Mag North – More Than Just a Bunch of Plays

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… Continue reading Mag North – More Than Just a Bunch of Plays

Vancouver Prepares to Host Magnetic North

There is now but one short month between us and the resonating thud of the 2008 Magnetic North Theatre Festival landing in our backyard. It's time to clear the decks and start preparing, so we're going to be making a lot of fuss about it here at The Next Stage. This is such a cool… Continue reading Vancouver Prepares to Host Magnetic North

Luckily for us, Red Light Winter held over until March 22.

This is not a review. We're not doing those right now (although we might start down the road a bit). This is a gush. This is a love letter to playwright Adam Rapp, and a fan letter to the cast and production team that make up the Speckled Bird Equity Co-op. This is one of… Continue reading Luckily for us, Red Light Winter held over until March 22.

This One Goes to Eleven: Cynnamon Schreinert

Certainly one of the hardest working women in Vancouver show business, Cynnamon is an actor/photographer/writer/publicist, whose boutique PR and communications agency C.L. Schreinert & Associates devotes an enormous amount of their client load to the local theatre scene. In amongst many others, she has handled publicity for Bard on the Beach and the Van Fringe.… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Cynnamon Schreinert

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

One Year In. Wow. It's been an entire year since The Next Stage made its first entrance. Glancing back over the first post from that day I'm pleased to realize that not much has changed with regards to my mission statement, and I have to say how proud I am to have discovered so many… Continue reading Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

This One Goes to Eleven: Katrina Dunn

If you want an example of absolute commitment to our theatre, look no further than Katrina Dunn, who has been on the front lines of the fight to bring great Canadian theatre to Vancouverites for many years. She's been the Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre and its all-Canadian mandate since 1997, and was one of… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Katrina Dunn

New Feature Alert – Video Listings Now Available

Marketing a play? Looking for some exposure? The Next Stage is pleased to offer a new section of video listings, free for a limited time to Victoria independent theatre companies. Features of your listing include: all your production and contact information, a brief write-up or synopsis of the play itself, embedded links to your company… Continue reading New Feature Alert – Video Listings Now Available

The Art of the Business, Part 2 – Putting a Value on our Work

For a downloadable or streaming audio podcast of this article, click here. Okay, I know what you’re thinking: this is a column that is supposed to be dedicated to tips and tricks about marketing artists, right? So what the heck is this whole “putting a value on our work” thing? Because, my friend, you have… Continue reading The Art of the Business, Part 2 – Putting a Value on our Work

This One Goes to Eleven: Susan Stevenson

A lot of time is spent on this site and its interview series discussing the many potential ways that the theatre business in Vancouver may be improved. Lest this offer the impression that our theatre has a foot in the grave we present a conversation with Susan Stevenson. Susan is the Executive Director of the… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Susan Stevenson

This One Goes to Eleven: Jessica Van der Veen

Hi. My name is Simon, and I'm a playwright, actor, and working theatre artist. I can claim all of these things to be fact today because of Jess. Hers was the very first acting class I was dragged to, by a doorman at some club I was flipping bottles in at the time, 15 years… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Jessica Van der Veen

New Feature Alert!

I used to walk around saying that we have to start devoting a full 50% of our efforts into the business side of our productions if we ever hope to reach our goal of a sustainable popular theatre. I no longer believe that to be true. I now think that number is closer to 90%.… Continue reading New Feature Alert!

The Art of the Business – Part I

For a downloadable or streaming audio podcast of this article, click here. As actors, we spend a great deal of our time training to become masters of our art. We go to theatre school, we read all the books on acting, we train with coaches, and we apprentice. At some point a lot of us… Continue reading The Art of the Business – Part I

This One Goes to Eleven: Rebecca Coleman

And of course, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Put her in the comfy chair! 1.) In one word, describe your present condition: Buzzing. 2.) With no restrictions, describe the present condition of the Vancouver theatre scene. It feels very hierarchical to me. There is the nobility, the upper class, if you like, I’m talking… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Rebecca Coleman

This One Goes to Eleven: Kirsten Kilburn

I know that there are those of you out there with concerns for the future of our theatre. Rest assured, if it lies in the hands of young artists like Kirsten you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Ms. Kilburn is a Vancouver stage and screen actor. She opens Twenty-Something Theatre's one-woman show The Fever… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Kirsten Kilburn