Praxis Blog and Website pre-relaunch blackout

Photo by stuartpilbrow licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

The integration of the Praxis blog and website will likely cause some problems over the weekend. Regular programming will resume on Tuesday June 16, 2009.

One url to rule them all!

Praxis Theatre blog is moving

The new address of the Praxis Theatre Blog is: 

praxistheatre.com

Our integrated website with a much more functional blog on the homepage will be up and running June 16th.

Please take the time to update your blog rolls and bookmarks.

See you on the flipside!

Indie Dora 2009 nominees

INDEPENDENT THEATRE PRODUCTION DIVISION

OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY/MUSICAL
Layne Coleman Tijuana Cure
Brendan Gall, Mike McPhaden, Rick Roberts & Julie Tepperman The Gladstone Variations
Tara Beagan Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
David Yee lady in the red dress
Anton Piatigorsky Eternal Hydra


OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION
You Fancy Yourself Produced by Contrary Company in association with Theatre Passe Muraille
The Gladstone Variations Convergence Theatre
lady in the red dress fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company in association with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Eternal Hydra Crow's Theatre
Appetite Volcano in association with the Exchange Rate Collective


OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
Mary Francis Moore You Fancy Yourself
Rebecca Benson, Alan Dilworth, Ruth Madoc-Jones & Aaron Willis The Gladstone Variations
Nina Lee Aquino lady in the red dress
Chris Abraham Eternal Hydra
Sarah Sanford Appetite


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE
David Ferry Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
R.H. Thomson Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
Steven McCarthy Norway.Today
Ins Choi lady in the red dress
David Ferry Eternal Hydra


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE
Maja Ardal You Fancy Yourself
Janet Amos The Gladstone Variations
Christine Horne Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
Karen Robinson Eternal Hydra
Liisa Repo-Martell Eternal Hydra


OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Victoria Wallace Mourning Dove
Teresa Przybylski Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
Camellia Koo lady in the red dress
John Thompson Eternal Hydra
Gillian Gallow Appetite


OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Shawn Kerwin Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
Julia Tribe + Reva Quam Wise.Woman
Gillian Gallow Appetite
Barbara Rowe Eternal Hydra
Victoria Wallace And Up They Flew


OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Andy Moro Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
Trevor Schwellnus minotaur
Michelle Ramsay lady in the red dress
John Thompson Eternal Hydra
Rebecca Picherack Appetite


OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN/COMPOSITION
Christopher Stanton minotaur
Romeo Candido lady in the red dress
Richard Feren Eternal Hydra
Robert Perrault Appetite
Waylen Miki An Inconvenient Musical

Congrats to all!

Actors’ Equity adjusts rules to further empower NYC Member-Creators

Actors' Equity Association has announced significant changes to the NYC Showcase Code.

The agreement, which is not technically an Equity contract, but is "promulgated by Actors' Equity Association to allow its members to participate in productions in small theaters without the benefit of an Equity Contract."

Members receive no salary or benefits and the performance and rehearsal schedules are limited in number. The terms of the code, created by and for the members, are designed to protect both the Equity actors and the interests of those theatres in New York City that operate under an Equity contract.

Approximately 1000 productions went on in NYC last year under this agreement, which does not forbid producers and actors coming to a sub-Equity standard agreement on pay. This code can only be used by Equity actors working in theatres with less than 99 seats in two types of situations:

A) The Basic Showcase Code for use on independent one-time productions.
B) The Festival Showcase Code that allows actors to work for not-for profit producers who create a season of work.

 Some of the recent changes include:

• Maximum ticket prices have been increased from $20 to $25.
  
• Maximum rehearsal time has been increased from four to five weeks.
  
• Maximum budget to fall under the basic code is increased from $20,000 to $35,000.
  
• Performances may now be held over a six-week period.
  

These changes were the result of the Off-Off Broadway Committee, which is made up of members of Equity who have worked under the code and producers who have produced under the code.

