Obsidian Theatre Company

On Being a Rehearsal Pianist...

2012-01-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

With two weeks to go to the opening of Obsidian’s very firstmusical in association with Acting Upstage we asked our two *apprentices toblog about their experience working on Caroline, or Change.

First up is Beau Dixon who is AssistantMusical Director with mentor Reza Jacobs. Beau is a composer, musician,producer, playwright, actor and director. Two of his one act plays (From Here To Africville, Once A Flame) were produced atFactory Theatre (Toronto) and he has performed at 4th Line Theatre for numerousseasons. He is also artistic director for Firebrand Theatre (Peterborough). Here are Beau’s thoughts on the rehearsalprocess.

Beau Dixon

"My first couple of weeks rehearsing 'Caroline, Or Change' havebeen very exciting!

Wow! Although the work hasbeen non-stop, I have had nothing but a positive experience through the wholeprocess. I wasn't sure what my duties would be exactly. It turns out Reza Jacobs- the music director- wouldbe using me as the rehearsal pianist, while the director -Robert McQueen- focuses onblocking and character development with the actors.

I am in the main rehearsal hall with Robert, while Rezaworks one on one with actors in another room. Not many people realize how stressful it is to be rehearsal pianist! Youhave to be pretty 'spot on' with the tempo and overall 'groove' of the piece soyou don't throw the actors off. I have learned so much from Reza. He is patientand sensitive, while also being meticulous and demanding with the dailyperformance that he is wanting from the actors. We are coming closer and closerto opening night. This is a big show! I know it's going to blow people's minds!

I'm very proud and excited to be a part of the team. Hope you guyscan make it out!"

Beau xo

Caroline, Or Change runs Jan 21 - Feb 12, 2012 at the Berkely Street Theatre Downstairs.

For tickets call 416-368-3110 or online

*Funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, Obsidian’s professional training program is grounded in the philosophy of training through exploration and production to enhance knowledge, share skills, increase marketability and strengthen community. If you require more information on this program please contact:
Rupal Shah Apprenticeship Coordinator.

The Broadway League's Demographic Stats

2012-01-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

So this update is actually brought to you via Thomas Cott of You've Cott Mail. I heartily recommend that you subscribe to his newsletter if you are interested in a huge range of theatrical ideas.

This particular edition of Cott Mail deals with the Broadway Leagues Demographic Study of the racial breakdown of their audiences and some interesting reactions to that study.
It makes for some fascinating reading and leaves some room for intensive thought.

So read away and ponder.

Tyler Coates, BlackBook magazine, Shocker: Old White People Love Broadway

Marcia's Black Theater Blog How come Lynn Nottage is not on Broadway?

Tom Loughlin, A Poor Player blog, Is it so bad to admit that theatre is for white people?

Year End - 2011

2011-12-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

Stirling Jarvis, Yanna McIntosh. photo by Chris Gallow

This has been quite the end to 2011.

Both Ruined and Topdog Underdog have been mentioned in the Top Ten Lists and you can read about that in NOW, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun. Huge thanks to our partners: Nghtwood Theatre {Ruined} and The Shaw Festival {Topdog Underdog}. What great artistic collaborations. One could not ask for any better creators to work with.

We had a very fine workshop reading of Shakespeare's Nigga by Joseph Jomo Pierre and NOW magazine said this.

It ha s also been a great year for me personally. I was able to direct two fabulous shows that are very dear to my heart and I have been publicly honoured by two organizations.

The Playwrights Guild of Canada's Women's Caucus awarded me the coveted Bra D'or .Every year, the Women's Caucus recognizes an individual for their efforts in supporting and promoting the work of Canadian women playwrights. And while I have the certificate up in my dining room as promised I was slightly disappointed that it was not in fact a real gold bra. Leanna Brodie, in her ever helpful way, did say that she would bronze one of her bra's for me if I really wanted one. The jury is still out on that.

And finally the Toronto Sun and John Coulbourn in particular named me The Performing Artist of the Year. Shocked and surprised would not even come close to how I felt on reading the article in the paper.

And it is pretty darn gratifying to see this much success both personally and for the company. But I would like to also give big props to the huge number of people who have worked with Obsidian in 2011 and worked to make each show a success. And I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge shout out to the Obsidian Founding Members who were all instrumental in making this Obsidian dream be realized.I would not have been able to succeed without this company at this time.

It is often said that we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and right now I can feel how firm a foundation that truly is.

All the best for a grand 2012.

Philip

Kevin Hanchard, Nigel Shawn Williams photo by Emily/Michael Cooper

Joe Pierre on "Shakespeare's Nigga": The Blacker the Berry, the Deeper the Bruise

2011-12-05T17:39:00.001-05:00

Photo by Adam Rankin

This Saturday at the Theatre PasseMuraille Mainspace, Obsidian Theatre presents the first in our 2011/12 SeasonDevelopment Series of plays in progress. Starting us off is Joseph Jomo Pierre’sfiery and imaginative new play Shakespeare’sNigga, an exploration into the iconic Black characters in the Bard’s work. Wewanted to talk to Joe about this play and his process so we asked Mel Hague,our resident dramaturg and Artist Development Coordinator to talk to him. She satdown with Joe to talk about Shakespeare, Aaron, and the “N” word.

Mel Hague: Tell me, why did you startwriting Shakespeare’s Nigga?

Joseph Jomo Pierre: Thisspeaks to why I been on this play for all these years. I made a pact withAaron. I told that dude I was going to write his story, and I'm sick enough to wanna keep my wordto a literary character. That's a bit cryptic but what happened was I got therole of Aaron at theatre school and was excited as hell to play thecharacter. I asked a teacher for some advice on how to approach the characterand he told me to play him as pure evil. Itwas a what the fuck moment for me, we were obviously connecting to thischaracter on different levels. Right there Iswore I would tell Aaron's story.

MH: Is Shakespeare your villain orhero?

JJP: Creating the piece Itried not to be limited by those terms. Those are always the sort of conclusions you leave for theaudience to make. For me he served as a jump off to the questions I wanted todeal with. Those questions and how we deal with them are much richer to me thanshitting on some dead white dude. Though I think some might see it as shitting on him alittle.

MH: What’s your favourite Shakespearianquote?

JJP: I don't know aboutfave, but one that has stuck with me since writing this play is, "is blackso base a hue?" That is some heavy shit for a black man to ask. Coppulls you over for no reason you ask him, Is black so base a hue. "I can'trent to you on this side of town", really, is black so base a hue. That’ssome heavy shit to me.

MH: How about using the word ‘Nigga’ inyour title?

JJP: There was and to alesser degree still is an uproar over the word. Queen Oprah wrote it off, the NAACP buried it. I'm notfor burying a word, because it’s been soaked in so much pain. But what is great to me is that my relationship to theword isn't static, I still sometimes question how I use it, how others useit. I am prone to squirm when I'm not cool with the context it is sometimesused in. But my character claims it and that opens the door for a discussionabout language. I'm cool with that.

MH: Should people be afraid to say yourtitle?

JJP: You know what, thatis part of the whole discovery. I mean, that is what it is called so they cansay it, but what is telling and what is open to discovery is the ease with which they can doso. Their level of comfort or I should say discomfort can lead to some kind ofpersonal reflection. Hell if I can have an audience that involved before theyeven hit the seats, I think this is a show that needs to be seen. Like seen,seen with a 4 week run and shit :P.

MH: What was the first Shakespeare playyou ever acted in?

JJP: The first joint Idid was Mid Summers I got to rock out to Oberon, thinking about it now. I guess I was Shakespeare's Nigga earlierthan I thought, but at least I was the HNIC.

MH: How have you used Shakespearianlanguage and poetry?

JJP: You know theintegration of Shakespearean text was pretty natural for my style. When I do this sort of blending I alwayspicture it as the DJ layering samples. Howeveras it pertains to my writing voice in this piece it was never my goal to workwith some faux Shakespearean voice. I wasn't attempting to pass this off as Shakespeare's work. In fact thefirst attempts at the piece were constructed with really modern speech patternsthe sort of things I'm known for. But that wasn't the piece, it wasn't the world that was begging to be shown. In theend I found this hybrid language to rollwith.

MH: Why is this play important now?

JJP: It is important nowbecause it hasn't been done (I mean the play). It is important because dealingwith themes of slavery is something that people don't want to fuck with. I'm talking youngpeople I'm talking older black people. And I get it, I get not wanting to onlybe identified by that alone. But there ismuch for us to gain by not discarding history, finding new ways to discuss it.Broadening the discussion from one we think we know to something far reachingsuch as control/ power, the use and abuse of control/ power regardless ofcolour.

MH: Finally, and most importantly, whatis your favourite colour?

JJP: Gotta be Black andall its variants, red, white, yellow, blue.... Jump on my Twitter, I plan to beon my tweet game during the workshop. @bruised_berry

The Blacker theBerry the Deeper the Bruise- Shakespeare's Nigga (JJP)

www.josephjomopierre.com

Shakespeare’s Nigga will be presented at Theatre Passe Muraillethis Saturday at 2pm. Come out to see a staged reading of this wicked andchallenging work featuring the stellar cast of Joseph Pierre, John Jarvis, DavidCollins, Andre Sills, and Sascha Cole directed by Philip Akin.

SHAKESPEARE'S NIGGA -The Development Series

2011-12-02T14:46:00.000-05:00

This year Obsidian will launch new Canadian work throughout the season with three workshop productions. First up is Joseph Joe Pierre's Shakespeare's Nigga.

Joseph Joe Pierre photo by Adam Rankin

Shakespeare’s Nigga by Joseph Jomo Pierre

Sat Dec 10,2011 2pm
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace 16 Ryerson Avenue

Tickets: 416-463-8444 or office@obsidian-theatre.com

$10 dollars per show or series pass is $25.

Shakespeare’s Nigga is an exploration into the iconic black characters in the Bard’s work, subversive and poetic the play takes you on a journey beyond reality and into the mind of the Shakespeare himself.

Directed By Philip Akin
Starring: John Jarvis,Joseph Jomo Pierre,David Collins, Andre Sills and Sascha Cole
Dramaturg Mel Hague
Set Designer Trevor Schwellnus
Property Master Lokki Ma

Topdog/Underdog Previews Nov 22 &23

2011-11-21T15:07:00.001-05:00

Don't miss your chance to see Topdog/Underdog for only 15 dollars this week.
This show will be in Toronto only until Dec 4th so don't miss out!

Where: Theatre Center 100-1087 Queen St. W

When: Tuesday Nov 22 at 7:00pm $15
Wednesday Nov 23 at 7:00pm $15

Time: ALL EVENING PERFORMANCES START AT 7:00PM

Here are what the Critics had to say.........

"There is no doubt in my mind that you are probably not going to see two more powerful performances"

RICHARD OUZOUNIAN TORONTO STAR read it

“Frankly, Nigel ShawnWilliams and Kevin Hanchard are good enough to see twice”

JOHN LAW NIAGARAFALLS REVIEW read it

“Shawn Williams gives a masterful performance”

J. KELLY NESTRUCK THEGLOBE AND MAIL read it

Black Ties - Invited Dress Rehearsal

2011-11-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

Obsidian launched our Black Ties networking night last year and it was a great success. With three chances to gain access to a wide variety of subjects and a chance to meet emerging and mid-level Black artists this year, we are offering a special invited dress rehearsal of Topdog/Underdog.

The play will be followed by a short Q&A with director Philip Akin. It is a great chance to learn more about what we do. Here are the details in short:

What: Black Ties- Invited Dress Rehearsal

When: Sunday Nov 20th 2:00pm

Where: Theatre Centre 100-1087 Queen St. West

Why: Networking is great, so are Q&A's with exciting directors, and it's pay what you can!

Obsidian Theatre Welcome's our 2011/12 Playwrights Unit

2011-10-26T16:42:00.000-04:00

Obsidian Theatre would like to welcome our new crop of exciting emerging writers to our 2011/12 Playwrights Unit: Audrey Dwyer, Andrea Scott, and Meghan Swaby. Keep an eye out for what these talented ladies will accomplish over the next season.

