The Theatre Centre’s Free Fall ‘10

A World Stage partnership

Mar. 18-28, Various Locations

A celebration of innovation and risk in performance, Free Fall is The Theatre Centre’s biennial festival, presenting a progressive menu of new performance from across the country. Free Fall ‘10 features seven new works over the course of eleven days in the Queen St. W. neighbourhood and at Harbourfront Centre.

A highly regarded arts incubator, The Theatre Centre was founded in 1979 and is a unique facilitator for dozens of independent artists and companies every year. The Theatre Centre is committed to new work and new ways of working.

For tickets call 416-973-4000 or go to harbourfrontcentre.com 

Six Images in Search of an Artist: Remix

Tanya MarsConsidered one of Canada’s most innovative multidisciplinary artists as well as a performance art legend, Mars’ new work explores and exploits the senses, as influenced by the images in the French medieval tapestry Tenture de la Dame à la Licorn: taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell and “mon seule désire” as the sixth sense. This new work marks Mars’ first Canadian performance since winning a 2008 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.

Mar. 18-19, $10

The Theatre Centre

The Bob and Becky Cabaret

Bob Wiseman and Becky Johnson

Juno Award-winning composer Wiseman co-curates for the first time with award-winning clown, comedian, playwright and performance artist Johnson, blending their unique sensibilities, various media and personal style to create one unforgettable cabaret.

Mar. 18 and 20, $10

The Theatre Centre

I’m So Close It’s Not Even Funny

Why Not Theatre

Hailed by NOW Magazine as “artists to watch,” Why Not Theatre takes you into a universe where the fabric of space and relationships tears and repairs itself, and all matter—from the smallest quacks to the most gargantuan silences—is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of time.

Dates and Location TBD, $20

Wit in Love

DNA Theatre

Wit is none other than Ludwig Wittgenstein, arguably the greatest and most influential philosopher of the last century. And who is he in love with? Well, among others, his brilliant pianist brother. Created and performed by Hillar Liitoja based on a text by Sky Gilbert.

Mar. 20-22, 24-28

Free for Free Fall passholders

Location TBA when you book your ticket

On the Side of the Road

Theatre Junction

A story of secrets, family and the sprawling Albertan landscape, On the Side of the Road centres around a young novelist who returns to his family cottage with his Parisian girlfriend to confront his past and the murky depths of identity. Calgary’s Theatre Junction juxtaposes a brave new vision in Canadian contemporary theatre while embracing the traditions of national consciousness.

Mar. 24-27, $30

Fleck Dance Theatre

KISMET one to one hundred

The Chop Theatre in association with Rumble Productions

One hundred Canadians, ages one through one hundred reveal personal stories about the role that fate and destiny play in their lives. Vancouver-based, award-winning innovators, The Chop Theatre presents a surprising and intimate work based on 100 interviews about kismet.

Mar. 25-28, $20

The Theatre Centre

Old Men Dancing: Wiser and Still Gorgeous (Do Not Resuscitate)

Bill James/Atlas Moves Watching

Renowned choreographer Bill James brings together 16 men aged 50-75 without formal dance training who share an interest in creating movement-based performance. Weathering was created specifically for the group and takes inspiration from weather forces that surround us at the same time as we interpret the climate of our bodies and the mutability of our lives. Completing the programme are commissioned works by choreographers Marie Josee Chartier, D.A. Hoskins and Allen Kaeja.

Mar. 26-27, $15

Enwave Theatre

Posted: June 12th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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HATCH: emerging performance projects at Harbourfront Centre
Deadline for Proposals: July 3, 2009

Harbourfront Centre is pleased to announce an Open Call for proposals from Toronto-area artists and companies working in the field of performance for HATCH: emerging performance projects for the 2009-2010 series. Companies and artists selected to participate in HATCH will receive a one-week residency in Harbourfront Centre’s Studio Theatre.

HATCH is designed to incubate and foster invention and innovation in the local performance scene. Entering its seventh year, this programme has become an important element in the milieu of local performance development.

HATCH is a key initiative in Harbourfront Centre’s mission to develop
local artists and their unique practices. The HATCH residency and
mentorship programme provides resources and professional assistance to a
new generation of engaging and innovative contemporary artists to reach
the next stage in the development in their work and careers.

HATCH is seeking artists committed to the development of contemporary,
inventive and creative performance-based work and invites projects from
emerging creators and established artists engaging in new collaborations
or entering into new artistic territory. Proposals are encouraged from
artists working across all disciplines, including, but not limited to,
dance, theatre, performance art, music, multi-media, etc. Of particular
interest are proposals that can demonstrate how HATCH will benefit the
project or the artist during this stage of development.

