Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• The Theatre Ontario office will be closed beginning Monday, December 24, re-opening on Wednesday, January 2, 2019. We wish everyone a very happy holiday and all the best for 2019!

Conversation Starters

• With our Next Generation Showcase less than a month away, Bryn Kennedy reminds the participants—and all of us—that “one opportunity or one person will not make or break your career.”
• Generator in Toronto hosted an Urgent Exchange “#MeToo A Year Later” – the full two-hour broadcast was shared on Periscope and is available for viewing.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Sudbury Theatre Centre introduced a hearing loop system, the first theatre in Ontario with this equipment according to the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association.
• Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg announces their 2019 summer season.
• The Theatre Centre in Toronto announced their new Creative Producer Training Program, funded by the Canada Council’s Sector Innovation grant program, and focused on training in touring and building touring networks for producers.

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Opening this week in London.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including grant deadlines, calls for submissions, community events, and more.

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

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Closing a theatre company – Scott Artley wrote on HowlRound about “The Final Act—Sunsetting a Nonprofit Arts Organization” and the decision to shutdown.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Got Your Back Canada, the grassroots alliance of artists committed to making safe places for creation in the entertainment industry, is conducting an “Actor Training Experience Survey” for anyone who has taken actor training in Canada at any time. There is also a questionnaire for instructors. 

TO Toasts

Playwrights Guild of Canada's Tom Hendry Awards

• ... to Jordan Tannahill and Playwrights Canada Press, recipients of the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama—English.
• ... to the recipients of Playwrights Guild of Canada’s 2018 Tom Hendry Awards, including Matthew Mackenzie who was awarded the Carol Bolt Award for best work premiered in the past year, and Damien Atkins (our Theatre Ontario Festival Playwright-in-Person in 2015) who won the Stage West Comedy Award.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from our Professional Theatre Training Program – Featuring training projects in directing, artistic producing, dramaturgy, and artistic direction.
• Stories from Ontario Summer Theatre – Raeburn Ferguson finished her first week at Theatre Ontario at the Ontario Summer Theatre Annual General Meeting for professional development and strengthening connections.
• ONstage Openings this week in Oshawa, Tillsonburg, St. Marys, London, Elmira, Toronto, Ottawa, and North Bay.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, webinars, grant deadlines, playwright calls for submission, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Vera Held has been appointed Interim President of the Board, Ron Dodson has been appointed Interim Vice-President of the Board, and that Farzeen Foda and Carri Johnson have been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Theatre Ontario Board.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The MT Space in Kitchener is one of the recommender theatres for the Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators program. They recently explored the development of one funded projects—Paddy Gillard-Bentley’s Accidental Fish.
• Next week marks the final Ontario Fringe Festival opening of the summer as ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival in North Bay opens on August 14.
• Kelly Nestruck reported in The Globe and Mail that “the civil suits between Soulpepper Theatre Company, Albert Schultz and four actors who alleged the former artistic director of Toronto’s largest not-for-profit theatre company was a “serial sexual predator” have been settled out of court.”

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Openings this week in Toronto, Millbrook, Penetanguishene, Gananoque, Port Perry, Cambridge, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Blyth, and Grand Bend.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including free play readings, free recorded webinars, calls for submissions for playwright development, grant deadlines, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Mélanie Joly, Federal Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Simon Brault, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts announced “important measures to promote a healthy, respectful and harassment-free work environment in recipient organizations.”
• Examining current practices around open script submissions, from Kevin Michael Shea writing for Intermission.
• The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts announced gender-neutral performance awards for the 40th anniversary Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2019. 
• Learn more about SpiderWebShow’s plans for the foldA festival of live digital art in this Twitter thread by Artistic Director Michael Wheeler.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Come visit the Palace Theatre in London, our theatre venue for Theatre Ontario Festival 2018 (FB video)
• Researchers from the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto are conducting a research study to gain an understanding of how performing arts workers who are also caregivers (of family or friends of any age) manage their daily lives while negotiating these competing roles. If you have worked in the performing arts industry for at least one year, self-identify as a caregiver, are 15 years old or over, and have a good understanding of English, please consider taking their short online survey.
• Young People’s Theatre in Toronto has announced their “eye-POPPIN’ 2018/19 Season.”

TO Toasts

• ... the recipients of the K.M. Hunter Artist Awards for mid-career professional artists, including Matthew Heiti of Sudbury recognized in the theatre category.

In Case You Missed It

• Warming up for the summer season with Ontario Summer Theatre.
• Welcome Lisa Codrington at Theatre Ontario Festival 2018 Playwright-in-Person.
• ONstage Openings this week in St. Marys, Elmira, Toronto, Peterborough, Morrisburg, Ottawa, Kingston, Smiths Falls, Constance Bay, and Thornhill.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, webinars, grant deadlines, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

ONstage Now Playing in Toronto
Calpurnia from Nightwood Theatre
Andrew Moodie, Don Allison
Photo by Dahlia Katz

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• In Conversation with Audrey Dwyer – playwright and director of Calpurnia from Nightwood Theatre – discussing race, allyship, and “how the past informs the present” in In the Greenroom.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• After the local Thames Valley District and London District Catholic School Boards pulled their funding, the community stepped up to fund The Grand Theatre’s High School Project performance of Prom Queen—leading to two extra student matinee performances. Thames Valley DSB later restored their funding but London District CSB has not changed its stance.
• Before the #MeToo movement had “sprang up in its current form”, Classic Theatre Festival in Perth was already planning on a play to explore what constitutes healthy relationships in their “Listen Up!” series. 

