understand and define the value of cultural engagement to individuals and society, and the need to go beyond focusing on a stronger case for public funding and the corresponding emphasis on economic impact
• David Loehr from 2amTheatre and Jason Snell from the Incomparable Podcast talked about podcasting for theatres at a panel at the TCG14 Conference—and naturally made it available as a podcast
• Jini Stolk writes about Board development and the importance of both good recruitment and good management

Behind The Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

Zara Jestadt

• Welcome to Zara Jestadt, who will be our Education Assistant at Theatre Ontario in July and August.  Zara is a student at the George Brown Theatre School, and will be providing support for our Summer Theatre Intensive.  This Summer Experience position is made possible through the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport
• Your next Ontario Fringe Festival stop is in Hamilton, where the Hamilton Fringe Festival kicked off yesterday

In Case You Missed It

• Part 2 of our series on the experiences of the Independent Theatre Creators International Training Scholarship receipients: “It’s Impossible, of course, but Try,” from Miriam Fernandes
• Professional Theatre Training Program project profiles featuring Pam Patel, Rachel Penny, and Joseph Recinos (in Spanish and English!)

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

And for a laugh, from Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: “Submission Opportunities for Emerging Playwrights” by Justin Warner