Last fall SpiderWebShow was invited into a residency at Queen’s University. During our time there we co-taught a class in the Stage and Screen Program that explored the range of activities found at SpiderWebShow and how these relate to concepts of “liveness”. By way of practice, students created their own Thought Residencies, Wiki Articles, CdnElder Videos, and we built the course towards the class creating original performances tailored to the demands of CdnStudio. The course concluded with a live performance, including all of the above, in the black box theatre at The Bader. There was a sizeable crowd for the student named event: MetaFriction.
Participants also created their own articles for CdnTimes, using the same parameters that artists across the country use when curated by our Co-Editors. We never imagined that the work would be so good. All were strong, but here are three that really stood out. Publishing them in this special edition is actually a great way to put our values into action. It affords us the opportunity to share terrific writing and for you to meet new voices that you are bound to hear more from. This week we are pleased to present three articles that our students created under the broad rubric of addressing “gender and/or the body”.
Vikki Sprenger addresses how disability is and can be incorporated into professional live performance; Hannah Brown investigates how technology is transforming gender roles relating to voice and performance; Megan Thomson unpacks how in Portlandia, drag is the crucial element that makes the humour work.
Sarah Garton Stanley and Michael Wheeler
From this edition
Drag: The Device That Makes Portlandia What It Is
Re/De-Gendering the Singer through Electronic Manipulation
4 Strategies Towards a More Inclusive Theatre Practice
