A HUGE up to the brains behind Left Right Minds and Upintheair Theatre for taking the mammoth by the horns and kick-starting a brand new indie theatre festival in Vancouver. Taking its cues from Toronto's Summerworks, Neanderthal is a juried fest that includes both local and national works, 6 in total. I'll admit I wasn't… Continue reading Neanderthal Arts Festival premiers next week
Category: future of theatre
Brick by brick
More inspirational sloganeering here...
The question of how to get the next generation interested in theatre answered
...and...discuss!
It’s all happening
Boy, do we have a lot to talk about. Or rather, a there's a lot of talk going on to jump in the middle of. While the Olympic maelstrom has been monopolizing the hearts and minds and commute times of the city for the past few weeks, some of the best discourse on indie theatre… Continue reading It’s all happening
I guess we’re going to have to deal with this filmed theatre thing
It's an inevitability, I suppose. When we're all talking about how to save theatre, how to adapt theatre to the persistent technological climate change that all the kids are gettin' down with, about how to reach new audiences and turn them on to that old thing we love...it comes up. Invariably. "We could film it… Continue reading I guess we’re going to have to deal with this filmed theatre thing
NOW! youth sustainability announces National playwriting competition
The NOW! Organization was founded in 2006, and it "...bridges people from diverse backgrounds to sculpt innovative, holistic solutions toward social, environmental, and economic sustainability". And further: "We implement interdisciplinary grassroots programs to creatively inspire, engage, and empower youth, pique ideas and discussions, promote interdisciplinary, holistic thinking and problem solving, and spark action." So essentially… Continue reading NOW! youth sustainability announces National playwriting competition
Switching baskets: growing a sustainable funding model?
A comment just popped up from Jon Stancato, Co-Artistic Director of NYC's The Stolen Chair Theatre Company, on this recent post about the Open Up and Let Them In concept of Indie Stage, that discusses a recent initiative towards a new funding model that bears examination. I think I love it. There's an essential point… Continue reading Switching baskets: growing a sustainable funding model?
Open up and let them in, continued…
I am an artist in process. We are an industry in process. I am of the opinion that our particular industry is in its entirety process, and nothing more. And I think I'm starting to get an inkling of what that word means. My process thus far has gone something like this: discovered theatre at… Continue reading Open up and let them in, continued…
Fixing theatre, one tweet at a time
Random tweet from Rebecca on Tuesday morning: Off to have breakfast with @cynnamons. Vancouver theatre publicists unite! To which I responded with a flippant: @rebeccacoleman @cynnamons Hi girls! If you figure out how to fix #theatre today, let me know? To which Travis responded with a considered: @thenextstagemag Give a leading indie company in each… Continue reading Fixing theatre, one tweet at a time
Determining the industry’s blood type
I'm a total Robert Lepage fanboy. Case in point; last year while the rest of the 17-men stag party I was with in Vegas started the night with a UFC fight, I suffered their slings and arrows and tucked myself into a middle seat at Lepage's Cirque installation Ka, alone with a box of popcorn… Continue reading Determining the industry’s blood type
“Hey. Actors. Suck it up.”
This post has been a long time coming. It's one I really wanted to write a few weeks ago, but I was so mad, so red-faced incensed at the time that I couldn't dare sit down at the computer and spit out the vitriol I was gargling with. So I waited to cool down. Which… Continue reading “Hey. Actors. Suck it up.”
Family bonding at the Jessies
I know there's an argument that some make about awards shows like the Jessies. They hold that it's wrong to pit artists against one another, that saying this actor 'beat' that actor, and that this company is 'better' than that company etc, etc diminishes us all. They say that competition has no place in the… Continue reading Family bonding at the Jessies
Open up and let them in
Do you know why theatre rocks? Of course you do, you've found your way to a theatre blog on the overwhelmingly crowded internet. Whatever that answer is to you is the greatest marketing tool you've got. All you've got to do is spread that reason all over town. Why do I think theatre rocks? Accessibility.… Continue reading Open up and let them in
Consider the source
Sabrina's got a necessary post up today about the startling laziness and ill manners of a certain percentage of our young actors here in Vancouver. Apparently we've acquired a reputation for it across the country. Great. So the question becomes: what is the origin of such a poor work ethic? When did it become okay… Continue reading Consider the source
Simon Ogden 