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TOdigital

By

SWS was hired as consultants by a group of performing arts organizations in Toronto that calls itself the Digital Working Group. 

On this page you will find the results from public consultation and research process. These findings are brought together in two documents:

  1. Final Report which outlines Key Observations and Prompts; and
  2. An online resource of digital tools and platforms that can be used for art/performance creation.

Final Report

Video Transcript

TODigitalFinalReport

Digital Tools and Platforms

 

Who is TO Digital?

Toronto Digital Working Group Members:

SWS Consultation Team:

Community Consultations Team:

  • Kanika Ambrose, Facilitator
  • Makram Ayache, Facilitator
  • Rogue Benjamin, ASL Interpreter
  • Pip Bradford, Facilitator
  • Rebecca Cuddy, Facilitator
  • Mariah Horner, Tech Support
  • Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野, Facilitator
  • Latasha Lennox, ASL Interpreter
  • Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Minute Taker
  • Neta Rose, Minute Taker
  • Adriano Sobretodo Jr., Facilitator
  • Emma Westray, Minute Taker

Digital Platforms and Resources Team

  • Milton Lim
  • Andie Lloyd

 

Funders:

 

Digital Resources: Taking the IRL to URL

By
Mariah Horner, Dakota Jamal Wellman, Christine Quintana and Maddie Bautista in rehearsal for the Revolutions (2016) on cdnstudio. Photo by Derek Chan.

SWS has learned a lot over the last 7 years about collaborating digitally across distance. We’ve experimented with online platforms that already exist and we’ve built our own, but most importantly, we’ve learned lessons we want to share with you in this precarious time. 

We are all looking for ways to connect while rapidly transitioning our lives to a digital first approach. While the digital is not a substitute for life (and should not be treated as one) it does offer incredible tools for connection and collaboration. This is an unprecedented time but we are eager to work with the #cdncult community to learn new ways of working together…from our living rooms.

Over the coming weeks we’re going to walk you through some of our current systems in hopes you can adopt them to your communities, networks, and organizations.

On our website you’ll find how-to guides for:

  • DIY Livestreaming: multi-camera livestreaming with a free app and Apple devices
  • Slack: a collaborative communication tool for teams
  • Zoom: a video conferencing system
  • Trello: an online filing cabinet

We know from foldA that many folks have already adopted these systems and are well versed in how they work. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we continue to update this page with additional resources as we all level up together.

If you would rather talk to someone to help you set up these systems, SWS is offering consultation with Mo Horner and other members of our team. Mo has worked with SWS for the past 3 years as foldA’s Digital Content Producer and she’s a self-proclaimed #slacklord. We kindly ask that you read these how-to guides before you message us but we’d love to talk to you.

We are sharing these guides online for free but if your organization has the means to offer a donation for consultation, we’d really appreciate it! 🧼 stay safe #cdncult

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought Residency: Jessica Watkin

By

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my fourteenth and final thought.

Here’s The Compassion Project Part 2. I’ve had a hard time making art without a deadline, without someone to make it for, without a gallery exhibit coming up, without an opening night looming, without a holiday to exchange gifts. But today I started my first piece of art that is only for me. New rug, new project. I want to stand on this rug and feel my own intentions through the bottoms of my flat feet. How can we use our own art in our lives?

So to end my thought residency during these chaotic lockdown times, I invite you to create art, to make, but do it for you. Thank you for listening. That’s the end of my final thought.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my thirteenth thought, and this is part one of The Compassion Project.

I am too hard on myself. I am everyone else’s hype person, and I struggle to be there for me. I work so hard on so many projects and still feel I’m never doing enough. I crash and burn often, my eye crashes every Thursday from overuse and fatigue. I’m exhausted.

So I decided to start saying it out loud, the gratitude, the things I wish I could feel the truth of: Thank you for trying. Thank you for feeling your feelings. You are doing great things. And I write them down. And I’m searching for a way to feel this truth.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my twelfth thought.