Audrey Dwyer has been working as a theatre artist for over ten years. Recent theatre work includes Studio 180's The Overwhelming, Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park, Obsidian Theatre's Black Medea, Mirvish/MTC's Medea. Television and Film Work credits include Da Kink in My Hair, The Ron James Show, The State Within, Man of the Year and Atom Egoyan's Where The Truth Lies. Audrey was the Associate Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, is a Dora-Nominated director for Darrah Teitel's The Apology and is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Andrea Scott was raised in London, Ontario and knew she wanted to be an actor when she saw Philip Akin in A Warm Wind in China at the Grand Theatre in 1989. She moved to Toronto in 1991 to study theatre and drama studies at the University of Toronto where she received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in 1997. Within a few years she had played parts in productions at Buddies in Bad Times (The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told), Theatre Passe Muraille (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf), CanStage (Omnium Gatherum), Factory Theatre (who knew grannie), Manitoba Theatre for Young People (Kindness) and travelled Canada & the US in shows for Roseneath Theatre in Smokescreen and Danny, King of the Basement. Most recent productions have been The Nile in the Toronto Fringe Festival and The Remarkable Flight of Marnie McPhee with Carousel Players. Andrea is looking forward to the exciting challenges that being in the Obsidian Playwrights Unit will bring.

Meghan is a Toronto born and raised actor/writer. She has written and performed in Who the Hell is

Eleanor? at Hysteria festival (2007) and rock.paper.sistahz festival ( 2008, 2010). Meghan had a staged

reading of her first full length play, little sara aka the clicking venus at the Groundswell festival ( 2011) , after

developing it for a year in Nightwood Theatre's Write from the Hip program. Last year she completed the rAiz’n ensemble training program with b current. Meghan graduated from the University of Windsor and holds a BFA in acting. Some theatre credits include: wise. woman (b current), Half Life (BFCF/ Rose Theatre), The rAiz'n Beauty Project (rps 9 and Waves festival/ Luminato 2010), Tough! (Magnetic North 2010), Radiance (b current), Bullet for Adolf ( Hart House), Tout Comme Elle ( Necessary Angel/Luminato 2011) and The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination (Birdtown and Swanville /Summerworks 2011).

Sampling Along

2011-10-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

A very nice post by Thomas Garvey at The Hub Review about the whole idea around sampling.

Topdog Promo

2011-10-17T10:46:00.001-04:00

Porgy And Bess Bust up

2011-08-14T16:09:00.000-04:00

First came the article about the new revision to Porgy and Bess It Ain’t Necessarily ‘Porgy’.

Then the Sondheim Slag Down

A blogger says:

And a bit of a Non Response

The comments are truly interesting

Speed of Ideas - Part 3

2011-07-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

Sunday, July 24. Still reeling from the death of Amy Winehouse and the tragedies in Somalia and Norway. It feels weird to be getting on a bike and listen to actors talk about their work at Shaw. I’m wearing my straw hat and sunglasses on a borrowed bike and total strangers are saying good morning to me. “It’s a beautiful day”, they say. It really is. I smile.

Great actors talk about working at the Shaw. They seem grateful which does my heart good. Many of them have done more plays in five seasons than I’ve done in my twenty-eight year career. If I’d heard any complaints, I just may have become violent.

Michael Billington from The Guardian (since 1971!) gave his address. What an incredible man. His talk was about the relevance of plays by Shaw to our times. The man knows his business and it is clear that he has a tremendous respect for the practitioners of theatre. I wish certain Toronto theatre writers had been in the audience. My favourite moment was when asked about gender- and colour-blind casting. His answer: “Why not?”

The directing panel. I must admit that it wasn’t my favourite. Other people loved it but since I have never had any interest in directing, it didn’t do as much for me. I must say it was a shock to hear how disparaging Morris Panych was of Shaw’s work (“boring”, “couldn’t remember reading it” “I stole Newton’s cuts from his production”). He was sitting right next to Jackie Maxwell! He must have been kidding.

And lastly, Suzan-Lori Parks! Somehow Philip got away with opening the conversation by asking her about her childhood nickname ‘Ledgebutt.’ He completely disarmed her and they spoke like old friends for the rest of their (too brief) time together. Suzan-Lori said that she learned to embrace the name that she was called and grew to “own” that butt of hers. She learned of the eighteenth century African woman who had a condition known as steatopygia, resulting in her having a very large behind. She was put on display in Picadilly Circus and in Paris until she died in 1815. A more perfect story couldn’t have presented itself to Suzan-Lori and Hottentot Venus, the play was born.

There are so many things I could write about Suzan-Lori Parks. The first person who suggested she write for theatre was James Baldwin; Canadian writer Carol Shields is the subject of one of her 365 plays; she uses an egg timer and earplugs when writing; “there is much more leeway for colour-blind casting in classic plays than in new plays…” Everything out of her mouth was an inspiration. The day before, someone had mistaken me for her. I found it amusing at the time and, after the conversation with Philip, I was downright honoured.

She signed my book and posed for a picture with me. I told her that I was writing for opera and hoped that she’d catch its debut in Chicago next year. I really hope I’ll get to see her version of Porgy and Bess which is opening soon in New York.

What I hope for the most is that she gets to see Topdog/Underdog (which she wrote in three days!) at Shaw or at its remount at the Theatre Centre in Toronto. She has a healthy habit of letting plays go and moving on to the next project. I can’t help but think how pleased she would be to rediscover this brilliant work of hers under Philip’s great direction, the superb acting of Nigel and Kevin and Camellia Koo’s smart design.

It was a great weekend. On Monday morning, I was up and writing at 7:30. Did I mention that I have a project that I’m submitting to the Shaw? They might get it sooner than expected.

Wish me luck.

The Speed of Ideas - Part 2

2011-07-26T14:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday, July 23. I locked up the bike at the Court House Theatre and chatted with friends who had ventured to town to see Mr. Kushner including Andrea Scott (Who Knew Granny?); Robert Chafe (Tempting Providence); Aaron Willis and Julie Tepperman (Yichud); Barbara FIngerote (uber Toronto theatre fan) and Keira Loughren (New Play Development Coordinator, Stratford Festival).

Kushner was as intelligent, witty and passionate as one would expect and then some. On top of that he made his book signing a personal experience for everyone in line. Firstly, he didn’t sit at the table provided. There was no barrier between him and each person with whom he spoke. When he looked me right in my eye and told me it was nice to meet me, I believed him. I told him that what I loved about Angels in America was that he invited so many different people to be in it. He knew that what I meant was that he could have written exclusively from the Gay, Jewish, New York perspectives and that would have been fine but he included so much more. He asked me about my career and we talked about Jamaica. He said he would remember my name. It will be my goal to make sure that he doesn’t have to remember it; that it’ll just keep popping up because of my renewed zeal for writing, acting and promoting myself. He caught me so off guard that I didn’t get the chance to tell him that I was staying with the producer of the upcoming Toronto production of Caroline, or Change. Nor did I get to compliment him on his beautiful fountain pen. Philip, who appreciates and collects such things was very disappointed that I could tell him if it was a Waterman or Montblanc. Hey, I was meeting Tony Kushner. I’m lucky I didn’t pass out or say something stupid.

Lunch with Barbara FIngerote and her friend, Larry. Then ice cream and on to the Studio Theatre where Michael Healey talked about adapting On the Rocks (“I make sure to leave out the apostrophes just like Shaw did”) and John Murrell talked about his ongoing adaptation of Geneva (“I put in the apostrophes.”). Joanna Falck did a great job of keeping them on topic and fielding questions from the audience.

Later, Jackie Maxwell moderated the Reviving the Female Voice panel with Linda Griffiths, Ann-Marie MacDonald and Alisa Palmer. I was Chair of the Women’s Caucus of Playwrights Guild of Canada from 2006 – 10 so I was just the choir being preached to. But, I do give high praise to Jackie for uncovering so many lost or forgotten plays by women from Shaw’s time and commissioning current female playwrights to adapt older work such as Morwyn Brebner and the Lunch time hit The President (Molnar); Kevin Hanchard’s other play.

The Speed of Ideas Part 1

2011-07-26T14:28:00.000-04:00

The Speed of Ideas: Shaw Festival Takes Bold Steps to Catch up with its Namesake

By Marcia Johnson

I have just returned from an exhilarating weekend at the Shaw Festival. Those words would lead you to believe that I was referring to seeing great theatre. Well, that is true. I did see Heartbreak House and On the Rocks (both by Shaw) and I also saw Pulitzer prize winner Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Obsidian’s own Philip Akin. It was a two-hander cast with dream team Kevin Hanchard and Nigel Shawn Williams.

OK, I have to back up. The main reason for my visit was to take in The Speed of Ideas: A Theatrical Forum. The weekend event was held in celebration of Shaw Festival’s fiftieth anniversary season. The idea behind it was to celebrate the forward thinking of the festival’s namesake. George Bernard Shaw caused many a controversy in his day with plays touching on subjects that were not deemed suitable for polite society. Heartbreak House, which I had also seen in 1985 (both productions directed by Christopher Newton) is, among other things, a harsh view of England’s participation in the First World War. The comedy On the Rocks, in a new adaptation by Michael Healey is a scathing comic criticism of the British Prime Minister and his seeming ignorance and apathy toward the unemployed. Both plays were debuted uncomfortably close to the very events that inspired them.

Shaw was not afraid of ruffling feathers or pushing boundaries. But, can the same be said of the Festival that bears his name? Many would say no but there have been promising changes over the years. For many years, only plays written by Shaw or within his lifetime (1856 – 1950) were produced at the Festival. In 2000, the mandate was expanded to include plays written about that period of time, opening the door for original Canadian plays like Coronation Voyage by Michel Marc Bouchard. Most recently, the festival has invited plays that possess the spirit of “out of the box” thinking and social provocation that Shaw’s plays do. Enter Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks in the new Studio Theatre. The play, set in a rooming house, follows the complex relationship of two brothers living on the margins. We’ve come a long way since “Salute to Shaw” at the Court House Theatre in 1962.

But, I’m supposed to be talking about The Speed of Ideas. It began and ended with two Pulitzer-prize winning playwrights, Tony Kushner (Angels in America; Caroline, or Change) and Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog; Hottentot Venus). Between these two interviews were the panels: Inspired by Shaw, adapting Shaw for modern audiences; Reviving the Female Voice, the growing presence of plays by and about women at Shaw; Supermen/Superwomen, Festival ensemble members talk about acting in Shaw’s plays; a keynote address from The Guardian theatre critic, Michael Billington and Directing Shaw (which is exactly what it sounds like).

The big draw for me was the two playwrights. Angels in America is one of my favourite plays and I have been in awe of Suzan-Lori Parks ever since I found out about her writing a play a day over the course of a year (365 Days/365 Plays).

In the spirit of celebrating Shaw’s boundary-pushing ways and the inspiration that I received from hearing and meeting those two fabulous playwrights, I will now write a stream of consciousness essay to encapsulate my visit. I hope it makes sense.

July 21, catch the GO train to Burlington, switch to a GO bus and get off at St. Catharines. It is 38 degrees Celsius in Toronto. Is it supposed to be cooler here? It doesn’t feel like it. I push through the hot sticky air hop into a cab to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The luck continues because the driver, like me listens to CBC Radio and I happen to catch ALL of Paul Kennedy’s documentary on Marshall McLuhan. My favourite moment? McLuhan’s joke, Zeus says to Narcissus: “Watch yourself.”

This is my first time at the Studio Theatre which is nestled in behind the Festival Theatre. My date is Shaw Literary Manager, Joanna Falck. We are both blown away by the performance. At only the third preview, it is in excellent shape.

Philip Akin is my host for the weekend. That evening, Kevin Hanchard comes over with a box of chocolates and the two of us are treated to a wonderful home cooked meal. We catch up, laugh and gossi- ahem, talk about our work. What a great start.

Friday, July 22. Philip loans me a bicycle so that I can get around. It’s the first time I’ve been on a bike in seven years but it comes back to me eventually and Niagara-on-the-Lake is a perfect place for cycling. I see the matinee of Heartbreak House and happen to sit next to my former colleague Susan Feldman, producer of CBC Radio’s Writers and Company with Eleanor Wachtel. She had also seen the 1985 production and we both compared notes on what we remembered and liked from it. We were both impressed by this current production especially once Act Two began and the woman who had coughed all the way through Act One hadn’t returned.

