It's World Theatre Day! Let's do more than tweet about it.

photo: Robert Machado

Today is World Theatre Day, and it's worth celebrating with more than a hashtag.

Toronto boasts more artists than any other city in the country. Today's as good a day as any to get out of the house and see what they're up to.

We've put together a list that's only a fraction of what Toronto artists have onstage tonight for you to choose from. Don't like what you see here? Head to the closest cafe / pub / lamp post, find a flyer that catches your eye, and take a risk on something new. You won't regret it.





ON STAGE IN TORONTO ON MARCH 27, 2013
(in no particular order)

Ching Chong Chinaman (fu-GEN Theatre)
"A clever, funny assault on ethnic identity confusion you have to see. ...the directing and design is top-notch."
J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail

As I Lay Dying (Theatre Smith-Gilmour)

"The nightmarish landscape of As I Lay Dying is home territory for the remarkable Theatre Smith-Gilmour, which has been entertaining and challenging Toronto audiences for 30 years with consistently satisfying, imagistic theatre."

Robert Crew, Toronto Star

THIS (Canadian Stage)

"THIS is one of the best plays and productions of this or any other year."

Glenn Summi, NOW Magazine

And Slowly Beauty... (Tarragon Theatre)

To celebrate World Theatre Day, Tarragon is offering $25 tickets to any of their 2012/13 shows.

True West (Soulpepper)

OVERRULED and ROMANCE (Neoteny Theatre)

Opens tonight!

A HAND OF BRIDGE and NO EXIT (Soup Can Theatre)

Opens tonight!

Gwen Powers (Workhouse Theatre)

Arigato, Tokyo (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre)

"One of those unexpectedly unique evenings of theatre that we all hope for...a puzzle as artful as anything MacIvor has ever written."

Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star

The Whipping Man (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company and Obsidian Theatre)

Paprika Festival

Opens tonight! Support young artists!

PS: if you can't make it out tonight, 100% of Toronto theatre companies would encourage you to celebrate World Theatre Day by making a donation to a project or organization you care about (Volcano especially).

PPS: this is a tiny list of shows. If you have something to add, tell us!

Reblogged: Rebecca Singh at ISPA 2013

The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) held its 2013 congress in New York City this past January. We were one of the lucky companies there to pitch a work-in-development to presenters from around the world (more on that another time!).

Ross presenting at the Pitch New Works session

We wanted to share Rebecca Singh's fantastic post from Theatre Local, which gives a great play-by-play of the goings on in NYC, and ISPA's focus on the "Culture of Innovation":

Over the past few years most regions experienced profound changes, be they economic, political, or social. But did arts organizations and their leaders become more innovative in tackling these challenges, or did they in fact retrench? As new technologies and leadership models became available did we as an industry exploit these tools to our best advantage?

If you couldn't make it to NYC, you can visit theatrelocal.org to read the highlights from ISPA 2013. Thanks for sharing, Rebecca!

Meet a Volcano Artist: Mimi Lien

Who: Mimi Lien

What: Until We Say Yes

When: 2014/15 Volcano Season

Mimi Lien is a much acclaimed and sought after set designer based in Brooklyn, NY – and Volcano’s lucky enough to be working with her on our current production in development Until We Say Yes.

Until We Say Yes is an exploration of migration: people on the verge of large decisions about coming and going, staying or leaving. Set partly in Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, and partly in whatever theatre it is performed in, the audience will get to follow three fictional love stories told through various media and developed out of seven real-life stories from the cast. These narratives are all interwoven into a portrait of duality - double identity - the essence of the migrant's life.

"I just grabbed a lunch in New York with Mimi, where she had a show running at the Under the Radar Festival, and was on a break from another show she is designing for Lincoln Center. AND she and her husband have just founded their own space in Brooklyn. Mimi Lien is the bomb. Sweet, insightful, smart as a whip. We are lucky to have her collaborating with us. A thrilling talent." - Ross

Here’s a recent article in the New Yorker about Mimi’s work: Critic's Notebook: All Set. 

...and here’s Mimi talking about her approach to set design and her ideas on expanding beyond the stage: 

Hannah Moscovitch's New War Story

Who: Hannah Moscovitch
What: This is War at Tarragon Theatre
When: January 3 - February 3, 2013

Love + Time = x

Hannah Moscovitch's latest play to hit the stage is This is War, now on at the Tarragon. She is also working with Volcano on another fascinating project.....

Infinity is a play about a dying physicist who discovers that his concept of time, the one topic he thought he was an expert on, is eluding him. Combining research into timekeeping and physics, this work seeks to elucidate a formula to describe love, and what happens to love, through time...

Says Ross about Hannah and This Is War: "The extraordinary thing about this play - and plays like Proud by Michael Healey, or Awake, created and directed by Chris Tolley & Laura Mullin - is that they are about now - about what our country is engaged in right now - and they offer a completely different perspective on this than can possibly be gained in media, social or otherwise. It is a tremendously positive new development in the city's theatre that these plays are coming forward with such force and craft. Hannah's play is a terrifically engaging look into the world of the Canadian soldier at war, and what these men and women might have to deal with now that they're home - see it. Seriously. It's about us."

In addition to This is War, Hannah was a contributing writer on the CBC Radio series Afghanada. She recently spoke on CBC’s Metro Morning (Jan 3) about this play’s origins and on her continued motivation to relate Canadian soldiers’ stories of combat to the public back home. This is War is loosely based on an incident involving the Afghan National Army, Coalition Forces and the Taliban, that was related to Moscovitch by a war reporter who worked in the Panjwayi district where the incident occurred.