And I’m gonna be honest for a second about online performances and how I don’t think its interesting or engaging or useful for performance creators and performers right now to be trying to recreate the experience of in-person theatre online.

I think that, yes, we are given a computer screen which is a square and very proscenium but there’s no way to engage with an audience in the same way, there’s no way to connect as performers in the same way.

And so I think we’ve actually been given an opportunity to find Virtual Performance. To find methods that are unpolished and sticky and fun and rely on disconnection of wifi internets and dropped words because that is what it has to be right now. And that’s exciting.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my eleventh thought, and I’m going to tell a story today about fear.

The last time I was in London, England, I was at a show at the National Theatre and when it finished it was so dark outside, like super dark, like too dark for a Blind person to be out alone in, and I got completely turned around. I had my cane but there was no one around me, and I found myself randomly on the south bank in some sort of parking lot and I was freaking out, I had no idea what to do, who to call, how to get home… And then I looked up and I saw the lights of Big Ben. And I saw the moon shining, and I couldn’t see the buildings, and I couldn’t see where I was, but I could see them reflecting in the Thames, and I knew that that was the way I needed to go, that was Westminister station, and I found my way.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my tenth thought, and I am telling you the story today of being a blind person and going for a walk during the pandemic! So I’m out with my cane because I cannot see if I’m six feet away from people.
(sound of cane and wind)
(Jessica sniffles)
And so the cane helps folks stay away from me!
(sound of cane, a car, and Jessica breathing)

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my ninth thought and this week I’m going to tell some stories.

At the Republic of Inclusion in 2017, we ended the summit with a cocreation of space. We were prompted to do anything to make us feel comfortable and have ease in engaging with the music provided. Everyone around me found chairs, mats, blankets, sunglasses, stickers, fidget toys, temperature and light changes, vibrating vests. I found some sparkly stickers and asked someone to guide me to everyone I had met and cared for, gave them each a sticker, and ensured they were safe and okay. Then I curled up with a friend. I desire safety and closeness with those I care for.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my eighth thought.

I’m craving nature. I’m craving putting my bare feet in the sand and dirt, water, grass. I’m really craving tulips because it’s springtime. But I can’t find any that are cheap enough and support a local business. So instead, I’ve done actually the first creative thing in a while and I’ve cut out small shapes of tulip bulbs, tulip heads that have sprouted and bloomed. And I’m trying to find ways to integrate them into the indoors. You’re looking at a few of them now. We’re finding our ways.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my seventh thought.

This pandemic has brought me two insights about myself: The first is a newfound grounding in my role as a “good” facilitator. It turns out I’m trusted in the community to hold space for artists, prod, poke, and ask questions, and use the answers creatively to find solutions. This is also how I define dramaturgy, so that’s good.

The second thing is that I cannot make art from my own home. Or maybe I’m too quick to make that decision, or I haven’t tried hard enough, or my brain is so full and tired that I can’t imagine my own art right now. I have stories inside of me, but they’re not coming out right now. And maybe that’s okay?

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my sixth thought.

I’m outside and it’s damp and it’s warm. Could that be how the whole world feels right now? I’ve been thinking about intuition, ritual, routine. How do we as a species find our own individual rhythms to carry out our lives? How much do we cling to these mundane rituals when the earth shakes beneath our feet? A dear colleague of mine uses terms from the weather to report on how they are feeling. Right now I feel like the calm before a storm, I’ve been having a month of storms and brief moments of sunshine. But every time I cling to its warmth, and that feeling tries to get me through to the next break in the clouds.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my fifth thought.

And I’m having a hard time arranging my thoughts today. So I am going to talk towards a definition of what Disability Dramaturgy is… because that’s my thing. While I work with a fellow Disabled artist we focus on safety, energy, support. We normalize cancelled plans, build flexibility into our schedules, and meet virtually. We talk out our aggressions about ableism and injustice and everything else. We ensure we each have what we need. We find ways to create and exist that come from us and not from what someone else says is right. Which all have also been welcome invitations during this pandemic. And of course, we find ways to feel a little joy.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my fourth thought.