Afterwards, I bought fudge and jam (it’s the law) and rode back “home”. I had the place to myself for the rest of the trip as Philip went back to Toronto and would come back in time for his interview on Sunday with Ms Parks.

Interns

2011-07-22T16:50:00.000-04:00

There is an interesting article in the Moneyville section of the Toronto Star. As many of you may know I am adamantly opposed to unpaid internships especially those that seem to abound in theatre. And yes, I have heard all the rationalizations but the truth is that for many interns they are doing work that is a value add for the theatre company and they deserve to have that rewarded in a tangible financial manner. Even if they are not taking a job away from someone else usually the company touts their internship opportunities to the various levels of government to argue their case for more money because of their community outreach and yet that money does not flow to the interns.
Enough I say. If you can't afford it then don't do it.

Nomination Day

2011-06-07T17:34:00.001-04:00

So a really huge day for us what with nominations for our 2010-2011 Season. Where to start....ok....first up the newly announced Toronto Theatre Critic's Award that gave a Best Actress Award to Yanna McIntosh for her performance of Mama Nadi in Ruined

Full Listings: Toronto Sun, The Star. The Globe and Mail

Dora Award Nominees:Full List

Some bragging just cause: Yanna McIntosh - Outstanding Performance Nominee, Sterling Jarvis - Outstanding Performance Nominee, Ruined - Outstanding Production Nominee, Philip Akin - Outstanding Direction Nominee (Obsidian Theatre in association with Nightwood Theatre)

And in Edmonton the Sterling Awards: Tamara Marie Kucheran - Outstanding Costume Design - Intimate Apparel (Obsidian Theatre presented by The Citadel Theatre)

A big, big shout out to all the nominees.

Working with Words and Shakespeare - Andrea Scott

2011-04-06T11:45:00.001-04:00

As befits any actor worth their salt I have a tidy library comprised of the usual suspects such as Ibsen, Aeschylus, Miller, Shaw and Strindberg among many others; I also have 14 of the 38 plays written by England’s national poet, William Shakespeare. However, in the last year if my agent called me with an audition requiring the memorization of a Shakespearean monologue my mind would race in to find an excuse to get out of it. The Bard puts the fear of God in me and I’ve felt like a lesser actor because of it. So for 2011 I made a pledge to myself to focus on mastering the fear of the iambic pentameter. To do this I refused to audition for any Shakespeare until I could walk into a room and throw down with absolute confidence.

Of course life has other plans for us and 24 hours after I touched down in Toronto after being away for 3 months my agent called me with a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ audition to be prepared for the following week. I’d already turned down one Shakespeare audition this year and knew I couldn’t do it again less than one month later so I accepted and panicked.

Well, before you can say deus ex machine I get a special invite from Obsidian Theatre via email the next day to participate in the Stratford hosted ‘Working with Words and Shakespeare’ workshop taking place on April 1 & 2. So, maybe there is something to that book, ‘The Secret’….

Fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company, Native Earth Performing Arts, New Harlem Productions and Obsidian Theatre Company had been asked to recommend 5 actors for the workshop so walking into the Harbourfront Community Centre Dance studio on the Friday night brought me face to face with some of the best and brightest actors in Toronto. Greeted warmly by vocal and text coaches Janine Pearson and Kennedy Cathy MacKinnon as soon as the workshop started was a great start since I was intimidated by the sight of all those actors I did not know.

We weren’t told anything about what were going to do exactly so in my mind I was thinking. ‘when do we get to the words? I need to fix my word problem!’ We’d been asked to bring a yoga mat, a bottle of water and dress in stretchy clothing so I knew floor work would be integral. We were asked to introduce ourselves and talk about why we were in the workshop. I was heartened to hear others say they too were intimidated by Shakespeare and one actor in particular admitted that he flat out refused Shakespeare auditions when submitted by his agent out of crippling fear. I was among friends.

The next two days were about connecting to ourselves by listening to our bodies, breathing mindfully and padding around the room until we could barely hear our feet hitting the ground. Tense shoulders eventually fell, breathing slowed and rolldowns were plentiful. The ground will always reach up and support you, Janine said. Take the words and roll them around in your mouth, really say the words, breathe the words. In his time Shakespeare had a personal vocabulary of 30, 000 words and now we individuals have about 19, 000; we can’t be expected to know every single word in the Folio.

Instead of memorizing we should be ‘learning by heart’ since memorizing does not include knowing the tenor of the lines. Standing in the middle of a cold room for an audition declaiming like Geilgud in Hamlet is the image and sound quite a few of us had in our mind and roundly rejected. But rejecting that image left us with a void since we didn’t know the ‘right’ way to ‘do’ Shakespeare. By helping us relax and loosen our bodies Cathy and Janine gave us one of the most important tools to ‘do’ Shakespeare right: ourselves.

Two hours before the end of the workshop we were handed Sonnet 60. Throughout our breathing exercises Janine had been feeding us morsels of the sonnet, a word here and a phrase there, to get us familiar with absorbing the text. On one side of the page the sonnet was written like a paragraph. The other side had it laid out as you would see it in a book of sonnets with the ‘proper’ punctuation. Truth be told, I preferred the paragraph since the breathing wasn’t imposed. Punctuation can vary depending on whether it is an Arden, a Penguin or Signet publication so just read the text and ignore the commas and semi-colons.

Sometimes Shakespeare can seem like another language and I was aware that a two day workshop wouldn’t fix all of my problems. However, I did walk out of the room feeling more comfortable with myself in the language rather than with the language. The source of the problem was a disconnect from the words in my person. I am now cognizant on how to integrate the words with myself. Thank you Stratford, Janine, Cathy and Obsidian; R & J here I come.

Andrea Scott

Panzi Wrap to Date

2011-02-16T16:49:00.001-05:00

At the end of every performance of Ruined Yanna McIntosh did an appeal for donations for the Panzi Hospital in the DRC. This hospital specializes in providing treatment of the survivors of sexual violence and surgical repair for women suffering from fistulas of the urogenital tract.

A years stay at the hospital cost $450 and I am proud to say that our audiences responded with a whopping $32,524.53. That coupled with Obsidian's previous bake sales puts us at a current total of $34,446.53 which equals support of 76.5 women.

I know from the phone calls that have come in that there are also many more people who are donating to the Fistula Foundation, which oversees the Panzi Hospital, directly.

Now how absolutely AMAZING is that. The support from the audiences was spectacular but I also want to mention the bartenders at the venue who, a number of times, put their tips into the collection box.

The play is so, so special but this fundraising drive is truly one of the best put-a-smile-on-your face and a spring-in-your step kind of news.

We are all pretty pumped over here.

Ruined Wrap

2011-02-16T16:09:00.000-05:00

REVIEWS

THE TORONTO STAR

Theatre review: ‘Ruined’ is, in a word, magnificent

"this is one of the most powerful pieces of theatre you are likely to come

across in many months of theatergoing

THEGLOBE AND MAIL

Ruined: An earthquake of acting that will shake you

THE TORONTO SUN
Congo war play 'Ruined' memorable

THEATROMANIA

Lynn Nottage’s devastating play is a life-changing theatrical experience

And in the end we had a truly amazing production that was a great culmination of the last 3 years. I have come to understand that I am a completionist. In other words I can't really enjoy something until it is done and wrapped up.

I think that is why when I was asked what was the best part of the closing night I replied "sitting on the stool in the restaurant" It was only then that I really was able to unwind and acknowledge what a fine piece of theatre we had created.

So big, big props to the Obsidian staff,cast, crew, design team, Canadian Stage and the folks over at Nightwood.

Thank you

Philip

Ruined Poster Spotting

2011-01-14T23:41:00.000-05:00

Ruined Poster spotting. Send me your pics and I will put them up.

Gina Wilkinson / Peter Donaldson

2011-01-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Gina Wilkinson

I never had a chance to work with Gina but we always had a chat when she came by our agent's office. Always a delight and always with a fabulous smile.

Peter Donaldson

Peter and I only worked together once years ago in a production of Souvenirs at Theatre Calgary. He never once laughed at me when I had to make my second act entrance dripping from head to toe in stage blood. I truly admired that since I would have laughed at me. He was a wonderful man.

Harry J. Lennix at ASU

2011-01-06T22:02:00.002-05:00

Here is a pretty interesting clip of Harry Lennix and some of his thoughts on being a black actor. It is interesting, provocative and compelling because this is not the kind of conversation that we in Canada have. If you have thoughts on his thoughts then comment away. If you have lots of thoughts then send them to me and I will post them.

"Acting While Black" A Conversation with Harry J. Lennix. from ASU English on Vimeo.

Domini Blythe 1947-2010

2010-12-18T21:27:00.001-05:00

Toronto Star Obit

PlayBill Obit

What can I say. She was lovely. She was supremely talented. She was the devastatingly beautiful woman I got to work with in my first professional job.

We all played poker one night. She would always say something like "Darling I am so sorry that four of a kind beat your two pair" and take all my money.
I never minded because she was Domini Blythe.

I asked her once why she kept a couple of hundred dollars in her passport. And why she kept her passport with her all the time. She said "Darling you never know when you might have to run for the airport."

The story is told that while at the Citadel Theatre Lorraine Price's young son asked her why she said "Darling" all the time. Domini replied "Well Darling, it's because I'm affected."

I had not seen her for years but I will miss her.

One Actor's Choice

2010-12-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

Sabryn getting her hair in shape for Ruined.

You Need This

2010-12-08T17:36:00.000-05:00

Shamelessly stolen from the Angry White Guy in Chicago blog a truly great article by Stephen Downes.

Things you really need to learn.

The Future?

2010-12-02T22:25:00.001-05:00

Ok, just go and read this from the Globe & Mail: Canadians are no longer giving to charities as they once did

and after that sit back and consider the future of your theatre company and all those nights that you have sat in a bar and dissed the blue rinse set.

Maybe we should stop and think about the future of theatre. Maybe we should consider that Rob Ford the new Toronto mayor suggest we look to the private sector for funding. Maybe we should consider that elephant grey is not the best colour for a living room.

Post Past

2010-11-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

So I have heard of Post Modern and Post Modernism.
I have heard of Post-Realism and even of Post Racial .
But I have come to the conclusion that I am now Post Past. As in Post the Past. This came clearly into focus for me at the Prismatic conference where the split in thought was most clear. There are some people who still feel defined by what has gone on historically and there are some who have put that knowledge into a secondary or tertiary position and have other objectives as they move forward. I am really not one to deny folks what they need to do but for myself and Obsidian I am really trying to look forward instead of back.

Here is a very handy fellow. Used to be a god in fact.

So Janus for whom the month of January is named after is depicted both looking backward into the past and forward into the future at the same time. Kind of like the original "this door swings both ways" But I digress.

It seems to me that being focused in just one direction contains the seeds of problems just waiting to be born. Thus I am attempting to be Post Past where, while cognizant of the past, I am now directing my energies towards the future and spending more time on the creation of the art that I believe in as opposed to countless hours trying to un-stack the deck of the current funding modalities.

Until the reality of the changing demographics smack the Euro-based theatres square in the face nothing will change.

Until the councils move their funding models away from giving the lion's share of funding to the anchor / venue based organizations nothing will change. So be it.

I may not be able to effect that change but I can do the best of all work so that the quality of what we do is unquestioned.

Instead of trying to force our work into venues that don't understand it I am concentrating on our work in the sure and certain knowledge that what we do will be desirable, prepared and compelling in both its quality and scope.

I want history to colour my cloak but not my glasses.

Thursday Break

2010-11-18T13:41:00.001-05:00

Drag Queens and Epictetus In Defense of Leaving at Intermission

Ten Things Theaters Need to Do Right Now to Save Themselves

This end of week break brought to you by The Stranger

Dear Don Rubin

2010-11-17T16:04:00.011-05:00

Further to the last post regarding Non-Traditional Casting and Criticism I have received permission from Tony Nardi to post this email.