Full criteria, qualification information and instructions for applicants can be found at http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/whoweare/submissions/hatch.cfm or call Laura Nanni at 416-952-7969.

Please mail proposals to:
HATCH Proposals
Laura Nanni, Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON M5J 2G8
Sorry, applications by fax or email are not accepted

Posted: June 12th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Dear Artists and Friends,

 

The Festival of Ideas and Creation kicks off today!  This coming week, we have a number of exciting events that explore aspects of the creative process, with some of Canada’s most incredible, visionary and provocative artists.  Plus, on Saturday night, we are thrilled to host an intimate conversation a special party with new Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn. Meet Matthew and join us to celebrate the festival’s first week!

 

Here are some of the week’s highlights.  To reserve your seat please call the Box Office 416-368-3110 or email festival@canstage.com

Visit www.canstage.com/festival for the full festival lineup. 

All events listed are FREE and are at the Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, unless otherwise noted.

 

In Conversation: Daniel MacIvor with designer and collaborator Kimberly Purtell

Wednesday June 10, 7 p.m.

Meet the Governor General’s Award-, Siminovitch Prize- and Obie Award-winning writer, director and performer behind See Bob Run, Wild Abandon, The Soldier Dreams, You Are Here, Marion Bridge, A Beautiful View, How It Works, His Greatness and solo works House, Here Lies Henry, Monster and Cul-de-sac created in collaboration with creative partner Daniel Brooks. MacIvor and Brooks will be presenting their newest collaboration This Is What Happens Next at Canadian Stage in April of 2010. Join Daniel MacIvor, one of Canada’s most seminal artists, and design collaborator Kimberley Purtell as they discuss projects of the past, present and future.

 

 

 

In Conversation:  Electric Company’s Kim Collier, Zuppa Theatre’s Alex McLean and the TD Dream in High Park’s Sue Miner, with the Cooking Fire Festival’s Kate Cayley on creation in outdoor spaces

In Partnership with The Cooking Fire Festival

Thursday June 11, 7 p.m.

Canada’s public spaces have long been used as performances venues, offering professional productions in unusual locations to the surprise and delight of audiences. This conversation with directors who work in outdoor spaces across the country examines the relationship between experimental theatre, outdoor venues and public spaces and looks at how the interaction of art and public space challenge both the space and the art. Hosted by Kate Cayley, artistic director of The Cooking Fire Festival of Theatre in Dufferin Grove Park, this conversation features award-winning theatre practitioners from Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver.

 

 

In Conversation: Activism and the Arts: Toronto Voices

With Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Catherine Hernandez, Marilo Nunez and Chy Ryan Spain

Friday, June 12, 7 pm

Join us for an interactive conversation with theatre artists making a difference in their communities. Hosted by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, General Manager of Native Earth and Playwright-in-Residence at Obsidian Theatre, this roundtable discussion features acclaimed theatre practitioners who consistently push the envelope and ensure their voices and issues are heard on stages across Toronto. The evening also features rhymes and rhetoric by Donna-Michelle’s thinly veiled alter ego, Belladonna the Virtuous, and readings by distinguished artists, including excerpts from Catherine Hernandez’s Coyote and Future Folk, Marilo Nunez’s Three Fingered Jack & the Legend of Joaquin Murieta, and the provocative poetry of Chy Ryan Spain.  Stay after the show to mingle and share your voice with the artists! 

 

 

Reading: Our Lady of Lost and Found by Daniela Vlaskalic

Directed by James MacDonald, featuring Jane Spidell and Gina Wilkinson

Saturday June 13, 4 p.m.

Do miracles still exist? Are we capable of faith? Is there room for it in our lives today? A middle-aged writer goes into her living room to water the plants and finds a woman standing there. She is the Virgin Mary. Invited to stay for lunch, Mary explains that after two thousand years of petition, adoration, and traveling she is tired and needs some R&R. An exploration of what faith means now and what it is that we believe in. A staged reading of a new play by Daniela Vlaskalic (Sister James of Doubt: a parable, and co-creator of the award-winning The Drowning Girls), adapted from the novel by Governor General’s award-winning author Diane Schoemperlen.