It occurred to me today while practicing yoga that I am so comforted during activities that take care of watching the time for me. Where it isn’t my responsibility to watch the minutes tick by but I am supposed to just… be present. This is yoga classes. This is theatre performances. This is therapy and online meetings I am not chairing. If someone else takes care of keeping time for me I am easily engaged. Time has worked so strangely for me lately, but I am finding peace in the thought that even in this chaotic global crisis we are practicing collective care, if only by keeping time for each other like a metronome holding us together.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my third thought.

I made a rug last year for the first time, I hooked it, and I made it nonvisual and tactile. And I’ve been thinking about the future of tactile art: pieces that encourage and invite touch, post-pandemic. Will we consider each other differently? The proximity? The closeness? Or will we be finding a new way to touch, to connect in a newly normal way? I am finding a little bit of peace in that uncertainty; that there may be a new normal at all.

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my second thought.

I’ve been thinking a lot about care, and how to actually take care of one another. I think this situation with Coronavirus has made me think even more, if that is possible, about how we have built the structures around us to take care of each other. And I’m stuck on this idea of carefull- not careful as in, “ooh I’ve got to be careful I don’t wake Dad”, or tiptoeing around, or trying to make
something safe- I mean carefull as in full of care (with two l’s). How do we make decisions and live our lives in a way that is full of care?

I’m Jessica Watkin and this is my first thought.

This is a weird and hard time for artists, and everyone, but I am hearing about hope popping up around me. The sky can still be blue after it opens with rain. People have started to listen and find ways to creatively support one another from isolation. As a Disabled artist and scholar I have had to creatively find support… theatre and academia are inaccessible spaces. We have been offered an opportunity to navigate the world a little differently, and as a Blind person I can tell you that it’s not so bad.

Zoom 101

By
Zoom call during Choir!Choir!Choir! at foldA 2019. Photo by Michael Wheeler.

 

Zoom is a video conferencing tool that allows for audio and video conferencing online. You can also use Facetime, Google Hangouts, or Skype but we’ve had the best luck with Zoom.

Zoom calls can host up to 100 participations. If you are using a free Zoom account, there is a 40 minute time limit on meetings with more than 2 participants. If you want to upgrade to house more participants in group meetings, you can find plans and pricing packages here. Online, Zoom also has additional resources available. 

We have used Zoom to conduct meetings across distance and to facilitate a cross-country choir with Choir!Choir!Choir! at foldA in 2019.

💥 SET-UP 💥

Step one: Go to the Zoom website and in the top right corner select SIGN UP, IT’S FREE and confirm your email.

Step two: After you’ve confirmed your email, you’ll enter the Zoom platform.

Step three: Along the left side of the page under personal, you’ll see:

  • Profile: this is basic profile information. This will also allow you to integrate your GCAL.
  • Meetings: this is where you will schedule upcoming group meetings.
  • Webinars: this is where you can host large scale group information sessions.
  • Recordings: this is where you can access recorded meetings.
  • Settings: this is where you can adjust settings for your Zoom profile.

Step four: You will also see ADMIN which is where you can add users to your profile, assign roles, and adjust billing information.

💥 SCHEDULING A ZOOM CALL 💥

Step one: Along the left side, select MEETINGS then the button that says SCHEDULE A NEW MEETING.

Step two: Name your meeting for the appropriate topic, schedule a time (be mindful of timezone) and select the duration. If the meeting is a private meeting, you can require a password, otherwise it’s best to uncheck that.

Step three: Be sure that video and audio options are turned ON.

Step four: Decide on your MEETING OPTIONS.

Step five: Select SAVE.