Dear Don Rubin,

I just heard about your event at Tarragon Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 21, to debate the subject of “Non-Traditional Casting and Criticism.” I hope I can make it. I hope Rocco Galati (Constitutional lawyer and producer of the filmed version of "Two Letters... And Counting!") can make it, as well.
It's too bad I wasn't informed earlier about this panel. Given the subject of Letter Two, which specifically takes issue with cultural stereotyping by critics, directors, actors (even those from non-Anglo and non-Franco
backgrounds), and from a centuries-old infestation of colonial mindsetting, it would have been interesting to be a part of it.
I confess, I find "Non-Traditional Casting and Criticism" problematic. It presumes that there exists a normal, standard position, set by a casting God, and another standard that deviates form the norm, and, that there are
people who are "like this", 'this tight' with the casting God and could define normal for all the others. Is casting a white Canadian male as Treplev or Trigorin with a phony affected English accent considered traditional (normal) casting in

Canada

? The answer is ‘yes’. Has been ‘yes’ for many years.

Is it traditional (normal) for white Canadian actors to slap a phony English accent on almost every role in any classic of world theatre in translations published by Penguin? Yes. It has always been ‘yes’. We have a history of a (white) Canadian theatre scene that has, for the most part and consistently, been pathologically inauthentic and therefore largely irrelevant. Even Domiano Pietropaolo’s translation of Pirandello’s Six Characters … was
performed (on stage and on CBC radio) with stiff upper lip English accents by Shaw Festival actors, and, it
was directed by an east-European director.

We have a Playwrights Canada Press that has refused to publish Canadian plays written (and produced professionally) in languages other than English and then refuses to publish the plays once they have been translated into English. This practice, according to many English Canadians, is okay. It’s the norm. It’s the tradition.

I did some research two years ago. Eighty percent of the plays performed yearly in Ontario (professional or amateur) are classics or hits from the English or American repertoire. That, too, is traditional. This, of
course, wouldn’t make sense to the Group of Seven. It wouldn’t have made sense to Tyrone Guthrie, either, when he left Stratford in the late 1950s with the parting words that no theatre culture in

Canada

could thrive
would thrive, or become vital and relevant, unless the theatre artists reflected the landscape, the ‘climate’, and the people with whom they shared both.

The problem is tribal. Cultural. Non-traditional casting sidesteps the issue. Because the issue is tribal, cultural, and political and no one wants to touch it. Like with education. Could you imagine a Canadian politician
going on television and telling

Canada

that the government in Ontario violated the 1867 constitution for decades by taxing illegally those who sent their children to Catholic schools? The constitution guaranteed public
schooling across

Canada

for those attending both protestant (public) and catholic (separate) schools. So how about we give the millions of dollars back to those immigrants or French Canadians living in Ontario all those
years right up to the mid 1970s?

It's tribal.

In the mid 1970s Canadian author Neil Bissoondath was assigned to York University’s Bethune College (an institution devoted to Third World Studies), though his major was in French language and literature. He should
have been sent to bilingual Glendon College. What happened? He was a recent immigrant from a Third World country (Trinidad). His adviser assumed he would be most comfortable in an environment of mainly non-whites. Mr. Bissondath in his 1994 book Selling Illusions partly excused the custom (in classic Oreo cookie fashion) by saying “the concept of ‘sticking with your own’ was just then in vogue at York.”

Apparently, we don’t have the same problem today, he and others argue. Yet, a January 12, 2009 Toronto STAR headline read: Study (done at York University) Shows High Tolerance For Racism. The racial slurs that were encouraged, excused or totally ignored - daily - at the university apparently shocked many.

And that’s at a university, your university, where, in a 30-year span, since Bissondath’s graduation, society’s more ‘enlightened’ have apparently been gathering, learning and hashing out progressive, non-traditional-casting ideas.

A flat tire cannot be changed when the car is travelling at 100 miles an hour. Impossible. The bi-cultural

Canada

wheels with the multicultural paint job speeds down the highway with a couple of flat tires, but the car radio yahoos at full volume.

Canada

’s nationhood is (still) predicated on cultural privilege (cultural background). Those belonging to the so-called two founding nations have entitlement. The others are on the outside looking in, even when they’re in
looking out.

Why are the two “founding nations” excluded from the list that defines multicultural

Canada

? Why do we have a bi-cultural

Canada

for the two founding nations and a multicultural

Canada

for all the others?

I agree with these words by author Pat Duffy Hutcheon, though I do not agree with his proposed solutions.

“

Canada

has been applauded as the first immigrant country to become thoroughly pluralistic -- in guiding philosophy as well as the obvious fact of an ethnically diverse population. However, I intend to argue that the
actual situation is much more ambiguous and complex, and that the earlier vision driving the country has altered drastically and rapidly over the past several decades until, today, it seems to many Canadians that we have
arrived at a place envisioned by very few and sought by no one. In the vague hope of achieving an intercultural society with room for all-comers, we appear to have been propelled from the dark vision of two non-communicating founding nations within one country through a failed attempt at an inclusive biculturalism. In the process, we have seen our long-time vision of equal opportunity for individuals within an integrated intercultural nation change drastically to what looks suspiciously like one of race-based apartheid in a mere geographical territory housing a multitude of isolated ethnic groupings. A look at the course of this revolution may prove enlightening….A successful pluralist culture is one that is continuously enriched and altered by innovation from within, and by the subcultures being carried into it by immigrants.”

Well, we’re nowhere close.

Here's some logic that derails.

“In fact, most new Canadians have chosen to come to

Canada

precisely because of their perceptions of what our culture, as a whole, represents. The attribute most often mentioned is our internationalist outlook: an outlook precisely opposite to that fostered in the sheltered subcultural enclave. Most immigrants do not want a replica of what they left behind. Least of all do most of them desire a re-playing, in a new setting, of the old religious conflicts, caste rules and blood feuds that they were trying to escape.”

If this is true, why should new Canadians leave their cultural baggage at customs while the “old” (English) Canadians (those who were here first) still cling to their inauthentic Victorian and pre-Victorian pasts?
Last I checked

Canada

’s flagships theatres were still the Shaw and Stratford festivals. Is this not pathology? And has pathology not become the norm, the standard? And we are using this standard (interesting and telling than anyone would think it IS a worthy standard) to gauge how to include (position) non-Anglo and non-Franco Canadians within in this bi-cultural, Anglo-Franco, Plains-Of-Abraham tribal nightmare?

I wish Douglas Campbell were alive. He would be a much-needed tonic at any roundtable on theatre and non-traditional casting. I wish Nathan Cohen were alive. I quoted him in Letter Two. And Douglas moderated Letter Two at Espace Libre shortly before he died.

As for the following question taken from the release:

“Could critics and audiences, for example, accept the notion of a female Hamlet or a female Lear?”

What year are we in? Is this a serious question?

Did Sara BERNHARDT not play the title role of Hamlet in 1899? Did she play it in French with a stiff upper lip English accent, or in English with a pointu’ French accent? She travelled the

Americas

.

This is why no one takes theatre seriously. We entertain questions that often sound better in a parlour, with a gin tonic in hand, low lighting, and at about 2:00A.M.
Could you imagine doctors today holding conferences and discussing medical advancements introduced in 1899 as if they were just brought in today? Would those doctors not be helped to a straight jacket and a permanent visit to the Clark?

Here’s a word on Tony Howard”s book: Women as Hamlet: Performance and Interpretation in Theatre, Film and Fiction.

“Tony Howard’s lively and informative study draws our attention to the fact that the extensive history of Shakespeare’s most famous character includes an extraordinary and rather unexpected presence of women including, remarkably, the first Hamlet on film and, in all likelihood, the first Hamlet on the radio (1). Howard tells us that since the mid nineteenth century more than two hundred professional actresses across the globe have played the role of the procrastinating protagonist and his Women as Hamlet impressively examines a wide selection of those performances in the theatre and on film as well as looking to representations in other media including the visual arts and fiction. The project starts by situating some of the most famous female Hamlets among the number of en travesti roles on the professional stage. This includes, of course, Sarah Siddons in the
eighteenth century along with Charlotte Cushman and Sarah Bernhardt in the nineteenth.”

I could understand if the press release that came my way today had been written in the 1950s, just about the time that Tyrone Guthrie left Stratford and

Canada

. I cannot understand its content or context today. The problem is not with casting, traditional or non-traditional. The problem is with the tribal war being waged by

Canada

’s two founding nations, reserving a first class seat for themselves and bunks in cargo for all the others. It’s the 'mainstream' thinking (and those who have bought into it from all cultural backgrounds) that produces the results (theatre culture) we have. And if we do not think differently about our theatre, we won’t have one, or, if we do, it won’t mean much to most Canadians, which is just about where we are now ... where we have been for awhile.

Come to think of it perhaps we in the theatre - should all buy a comfortable coffin, like the famous coffin Sara Bernhardt apparently often slept in, in lieu of a bed, “claiming it helped her understand her many tragic roles”. Maybe we’ll have a better understanding of our Canadian reality if we slept in one of those comfy coffins. Our theatre, after all, is a string of mausoleums with bars and liquor.
By the time we leave the theatre we’re too drunk to discuss Peter Brook’s dead theatre and actually make fun of it, like we just invented the wheel, live theatre, and non-traditional casting.

BTW. Kamal was invited to moderate Letter Two in 2006 and 2007. He never
called back.

Sincerely,
Tony Nardi

edits: corrected typos and a couple of capitilizations

Oh...That Old Thing

2010-11-16T14:54:00.000-05:00

So I got this today: Event: Non-Traditional Casting and Criticism, Canadian Theatre Critics Association

and I thought...How nice. Another discussion about the relative merits of the Spider Phaeton

vs

the Cocking Cart

Sunday Quickies

2010-11-14T18:30:00.001-05:00

I hate the idea that this might be lurching our way as well.
Canary in the coal mine: Theatermaking gets scary in Hungary

To intermission or not to intermission?
Long Enough To Reach

Down that old road again.
Make your auditions more color inclusive

I'm still working on this one.
The magic and challenge of 'sunk costs'

I'm not sure I'm buying as original but maybe.
First US performance of Shakespeare in the original pronunciation

Ad Hoc Assembly

2010-11-09T11:27:00.001-05:00

The Ad Hoc Assembly is a loose coalition of aboriginal and culturally diverse arts organizations that have come together to re-define the working arts landscape.

AD HOC ASSEMBLY STATEMENT OF INTENT

The Ad Hoc Assembly is comprised of Aboriginal and culturally diverse companies and artists and other organizations that support their work. This group has joined together to create a new artistic working relationship between performing artists and organizations.

We are seeking a new model that will reflect the specific needs of the Aboriginal and culturally diverse artists and organizations; a new model that redefines the role of artists by empowering them with choices that reflect their own artistic desires.

a) Whereas the undersigned organizations have agreed to form a voluntary body representative of diverse performance creators in

Canada

b) Whereas we understand diversity to refer to ethno-cultural diversity, and also to diversity of form and practice; and we understand representation to be a broader and deeper issue than the engagement of diverse actors in ‘mainstream’ performance works.

c) Whereas there is a clear and present need to acknowledge diverse organizations as an integral voice in contemporary Canadian arts.

d) Whereas the current institutionalized ecology of Canadian performing arts is neither representative of, nor conducive to evolving practises in diverse performance creation and/or to classical practises outside of the European cultural context

e) Whereas the lack of access for diverse artists to the means of production makes it imperative that the institutionalized ecology of Canadian performing arts evolve to support, acknowledge and represent the breadth of professional practice in these contexts

f) Whereas this disenfranchisement / disempowerment is embodied in the fact that there is currently no accessible professional performance venue in

Canada

owned and operated by a diverse organization.

We hereby affirm the Ad Hoc Assembly’s intention to pursue change that will support and facilitate the growth and development of theatre in Canada by means that celebrate diverse artistic practises and promote respect for all artists.

It is declared that representation by members of the Ad Hoc Assembly in discussions and initiatives regarding diversity in Canadian theatre is absolutely essential for the inclusion of national diverse performance creating perspectives.

It is further understood that initiatives where Ad Hoc Assembly is not represented will fail to genuinely incorporate the interests of Canada’s diverse professional performance creators.

The Ad Hoc Assembly is committed to equity, fairness, artistic freedom, individual autonomy, collective effort and excellence in the performing arts. We welcome all initiatives and discussions that affirm these principles.

We undertake to ensure that diverse artists and arts practises are given voice and presence in the Canadian theatre ecology.

