Teens have taken over The Theatre Centre! Since February this year, Mammalian Diving Reflex’s collective of vibrant and insightful teens from all across the GTA got a taste of 21 innovative shows The Theatre Centre had to offer. Many of the teens had no background in theatre, or had watched a play for that matter. Teens Talk Theatre provided a creative and exciting way for youth to view Toronto’s fresh and creative art scene. The teens even had post-show interviews with many of the actors and directors. As part of the Teens Talk Theatre project, they will also be creating and producing an award ceremony guaranteed to be more entertaining than ‘couch potato-ing’ the Grammys. And of course, an award ceremony cannot be complete without golden trophies. The teens curated a list of awards to hand out such as “Most Emotionally Charged Play”, “Woman Crush of The Year” and “First Naked Body I’ve Ever Seen In Person”. Here’s a sneak peek of the hand crafted tokens that will be awarded at the ceremony on July 14, 2015.

– Teens Talk Theatre Jury Member, Nerupa Somasale

The Theatre Centre and Why Not Theatre Partner to Create

The November Ticket

One ticket for three innovative plays at The Theatre Centre this November, featuring critically acclaimed work from:

Nicolas Billon, Jackie Sibblies Drury and Jordan Tannahill

Our latest intervention is Teens Talk Theatre, an ongoing residency featuring a jury of 14 youth, who assess the best, the worst, and most okayish shows presented at The Theatre Centre. After viewing more than 20 shows from February – July 2015, the jury will publicly convene in July to bring you a live award-talk-show where directors, actors, and playwrights will fight to the death for a hand-made vintage macaroni trophy and the ultimate “Favourite Teen Show” title.

The Program: The Jury attends over 20 shows from February – July 2015 and VIP post-show talks with the directors, cast, or production crew of every show. Throughout the program, the jury will not only infiltrate the spaces of The Theatre Centre, but also the staffs’ homes, cars, and lives as they slowly begin to take over the place. This is the future of performance.

The Jury features 14 youth from Parkdale, Lawrence Heights, Jane and Finch, and Malvern: Sanjay Ratnan, Virginia Antonipillai, Nerupa Somasale, Kiam Liam-Bellissimo, Akeeshan Jeeva, Claudia Howard, Shada Mahdi, Shirwa Ali, Fadumo Henke, Lasahsa Nesbeth, Ria Rashi, Kajian Pulenthirasingam, Nanthiya Nanthakumar, and Thipashani Balakrishnan.

The Theatre Centre’s Capital Campaign
A $6.2 million renovation transformed the former Carnegie Library at 1115 Queen Street West into a 21st century live arts hub and incubator, and the permanent home of The Theatre Centre.

Transforming a Landmark
The project design is by GBCA Architects,  whose transformative work on historic properties includes sites such as Canada’s National Ballet School and over 45 other museum and cultural sites across Canada. This award-winning firm was the natural choice to breathe life back into this neighborhood landmark.

The Theatre Centre’s adaptive reuse of the space transforms the interior into a unique live arts facility, and restores the building to its original function as a place of public use and cultural significance.

by Franco Boni

For a brief time in the summer of 1993 Cathy Gordon and I were roommates. We both left York University’s Theatre program and were ‘interning’ for arts groups in the city. Cathy had landed a job working on a production called Poundemonium by an indie Toronto company called DNA –she later became its General Manager.

DNA’s artistic director Hillar Liitoja made a lasting impression on me; he would insist on leaving Cathy messages on our machine rather than dictating a message to me in person. I would surely get it wrong. We had one of those microcassette answering machines, so I could hear the message as Hillar left it – he used complete sentences with appropriate punctuation and would enunciate every vowel clearly when leaving his message. Does anyone speak in complete sentences anymore?

Hillar does.

Later that year, in October to be exact – because I know Hillar would want me to be exact – I had my second DNA experience. I was an audience member at a show called The Last Supper, which played at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. It featured Ken McDougall, Sky Gilbert, Jim Allodi, Marti Arkko and Cathy Gordon, and if you don’t know it – you should! To this day, it is one of the most moving, thrilling and essential theatrical works I have seen in my life. Hillar went on to win a Dora Mavor Moore Award for best direction, his third in that category.

The Theatre Centre has had a very long history with DNA. We have presented, premiered and hosted many DNA performances, including most recently Wit in Love at the 2010 Free Fall Festival.

Red Light, Green Light is DNA’s latest work choreographed by Hillar and Magdalena Vasko, and it has taken at least four years to get to the stage. In the past, you could expect to see at least one DNA show a year.

Why has it been so long since DNA premiered such a large-scale work?

Can our current theatre ecology sustain a company like DNA Theare? Who are companies like DNA making work in our theatre ecology today? How does an artist like Hillar make work in a system that primarily values money and consumption?

Red Light, Green Light previews tomorrow night and opens Sunday at The Theatre Centre. Hillar doesn’t expect you to be there, but let’s surprise him and welcome him back with full houses! Limited Seating. 

Please take a moment to enjoy these videos. They showcase the tremendous people that helped make (and are still helping) our new home a reality. They also talk about what the new arts hub & incubator means to the company, our artists, our community. They explain what we are like and what we do. We are looking forward to welcoming you at our new home at 1115 Queen St. West.