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program – featuring training projects in directing and designing, artistic direction, producing, and teaching Pure Movement.
• Stories from Next Generation Showcase – “Sharing Passion for Performance” from Rachel Kennedy.
• ONstage Openings this week in Toronto, Oakville, Aurora, Waterloo, and Guelph.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including award deadlines, workshops, recorded webinars, grant deadlines, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

It's a week after Next Generation Showcase, and starting next we'll have some of the stories from the event.  We start with a big thank-you to our volunteers, our supporters, and our staff.

Conversation Starters

• The video playlist from Generator’s “Who Is a Monster” Urgent Exchange from January 6 are now available on their new YouTube channel.
• Intermission shared their 10 most popular articles from 2017. Of interest, the Top 2 both deal with boundaries in theatre.
• Holly L. Derr writes about “Greenturgy”—“excavating environmental concerns embedded in the dramatic canon and new works, using stories to reconnect people to their physical world.” (from HowlRound)

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Mitchell Marcus reflects on A Year in Review for The Musical Stage Company in Toronto.

Migrations

• Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener Centre, is the new Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.  (Eleanor McMahon has moved on to become President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital Government.)
• Keith Jackson is the new General Manager of A Company of Fools in Ottawa.

In Case You Missed It

• Canadian live performance arts representatives held an anti-harassment roundtable, and released a public statement.  
• Meet our Youth Advisory Committee for 2018.
• ONstage Openings this week in London, Toronto, Cobourg, Peterborough, Ottawa, Kingston, Richmond Hill, and Mississauga—and with many more shows now playing in communities across Ontario.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, webinars, calls for award nomination deadlines, and more.

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

Ontario Off Stage

Fatimah Younge

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• We are excited to welcome Fatimah Younge, who joined our staff as our Operations Coordinator this week.

Conversation Starters

• Soulpepper Theatre has published three separate statements—one from the artists in the company (specifically around the announcement of the cancellation of the production of Amadeus), one from the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and one from the community of Soulpepper.
• Meanwhile, 280 artists have signed a letter regarding harassment at Soulpepper (as reported by the CBC.) 
• Kelly Thornton, Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, wrote a response “Art is Our Weapon.”
• She was also interviewed by Anna Maria Tremonti on CBC Radio’s The Current speaking about how “women need to take up more space.”
• PACT, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, released a statement condemning sexual harassment and bullying in Canadian live theatre.
• Canadian Actors Equity Association released a Statement on Media Reports regarding Soulpepper Theatre (PDF from their website.)
• Scott Bellis, CAEA Council President, also shared a letter regarding Soulpepper Theatre.
• The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts Board of Directors released a statement regarding Harassment Allegations against Albert Schultz of Soulpepper Theatre Company.
• And ICYMI, our own statement from Theatre Ontario was published on our website.
• Bruce Pitkin, our Executive Director, was interviewed for Radio Canada International in a feature called “Sexual improprieties: improving the theatre workplace.”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Kevin Loring—the first Artistic Director of the new Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre—spoke about his work preparing for the inaugural 2019-2020 season in an interview with Patrick Langston (Ottawa’s ArtsFile).
• The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts is hosting a “Community Consultation about Gender in the Dora Mavor Moore Awards” on January 30th, discussing how the performance award categories might “better acknowledge artistic practices that move beyond the gender binary of ‘Outstanding Performance of a Male/Female.’ (Theatre Ontario de-gendered our Festival Awards last year.)

Migrations

• Essential Collective Theatre in Niagara announced new Artistic Director Colin Bruce Anthes (an alum of our Professional Theatre Training Program), and new General Manager Rebecca Walsh, effective February 1, 2018.

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Openings this week in Ottawa and Toronto.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, recorded webinars, application, nomination and submission deadlines, webinars, grant deadlines, and more.

Response from the Theatre Ontario Board of Directors to the lawsuits filed by members of the theatre community against Albert Schultz and Soulpepper Theatre Company

Like most in our community, Theatre Ontario is aware of civil lawsuits alleging incidents of sexual misconduct.

Theatre Ontario is upset by what we have heard in this past week. But we also believe this to be part of a greater pattern in our theatre community, one that is regretfully not new.

In recent weeks, months and years, we have been hearing the steady rise of whispers coming to full voice throughout the community.

We feel the anguish when we hear any stories of individuals forced into silence.

We regret careers lost to abuse.

This is not the theatre we dedicate ourselves to creating and celebrating.

Even though it is individuals that have been perpetrators, it is our institutions, associations and agencies that have failed to expect and demand greater accountability and action.

To that end, Theatre Ontario reaffirms our commitments to our community.

We will continue to be in dialogue with all those dedicated to eradicating the current culture of privilege and power abuse.

We will continue to work to promote the creation of safe workspaces for theatre artists to practise their craft.

We will continue to reflect and challenge ourselves as an organization to find ways to provide that greater accountability and action to our community.

And we will speak out in full voice to create change now.

For more information, contact:

Bruce Pitkin

Executive Director

416.408.4556 x.11

bruce@theatreontario.org