Signed as of November 3, 2010

Cahoots Theatre Company

Concrete Theatre

Debajehmujig- Storytellers

fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company

Full Circle: First Nations Performance

Native Earth Performing Arts

Neworld Theatre

Obsidian Theatre Company

Onelight Theatre

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal

Teesri Duniya Theatre

Theatre Archipelago

urban ink Production Society

Denis Simpson: November 1950 – October 22, 2010

2010-11-03T20:15:00.000-04:00

the Obit

Well what can I say. Denis was an old,old friend. He was always first in line to help when we needed a powerhouse entertainer for Obsidian.
We worked together years ago on the Colored Museum which was produced at the Tarragon Theatre. There is still a picture up of the cast in the theatre.
He was the guy with the biggest heart and the widest smile.
For years we would laugh about an Irie restaurant that managed to take the full hour of our meal break to make some veggies on rice. We would look at each other and with the biggest most exagerated Jamaican accent we would proclaim "But Waaaaiiiitt" and then laugh.

I wish someone could have just said to him the other day.....But Waaaiiit Denis.

Sunday Quickies

2010-09-19T19:32:00.000-04:00

The Obsidian 2010-2011 Season Brochure is now available online. Take a look at what's in store for the year.

Building "Real World" Relationships Online: Alan Cooke of Convio the money quote for me is: A lot of organizations are getting people's email addresses after they've attended one performance and then they get an email asking for, for example, a $150 donation. Marc Van Bree has made the point that that's like asking someone to marry you after the first date.

Some thoughts on how to Get That Grant

On Why It's Time To Listen (or a love letter to theatre bloggers)

Sunday Quickies on a Holiday Monday

2010-09-06T20:25:00.000-04:00

First up...kudos to Lynn Nottage for being one of the inaugural winners of the Horton Foote Prize

At the opening night of our production of Intimate Apparel {2008} Lynn told me that she didn't think her play Ruined would do very much because of the subject matter. Whoa was that ever a miss.

Via The Angry Deaf Guy in Atlanta comes talkbackr.com that comes complete with the following blurb

This is your chance to offer an informal, anonymous talkback/feedback mechanism for your audience members. Put the name of your event below, along with a contact email, and follow the instructions on the next page.

Best of all, it's ABSOLUTELY FREE!

This is a bit like the Constructive Criticism blog but a bit different.

Can cruise ships keep the theatre industry afloat?
Oh the mind boggles.

That's Gonna Leave a Bruise

2010-08-21T15:34:00.001-04:00

So as I was reading Kelly Nestruck in the Globe and Mail this morning I followed the links and ended up an hour later shaking my head. Thanks Kelly.

The link is this: So much drama!

Really, go, follow, be astounded and lose an hour of your life.

So a couple of thoughts. One great comment asked why this exchange would get national and international coverage but nary a word in the local papers. Just one of those crazy things I guess.

But this does give me the perfect opportunity to trot out a spectacularly new personal theory of mine. One that, alas, has no basis in scientific fact but one that I am positive about.

Like the deadly and dangerous effects of landfill gas or marsh gas I posit that modern society has left such a huge amount of rotting hubris laying about that as it decays it exudes clouds of low hanging stupid gas. When a usually rational person walks through a cloud of this gas they are instantly afflicted with Stupid Gas Syndrome that causes them to open their mouths {or write a comment, blog post etc} in the classic Ready, Fire, Aim manner.

The only way to actually redeem oneself in such a situation is to go someplace quiet, take deep cleansing breaths of fresh air, admit that you were stupid, apologize and move on.

Alas for many that never seems to happen.

P.S. Kelly closes his article with this. "In the meantime, Haslam’s delivered a lesson to all thin-skinned artists out there: Don’t Google yourself."

Back in the day that was called an "ego search" I have done a few of those myself albeit only when well fortified with suitable alcoholic beverages. Kelly has good advice. Just don't do it.

Abby Lincoln 1930-2010

2010-08-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

Here is the obit from the New York Times

I don't care what they say about her Marilyn dress this is still my favourite album cover.

Sunday Quickies

2010-08-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

Social Media and the Arts: A must read article from the Globe and Mail. I think I will come back to this one in a few days

Michael Kaiser's Arts in Crisis Tour

Rada cuts Alexander Technique classes and the crew is not happy

And finally.....the ummm joys of forced audience participation humiliation: Warning: You will be humiliated

Silver Ticket Award

2010-08-04T22:29:00.000-04:00

On June 28, 2010 I was honoured by receiving the Silver Ticket Award For an Outstanding Contribution to the Stage. I wanted to write about this earlier but I wanted to include the speech that I made but as I did not know beforehand that I was actually getting this award the speech was ex tempore and I wanted to make a transcript so that I could include it here. I have deleted the various pauses and ummms but here is what I said.

“You know I’m going to use this.

Thanks Marlene. I didn’t know and I didn’t have a speech.

35 years ago, almost to the month, I walked onto the stage at the Shaw Festival and said my first words as a professional actor. And on that stage were Teddy Atienza, Mary Savidge and Domini Blythe. I was playing the requisite slave in Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. I was fresh out of theatre school and the only person who was wearing less clothes on the stage than me was Domini Blythe. For a young man fresh out of the Ryerson Theatre School walking on stage to see Domini Blythe in a skirt and a necklace was like heaven.

Last year in the last performance that I played….oh the very first words I said at the Shaw Festival was..The Romans are in the courtyard.

Last year in Birdland’s production of the remount of the Last Days of Judas Iscariot I played Pontius Pilate and my first words were… Your Honor I have a 2 o’clock tee time. Can I go now?

And so I went from slave to Roman in 35 years.

It’s been an interesting 35 years. You know, you can’t sharpen a knife with cotton batton. And you can’t get rigorous artistic ideas without a really strong intellectual and artistic challenge. You need granite to sharpen and so tonight, for this award, I would like to thank not only the people who have been dear friends and supporters and artistic collaborators but I would like to thank all those who don’t like me.

Who have fought…I don’t know if David Ferry is in the house. David and I, were years ago, almost came to blows over dinner one night. And I respect him to this day as a man of great intellectual vigour.

And to all those people I have not agreed with or who have not agreed with me, who have challenged and we fought and we struggled and everything we have done is to make this a better community, to make this a better art. To make theatre something that is powerful and living and necessary.

Because without art we have no soul and without a soul we have nothing.

And so I welcome this award and I thank everybody for this award because I want to keep going to theatre. I want to keep seeing those intellectual ideas. I want to keep seeing those artistic challenges. To not only challenge me but to challenge everybody else.

Thank you so very much."

Sunday Quickies

2010-07-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

Three interesting posts on theatre philosophies: What's so wrong with proscenium arch theatre?, Noises off: What's the difference between performance art and theatre?, Theater Talkback: Doing Your Homework.

When the living playwright writes about the living then things can get a little interesting. The Play on Madoff, Without Wiesel

The ever popular continuing debate on theatre tweeting: Tweeting At the Theatre

Finally: Two by Wendy Rosenfield: ATCA 2010: Onward Christian Bloggers and Seven Minutes in Hell

Sunday Quickies

2010-07-18T21:56:00.000-04:00

Starting off with what I like to call Theatre for the Bears: Theater Talkback: Facing the Elements

and then moving right on to the the filthy lucre of We cannot offset arts cuts, say philanthropists

and then to women in the arts: Much ado about women: Modern-day reading or distortion?

and Black Pioneers: Stanley E. Williams left major mark in theater

and finally to From South Africa's townships to the opera house

Sunday Quickies

2010-07-04T21:40:00.000-04:00

Lynn Nottage hosts a party to Forge a Festival for Black Playwrights and the Harlem Stage attacks a hefty deficit by expanding their programming and having it work. A Harlem Arts Group Exhales

In the ongoing story of subsidiary rights a new round has been won. NYMF Bows to Dramatists Guild

And a couple of articles that are not perhaps theatre related but some interesting food for thought.

Why Copyright

Out of Line

Sunday Quickies

2010-06-27T13:15:00.000-04:00

A new project here in Toronto is Hub Theatre's "Constructive Critcism" Project. I will be keeping an eye on this and hopefully adding some comments as things get moving. I hope it doesn't go the way of the ill fated "Review the Reviewer" blog that vanished quietly one night.

And speaking of reviews...well this review by Wendy Rosenfield of "Love Jerry" (Nice People Theatre) sure has the Phillie scene going crazy. Really, follow the links and see how polarized this discussion has become.

Nalaga'at Theatre has a pretty interesting play called Not by Bread Alone that is performed by deaf-blind actors. A very interesting piece from all accounts.

The Arena Stage is doing something a bit different by putting playwrights on the payroll as employees and The Guardian wonders if Drama Courses are Rubbish.

Office Move #1

2010-06-26T11:31:00.000-04:00

The new office space as it slowly goes from empty to full. There is a small back room as well which is not pictured. As you can see there are windows all along the west and north sides which does make for some cooling issues in the summer as we cannot do window mounted air conditioners. But it is a bright, bright space in a funky building and I think it will serve us well. I will picture update as I can.

Oh yeah....I know the curtains are guy-ish but it was only Michael and I in the room at the time.

Dora #1

2010-06-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

So the latest round of throw mud on the wall and see what sticks regarding this year's Dora awards is in full swing. Here are the articles in some kind of order. The comments have the vested interests pros and cons.

Ouzounian - The Star #1
Ouzounian - The Star #2
Tapa Communique
Nestruck - G&M - Blog
Mooney on Theatre - I made a comment so you can see some of my thoughts there.

Full disclosure: I have been a TAPA Board Member for the last 5 years and am Chair of the Dora Re-Design Committee. You can only imagine the shrieks that will be heard when a new statue appears.

Update

2010-06-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

Well it has been a somewhat crazy six weeks. What with all the ongoing prep for next year, finding an office space, losing said office space, finding another better space, moving in and the creme de la creme, a cervical laminectomy. You can look at the link if you want. For myself I had it done and I am just trying to forget.

Thus the long winded lamentation regarding lack of posting. I will be attempting to remedy that over the next few days as I have actually had time to think about things instead of just be reactive.

Thanks for hanging in.

Sunday Quickies

2010-04-11T23:10:00.002-04:00

It's an interesting thing about previews. I believe in them fully and always schedule at least 4 before an opening but I sometimes wonder at the "get it open so we can make some real money" mentality that truly seems to place the quality of the work in second place.
We have found ourselves bound into a format of 3 weeks rehearsal, jam in tech week {what a misnomer that is} into really about 4 days and then into previews and fall face forward into "community opening" then opening opening { the real one since the critics are invited.} They may not show up but one can always hope.
This is a pretty wacked system. It sacrifices artistic growth to a nebulous ideal of maximizing revenues.
I have been working to push budgets to give Obsidian 4 weeks before tech but that also presents some interesting challenges. We are all somewhat trained to the 3 week model and I don't know if either actors or directors truly know how to expand the process to richly fill 4 weeks.
Anyway this is all a bit of a segue into

Are preview performances worth it?

My rant and the link don't match up too much but hey, you take the road as it comes open.

Something that has been long done here and is a continuing source of very, very slow progress between the indie arts community and Equity.
Artists are doing it for themselves

Is Stephen Sondheim the Shakespeare of musical theatre?

'nuff said.

Late breaking addition: All-too-fleeting pleasure of the Actors Company

Writing About Africans

2010-04-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

When writing about Africans:

"Broad brushstrokes throughout are good. Avoid having the African characters laugh, or struggle to educate their kids, or just make do in mundane circumstances. Have them illuminate something about Europe or America in Africa. African characters should be colourful, exotic, larger than life—but empty inside, with no dialogue, no conflicts or resolutions in their stories, no depth or quirks to confuse the cause."

Read more of How to Write about Africa

h/t 99 & Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ruined Blog

2010-03-31T21:02:00.000-04:00

If you look over at the blogroll you will see a new blog called Ruined. It is a research and information site for the creative team and cast of our production of Ruined. There will be links, pics and embeds etc but mostly it will be a way to package a lot of information about the Congo so that we can have a shared basic understanding of the world we are going to be living in.

If you find anything that you think might be of interest please send it on to me and I will get it up.

