Well everyone, thanks for asking.

 It’s going pretty good (to quote Chris poorly) but even though it may appear to have slowed down for the moment, don’t let that fool you. We’re still busy with our Residency showings coming up plus we have a few things in developement for next year that I’m afraid I can’t get into quite yet.

It’s true. We haven’t announced our season for next year but that’s not because it doesn’t exist, it’s just more enticing to let you wait for it. Ok, and we’re still making a couple of minor decisions…

 AS FOR ALL YOU POTENTIAL RENTERS — we’ll know very soon if we’re extending our “lease” into 2009. Do check back in early July to book your winter/spring shows with us.

 bye,

Cathy

Posted: June 20th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

it’s 2:30pm (or so) Vancouver time which means that most people will be leaving their Toronto offices soon.. ish. Oh Toronto! How you never sleep! work, work work. Meanwhile, I’m still digesting one of the fun facts I learned in Boca Del Lupo’s MY DAD, MY DOG - namely, that the people of Vancouver work the least of anyone in … Canada? is that possible? anyway, apparrently they have an average 4 day work week. How sweet is that? And judging by how hopping things are this Monday, I would have to wonder… maybe it’s true.

While out for my morning jog - that’s right, you heard correctly - morning jog - hey! I trained 5 days a week for 6 months to do my crawl… of course since then I’ve really taken it down a few notches… So what happened on the jog? Nothing! ! That is the point! Monday morning, downtown and there`s a couple of pedestrians on the boardwalk, light traffic on the streets, absolutely no one else in the restaurant where I had lunch, and even Granville Island, the centre of PuSh Festival, is dead. I’m now using the wireless at the Festival Bar (this huge cavarn of a cozy pub) and there are 2 other people here. Ok, they just left. The office / info centre is closed and I have to wait until 5pm (or maybe it was 6pm) before they open. Hmmm.

You may assume the reason I’m at PuSh is to see fabulous shows and report back to Franco about possible Theatre Centre and/or Free Fall potential… which yes, that is part of it… but the main reason I’m here is because I’m pitching my own project as part the Pitch Session - as part of the PuSh Assembly. And so is Jacob Zimmer!

By the way, I just wanted to take a moment to rave about Jacob Zimmer’s design of Free Fall’s brochure and The Source! He really did an amazing job!!! The brochures are currently being printed and will be ready by the beginning of next week.

Ok, I have to go work on my pitch speil … and maybe get a beer.  What? It’s almost 3!

PS - did I mention the ocean - it`s pretty spectacular.

Posted: January 28th, 2008 under newsletter.
Comments: none

hi everyone, if you are wondering why i’m not returning your email, i’m in Vancouver.

i’m also having a bit of a moment right now because I had just written this whole fabulous blog about MY DAD, MY DOG by Boca de Lupo (remember them from free fall 06 — the ones with the amazing animation)… and running into Back to Back theatre (SMALL METAL OBJECTS) in the lobby of the Ramada… and letting you know that Darren O’Donnell’s HAIRCUTS BY CHILDREN is causing a stir as per usual.

let’s see if this blog will post…

Posted: January 28th, 2008 under newsletter.
Comments: none

 ”… director Bruce Gladwin shows us how it feels to be gawked at, to be a curiosity.” -The New York Times

 Hi ,

 You’ve got a history of seeing envelope-pushing, edgy,
ground-breaking theatre. small metal objects is just your thing.

 The next time you’re in the Toronto Eaton Centre, look around and think about this: who are the people surrounding you? What is their story? What drama is being played out right now? And how do you play into it?

 World Stage 08 opened on January 22nd with Back to Back Theatre’s 

small metal objects

Absolutely unforgettable and unlike any other, this show unfolds against the bustling backdrop of the Toronto Eaton Centre. Through headphones, plug yourself into the personal drama of two men that usually go unnoticed.

Posted: January 24th, 2008 under newsletter.
Comments: 1

Ok, so part of the idea of the blog is to also keep you posted on some of the things going on here at the theatre. Hrant Alianak is one of Canada’s leading actors and theatre creators. Here’s a sneak peak at his new show!   Alianak Theatre Productions presents the World Premiere of

A CROOKED MAN Assassin or Avenger?