Will this significant shift by AEA towards allowing its membership greater ability to leverage their labour to kick-start careers and productions have an impact in Canada?

Members of Canadian Actors Equity Association voted 96-1 to express dissatisfaction with the options currently available to Member/Creators at the 2009 AGM. [Click here for full info and more photos on the CAEA website.]   

The 2009 CAEA AGM held on February 24th in Toronto saw a massive turnout to support a Member Resolution calling for Equity to provide a Showcase-type agreement for use by its membership. The final vote in support of this motion was 96-1. The issue brought out so many members, that the minutes to several previous AGMs were passed by an assembly that had finally achieved quorum. Clearly CAEA has a mandate to come up with a new system that supports members that want to hustle to get something off the ground, but no one knows what will be proposed.

What do you think? Should CAEA adopt a Showcase-type code? Should the rules in the U.S. have anything to do with Canadian rules? Are these agreements “the thin end of the wedge” that will spell the end of reasonable protections for performers? Has that been the case in New York? Is this a good way to facilitate artists creating their own work?

Facebook reveals Your True Theatre Calling

There is a 10 question quiz making the rounds on Facebook that allows users to determine definitively Your True Theatre Calling.  

Forget for a moment that almost all the theatre artists you know under 35 years of age do more than one thing, and that the new era of artists seems to be an entrepreneurial set that refuses to be defined by a single job desciption out of both necessity and ambition.  The real question is, "Does the quiz work?" Judging by the results below, the technology may need some refining. (This may also be a window into why online dating results in so many ill-suited matches. It all makes sense on paper.....)

Praxis Gourmet - Summer 09 Edition

Praxis will be holding it’s biannual Praxis Gourmet on the evening of Thursday June 4th, 2009.

Praxis Gourmet is an exclusive fine-dining and wine-pairing event, featuring a gourmet five-course meal with wine pairings. This will be accompanied by a live jazz trio and a sneak-preview scene from the upcoming shows this summer. It has proven in the past to be a magical evening and is an essential part of how Praxis raises funds for its productions.

Here’s a look at the menu for June 4th:

Hors d’oeuvres
Endive cups with blue cheese, pecans, dried cherry, and maple vinaigrette.
Heirloom tomato and watermelon gazpacho

First Course
Cured wild caught Rainbow Trout, with wild arugula, Bartlett pear and citrus vinaigrette.

Second Course
BBQ locally farmed turkey with lemon, dijon, and smoked paprika.
Roast fingerling potato
BBQ white and green asparagus
Wild leek aioli.

Cheese Course
Locally produced sheep’s milk cheese from Monforte Dairy.
Marmalade of orange, basil and balsamic.

Desert 
Home made Orange Spice Ice Cream in BBQ half peach with ginger white chocolate tuile.

The price is $110 per person, with all funds going towards our upcoming Summer Season.
A limited number of reservations are still available. 

Email simonrice(at)praxistheatre.com to reserve your spot today.

We hope you can make it for this evening of great food, wine and theatre!

Harold Awards this Monday: May 25th

If the belligerent relative that showed up late to your cousin Dora's wedding to shout out horrible truths to the dismay of the assembled guests was an awards show, it would probably be the Harolds. It's sort of like the Doras in the way that the Moon is sort of like a football. It's happening on Monday. 14 Harolds are awarded - the recipient of last year's award choosing who to pass it on to next, and the real trick is you have to trick them into going without knowing they're getting Harolded. It works to varying degrees. Visiting, dancing and heckling is strongly encouraged, and although Harold didn't drink, you probably will.

Eat The Street: Is it theatre?

O'Donnell is part of his own documentary crew at Addis Abba

By Lindsay Schwietz 

A lot has been written about Darren O’Donnell. You can find him on the cover of Eye Weekly, a comprehensive article in Taste T.O., and even The Toronto Star. Just the mention of his name can incite debate about the value and purpose of his work, or the obsessive love of twenty-something women.