So for those of you who like to follow a process all the way through from pictures on line to sitting through the performance, the Ruined Blog will be a place for you to check in on.

who knew grannie: a dub aria...last week

2010-03-29T17:59:00.005-04:00

Miranda Edwards

The cast with Ordena in the centre

Andrea Scott, Marcel Stewart, Joseph Pierre, Ordena, Miranda Edwards

Amina Alfred

all photos by Nicola Betts

World Theatre Day

2010-03-28T21:10:00.004-04:00

A particularly stunning message for World Theatre Day by Lynn Nottage. I love where she says "I challenge all of us to sustain the complexity of our world" as this is a re-statement of what was said to her by a Rwandan refugee.

Sunday Quickies

2010-03-28T19:49:00.003-04:00

At long last the return of the Sunday Quickies.

So to start off an interesting coupling of sounds: Just What Ahk-Sent Is That Onstage? and Accent Speaks Louder Than Race for Finding Friends

There is something intriguing about this as it has often been said that like hires like. But if accent is a stronger binding factor then shouldn't we be seeing more mixed hiring if people sound the same?

If you don't shy away from The Messiness Ghetto and you Want to be a theatre director? then maybe you will reach The Mountaintop pulls off shock win at Olivier Awards

A bit of lighter fare in How to fake tattoos for the stage and the Roundabout Theater changes course with playwrights

Finally an Obsidian salute to Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti: 'I'm not scared'

2010/11 Season Announcement

2010-03-24T13:43:00.004-04:00

OBSIDIAN THEATRE COMPANY

For Immediate Release:
March 24, 2010

New addition to the 2010/2011 Season:
Citadel Theatre Company (Edmonton) presents Obsidian’s touring production of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, October 2010.
-Dora Award-winner Raven Dauda, Kevin Hanchard and Alex Poch Goldin star

**** (out of 4) TORONTO STAR

“It's work not only of star quality, but of profound spiritual beauty as well.”

“Intimate Apparel is one of those productions so perfect in every way, it's hard to praise properly. It's better to say that you simply have to see it.” R. Ouzounian, TORONTO STAR

Edmonton, AB (October 2-24, 2010)- Citadel Theatre Company presents the touring production of Obsidian Theatre’s acclaimed production of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright Lynn Nottage. A turn-of-the-century love story set in New York, the production reunites director Philip Akin with original Canadian cast members and creative team. Intimate Apparel runs October 2-24, 2010 at the Shocter Theatre, and tickets are available in person, by phone (780) 425-1820 or online at www.citadeltheatre.com

Intimate Apparel made The Wall Street Journal’s list of America’s top 10 most produced plays of the decade. It was originally co-commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory (California) and CENTRESTAGE (Baltimore) and had its world première in early 2003. The play made its Off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in April 2004 where it received numerous awards, including the 2004 New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play, the Outer Circle Critics Best Play Award, the John Gassner Award and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg 2004 New Play Award among others. Obsidian Theatre Company brought the play to Toronto’s 167 seat Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs for its Canadian première. In 2010, the Canadian Stage Company presented the Obsidian Theatre production in the 876 seat Bluma Appel Theatre. The 2008 Canadian première garnered Dora Mavor Moore nominations for Production and Direction and won for Costume Design.

Toronto, ON (January 16-Feb 13, 2011)- Obsidian Theatre, in association with Nightwood Theatre present the Canadian première of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined directed by Philip Akin at the Berkeley Street Theatre. In addition to winning the 2009 Pulitzer, Ruined has won seven Best Play awards including the New York Critics’ Circle Award, two Drama Desk Awards, four OBIE Awards—and most recently, four Joseph Jefferson Awards. Ruined was also chosen by Time Magazine as the #1 Play for 2009.

Ruined- Set in a present-day small mining town in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ruined follows a young woman's nightmarish path to Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who—in the midst of a complex civil war— both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds. At once heartbreaking and captivating, Ruined pays homage to the courageous and resilient women who must piece themselves together after the ruin.

Ruined reaches well beyond the regular theatre audience and opens up very real and devastating issues that are of vital importance.

For more information, please visit: www.obsidian-theatre.com

June Faulkner 1926-2010

2010-03-12T21:42:00.003-05:00

June Faulkner

What a pleasure it was to have worked at TWP with June and Calvin.

Don't Fear the Dub

2010-03-11T17:04:00.002-05:00

Some dub poets talking 'bout dub

who knew grannie: a dub aria

All about the Voice

2010-03-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

I remember reading that when sound engineers first digitally created the sound of an orchestra it sounded wrong because it was too clear. So they added in the sounds of fingers / bows on strings: breath flowing over reeds: the rasp and slides. All the messiness of music and life was added back in and then it sounded right.

It is those seeming peripherals, those barely acknowledged touches where rich connotations lay. It is as if the notes without the rest only tell us a part of the story.

So, why go on about this. It is because I believe that the same principles exist in the actor’s voice.

I listen to plays, direct actors, coach auditions and for the vast majority it is clear that from the day that they left theatre school people stopped doing whatever voice exercises that they had learned. I cannot speak to how they are taught but what I hear is vocal disconnection, unsupported imprecise diction and no vocal richness.

I am often heard to say: “stay in the center of your voice”. Sometimes people take that to mean that there is only one note that is perfect. In fact it is not that at all. The center of your voice is the place where there is an unconstrained open passage from crotch to mouth where the full richness of every emotion has free and easy passage. Thus the voice gets to carry all the emotional messiness of the character in each and every word.

Mostly what happens though is a constraint in the throat that strips emotional connotations so that the artist begins to push harder emotionally and vocally which further thins the emotional voice.

Fecund: \FEE-kuhnd; FEK-uhnd\ , adjective;
1. Capable of producing offspring or vegetation; fruitful; prolific.
2. Intellectually productive or inventive.

For me fecundity is rich, ripe, an oak log rotting in a forest that is home to moss and mushrooms. It is amber and alto and soprano ribbons of autumnal honey sunlight. It is a place where life and death are in a slow motion dance. It is the primeval, primordial home (center) of our voice. And so the voice must become the conduit of that emotional fecundity.

Why do we shy away from it? Is it only the lack of vocal exercise? I think not. It takes a profound leap of courage, faith and desire to actually live in that place. It forces us to be open, to reveal ourselves, to know that after the minutiae of work that we do not need to push and strain but know confidently that we can allow that fecundity to flow out of us complete, multi-layered, carefully woven and right for the character.

So the character’s voice can be whatever it needs to be as long as it is part of that open emotional corridor.

In Intimate Apparel I have pushed this kind of work fully into the performances and I am grateful that the cast has followed me to this place. Once you do this kind of work and your director’s ear is tuned to this it becomes both amazing and frustrating.

Amazing for when it soars it is like being wrapped in subliminal textures that have you feeling with your whole body.

Frustrating because even ½ a note too high and seduction becomes lecture and drawing in becomes sitting back.

So finally for me it is all about the voice. The voice and the necessary emotional connotations that must cozen it. The actor’s voice should sit atop of emotional nuances as deep as the Mariana Trench but all too often what we get is just the vocal thinness of a puddle

And that is the great shame of our theatre.

who knew grannie : rehearsal pic

2010-02-23T17:10:00.002-05:00

I caught this shot during the run of who knew grannie last Sunday. You can see the child friendly configuration next to Amina Alfred the percussionist. Far right is Miranda Edwards.
I like this shot not because you could see all that much but for it's ghostly or duppie qualities.

IA Final Set Up + Reviews

2010-02-15T17:14:00.004-05:00

The Pre-set look

The Cast, Crew & Artistic Team

Another LX look

Reviews:

The Star: Intimate Apparel: An intimate journey into love's depths
The Globe & Mail: Intimate Apparel is well worth slipping into

Pictures by David Hou

Intimate Apparel Load In Day 2

2010-02-07T21:05:00.001-05:00

Intimate Apparel Load In

2010-02-01T22:36:00.002-05:00

The Intimate Apparel set being loaded into the Bluma Appel Theatre

But what puzzles me is how a set so big can still look like a model.

Thanks to Chris Carlton for the pics

Sunday Quickies

2010-01-31T19:29:00.003-05:00

Rising from the depths of rehearsal and grants just long enough to leave you with a taste of Sunday Quickies.

You got to hand it to Classical Theatre Projects. They make an R & J that provokes nary a dispute here in Canada but they are Just too Racy for Nashville. I wonder if anyone in Nashville actually listens to the words in country songs.

An interesting retreat in Sacramento on how to make the case that the arts matter.

The rest of this post seems to be all about shuffling off the mortal coil. I mean we always hear how the audiences are getting older, how it also seems that actors get older too. Who knew?

Some German actors in an attempt to make things more real get close to too real.

And finally Taffety Punk Theatre Company and their show, suicide.chat.room

And so Shakespeare to wrap this post.

First post for the New Year

2010-01-17T20:29:00.003-05:00

So a new year.
What with the Canada Council moving up its multi-year applications to Feb.1 it has been a time of head down and keep running on the wheel.
While I have been doing all this long range planning it came to me that there must have been a time when theatre was actually a more immediate art form. There must have been a time when something would come up, a play would be created and then bingo...on the deck.
Not so much anymore. Everything is a year or a year and a half away. It feels too much like living in the future and somehow letting the present slip by. I think it sucks.
I am starting rehearsals tomorrow for the remount of Intimate Apparel and frankly, instead of working on that I am working on the 2011-2012 season.
So until something comes up to change this particular paradigm I will leave you with a couple of links to fully buy into long range planning.

Here is a a recipe for egg nog that you can make right now so that it is ready for Christmas 2010. And here is the blog that got me thinking of doing this.

Over at Superfluities Redux

2009-12-30T14:54:00.002-05:00

Over at Superfluities Redux George Hunka does a fine breakdown on the book Outrageous Fortune. I'm thinking that I may be headed down to Theatrebooks to pick up a copy so I can discuss it from a point of fact but in the meantime head over to Superfluities Redux and have a read.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

And a fine and wonderful Christmas to you all

In the Mail Box

2009-12-23T11:37:00.001-05:00

I received this in the mail today.

Can you spot what I did?

Sunday Quickies

2009-12-13T18:45:00.004-05:00

On the home front are a couple of stories that are bubbling along. Over at Praxis Theatre is a hefty post on the Harold Green Jewish Theatre pullout of Yichud Seclusion. The post has some good links in it. Especially the one to Now Magazine. Go, read, play follow the links.
Meanwhile over at the National Arts Centre it looks like the "company" ideal is back.

And up in Montreal, Simon Brault's new book has people paying attention.

Down south of 49 has a couple of interesting updates. First off it looks like a compromise has been reached in the Miracle Worker casting situation. The Drama Circle Critics bring in their inaugural on line member and the Actor's Fund is going on a major housing campaign.

Over the ponds comes some fears on the decline in actors at the regional theatres and finally a meditation on the critics changing roles.

And finally: Big, big props to Lynn Nottage for Ruined being chosen the #1 Play of 2009 by Time Magazine. Way to go Lynn.

Oz & Gender

2009-12-08T21:49:00.003-05:00

Whoa! Alison Croggon of Theatre Notes is on a lovely tear on gender equity issues down in OZ. First a great post about the kerfuffle during the Philip Parson's Memorial Lecture.

Next some thoughts on the design of the National Play Festival's posters.

It really does feel like certain issues are taking flight worldwide.

Kicking the diversity ball down the street

2009-12-06T21:27:00.004-05:00

So there was so much diversity talk in the air today that I got positively heady.
Some I can talk about right now which is the session I wasn't at. Georgetown University held a forum on diversity and I have some round up links for your perusal. They are also on Facebook right here.

From Parabasis #'s 1, 2, 3, and 4.

And while all of that is exciting from an American point of view really the big news for me was the gathering today at Cahoots Theatre Projects where reps from diverse companies from around the country got together to talk about the state of the art/theatre/browning the stage. It was very cool to meet some smart and talented folks who had lots of insights to share. There will be more details coming out as we go along but needless to say the Ad Hawk Assembly is going forward and plan on being a big presence in the theatre scene.

Guest B - Marcia Johnson

2009-12-06T20:52:00.003-05:00

I am pleased to have Marcia Johnson as the first Guest B on NSAA. This will be a peripatetic feature that brings guest bloggers to talk about what they are doing around the world.

Canadian Playwrights Take the World

I recently attended the International Women Playwrights Conference in Mumbai, India. Don’t worry if you have never heard of it or Women Playwrights International (WPI), the organization which, well…organizes these conferences. This was the only the eighth installment since the inaugural one in Buffalo, New York in 1988.