by Richard Kalinoski, directed by Hrant AlianakAlianak  Inspired by a true story, A Crooked Man offers no easy answers to the issues of guilt and innocence, murderer or hero. Throughout his life, the 88-year-old Hagop, now living in the United States, has been tormented by nightmares stemming from the horrors he witnessed as a child during the Armenian genocide, including his family’s murder. His nightmares extend to his own act of defiance when, as a young man in Germany, he assassinated the Turkish governor responsible for perpetrating the massacres in his village. When his reporter grandson interviews him for what is to be an innocuous magazine article, the old man finally begins to confront his demons and reveals not only the awful details of his past, but, for the very first time ever, a terrible secret that has consumed his whole life. Sprinkled with a familiar relational humour as the old man’s stubbornness meets the naivety of his grandson and the worry of his daughter, A Crooked Man touches the heart with its mirror on an anguished soul.Alianak Theatre Productions (ATP) proudly presents the world premiere of A Crooked Man, the second play on the theme of the 1915 Armenian genocide by American playwright Richard Kalinoski, author of the internationally acclaimed Beast on the Moon which won the Prix Moliere for best play in Paris in 2001, ran Off-Broadway for 15 weeks in 2005, and which ATP premiered in Canada in 1997. Directed by ATP Artistic Director Hrant Alianak, this timely and powerful drama previews from February 20, opens Friday, February 22 and runs to March 2 at The Theatre Centre. Tues-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2.30pm Tickets: Previews & Sunday Matinees $10, Regular Run: Tues-Fri $21, Sat $25 (Discounts for Students, Seniors, Arts Workers & Groups)

For tickets, visit online at www.artsboxoffice.ca

or call the Box Office: 416-504-7529.

For the first time in Canada, an all-Armenian professional cast performs in an Armenian-themed play. As well as producing and directing A Crooked Man, Hrant Alianak portrays the 88-year-old Hagop. A prolific film and television actor (over 100 television programs and films including the upcoming TV series Zone Of Separation, as well as recent recurring characters in CBC-TV’s At The Hotel and CTV’s Jeff Ltd.), Alianak is looking forward to being back on stage for the first time in fifteen years. The Dora-nominated Araxi Arslanian (ATP’s Rogues of Urfa, Buddies in Bad Times’ upcoming Who’s Your Dada?) plays Hagop’s daughter and Garen Boyajian (Atom Egoyan’s Ararat, recurring role in three seasons of the Family Channel’s Radio Free Roscoe) portrays his grandson. Carlo Essagian and Michael Kazarian round out the cast.  Set and lighting for A Crooked Man is designed by DroegeDesigns, sound design is by Terry Crack and Joe Mancuso, and costume design is by Anne Dixon. Sharon DiGenova is the stage manager. 

Posted: January 24th, 2008 under newsletter.
Comments: none

There may be a little while where things aren’t quite perfect as we work the bugs out but all art is a work-in-progress.

This new blog/blurb feature is not just for us here at the Theatre Centre - it’s for our Resident Companies, rental companies, and audience members to share their stories.

So consider this your formal invitation to get involved in on-line publishing and submit a story, an essay, a review, or even a picture! It can be about The Theatre Centre or another art space somewhere else in the world, it can be about theatre or dance or music or performance art OR it can be about the Queen West neighbourhood… these are all appropriate topics (not that I don’t want to hear about your girlfriend… but more so if she’s an artist doing a show here at the theatre… then yes, please do tell me all…) Imagine The Theatre Centre was publishing an art magazine and you could submit an article except it only had to be a paragraph long… not that it can’t be longer…

And to take a back a bit… here is a posting from Resident Company alumuni, Stephen O’Connell from bluemouthinc.

First Times by Stephen O’Connell of bluemouth inc.
what is left when life is more dream than memory an incubus without pants where people collide with actuality

eating pancakes in duclos’ backyard across a red table from viv moore whose radiance is illuminated by morning sunlight and ripening vine leaves brandishing a bull whip she knocks an apple off julia sasso’s head

when out of nowhere sandra alland jumps upon the table to declare “it is a curse” “it is a curse to to be a woman”

what is remembered but friendships and feeling mingled with faint images of places and event

hillar who is sitting way to close for my comfort whispers nebulous words of wisdom in my ear

as I spilling sip on vintage wine franco resting his gentle hands on my weak shoulders as I nervously swirl back my empty head And grab his calm face with in the palm of my hands, “everything is going to be alright” he tells me these reassuring words release an endless flutter of moths from my mouth

swirling to the rafters where cathy gordon climbs a ladder to the roof of the great hall corpus dance is running around below catching the falling dancers of zero gravity

chad dembski who is lying on the floor laughing uncontrollably points his knobby finger at allison cummings swirling like a dervish across queen street west to the sounds of russian music in the days before the yuppies

While two naked wresters named kevin and sean are locked in a sleeper hold and natalie derome scatters rose pedals across the dance floor accompanied by a symphony of car horns

what matters but memories collected like objects proudly on display in the trophy case buried within my heart

Posted: January 8th, 2008 under newsletter.
Comments: none