Can Darren O’Donnell and his company, Mammalian Diving Reflex’s newest work with children be considered theatre? Do his theories of Social Acupuncture and his attempt to break down our boundaries and force social encounters have a place in the Toronto theatre community?

Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Street West 2: Eat The Street is Mammalian Diving Reflex’s newest project, where a group of students from Parkdale reviewed eleven restaurants in the Queen Street West area. It all culminated in the awards ceremony at the Gladstone Hotel on May 11th. 

I had been to one of the dinners, at Addis Abba, an Ethiopian restaurant where we all shared platters of food and sat at a long table, mingling youth and adults. This involved being watched by the other diners in the restaurant, many sitting atop a higher platform peering down at us. Everyone of us at the table were "the players" - the flash of the camera every few seconds, the video in our faces asking us what we think, the audience witnessing an impromptu celebration of sorts. It was a collective experience, viewed by others, documented extensively and influenced by who was in the room.

Sitting in the back room of the Gladstone Hotel, it all seemed so anti-climactic. We are out of the public eye, in a room that looks a lot like any other small awards ceremony I’ve been to. Not what I had expected.

The Parkdale Pumas enter through the middle of the audience to the stage after a quiet thank you to all the sponsors by Artistic Producer Natalie De Vito, Darren O’Donnell and three of the students act as MC’s for the night. Darren talks about his lucky red socks before announcing the first award for Hottest Waiters is awarded to the Drake Hotel, who went on to win Best Overall Restaurant. They proceed to award Scariest Bathroom: Mitzi’s Sister because of the red light, Least Graffiti in the Washroom: Saigon Flower (causing the  little lady owner to look like she might cry with happiness onstage accepting it), and Coolest Chef: Matthew Matheson at Oddfellows because of his many tattoos. You can find full results on the Eat the Street Blog .

There were two dance breaks, by a brother and sister, doing traditional Indian dancing. There were images of the hottest waiters; video of the coolest chef showing off the many tattoos covering his body; O'Donnell attempting discussions onstage with the youth presenting the awards and them responding with awkward one-word answers. There was mention of some of the people in the room who were regulars to the dinners and supportive journalists. Some restaurants showed to accept their awards, some didn’t.

Darren O’Donnell’s past works with children, include the internationally touring Haircuts by Children, where youth were taught to cut hair, then gave out free haircuts to willing adults, and the Children’s Choice Awards, allowing children to experience art, theatre, dance, etc and give awards to their choice of categories. Both events share similarities to Eat The Street in their reliance on spectacle and media.

Jury members rate their culinary experience.

But the awards ceremony for Eat the Street was less about the spectacle and more about celebrating the people in the room, what is around them every day, their diversity and ultimately, their similarities. This was more community focused than a theatrical act and everyone present seemed somehow connected to the project.

Frankly, I was slightly disappointed. I wanted the drama, spectacle and grandeur. But I suppose that isn’t what Mammalian Diving Reflex’s Social Acupuncture wing of their company is about. According to their website, they “bridge gaps between people who may not ordinarily have any reason to form relationships. Simultaneous to its impact in the community, it functions as a laboratory of sorts for the performance work of the company, inspiring new techniques and approaches.”

This is the answer. The Eat the Street Awards Ceremony might have been more about a community coming together to share and less about theatre. But it still has theatrical elements and inspires future theatrical production. And it has taught me more about the community of Parkdale that I live in, the people around me, the children that run by me, the families that have recently immigrated here, the restaurants and ultimately about myself and how I fit into that.

Maybe if more theatre in Toronto had that impact on the audience – involved and taught the community – instead of rerunning the same past successful productions over and over again, theatre would hold a more important and impacting place in general society.

Variation #2: David Ferry

Text:

The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged & numerous senses could perceive.
And particularly they studied the genius of each city & country. placing it under its mental deity.
Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of & enslav’d the vulgar by attempting to realise or abstract the mental deities from their objects; thus began Priesthood.
Choosing forms of worship from Poetic tales.
And at length they announced that the Gods had ordered such things.
Thus men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast.