On Metro Morning, Moscovitch discussed the disconnection between the perspectives of soldiers on the ground and the discussions of politics in the media which are deeply separated from the reality of combat: “It’s appropriate in the media to talk about the politics of war, but for soldiers the event of war is completely different – it’s just removed – because once you’re in the arena of war and bombs are detonating around you and people are yelling  - you’re…trying to save your life and save the lives of the people around you.” With Canada’s combat role having concluded in July 2011, Moscovitch considers Canada to now be a post-war society. She is interested in maintaining a focus on the country’s growing population of veterans arriving back in Canada who are often confronted with arduous processes of re-integration.

Shaking Things Up: Kristen Thomson & Crow’s Theatre

Toronto theatre artists are jumping right into the New Year, and we at Volcano are particularly pumped to see Kristen Thomson on stage again.

In Ross' words: "Kristen Thomson has that rare mix of instinct and intelligence as an actor. She can work from the gut, but can also analyze this work with rigour and specificity. We were lucky to have her step into Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God (Roland Schimmelpfennig's contribution to Another Africa at Canadian Stage). In fact, we're all lucky to have Kristen working in this country. Her new play will be worth checking out, I'm guessing..."

#understatement

Kristen Thomson in Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God,
part of Another Africa at Canadian Stage. Photo by John Lauener.
From left to right: Tom Barnett, Kristen Thomson, Tony Nappo, and Maev Beaty.

Kristen is performing at the Berkeley Street Theatre in her latest piece, Someone Else, presented by Crow's Theatre. You can read her recent interview with The Grid here to learn more.

Crow's has been the talk of the town this week (here, here, and here, for starters) over their brand new theatre space in Leslieville: the ground floor of a new condo building. The project is a partnership between the theatre company, the City (through Councillor Paula Fletcher), and the private developers. An effective use of Section 37 funds, the new Crow's theatre space is a story worth following: in periods of economic uncertainty and fiscal restraint from all levels of government, the issue of alternative revenue generation is a critical topic for not-for-profit organizations. What Crow's does in the next few years will almost certainly be a case study for the sector.

You can read about a similar case study (the Galapagos Arts Centre in Brooklyn) here, one of the models that Crow's looked to when developing their own plan.

Ross Manson on The Whole Shebang

Who: Ross Manson, Volcano's Artistic Director
What: The Whole Shebang
When: November 23-25, 2012

Q & A with Ross

What’s so great about The Whole Shebang (TWS)?

TWS is emblematic of one of the things I most value about Toronto. We have an arts community here that is generous and adventurous. Artists from all kinds of backgrounds are willing to come together in one place, and just see what happens. We're lucky to have this instinct. And we're lucky to have Andrea showing us to ourselves.

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What is your history with Andrea Nann (Artistic Director, Dreamwalker Dance Company)?

I love Andrea! I've worked with her across Canada and Europe over the course of a decade on The Four Horsemen Project - one of our most successful shows. In fact, her presence in that project helped make it all possible. She is a delight to be with, a talent to reckon with, and has the most particularly mathematical mind of anyone I know. She can hold very complex patterns in her mind and understand how they intersect. When you're dancing on offbeats while singing something in a different rhythm, that's useful. Especially when you can understand not only your pattern, but the other dancers', too. She's an astonishing person. And a good arm wrestler.

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Do you have a favourite project presented in past TWS programs?

TWS introduced me to the poetry of Souvankham Thammavongsa in 2007 when she read some new poems to a packed house at Harbourfront - a house that held its collective breath, understanding that this was something special, something rare. That was a revelation. Souvankham is perhaps my favourite Canadian poet now. Or one at the top of my list. She was introduced at that particular Whole Shebang by another favourite: Michael Ondaatje. Andrea does this event well, and finds amazing people to populate it.

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The Whole Shebang - one:two:one

Dancemakers (Distillery District, 9 Trinity St., Studios 313 & 314)

November 23 & 24 @ 8PM (pre-show activities begin @ 7:30PM)

November 24 & 25 @ 2PM (pre-show activities begin @ 1:30PM)

Tickets from $15 - $25  - Book Tickets Here!

Also check out The Whole Shebang blog - including interviews and musings from artists involved in this year's program!

Meet a Volcano Artist: Kate Alton

Who: Kate Alton

What: The Whole Shebang 2012 - one:two:one

When: November 23-25, 2012

Kate Alton is a featured choreographer presenting two outstanding duets in The Whole Shebang: Book tickets here (from $15-$25!)

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Q & A: what do you need to work?


KATE:

What I want: 
I want an open space, a dancer or two, an eye that I trust to look at what I've done, a solid work period followed by a break to reflect, then another big push once I know what direction I am heading. I also like deadlines, but not tight ones.

What I need:
I need to feel strong and ready physically. I need to get into a headspace that opens up a channel in my mind for the accumulated ideas to flow out. I need to feel safe too, though I wish that this were not true and I hope that it is changing.

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Kate's choreography is featured in the Whole Shebang presented by Dreamwalker Dance Company, in association with Volcano. Running November 23 to 25th, the Whole Shebang will host a large cast of dancers, actors, puppeteers and singers - get more information on the show and performers here!

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Volcano and Ms. Alton:

Kate has been an intrinsic part of many Volcano productions over the years including Appetite (2009), The Four Horsemen Project (2007), Despair and Other Conundrums (2006), and Mortality (2002). She is currently co-creator and choreographer of a Volcano production in development Until We Say Yes that brings opera singers, dancers and actors together to tell stories about Canadian hybrid identities in the 21^st century. Kate is also an accomplished dancer and serves as Artistic Director of Crooked Figure Dances – a company recently re-vamped to focus on Kate’s work as a performer, choreographer and creator.

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Check out Kate, and some of her choreography in rehearsal, in this video for Until We Say Yes: