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The Night Shift

For one week, The Theatre Centre will be opening its doors to artists, creators, and makers overnight.
two raccoons climb on top of the graphic blue surface at night time. they are startled by a yellow light.

In response to the lack of affordable creative space in the City, The Theatre Centre is offering artists a chance to work in our building each night June 10-14, from 10PM – 8AM. The Night Shift will culminate in an optional community sharing on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 11:59PM.

Interested in attending the public showing on June 15th?

We’d love for you to see what a week of night owl creative time has cumulated into. Community showing is FREE and open to public! RSVP here.

About Night Shift

Night Shift was originally a 2019 experiment as part of The Theatre Centre’s participation in Metcalf Foundation’s Staging Change program, and was a huge success with featured works including comics, writings, installations, and music.

Hosted by

Thomas McKechnie's photo shows them looking right into the camera with long blonde hair, glasses, and a tank top.

Thomas McKechnie is a playwright and organizer residing in Toronto. Playwriting credits include The Jungle with Anthony MacMahon (Tarragon Theatre) Winner of Toronto Critics Choice Best New Play, Remembering the Winnipeg General, 12 Letters from Your Lover, Lost at Sea with Hannah Kaya and 4 ½ (ig)noble truths (zietpunktheatre). They were a member of the 2013-2015 Soulpepper Academy as a playwright. As an organizer they participated in a campaign to organize food couriers at the food delivery platform Foodora which led to a first of its kind union for app-based workers in Canada. 

Thomas hosted our first Night Shift and we’re thrilled to have them back.

About the artists

Wayne's photo is of him smiling brightly looking into the camera while wearing a grey pull-over hoodie, and black beanie.

Wayne Burns is an actor and creator originally from Wagobatik/Truro, Nova Scotia. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Wayne was chosen as a Breakthrough Theatre Artist by NOW Magazine for his performance in Michael Ross Albert’s, Miss, at The Assembly Theatre.  Wayne has developed solo work with Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, In The Soil Arts Festival, Eastern Front Theatre and at Solo-icious Solo Festival.

“I’m creating a proof of concept for my new solo work, CAKE. This piece aims to explore the relationship between indulgence and discipline through high intensity training while simultaneously eating a multilayer cake.”

Megha's artist photo is a collage of different people doing various things like djing, dancing at raves, and hanging outside. there's a large dark circle in the middle with the pictures collaged around.

Megha Chatterjee is an independent multidisciplinary artist with 10+ years of movement practice.  Her credits include live stage performances with artists like Salman Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Sunny Leone and Aparshakti Khurana in India. She continues to fuel her passion via research in Club Style Dances, battles/showcases and developing creative projects in Tkaronto. She is currently training in “Gaudiya Nritya” affiliated with UNESCO art heritage and studies RAVE culture.

“The Night Shift residency gives us the space to create a live arts incubator to Re:Search the various aspects that intriguingly connect deeper senses between the Mover + Sound + Lights. We aim to further our production and development of the working title of our script, ‘Silence of their Wars and the Loudness of our Music'”

Wandy is seen in her photo with her arms at her hips standing up straight with a big smile looking at the camera. Her long black hair comes down in front of her torso and she's wearing a long sleeve top and jeans.

Wandy Cheng is an artist from Hong Kong whose work is expressed through illustration, ceramics, paper-cut and public art. She finds inspiration through memories of lived experiences & eclectic environments, and is delighted by expressive linework and bold patterns. Her work can be seen on the streets of Toronto and within pages of international publications.

“Documenting my observations of characters, animals, and objects I encounter to and from Theatre Centre during this nocturnal week through a series of narrative paintings. How might my dreams change or adapt throughout?”

Robert's photo shows him reaching both of his arms up into the air while staring upwards with a look of amazement. He has a full black beard, a light like halo circling his head, and is wearing a jean shirt.

Robert Feetham is a Dora award-winning actor, comedian, clown, and mime. Since 2013, he has toured 16 countries with Corpus Dance Projects, Les Moutons and is also one half of the comedy duo Tasty Sandwich. He is now very excited to be joining The Night Shift at the Theatre Centre!   

“Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s sci-fi short stories The Martian Chronicles, Rob Feetham will explore his next “epic minimalist” solo project during the non-traditional hours of The Night Shift. His current practice of Epic Minimalism is a method of creating theatre where audiences and performers work together to forge spectacular images using only the body and space.”

Maya Gale-Buncel's photo shows her in midst of a movement. She has her curly hair in a ponytail, has a fair complexion, and is wearing comfortable dance clothes.

Maya Gale-Buncel (she/they) is a contemporary dancer, choreographer, and a graduate from the Dance Performance Program at George Brown College and the HBE Mentorship Program. As an artist, she strives to approach her work from a place of curiosity and play. She is interested in combining aspects of dance and theatre to better tell stories, as well as using her art as a vessel for social change.

“My time at Night Shift will be driven by the exploration of movement with flashlights. How can they influence the impulses I have to move (or not move)? How can they show (or hide) what is important to me?”

Celina is seen in their photo standing up straight while looking off into the distance. They wear a dark tank top and have shoulder length flowy hair.

Celina Lucarelli is a queer artist creating work as an Expressive Arts Therapist which constantly engages them in the discovery of healing as an art form. This takes shape in their body of work, meant to tempt the human heart into a love affair with the wild world. They are fighting for a radical re-imagining of our existence and relationships with one another, systems of power and the earth. 

“My Adoration is Edible is an anthology of short stories, poems and musings on the undulating nature of fruit, sensuality and the divine whore. Through these summer nights it will find its voice in performance.”

Vicky Mochama is a writer and journalist.

“I am developing a play about a Black family in southwestern Ontario.”

Swadhi is seen in her photo with a gentle kind smile looking at the camera. Her dark long hair falls past her shoulders and is wearing white glasses, and a dark zip up sweater. Behind her is a photo of her dancing with her back to the camera.

Swadhi Ranganee is a dancer with roots in Sinhalese udarata and pahatharata traditions. 

 “Swadhi is using the Night Shift to recall histories of magic and monsters.” 

Patricia's photo has patricia looking straight into the camera with a serious, neutral face. Patricia is wearing black rounded glasses and is wearing a dark coloured lipstick.

Patricia Tab is a Hispanic-Latinx improviser, performer, and an alumna of the Second City HouseCo and Diversity Fellowship and Bad Dog Featured Players.  Patricia received the Pat & Tony Adams Freedom Fund for the Arts as part of the Bad Dog Theatre Emerging Creators Unit. Patricia approaches comedy as a poetic language and loves to live there where melodrama meets deadpan. 

“I’ll be parallel working on two projects of mine: writing some comedy essays and working on some choreographies that will be the source material of a performance piece. Will both projects become one? Will I be dancing about comedy and writing jokes about reggaeton? We’ll see.”

This event is part of our 10 for 10 programming (ten unique offerings over ten months), which celebrates ten years since we moved into our forever home on 1115 Queen Street West.

Learn more about the program and upcoming events here.

10 for 10.
OCAF FMCO 25 years

The Theatre Centre is a nationally recognized live-arts incubator and community hub. Our mission is to offer a home for creative, cultural and social interactions to invent the future. We make work that spans disciplines and genres; work that pushes the boundaries of what is considered “art”. Our programming and our role as a community space are inextricably linked. Art is not made in a silo: it is connected to the world around it.

10 for 10 activities have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, administered by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund Corporation.

Connect and Share: @thetheatrecentre

Images from Night Shift 2019

Photo by Kyle Purcell

in the incubator, artists struggle to move into a maze set up with chaotic chair arrangements and a red rope net.
in the gallery, an artist set up a bunch of plynths amidst blue lights and is reading their work.
something is happening in a small kitchen cabinet and people are curiously looking.
cafe at night is lit in red and yellow. community members sit around and chat.
June 15, 2024
to June 15, 2024
RSVP for FREE

Tickets are

Venue

Franco Boni Theatre, BMO Incubator, Café/Bar, Gallery, Patio, Green Roof, Café

Performance Dates

This performance is 11:59pm - 8am

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