I was fortunate enough to go to the second one (1991) in Toronto. I attended as an actor, doing an excerpt from a collective show by the Company of Sirens. It would be three years before I attempted (and succeeded) in writing a play on my own.
Since those first two neighbourly North American installments of the IWPC, the locations been somewhat more far afield beginning with Adelaide, Australia (1994), Galway, Ireland (1997); Athens and Delphi (2000); Manila (2003) and finally Mumbai in 2009.

As the Chair of the Women’s Caucus of Playwrights Guild of Canada, I urged members to apply to the Conference. I wanted Canada to have a strong showing. I was thrilled when more than twenty of us were invited to present our work. Unfortunately, due to several issues including work conflicts, visa problems and a shortage of travel funding, only nine of made the trip to Mumbai.
We were in contact via email for months leading up to the conference, sharing information about which inoculations to get, the most suitable Indian visa and, most importantly: casting each other in our readings.

The theme of the Conference was Liberty and Tolerance. I had submitted two scripts and was invited to do a reading of Say Ginger Ale. It’s my semi-autobiographical comedy (Comedy was a sub-theme) about a Jamaican-born woman who adapts quite comfortably to Canada and feels no connection to Jamaica. An unexpected trip “back home” unearths long buried feelings and a new found love for the country of her birth.

Only one other writer Gail Nyoka (Mrs. Seacole) in our group is black. So when it came to casting, I had to make that leap of faith and hope that the international audience in Mumbai would understand. Since turnabout is fair play, Sally Stubbs who I had cast as a Jamaican grandmother, cast me as a German grandmother in her play Herr Beckmann’s People. Her play was about a young German-Canadian woman who makes an awful discovery about her father’s actions during World War Two.

So far, it sounds like Canadian women only write about being from somewhere else and making discoveries set in our countries of origin. In our case, that is only half right. All the plays seemed to be about being from somewhere else (physical or otherwise) and trying to fit in.
We met up in one of the hotel rooms on the first morning of the conference and had five minute rehearsals of each of the ten scripts. (Yes, ten. Melissa Major had been invited to read from both Sapphire Butterfly Blue about the Salem Witch Trials and Art is a Cupboard about exiled Russian artists.)

Our plays were very well received. The feedback sessions were lively and engaging. We kept hearing people from all over the world saying that they identified with our characters. Playwrights began fighting over us, asking us to read their plays because our acting was so good and, more importantly, our speech was so clear. Several of us got to read in plays by Australian and Dutch writers but, because of scheduling conflicts, had to say no to Americans and Swedes.

We had been offered the services of acting students at University of Mumbai; our host. I decided to cast a male student as my love interest. We got to meet and rehearse for a few minutes the day before. He seemed to understand the story and the humour but I had to explain to him that, even though the character he was playing was set up on a date by my character’s mother, it was in no way the first step in an arranged marriage. I also had to explain to him and the audience next day what ginger ale is. It’s non-existent in India. When I asked for some at the hotel bar, the bar tender started pouring me a shot of Gordon’s gin.

I digress.

The audience laughed in the right places, the Jamaican accents weren’t that bad and I am now determined to get the play produced in Canada. I wonder if there’s a black theatre company that I could convince to produce it.

Another digression.

During the conference, I was voted in as one of five members of the WPI management committee. Among my duties is assisting the planning committee for the 2012 Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. I had already made some good connections with the Swedish delegation and look forward to working with them over the next few years.

If you see a number of international collaborations between female Canadian playwrights over the next few years, you will know where it all began.
Here’s a shout out to my other Canadian writing sisters who made the great journey with me:
Beverley Cooper (Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott), Trina Davies (Shatter), Jordan Hall (Kayak), Christine Estima (Central Line) and Tara Goldstein (Harriet’s House).

Sunday Quickies

2009-12-06T20:36:00.002-05:00

So you might want to get into the act and write your very own ending to a George Bernard Shaw play but will you be able to find a woman director to direct it?

You might want to check out this new way of accessing scripts on line. Sounds like a fine idea and I am wondering whether there might be a case to bring this plan to Canada.

I say, of course critics can booze it up before the show as long as the actors get to do the same.

And then some thoughts on theatre photography. A skill that I must say has declined since the advent of digital cameras. Well not as far as the pros are concerned but they are getting less work as everyone thinks they can do an equal job. I have to say that being handed a couple of dvd's after a photo session and having to pick, crop and photo shop my own images loses its appeal after the first couple hundred images.

Sunday Quickies

2009-11-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

The Wrecking Ball takes on arts cuts in a big way. And London is taking on Edinburgh Fringe mano-a-mano.

Meanwhile: What is really going on inside the actor's brain.

The whys and wherefores of walking out of a play.

Some thoughts on the building conversation around Precious. Ta Nehisi Coates has some fabulous comments in this post. Well worth reading for the 2009 shadism insights.

Step Afrika

2009-11-26T20:59:00.001-05:00

Just for the sheer, unmitigated joy it.

Sunday Quickie

2009-11-22T20:08:00.002-05:00

It's a bit of a weighted UK entry tonight.

First off: The Regional Theatre Revival, How Cutbacks may save the Arts {I'm not sure I'm buying this yet. I need some more thought on the matter} and an Old Age R+J.
That might be a very cool play to get a hold of.

Last week there was a link to try and get people to suss out who was to get either the bouquets or brickbats for a production. Over a Parabasis comes one helpful hint.

Now this is not about theatre per se but typography. After some of the brittle discussions in the office regarding what font to use where I thought this might be of interest.

Finally Theatre B in OZ has a new artistic Director. I just love the idea that it is a designer. Head over to One Big Umbrella to get all the links.

h/t MK Piatkowski

Sunday Quickie

2009-11-15T18:37:00.002-05:00

Theatre can be such a huge varied experience. I mean it's all about making some sort of connection with our fellow humans, right?

So the scale of what constitutes theatre is all over the map. From the entertainment extravaganza of Spiderman to Dream Girls to the potential healing of Theatre of War to how the world has changed with Slam Theatre.

How did our local anchors do this season? Stratford & Shaw. I was down in Stratford the other week and I went to the Book Vault. I can usually tell how the season was just by how the staff is holding up up. They all looked pretty beat.

Some thoughts on the whole theatrical experience goes from the ongoing complaints about playwright's support to the state of theatre to who actually did what for the production to how about that curtain call anyway.

Stop BC Arts Cuts

2009-11-11T22:18:00.004-05:00

A quick bump for this website http://stopbcartscuts.wordpress.com/

Some great stuff on the goings on in B.C.

Judicial Review

2009-11-09T19:27:00.002-05:00

From the Mirror up to Nature blog a post on the Judicial Theatre Review. Their first review is of The Overwhelming by J. T. Rogers. Directed by Shawn LaCount. Presented by Company One at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston

Although as is mentioned in the comments this is may be just a slight twist on an idea that has been going around for awhile. The Critic-O-Meter or Rottentomatoes.com to mention two.

I seem to recall there was a Critique the Critic website that took a long look at Toronto critics and then it vanished over night. I always wondered what kind of chill got it pulled.

It is still an interesting idea though. Reviews can be so disparate that it really trips the "who you gonna believe button" Case in point would be the Yellowman reviews.
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3

Who you gonna believe? It would be nice to get a bit of dialog going to fully understand where things came from.

And on a final note regarding reviews and online news. What the heck is going on with these websites. I mean trying to get browser {Opera} compatibility with most of them is a lost cause. And even when that kind of works it is like trying to do the dance of the Minotaur to try and find anything. Heck if information on the Obsidian website was as hard to get at I would be inundated with phone calls. It is always a struggle to find a review and then never in a timely manner. You would think that making information easy to find might be the only thing left to save the media.

Sunday Not So Quickie

2009-11-08T18:56:00.005-05:00

Kelly Nestruck of the Globe and Mail has a couple of interesting articles up. One from the pulp edition and one from the blog.

I have been in discussion with Mike Wheeler {Praxis Theatre} about my segregation blues post.

Mike says: Also, Kelly Nestruck has an interesting post today on his interview with Tracy Letts that tackles segregation in American theatre and how Steppenwolf is handling it. They're treating it like a bad thing that can be dealt with by race-blind casting. Thoughts?

I say: Whoa! Thats a big subject. The dream in the US has been about integration. Well at least from the liberal and black communities. Do a Google search with the key words "segregation 21st century" and you will get a very different point of view. Well, you will get a reality that usually doesn't get discussed. The point is that for many {read minorities} integration is not working that well. It works better for the majority since the minorities get to change to become like the majority but they still don't get to hang out in the same places or get the same funding levels.

Steppenwolf is in a bit of a bind I think. They are an ensemble company and like ensembles here they started with a group of like minded people. As is often the case like minded is also like raced. And that's where the real difficulties begin. For Steppenwolf I daresay segregation is bad and they are doing what they can to approach that in a way that make sense for their ensemble.

Tangent alert: We often talk about succession plans for artistic directors and boards but very, very rarely for the ensemble itself. And perhaps that's the biggest issue of all. How does an ensemble continue when the founders move on and you are left with a different racial climate than the one you started in.

So what to do? Race blind casting works for a bit. Maybe do nothing and hope that it all goes away. Put up a Potemkin village of artistic accessibility and keep going to the funding trough. Or maybe, just maybe admit that you haven't a clue how to change and that we should be...ta daaaaa...moving on to my original premise....change the system so that the diverse companies can get the funding they need to grow into becoming powerhouses themselves.

I think Mike, that one of the things we don't discuss in all of this is what is the goal, the desire, the dream of the smaller companies. I don't mean anything pejorative here but if the goal is to be the equivalent of Junior B or Junior A hockey teams then fine. If it's to have a company for a few years and then move on, excellent. I can get behind that. But what if the goal is to become one of the big guys. If that is the "prize" we are keeping our eye on then lets not get bogged down by the tangents and the small pieces of fruit that are tossed at us. If Nightwood or Necessary Angel say, had the latter for their goal 20 years ago how different would our theatre ecology be today.
I want us all to define our prize and to then go for it with the same tenacity and dedication that got the Four Seasons theatre built.

The targeted browning of our stages that we are currently seeing is not the answer. It's a small piece of fruit. Good enough for a snack but not enough to make a pie.
We can continue to be mice getting by on the crumbs of grain or we can own the farm. I know which one I want. How about you?

Shows This Week

2009-11-01T19:29:00.002-05:00

So this is a big week for shows. It always feels like there are way more shows that I am supposed to get to than I actually can. This week is looking like a 3-fer.

Wednesday is the opening of Yellowman

Thursday is the opening of Gas Girls

Friday is the Abby Singer of The Turn of the Screw.

Good shows all so go out and enjoy

Ongoing Updates

2009-11-01T14:11:00.004-05:00

I wanted to do a bit of a re-cap on what has happened since I posted the segregation blues post. You can find it 2 posts downstream. I sent a cover email and a link to the post to all of the PACT Region 5 membership and the Obsidian theatre officers at all the councils. The next day I sent the same information to the Ontario Stand Firm members since we are in the midst of planning a meeting along with the Stand Tall participants regarding the resignation of Native Earth Performing Arts and Cahoots Theatre Projects from PACT. I thought that the post might be a way to bring ideas to the table instead of the usual bitching.

To date I have heard back from one person. It's a bit disappointing but hey, one person at a time is probably the way to go. It may be the only way to go.

Sidebar: I have always wondered where the heck they came up with the names Stand Firm and Stand Tall for these programs. They didn't seem to relate to anything diverse that I could think of but when in doubt Google is your friend. Perhaps someone up there in Ottawa has a bit of a Bible Belt streak to them.
After reading those lyrics I am once again reminded how much I hate the idea of waiting for glory on that great getting up morning.

I thought that I was going to be able to report on a bit of success today but on further examination it looks like nothing has actually changed. In the latest issue of the Equity newsletter it stated that "Executive Editor’s note: Beginning mid-October, Equity will institute improvements to e-drive, our online subscription mailing list. In answer to Marcia’s comments on diversity, any theatre with an ethno-cultural mandate, or production to be cast with a specific ethno-cultural group, will now be able to identify these artistic decisions in their e-drive posting." {I would link but it is pw protected}. However the Equity website still says: Direct references to ethnicity, age and body type may be edited at Equity's sole discretion.
So we are still at the do-si-do stage of things.

