Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Conversation Starters

• Diane Ragsdale weighed in on the question of allowing failing arts organizations to die, asking the question “Change in the arts sector. Can we speed it up or must we wait it out?”
• #CdnCultTimes explored the role of Fringe in the Canadian theatre ecology
• Playwright Alexander Offord explained why he didn’t include a trigger warning for his Toronto Fringe production of Potosi, and what he learned from that decision
• Thomas Hodd observed that “when culture goes corporate, Canada’s creativity suffers” in the Globe and Mail
• Playwrights Guild of Canada published their 2013-14 Theatre Production Survey—unfortunately, there seems to be a regression in production of plays by women (PDF)—but good news from the Guild with their upcoming Equity in Theatre initiative

Behind The Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

Two Gentlemen of Verona at
St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott
Warren Bain and Quincy Armorer
Photo by Andrew Alexander Photography

• The Ontario Summer Theatre blogger paid visits to Prescott for Two Gentlemen of Verona at St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival; to Haliburton Highlands for Billy Bishop Goes To War at the Highlands Summer Festival; and a stop of the Bard's Bus Tour of The Tempest from Driftwood Theatre
• Steal this idea: In preparation for their upcoming production of To Kill a Mockingbird, Young People’s Theatre in Toronto started a “Summer Reading Group” for their audiences

Migrations

• Hugh Neilson is the new General Manager of the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa
• Caleb Marshall is the new Artistic Director of Sudbury Theatre Centre

In Case You Missed It

• Rachel Peake, one of this year’s Neil Munro Intern Directors at the Shaw Festival, wrote about “The Ensemble Mystique”