Image:

Sound:
Click here

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David Ferry is an actor and director. He stars in Eternal Hydra by Anton Piatigorsky, presented by Crows Theatre opening May 17th, 2009 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto.

Click here to learn more about Praxis Theatre's Variations on Theatre.

Out and About

Gianpaolo Venuta, star of Over the River and Through the Woods at the Segal Theatre in Montreal, was seen leaving the Jeanne Sauvé mansion late Saturday night with a mystery blond on his arm...Does his girlfriend know about this?

The slow march from monologue to dialogue

"I think anyone can do theater. Even actors. And theater can be done everywhere. Even in a theater.”

Augusto Boal
1931 - 2009

City of Wine - Everyone

Photo by John Lauener - CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Cast and crew from all seven shows and schools, join Nightswimming and Theatre Passe Muraille staff on the stage to clarify exactly who caused this whole massive enterprise. (Playwright Ned Dickens)

Seven Jewish Children to have star-studded Toronto Premiere

The first public performance of Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children in Toronto features a who’s who of Canadian theatre. Arguably the most controversial and headline grabbing theatrical text of the past year, the ten-minute piece has already caused controversy in the UK and the US with performances at the Royal Court  and New York Theatre Workshop.

Crow’s Theatre will present the Toronto debut at Theatre Passe Muraille as part of the Directors' Showcase & Exchange from May 15th to 17th. The reading will be directed by Rose Plotek who recently directed the Canadian and French language World Premiere in Montreal last month. The Facebook page for the event reads reads:

“Crow’s Theatre will also present staged readings of Caryl Churchill's new play ‘Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza’ – NTS Directing Program alumnus Rose Plotek will direct an ensemble cast that includes Rosemary Dunsmore, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Jeff Meadows & R.H. Thomson.”

If the controversy over the cancellation of My Name is Rachel Corrie by CanStage is any barometer, these performances are likely to become a lightning rod for both sides of the issue. Because it’s important not to be a relativist about everything and take a stand on important issues, we’re throwing it out there that at Praxis Theatre we do not think this play is anti-semetic, and we do think its long overdue for a performance here in the T Dot.

Disagree? Read the text for yourself here, or leave a comment. The best thing about art of this nature is that it has the potential to raise awareness and encourage discussion of important issues.

City of Wine - Oedipus and Seven

Oedipus directed by Ursula Neuerburg-Denzer, Concordia University, Montreal

Performs Wed May 6 @ 8pm, Sat May 9 @ noon  

After an extremely early morning, long bus ride and exhilarating load in, the cast and crew from Oedipus at Concordia are thrilled to have arrived in the great city of Toronto for the City of Wine festival. It has certainly been a long haul getting here but we are all excited to stage our show at Theatre Passe Muraille. Having adapted to a new playing space and significantly altered set, the show promises to be interesting and fresh for all! It is really great to be involved in the City of Wine Festival. It has already proven to be a fantastic theatre experience and opportunity to meet some wonderful new people and catch a glimpse at the theatre world many of us will continue to pursue in the future. It's also been a great chance for some national travel, too! Looking forward to seeing you all at the show, cheers!

Hayley Lewis

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Seven directed by Sarah Stanley, York University, Toronto

Performs: Thurs May 7 @ 4pm, Sat May 9 @ 8pm

When Seven takes the stage at Theatre Passe Muraille it will be the first time that it is performed. Unlike the other six plays, York’s production has yet to be seen by an audience. This certainly adds to our excitement and anticipation as the City of Wine festival week approaches. For the last four weeks we have been in a whirlwind of rehearsals; doing script work, creating songs, and practicing chorography and fight scenes. The actors have been transforming into their characters and discovering that, although they are “UnNamed”, they are truly complex individuals. Meanwhile our team of dramaturgs and assistant directors have been researching Greek mythology, the Trojan War, and finding connections between the play and current events. Seven is the story of the very last Thebans. After being forced to leave Thebes and fight in the Trojan War, they must face their own mortality and the end of their city’s history. As we have become more and more immersed in this world, the significance of bringing Thebes to its end has really set in. Being part of City of Wine has been such a rewarding journey. We are very excited to see the work that the other schools have done and to celebrate our successes together.