Sunday Quickies

2009-11-01T13:44:00.002-05:00

A very varied assortment of topics this week. First up, hot on the heels of e-book readers, an idea that I like to call The Theatrical Kindle: Why would you download plays?

Can an e-performance get you in that partying mood like a good after opening party? Well maybe they aren't as happening as they used to be. Opening nights shed their opulence
Frankly, I have never been to a party like the one's mentioned in this article. Mostly the food is gone by time the actors get to the lobby and all that is left for you is a couple of crumpled drink tickets. Opa!
Back in my theatre school days the Globe and Mail used to review our performances. Thank you Herbert Whittaker. And the great opening night tradition was to drink like crazy, go to Frans on College Str to eat and sober up, and then grab the 2AM edition of the Globe to read the reviews. Things have been downhill party wise ever since.

So now they say that Reality TV shows ‘encourage theatre-going’ and while sitting during a performance you might hear Whispers Offstage? Could Be Actor’s Next Line all the while fuming over Booking fees: the great theatre ticket rip-off.

Meanwhile the Executive Director is sitting in their office humming {apologies to Paul Simon} Six Ways to Know If It's Time to Leave .

Finally, the ongoing controversy of the "Miracle Worker" casting.

Time be talking those segregation blues

2009-10-27T21:10:00.003-04:00

I read a couple of things today and it wrapped up some things that I have been saying for a few weeks in a nice neat bundle. It was at the PACT Region 5 meeting where I broached the idea that integration in theatre was not working and perhaps we should give some serious thought to segregation. This, as to be expected, did not go over like a nice iced mocha. The idea of segregation seems to rip some liberal correctness buttons and for that I think we should expect that and then get over it.
When questioned about this idea I responded by saying that there are already any number of theatres that do complete seasons without a single non-white face of the stage. It may be their art but it is also de-facto artistic segregation. So why don't we just admit that and move on. Let the Euro-centric theatre produce what they feel comfortable in producing and lets work to build up the diverse theatres so that we can produce what we need to produce, in our own venues and without curatorial assessment by the rental venues.

The Mission Paradox blog is the entry point but the real money is:

Michael Kaiser, of the Kennedy Center, on diversity:

"I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about the issue of diversity in the arts, specifically, the drive to diversify the programming and constituents of all arts organizations.

The more I consider this thorny issue, the less I am convinced that the arts world has worked hard enough to dissect the true costs, benefits and implications of recent diversity efforts.

I love it when he talks about selecting the "low hanging fruit". The phrase always reminds me of Billie Holiday and:

Sunday Quickies

2009-10-25T14:27:00.003-04:00

The Cape Town Opera Company has a touring production of Porgy and Bess that is set in Soweto. Here is a preview from the Cardiff Centre and here is a review.

Meanwhile Alexander McCall Smith has created The Okavango Macbeth. Maccers as seen through a tribe of baboons. A review is here.

A bit of a retrospective of the work of Neil Simon and just for contrast an article about Throwing Rotten Veggies at the Actors Night

Rethinking arts economies and arts exchange

Some thoughts on Miking Actors in Straight Plays

For the last item I sure am on the fence about using mikes in a straight play. The recent production of Secrets of a Black Boy used them at the Music Hall and I would love to know why that choice was made. It could be that the actors did not have the vocal capacity to fill that space or simply it is an unfillable space without augmentation.
On the other hand I have had trouble hearing actors on the Festival Stage at Stratford. So is vocal training not up to snuff anymore or have we moved to a more naturalistic style of theatre that is better served by mikes.

The debate continues.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2009-10-25T13:52:00.003-04:00

A truly brilliant speech about perception. the single story and how it can shape our world view.

This is the best 18 minutes you can spend today.

The single story

h/t A. Payne

Canonize This! Day 3

2009-10-23T23:26:00.003-04:00

From left to right: Philip Akin {Artistic Director}, ahdri zhina mandiela, Miranda Edwards {reader}, Donna Michelle St. Bernard, d'bi young anitafrika, Dian Marie Bridge { Host}, Motion and Joseph Jomo Pierre.

Tonight was the final evening of Canonize This! And despite the rain and flood and traffic that never quit, everyone made it to the theatre and a great time was had by all. Many thanks to all who made it out.

Canonize This! - Day 2

2009-10-22T22:39:00.004-04:00

Thursday nights group of playwrights are from left to right:
Dian Marie Bridge (host), Sharon Lewis, Nicole Brooks, George Boyd, Joan M. Kivanda and Djennie Laguerre

Friday is our final evening. Come on out if you can.

Canonize This! Day 1

2009-10-21T23:08:00.003-04:00

So here are the fine group of playwrights that read tonight at Canonize This! Day 1. From left to right: Marcia Johnson, Sarah Michelle Brown, Darren Anthony, Michael Miller and Dian Marie Bridge.

Day 2 begins at 1pm, Harlem restaurant. All the info is here at http://www.obsidian-theatre.com/canonizethis.html

AWG and Playwrighting Groups

2009-10-18T21:19:00.001-04:00

If you are a playwright then run don't walk to this link and have a good read.

Canadian Theatre Blogs?

2009-10-18T10:57:00.003-04:00

Google Reader had a Canadian Theatre Blogs Feed set up by Ian MacKenzie. It has seemingly discorporated or something. I get a "permission denied" error when I try to access it. Does anyone else get this or has the management of the feed changed?

Give me a shout if you have any info. I did enjoy using the Reader to catch up on what had been newly posted.

Thanks

Sunday Quickies - Massive Edition

2009-10-18T10:34:00.004-04:00

No real theme to the links so I am grouping them into countries.

Lets start right here at home with the Siminovitch nominees. And for more info on the Nominees. Ummm just have to say that the invite this year was pretty ugly. It was not good design by any means.

Moving southwards we come across great thoughts by Elizabeth Streb {follow the links in that article as well}and Anna Deavere Smith. A couple of interesting ideas regarding a Twitter campaign and Talk Backs but really the prize article for me is the one about combining the play with selling the props at every show so that things keep changing.
Now it wouldn't be theatre without some controversy so here is a dose of that.

Heading across the Atlantic we get Judi Dench putting the hurt on young actors, David Mamet as a diminishing playwright, the RSC to relaunch its development studio and some thoughts on the hybridization of film and theatre.

And even though it isn't theatre who could resist a story about Nazi gnomes? Certainly not me.

Austin Clarke - Toronto Book Awards

2009-10-16T14:07:00.003-04:00

I just read where Austin Clarke has just won the Toronto Book Award for his novel "More".

I had the privilege of working with Austin as we brought his novel The Polished Hoe to the stage in 2007

Congratulations Austin.

Sarah Ruhl

2009-10-15T20:44:00.004-04:00

Ok ...I do like Sarah Ruhl's play "Dead Man's Cellphone" a ton. I would love to produce it sometime in the near future. Ok maybe next year if other plan's don't work out.

Here is a article on Ms. Ruhl on the opening of DMC in Boston.

99 Seats

2009-10-15T20:40:00.002-04:00

I added a new blog to my blog list tonight. It's 99 Seats. An interesting blog by an anonymous black playwright. He has been delving deep into some of the issues that were brought up by Roy Williams in the Guardian a week or so ago. I have a link back a couple of posts.

Some interesting reading. Go and ignore the white on black text. It's worth the effort

Voaden Awards

2009-10-14T21:00:00.003-04:00

I few weeks ago I was asked to present this year's Voaden Awards at Queens University in Kingston.

Here is a great explanation of how this award works and the winners.

It was great to be able to listen to the readings and to get involved with some insightful questions.

Gas Girls by Donna Michelle St. Bernard will be getting a production in November 5-14 at the Passe Muraille Backspace. This is one to check out for sure.

The superb quality of Tom's-a-Cole by David Egan will most probably be on a stage near you in the quickly approaching future.

Finally a thought about the whole Voaden thing. I was thrilled to be asked and happy to make the drive down on a beautiful fall day to Kingston. Where I was disappointed though was that while the two plays had been thoroughly worked on over the week and delivered fine performances on the day there was very little hoopla or props about the event. Kind of anti-hoopla if you will. It felt more of just a quiet, low key, lets not make any big fuss kind of an event. And that was a shame. The plays were great and the playwrights deserved big props. It would have been nice if the whole event had been swanked up a notch or two.

Just saying.

Douglas Campbell 1922-2009

2009-10-07T17:40:00.001-04:00

Douglas Campbell

A shot of culture

2009-10-01T18:08:00.002-04:00

From the Globe and Mail:

“Germany is experimenting with a revolutionary kind of preventive medicine: Doctors are prescribing culture for children,” Isabelle de Pommereau writes in a Christian Science Monitor blog. “In one region in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, every child ages seven through 15 who goes to the pediatrician for a checkup walks out with two free tickets to the theatre. The Culture Shot program aims at encouraging pediatricians to support children's ‘physical, emotional and intellectual health,' says Hermann-Josef Kahl, the Dusseldorf pediatrician who spearheaded the idea in his city. It rests on a simple idea: Culture fosters better health habits. ‘It's cultural primary prevention,' says Dr. Kahl. ‘We hope to establish an impulse that shows that opening the door to culture paves the way to better education level, and that better education fosters a healthier way of life.

h/t J. Knappen

Jack Medhurst Memorial

2009-09-30T18:10:00.003-04:00

h/t Jess Cohoon

There is a memorial / celebration of Jack Medhurst's life at the Celebrity Club, (housed in the PAL building on the Esplanade - Toronto) on Friday, October 2 at 8:00 pm. A photo of Jack will be placed on the wall of notables. Refreshments will be served, courtesy of Jack's family but it is a cash bar.

If you know of anyone else who would be interested, please forward the information.

On another note, we would like to contact Leslie Whitaker, Herb's niece. She was involved in several productions that Jack was involved in. If you have any co-ordinates on her please send me an email.

Brenda Devine

2009-09-28T20:29:00.002-04:00

Brenda Marie Devine

Back in the day when I had finished theatre school and went to the Shaw Festival as my first job I met Pam Rogers who would go on to be a life long friend. She introduced me to Brenda Devine and with assorted family and friends we had a bit of a brat pack that worked, played and ate prodigiously together. I didn't see much of Brenda over the last number of years. Chance meetings at a theatre or the subway but somehow she was always in my heart as a dear friend. The picture above is one I took of her on one of our many trips to farm country around St. Marys. She seemed translucent, ephemeral and yet so present. I will always cherish the memories of all of us sitting on Brenda's steps sipping coffee and scotch first thing in the mornings.

pectus pectoris teneo quoque tardus quam desidero

Sunday Quickie Part the Second

2009-09-27T21:03:00.005-04:00

Black Theatre in Great Britain:

The Roy Williams Take.

The Kwame Kwei-Armah Take with a spin to a national black archive.

When we did the International Playwights Forum last year we tried to get both Roy and Kwame but alas only Kwame could make it. At that time he said to me that if I wanted to see how Black Theatre could grow in Canada then I had to get over to England and see what they were doing. He opined that they were 10 years ahead of us.

Kwame Kwei- Armah YouTube Video #1

Kwame Kwei- Armah #2

Sunday Quickies

2009-09-27T16:15:00.003-04:00

So there is this theatre in Utah that is doing a reno when all of a sudden: Turning a crisis into opportunity

And another kind of reno. The kind of wading through new play submissions and then dealing with the controversy: The O'Neill Center Achieves New Heights of Chutzpah

Some new to them but old to us ticketing strategy: Companies bet on cheaper tickets to draw bigger crowds

Of special interest to me is taking a look at what is being produced. Scroll to the bottom of the page and see what's hot in Denver.

Behind the Curtain of a Customizable Theater
I am so thinking that Obsidian should have one of these.

And a shout out to: MT Space Impact 09 down in Kitchener-Waterloo.

I was pleased to have been invited down to be part of the Chasing the Money Panel along with Sheila James {Canada Council}, Sanjay Shahani {Trillium Foundation} and Nadine Villasin {Carlos Bulosan Theatre}.

There is a full schedule of events this week so if you can get to KW please do so and support the very fine work that will be presented.

Happiness is......

2009-09-23T21:01:00.001-04:00

After two days of talking about PACT issues I submit the following without comment.