 

 

Special Event: Matthew Jocelyn, The Canadian Stage Company’s Artistic and General Director Designate

Saturday June 13, 7 p.m., party to follow

Meet the new Artistic and General Director in an open exchange on the state of theatre and the performing arts in Canada and around the world, and share your ideas for the future of The Canadian Stage Company. Following this open forum, we invite you to join Matthew for a celebratory party, where the conversation can continue late into the night!  Based in Europe until recently, Matthew is an internationally acclaimed director of theatre and opera, a producer and an arts administrator. He was the Artistic and General Director of the Atelier du Rhin in Alsace, France, for the past 10 years. He was responsible for establishing the organization as a major centre for theatre, opera and contemporary dance - the only multi-disciplinary artistic centre of its kind in France - and for launching the Jeunes Voix du Rhin, an internationally recognized training centre for young singers.  He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture in July 2008, one of the country’s most prestigious arts honours.

 

 

Special Event: BASH! at The Power Plant

In partnership with The Power Plant

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Sunday June 14, 2 p.m.

Join members of The Canadian Stage Company’s BASH! Artist Residency Program for a guided tour and talk about the exhibit Universal Code, as part of The Power Plant’s Sunday Scene Series. Every Sunday, speakers from the world of art and beyond offer their responses to the current exhibition. Whether focusing on a single work/artist or on the entire exhibition, guest presenters draw provocative connections between the gallery’s programs and broader cultural and intellectual debates. Timed to coincide with the International Year of Astronomy, Universal Code presents responses from a broad range of contemporary artists to cosmology and ideas of the universal in our current information age, a time of significant scientific and technological development as well as rampant globalization. The Power Plant is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted exclusively to the art of our time.

 

Questions?  Please contact festival@canstage.com.

Sincerely,

Natasha Mytnowych                  &          Claire Calnan

Festival Director                                    Associate Festival Director

Posted: June 10th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Set in a tent on the CAMH Grounds under the direction of Sarah Stanley and choral leadership of Alex Bulmer, a choir comprised of individuals with varying disabilities will help share in the gospel as they perform to the musical score of The Book of Judith composed by Andrew Penner.

Costumes by Beth Kates. Musical Direction Nick Carpenter. Graphic Design Stephane Monnet. Stage Management Tanya Greve. Production Management Andrea Lundy. Assistant Production Manager Lindy Zucker.

May 19 - May 31^st

 

Tuesday to Saturday 8pm

2:30pm Matinees: Saturday May 23, May 30, and Sunday May 24^th

Sunday 31^st 11am

 

 CAMH grounds (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) 1001 Queen St. West

*** Look for the outdoor tent - just east of the main entrance

 www.theatrecentre.org / www.bookofjudithplay.blogspot.com’

Tickets: $20, groups of ten or more $10

CALL 416-534-9261

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under BOOK OF JUDITH, May Newsletter.
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Dear artists, friends and colleagues,

 

I’m writing to personally invite you to the Launch of Picasso PRO”s new 30 month program in collaboration with Creative Trust.  All details for the Launch are at the bottom of the Press Release which is attached and also pasted below.  

 

Please mark Sunday May 31^st, 4:00 pm in your calendars! We look forward to seeing you at Tallulah’s Cabaret at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre!

 

RSVP’s are greatly appreciated.  yours, Rose

 

bridging disability and the performing & media arts

                         

 

for immediate release: April 27^th, 2009                                         

media enquiries: Rose Jacobson

 

Picasso PRO Launches New Program in Collaboration with Creative Trust

 

Picasso PRO, a long-term project focused on bridging disability and the performing & media arts, is delighted to announce a new 30 month program cycle in collaboration with Creative Trust made possible through a province-wide grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

 

Picasso PRO was formed to facilitate genuine opportunity for artists with disabilities and Deaf artists in the performing and media arts. It springs from the passionate conviction that Deaf and disabled artists belong on Canada’s stages and screens and among our audiences, professional staffs, teachers and cultural leaders.  

 

Since 1993, Picasso PRO, originally called DIS THIS!, has enjoyed five programming cycles under the management of Rose Jacobson. Picasso PRO remains highly responsive to the community’s needs through an evolving program of skills development, artist support, networking, creation, collaboration and services for the up and coming professional. All activities are grounded in a strong commitment to the artists’ creative, professional and human rights.

 

“Ryerson’s Disability Studies Program recognizes an urgent need for dedicated arts professionals to mentor and support the emergence of fresh new voices from the diverse and far-flung disability community. Picasso PRO serves a unique and critically important role in building artistic and cultural capacity and supporting distinct artistic practice in Toronto and Ontario.” - Catherine Frazee, co-director Ryerson RBC Institute for Disability Studies Research & Education

 

Creative Trust’s mandate aims to improve the financial health and sustainability of some of Toronto’s most innovative and accomplished performing arts companies. Together CT’s members represent a sizeable chunk of the professional producing, presenting and training performing arts companies in Toronto.

 

Access is a key point of entry for Picasso PRO’s collaboration with Creative Trust. Along with other artistic and peer-to-peer opportunities, we will research facilities and advocate for resources to improve barrier-free access to Toronto and Ontario’s arts venues.

 

“This collaboration is based on trust and an awareness of overall social goals which go beyond any one organization’s efforts. It is bound by personal connections; it is peer-based. It requires knowledge-sharing and mutual support in dealing with complex problems.” – Jini Stolk, Executive Director Creative Trust

 

Picasso PRO/CT’s upcoming workplan positions Ontario’s artists with disabilities firmly within the international Dis-Art movement and hopes to act as an agent of social change, documenting the sector while supporting professionalism and excellence in artistic practice by:

• Building new regional networks through outreach to targeted communities
• Consolidating best practices and sharing tools with communities outside Toronto
• Enhancing the careers of intermediate and senior Deaf artists and artists with disabilities
• Identifying younger artists (18-25) and introducing them to a variety of arts practice
• Challenging industry standards, non-inclusive practices, negative media depictions of disability and advocating for positive alternatives.        

 Over the past 15 years Picasso PRO has grown from a nucleus of  eight core artists to a pool of over 70 active participants, 30 artists in teaching/mentoring roles,18 ASL Interpreters, physical facilitators and tech specialists as well as more than 40 associate organizations, groups, community activists and advocates. Our specialists have included Alex Bulmer, Fides Krucker, Caglar Kimyoncu, Michael Kennard, Kate Lynch, Viv Moore, David Skelton, Donna Michelle St-Bernard, Mark Christmann, Karin Randoja, Paula Wing and Josette Bushell-Mingo to name only a few.

 

Aside from the obvious power which self-determination engenders, it is producing a vital canon of work: films, stories, performances, books, plays, installations and entirely new artforms created though the prism of disability. This is the work that Picasso PRO/CT intends to nurture and support.

 

“Someone once told me that you need to plant your own garden instead of waiting for someone to give you flowers…so… always remember to surround yourself with gardeners!  We feel that Picasso PRO is building a greenhouse… so thank you Picasso PRO!” – Kat Germain and Allen Redford, founder and artistic associate, the Mutt Theatre Company

 

Please join us in celebrating the official Launch of Picasso PRO/CT on Sunday May 31^st, 2009 at Tallulah’s Cabaret, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

 

-30-

 

 

 

Picasso PRO/CT Launch

Sunday May 31^st, 2009, 4:00 - 6:00 pm

Tallulah’s Cabaret, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

12 Alexander Street, Toronto, via side entrance/ramp

[1 block east of Yonge Street, 2 blocks south of Wellesley]

ASL Interpreters onsite, fully wheelchair accessible

 

Meter-box street parking and small adjacent lot. Convenient drop-off for WheelTrans

and drivers. Nearest TTC: Wellesley Station at Yonge or College/Carlton at Yonge

 

The Program

Brief remarks and performance tidbits followed by informal networking

and drinks; cash bar; light snacks available. RSVP’s appreciated to Rose Jacobson: jacobsonr@sympatico.ca or 416-536-7522.  Space limited.

 

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under May Newsletter.
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Crow’s Theatre will host The Directors’ Showcase & Exchange May 15 – 17 as part of an on-going partnership with the National Theatre School of Canada. Over the course of three days, Crow’s Theatre will host a trio of exceptional young directors - Philip McKee, Vahid Rahbani and Anita Rochon - as they showcase their work at the Theatre Centre, Theatre Passe Muraille and 90 Lisgar Street. The weekend will feature work by some of the world’s most startling contemporary dramatists - including Bernard-Marie Koltès’ In the Solitude of Cotton Fields and an original piece from creator/performer Anita Rochon. The weekend will also feature two plays by UK innovator and legend Caryl Churchill; Philip McKee directs her classic Far Away, immediately followed by staged readings her latest work Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza – directed by NTS alumnus Rose Plotek.

 

On Saturday May 16^th, Crow’s Theatre will present the Directors’ Exchange, a panel discussion and Q&A that will bring together some of Canada’s most exciting directors and artistic leaders.

 

Curated by Christian Barry, the Directors’ Exchange invites artistic leaders to reflect on director training, cultural leadership and their own paths from emerging artist to Artistic Director. Panelists and speakers include Peter Hinton (Artistic Director of English Theatre, National Arts Centre), Matthew Jocelyn (incoming Canadian Stage Artistic Director), Jillian Keiley (Artistic Fraud), Daniel Brooks (Necessary Angel), Richard Rose (Tarragon Theatre), Lise Ann Johnson (Great Canadian Theatre Company) and many more. The afternoon’s events will be moderated by Sarah Stanley (Die in Debt and Co-Director, NTS Directing Program).

 

All events are free and open to the public, but space is limited. Register at crowstheatre.com to save your seat.

 

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under May Newsletter.
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FESTIVAL LAUNCH & EXHIBITION OPENING CELEBRATION
FRIDAY MAY 1, 7 - 10PM
Free
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
952 Queen St W
Wheelchair accessible
www.contactphoto.com
www.mocca.ca
416 395 0067

Join us for the launch of the 2009 festival and the opening of our primary exhibition Still Revolution: Suspended in Time at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. Come celebrate the start of an exciting photo-packed month of exhibitions and events during an evening of reveling with festival artists, photographers and special guests. Official Exhibition Sponsor: Scotiabank

Image Credit: Stan Douglas, Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971, 2008 (Detail). Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York

CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival, a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1997, is generously supported by Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co., Scotiabank, BlackBerry, Tourism Toronto, TVO, Fashion Television, Toronto Life, CP24, Now Magazine, enRoute Magazine, The Gladstone Hotel, The Drake Hotel, 3M Canada, Genstar and Beyond Digital Imaging. CONTACT gratefully acknowledges the support of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.

As the largest photography festival in world, with over 1,000 local, national and international artists participating at more than 220 venues across the GTA, CONTACT attracts over one million visitors. CONTACT is devoted to celebrating and fostering an appreciation of the art and profession of photography. For more information, visit www.contactphoto.com .

For more information on CONTACT or to interview a CONTACT spokesperson or artist, please contact: Bunmi Adeoye, NKPR, (416) 365-3630 x 26, bunmi@nkpr.net

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under May Newsletter.
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AUGUSTO BOAL 1931-2009  I met Augusto Boal in 1985 during a Canadian Popular Theatre Alliance Festival and learned about the Theatre of the Oppressed and its techniques.  Augusto opened the idea of breaking down the fourth wall, and started me on a path of interactive theatre.  At the time I wondered how to apply these concepts to the theatre that I was involved with and found it very difficult until 1990 when I became the artistic director of Mixed Company Theatre.  I quite quickly started to use forum theatre to create theatre with the community collaborating with youth, the homeless and various other sectors of society.  I began to apply the fantastic concepts that Augusto talked about and showed us during the workshops sessions.  I found that it was natural to me to become a Joker and I have loved the role ever since.  Watching Augusto enjoy his relationship with his audience, or as he called them the spect-actors, was a joy to behold.   In 1991, after viewing four Mixed Company forum theatre presentations, Augusto honoured Mixed Company by inviting us to become a center of the Theatre of the Oppressed, which we have been for the last 18 years.   I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Augusto Boal for taking theatre back to its roots where everyone is creative and are experts within their own lives.  The idea of working with a group of people and trying to come up with options, alternatives and possible solutions to problems that were presented, set me on the course of using theatre as a tool for social change and I thank Augusto.   On behalf of everyone at Mixed Company Theatre, I’d like to extend our condolences to the Boal family, and the many people whose lives have been touched by him.

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Dear Volunteer,

Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage has just opened Of All The People In All The World (http://harbourfrontcentre.com/whatson/today.cfm?id=784), by renowned UK theatre company, Stan’s Cafe. Of All The People… is a performance installation that uses a billion grains of rice to tell the demographic story of the Americas. It’s toured around the world and we are thrilled to be presenting it for the first time in Toronto.Because the show is a durational work, we’re looking for volunteers to help welcome guests, offer them a grain of rice, keep track of attendance, and invite them to enter the installation. It’s not a typical front-of-house position – it should be a lot more exciting.

The show runs from May 13-24, from 10 am to 6pm. We still have spots to fill! While this is a volunteer position, please note that we will remember who you are, and that Harbourfront Centre always makes sure our volunteers are first in line for extra tickets and other good things! This show is extremely special and we hope you can help us make it happen.

If you’d be available to help please contact Laura Nanni at lnanni@harbourfrontcentre.com

Thanks. We hope to hear from you soon.

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under May Newsletter.
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Calling all Subversive Theatre Types….

This email is to alert you that THE HAROLD AWARDS are right around the corner: on Monday May 25th. This year they return to the Queen West neigborhood (at the Canadian Corps Legion on Niagara just south of King). We’re thinking down n dirty par-tee. David Gale is your host. Scott B Sympathy performs. There will be a special Harolds film by Kirsten Johnson.  There will be food and cheap drinks. Thirteen folks will be bestowed with a Harold Award, and the Ken McDougall Award will be doled out. SPREAD THE WORD - pass this email on to your list….we hope to see you there!

FULL DETAILS BELOW

Sincerely,

THE 2009 HAROLDS COMMITTEE

Cathy Gordon, David and Robin Craig, Iris Turcott, Leslie Arden, Jenn Goodwin, Brendan Gall, Jim LeFrancois, Jonathan Rooke, Cayle Chernin, Allyson McMackon, Rick Banville, Sandy Tulloch, Lorenzo Savoini and Teodoro Dragonieri

THE FULL DETAILS:

The 16^th Annual

HAROLD AWARDS

Monday May 25, at 8pm - Admission $12 - Canadian Corps Legion, 201 Niagara Street, Toronto - totix.com

 

No red carpet. NO CANAPES. No VIP RECEPTION - We jump through those hoops in June.

 

Hosted by DAVID Gale - brought up from the farm team especially for the occasion.

 

Sound by Justin Roddy/DJ Ziplock. With Scott B Sympathy and ‘Harolds Video’ by Kirsten Johnson.

Food, Entertainment, Booze, and Serious Fun.

 

2009 Awards Designed and Created by 2008 Harold Recipient Teodoro Dragonieri

 

Since 1994 The Harold Awards have come to represent the independent and hard-working spirit of Toronto’s theatre community. Inspired by, and named after the late Harold Kandel, this annual event is a rabble-rousing alternative to June’s Dora Mavor Moore awards. For 2009, the Harolds return to the Queen West neighborhood at the Canadian Corps Legion on Niagara Street. Thirteen people will be ‘Harolded’, a promising director will receive The Ken McDougall Award, and a rowdy time will be had. David Gale hosts. DJ Ziplock spins. Scott B Sympathy performs. Also featuring a special ‘Harolds Video’ by Kirsten Johnson.

 

HAROLDS HISTORY:

Born on May 30, 1906, Harold Kandel achieved notoriety in Toronto’s theatre community with his tireless commitment and frequent heckling. Knowledge of Harold’s presence in an audience would elicit a double-edged response of dread and pride in the heart of a performer. If Harold was in the house – it meant you had arrived. If Harold was in the house – it also meant it was going to be a long night. After Harold’s death in 1994 a group of 13 theatre artists assembled to create this now-legendary annual event in celebration of the spirit of dedication, commitment and passion of Toronto’s vibrant theatre community.

 

To be ‘Harolded’ is an honour of the highest subversive order. Awards are bestowed from one individual to the next in recognition of an outstanding and often under-recognized dedication on or off the stage. The Harold Awards lineage reads like a who’s-who of Toronto theatre, beginning with: Luther Hansraj, Kirsten Johnson, Sherrie Johnson, Jacoba Knaapen, Daniel MacIvor, Don McKellar, Darren O’Donnell, Alex Poch-Goldin, Nadia Ross, Lisa Ryder, Sarah Stanley, Deanne Taylor and the late and dearly missed Paul Bettis.

 

Each year, innovators, instigators and architects of the Toronto theatre scene descend upon a local establishment to honour fellow devotees, and to party. The evening is riddled with giddy secrecy, as those about to be ‘Harolded’ don’t know it. The Harold Awards is the only awards night of its kind - as unique as the man himself – an evening of surprise, pride and serious celebration.

 

 THE KEN McDOUGALL AWARD:

Established in 1995 by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Platform 9 and Theatre Passe Muraille, the annual Ken McDougall Award serves to acknowledge a promising emerging director. Previous recipients have been: Franco Boni, Cathy Gordon, Michael Waller, Chris Abraham, Simon Heath, Patrick Conner, Ellen Ray Hennessey, Rebecca Brown, Nina Aquino, Kimahli Powell, Brendan Healy, Bea Pizano and Jacob Zimmer.

Posted: May 14th, 2009 under May Newsletter.
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