#CDNTimes

Meanings are often all we have. Therefore, the melee over the recent name change of Vancouver's queer theatre company was both completely understandable and wholly necessary. It was, in short, a battle of values, not between good and bad and certainly not between right and wrong, but between two equally legitimate conceptions of the company's place in the theatre ecology. It was time to have it out and clear the air.

When people said, “What’s new?” they weren’t making small talk. It was a real question. Embedded in the question was the assumption the person being asked had been online recently and may have salient facts to report. The online world held all the secrets about what had occurred in reality.

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” ― Andy Warhol, This week we present an eclectic triad of...

I have had the experience of watching an actress - who I think is very talented - become extremely talented. Her capacities were always evident but her ability to employ them, to follow through, to fulfill her promise were somehow just out of reach. Then she became a runner and all that began to change. It was a mesmerizing transformation

My question “why theatre?”, however, has NOTHING to do with validating the worthiness of an artistic response to anti-humanist political agendas. I refuse to engage in discourse around issues such as “the economic and social values” of art, the “creative economy”, and so on. I ask myself “why theatre?” because the attempt to answer that question always connects me to the core human impulse behind what we do.

The city seemed like a paradise; rent was way cheaper, there were more bike lanes then anywhere else in Canada, tons of incredible programming for dance and performance and a ton of more spaces for rehearsing and creating. My wife had grown up and lived in Toronto her entire life so was also in need of a change and we both felt that if we didn’t leave in 2009, we never would.

Why? Why do we do anything? In this edition of the #CdnCult Times, our contributing theatre artists reflect on the why of what they do:...

Laakkuluk: You do work politics in, but you said you are not a protester? Amy: I feel if we are aware of what is happening in our community we can't help but bring it in into our work. It is top of mind when we create. Matthew: Yes. Maybe I am a protestor. Amy: We can protest without placards and signs...the mighty pen and the act!

Now I will shake my money maker. This here – my gut - is how I make a living. I watch hundreds of shows a year with my education, professional experience, eyes and ears backing up my analysis of a production. But my most important tool is the one I cursed this morning trying to put on last fall’s jeans.

The motivation for this approach to staging and touring a show about police actions at the G20 Summit in Toronto is to broaden the discussion of civil liberties and in particular, Charter rights, in an era when they are being whittled away.