Samantha Serles

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Click here to get fully up to date on City of Wine

City of Wine - Creon

Creon, directed by Jillian Keiley, Memorial University's Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Performs: Thurs May 7 @ noon, Sat May 9 @ 4pm

Is May 1st here already?! My class separated only a few short weeks ago to return to our own respective corners of the country, and already we're coming together again as we all join the traveling mass of theatre stories en route to Toronto! Having first mounted Creon in November, there has been a long waiting period for Grenfell in which we have strived to keep the show fresh and ever-improving. After five months of a waiting to bring Creon to the stage once more, my class is eager to finally get to work and learn from so many talented people, meet theatre students from schools across the country, and help in bringing such great stories to life. See you all soon!

Meghan Greeley

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Click here to get fully up to date on City of Wine

Stan's Cafe and HATCHLab: Learn to a make crazy experimental theatre for free

Stan's Cafe is coming to Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. These guys are crazy (in a good way). In an effort to allow facilitate skill and idea transfer between international and local artists, they are currently accepting applications, due tomorrow, to work with their AD James Yarker. 

The press release reads:

"HATCHLab is an intensive peer-to-peer learning opportunity presented as part of Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH: emerging performance projects and World Stage programmes. HATCHLab’s goal is to create a space for conversation about practice and to cross distances between artists in Toronto’s performance community and our international peers. Previous HATCHLab’s have featured New York’s TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Moment) and Australia’s Back to Back Theatre. This time, Stan’s Cafe Artistic Director James Yarker will lead a workshop on performance creation, devising, and the meetings of theatre, visual and performance art cultures.

Space in HATCHLab is limited. Interested participants should apply no later than Thursday, April 30. The workshop is being created for the participants, so please include a bio and resume in your email, and tell us why you’d like to be part of the workshop and what you’d like to get out of it. Email your submissions to HATCH@harbourfrontcentre.com. Successful applicants will be notified no later than Friday, May 1."

Check out these videos of the two shows they will be presenting, before you decide if this is a good idea:

The Cleansing of Constance Brown

Of All the People in the World

What should we discuss now?

Any suggestions?

City of Wine - Pentheus and Jocasta

Pentheus directed by Tatiana Jennings, Humber College, Toronto
Performs: Tues May 5 @ 8pm, Friday May 8 @ noon


Having closed the show on April 18th, Pentheus is still fresh in our minds and bodies at Humber College. We celebrated a great run at our theatre, and look forward to the remount in May. Much like the other participating schools, we’re wrapping up our year and time at Humber, with other final performances and projects taking place. Our time at Theatre Passe Muraille is fast approaching, and our remount rehearsals are on their way as well! As Torontonians we have the luxury of knowing Passe Muraille as audience members, so we’re familiar with the space. However, we will be faced with the point of view of performers, so will soon be navigating a newly taped-out rehearsal floor that will reflect the City of Wine setup. As the date draws closer, we talk often of meeting the other students from across the country, as well as directors, technicians, family, and the general public that will be involved with City of Wine. It’s such a thrilling way to exit theatre school, working amongst one another and closing the distance between schools across the country. What better way to enter a career in the arts than to work with other emerging artists from all necks of these Canadian woods? It’s with this inspiration that we press forward, managing to get through our year-end tasks and performances, looking forward to the City of Wine and all that will follow.

