22 days and counting until the opening of Magnetic North…stoked yet? I is, and not just on the work. There’s a whack of peripheral events that come bundled with the Festival, have a browse to see if anything tickles your fancy…
Magnetic Encounters…these are essentially opportunities for audience members to meet with the artists outside of the work and get a conversation going, or have a look into the process behind the plays. Events include…
Tea With the Artists. How cute is this? On the 5th to the 7th and the 11th to the 13th at Performance Works from 3-4 you can get into the conversation with director Sarah Stanley and various festival theatre artists. And drink some tea.
Lunchtime Encounters. From the 6th – 9th and the 13, at noon at various locations, there are a bunch of groovy interactive events up for grabs. Click here for the full menu, but the one that grabbed my attention is The Great Debate: Watch an old-fashioned style debate with artists who have big opinions about hot topics in the Canadian Theatre Scene. We should have one of these here a month!
Celebrity Speakers. Story time! 6 talks over the two weeks at the new PAL space, check out the individual times here. The speakers are:
Sandra Oh Actress on some hospital show or something.
Gordon Pinsent Holy hyphenate, Batman! Actor-director-producer-writer-etc.-etc.
Sharon Pollock Massively prolific playwright and director.
Mieko Ouchi Another one: Actor-playwright-director-musician, seriously, check out how much she’s done already. And she’s my age. Sheesh.
Anosh Irani Playwright and Novelist, Irani’s work explores his Indian heritage.
Tantoo Cardinal Has acted in some films as well as on stage. Some films like Dances With Wolves and Legends of the Fall. No big deal.
Rogers’ Chocolates Talkback and Truffle Series. How’s that for a mouthful? Just like it sounds, hang out after the play and chat with the cast about it. And eat some chocolate, apparently. Check here for that schedule.
Festival Lounge. Performance Works on Granville Island is serving as the central social hub for the festival, probably a good place to hang around with that script you’ve been working on…
Industry Series…This is for the practitioners themselves to get together and connect on the future of the game. Mag North pairs with PACT (the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres) for the first time to present a series of collaborative and informative group sessions, including workshops, discussions, pitches and site visits. Click here for more info and to download the Artist Pass Order Form.
Stay tuned, we should probably start talking about the plays themselves, eh?
Simon Ogden 