ONstage Openings for the week of February 6

In Southwestern Ontario
Feb. 9, Arsenic And Old Lace at Theatre Tillsonburg
Feb. 10, Valentine Love Notes at Theatre Ancaster (Hamilton)
Feb. 10, The Memory Of Water at Players' Guild of Hamilton
Feb. 10, Bare Bear Bones at Elmira Theatre Company

In Toronto
Feb. 6, The Great Mountain at Young People's Theatre
Feb. 7, The Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Feb. 8, The Man Of Mode at George Brown Theatre School
Feb. 9, Nunsense at Scarborough Music Theatre

In Eastern Ontario
Feb. 7, Pack Of Lies at Kanata Theatre (Ottawa)
Feb. 8, undercurrents: theatre below the mainstream at Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa)

In South Central Ontario
Feb. 9, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Whitby Courthouse Theatre
Feb. 9, All Shook Up at Stage West Theatre (Mississauga)

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage theatre listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• PACT’s Strategic Planning For Your Career workshop is next Monday, February 13 in Guelph

New on The Bulletin Board

• Arts Consultants Canada is holding a “Leadership Skills for a Digital Age” workshop on February 17 in Toronto

Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

Ontario Off Stage

TO Toasts

• Christopher Morris of Toronto and Gaétan Paré of Montreal were awarded the Canada Council for the Arts 2012 John Hirsch Prizes; Christopher was a past recipient of a grant from our Professional Theatre Training Program for a directing apprenticeship, and shared some really nice things about how the program helped him
• Finalists for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for plays by women working in English have been announced; Hannah Moscovitch and Melissa James Gibson were both finalists last year, unfortunately no Canadians made the list this year

Conversations

• First, a good blog post round-up from Praxis Theatre—Sky Gilbert is blogging; Mark McGrinder of Studio 180 proposes positive spin-off for the arts from Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s weight loss challenge; and much more
• David Nairn, Artistic Director of Theatre Orangeville, attended our annual Showcase, and reflected on what he saw; especially a couple of graduating students with roots in youth training programs in Orangeville
• From J. Kelly Nestruck in the Globe and Mail: In “the Toronto vs. Chicago theatre war,” Illinois is introducing tax credits for prestigious, big-budget productions to lure away the War Horses and Priscillas: Queen Of The Desert
• Playwrights Guild of Canada is launching a campaign called “Scripted For Schools” to encourage the use of plays in the classroom.  A lot of good articulate arguments in the launch video—and there’s cute kids too
• From 2AM Theatre, Travis Bedard is a noted and vocal advocate for shaking the “minor league” pejoratives away from regional theatre—something with which every theatre artist working outside of Toronto can relate, I’m sure.  He makes an argument for vertical integration based on an American model that I think is just as applicable for us north of the border
• Also on 2AM, Eric Ziegenhagen proposed a new way to think about how to approach audience talkbacks and The Conversation After The Show

From The Wire

• The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott is celebrating their 10th anniversary—and the local media is commending them for changing people’s lives in the community
• The Milton Centre for the Arts had its grand opening
• Artscape has launched ArtscapeDIY, a new website resource “designed to inspire and support you in creative place-making projects in your community”
• Social Media Week is coming up, and Praxis Theatre and the Toronto Fringe Festival are holding a panel on Theatre & Online Interactivity on February 14
• From You’ve Cott Mail: Ways to think about Board member recruitment (very timely for us as we just launched our Call For Nominations)
• El Ateneo in Buenos Aires is apparently the largest bookstore in South America—and an imaginative repurposing of an old theatre

Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Announcing Courses for our 2012 Summer Theatre Intensive

We are thrilled to announce an exciting line-up of courses for our 2012 Summer Theatre Intensive.  Indulge your passion for theatre and experience a week away from all distractions as you immerse yourself in a unique theatrical learning experience.  You will learn new skills, meet passionate theatre people, and flex your creative muscle!

This year we have two returning favourites for actors:

• Everything You Wanted To Know About Acting, with Tom Diamond—suitable for absolute beginners or more-experienced actors who want to get back to the basics
• Hot Scenes—Scene Study for the Evolving Actor, with Brenda Kamino— learn, rehearse, and perform exciting short scenes from the repertoire of Canadian and world theatre in an intense, creative, and exciting week

This year, there are two directing courses, depending on your skill level:

• Introduction To Directing: Covering All The Bases, with Stewart Arnott--for anyone who has always wanted to direct—or has already tried it once or twice—dive into this exciting craft by learning and developing important directing skills
• Advanced Directing: Dramaturgy For Directors, with Virginia Reh—for experienced directors looking to take their skills to the next level, learn how to explore scripts to find your own approach to production

Finally, for those interested in a specialized actor training experience:

• Physical Theatre And The Text, with Jim Warren—learn how action, gesture and rhythm inform text analysis and improve your performance

For over thirty years, Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive has brought together theatre people from all over the province for a week-long rigorous educational experience.  Our courses have earned praise from drama teachers, theatre schools, community and professional theatres, agents, and actors getting started in the business.

This year’s courses run from August 12 to 18 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read more about our 2012 Summer Theatre Intensive

Theatre Ontario Seeks Board Members For 2012-2013

Theatre Ontario is seeking individuals to serve on the Theatre Ontario Board of Directors who are committed to assisting Theatre Ontario in developing and supporting theatre practitioners across the province, by providing resources, networking, training, and advocacy.

The Board also acts as an advocate with the provincial government and the municipalities for issues affecting theatre and the arts.  Board members are expected to participate in Board meetings (usually held four times a year at our Head Office in Toronto), to participate in at least one Board committee (minimum of four meetings a year, not necessarily in person), and to engage in generating revenue (from fundraising, sponsorships, and memberships) on behalf of the organization.

Ten of the fifteen positions on the Board are elected “to reflect the mandate to ensure regional representation and representation from the professional and educational theatre sectors, as well as any special expertise the Board may require from time to time.”

The nomination deadline is March 28, 2012 at 5pm.

Read more about  the nomination process for the Theatre Ontario Board of Directors