Emily Farrell

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Jocasta directed by Craig Hall, Studio 58 at Langara College, Vancouver
Performs: Wed May 6 @ 4pm, Friday May 8 @ 8pm

Image by Emily Cooper

The living definition of playing at work: Remember how in elementary school you folded pieces of paper until they couldn’t get any smaller, then pulled them out and they looked like accordions? Imagine that, but as set pieces. The furniture for Jocasta is made of paper, yup. These set pieces fold accordion style into completely flat slabs, get carried on stage and then opened up and stepped on, sat on, jumped on, or whatever else one may want to do to it. On a nightly basis I am amazed at the abuse that these little buggers can take. On the opening days of rehearsal all the named characters would go off to work on emblems and other types of character building processes, whist we, the unnamed, would spend hours figuring out how crazy of shapes and designs we could make with these while still being able to support a person! And it didn’t stop there, these pieces were an obsession for the run of the show, I continue to find new ways that they can be folded, one of the many reasons I didn’t get a chance to blog about it. I don’t feel that any amount of description can do justice to how cool these things are; therefore I posted a demo of them on YouTube. Check it out. Also there you will find a promo video for the Vancouver production. It has shots of people actually standing on these guys. Enjoy

Joel Grinke

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Click here to get fully up to date on City of Wine

Chris Dupuis is talking to The Globe and Mail (but are they listening?)

Toronto-based theatre artist and journalist Chris Dupuis has taken on the Margaret Wente and The Globe and Mail over their willingness to print her recent article on HIV and the issues surrounding HIV disclosure in his recent article in XTRA. 

Dupuis, who is also editor of the Time and Space Magazine, a forum for critical discussion of contemporary art, performance and politics; finishes his finely-tuned critique with this final challenge:

“The damage that Wente has done to the general public’s perception of HIV-positive people and advocacy groups is immeasurable. I have never been so ashamed of another member of my profession.

I call on the Globe’s editors to assign a rebuttal piece to Wente’s work to run on the front page of a future Saturday edition of that paper.

It’s time for the Globe to put things right."

In support of Dupuis and his attempt to garner balanced coverage to this issue we invite readers to leave puns in the comments section that make discuss Margaret Wente and her approach to journalism: We'll go first:

• That's Wente happens when you present material out of context.

See how easy it is?

City of Wine - Harmonia and Laius

Harmonia directed by DD Kugler, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver

Performs: Tues May 5th @ 4pm and  Thurs May 7th @ 8pm

This process of rehearsing a show for remount is a strange and wonderful thing. Strange because things are the same, and yet different; it’s clearly not a new production, and yet it’s not quite the same as the first one either. But this is what’s wonderful about the process as well. What an opportunity it is to come back to characters and a story with the kind of understanding that only a production can give you, and then continue to work! To be able to solidify as well as break open the elements of the original show! To make new discoveries (not least of which is that where once you had space on the stage for entrances and exits, you now have a solid wall…)! This chance to take a second look at our work is a gift, and we are excited to be able to bring this story to life again as part of the City of Wine Festival.

Caroline Sniatynski

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Laius directed by Eda Holmes, George Brown Theatre School, Toronto

Performs: Wed May 6 @ noon and Fri May 8 @ 4pm

The writing of this paragraph is wedged between an Italian line run of Laius, and a performance of one of our spring shows! Here, at George Brown Theatre School, we are ending off our year (and time at theatre school) by performing two shows in rep: a Restoration comedy (The Relapse) and a musical (The Baker's Wife). In between 12-hour tech rehearsals, we have been getting together to review blocking, run lines, practice transitions, and review the live music we will have to pull together again for our remount of Laius in May. It is a challenge to keep three shows ready to go at a performance level, but we all feel our acting muscles are the strongest they've ever been -- it is amazing how many worlds we can hold on to at the same time. In fact, leaving this script for days and weeks at a time to enter other characters, examine other issues, and experience other eras has actually sharpened the clarity of the Theban world for me. I have a keener sensorial understanding of what that world feels like, where its moral compass lies, and how its tragedies resonant specifically for the characters. We all look forward to reoopening the world of Thebes with fresh eyes and hearts, especially in the presence of so many other students entering the world with us! We are all also very excited to be hosting so many out-of-towners in our city ... we will welcome them with wine and more wine.

Leora Morris

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Click here to get fully up to date on City of Wine