Step six: To invite attendees, scroll down to INVITE ATTENDEES and select COPY THE INVITATION. Be sure to copy this entire invitation when sharing this link.

Step seven: If you have an integrated work calendar, you can also select ADD TO GOOGLE CALENDAR.

💥 ZOOM ETIQUETTE 💥

Mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking! With many different people on a call at once, sometimes additional background noise can make it difficult to concentrate. When your microphone is muted, simply press down on your space bar and hold it down to unmute your mic. When you’re done speaking, depress the space bar and your mic will be muted again.

Use headphones with a mic built in! This often helps with a clear a crisp sound.

Get permission before recording! If you are recording a meeting, it’s important you ask everyone for permission first.

Use the chat bar! If you want to make a note but don’t want to disrupt the person speaking, use the chat function in a zoom call!

Have party crashers? The good folks at Zoom have released a blog entry on keeping people from crashing your event. Read more. 

Return to main resource page to read more!

DIY Multi-Camera Livestreaming

By
Michael Wheeler in livestream rehearsals for Behaviour at the GCTC. Photo by Mariah Horner.

 

This page will walk you through a simple multi-camera livestream set-up that you can achieve from your home. All you need is:

  1. A stable WiFi connection
  2. 2-4 different IOS devices with cameras and the ability to connect to the internet. One of these devices will act as the “switcher”, which helps you control the livestream, the other devices will act as cameras.
  3. 2-4 device mounts (homemade or store-bought works)
  4. To download Switcher Studio on all devices. You will be asked to set-up an account. You will get the first two weeks as a free trial, then you can upgrade to keep your package. You can find pricing options here. 

This set-up relies on a switcher software that allows you to utilize more than one camera lens, leveling up an at-home livestream in a major way! A switcher allows you to have more than one camera input and switch between angles in a livestream. 

If you are interested in livestreaming from one single source to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo or Instagram that’s easy! Most of these platforms have user-friendly ways of livestreaming from a laptop camera or phone. For additional resources on livestreaming, check out this article by our friends at Howlround. This page will continue to grow with additional information on sound integration.

Please note: this guide is written using Switcher Studio on an iPhone, display commands may look different on different devices.

💥 SET-UP 💥

Step one: Set-up all three devices on mounts or makeshift mounts capturing three angles of what you’d like to shoot. Each device should also be connected to a power. Avoid putting cameras right in front of speakers as this will make the video unstable. 

Step two: Turn off notifications on all devices: 

  • Phone/iPad Notifications: Settings > Do Not Disturb > Slide to ON

Step three: Ensure all three devices are connected to the same WiFi network. This is very important. This style of livestreaming will only work if all devices are connected to the same WiFi network. 

Step four: Open Switcher Studio on all devices. You may be asked to input your account information.

Step five: On whatever device you’d like to use as the switcher, USE AS SWITCHER. On other devices select REMOTE CAMERA MODE. They will show you a number that starts with rlcc:// 

Step six: Go back to your switcher device and beside the square that says WELCOME TO THE SHOW, select the little black square with a plus sign or on your iPhone, select the VIDEO CAMERA icon along the bottom. Under SWITCHER STUDIO select CAMERAS. Under SOURCES ON YOUR WI-FI NETWORK, select OTHER. 

Step seven: Enter the rlcc:// numbers you see on the camera devices into your central control. You may be prompted to “accept” on cameras. 

Step eight: Ensure the central control device is set to DIRECTOR MODE by selecting the box with an arrow on the bottom right corner, scrolling to the bottom where it says RECORDING and ensuring Director Mode is slid on. 

Step nine: Once all three devices are connected, use the central control to begin by tapping the red circle record button in top right corner. 

💥 MULTI-CAMERAS 💥

When using Switcher Studio while livestreaming, you can move between more than one camera in your stram. You do this by selecting the different feeds you see in your studio on your central control device. If there is a red square around a feed, that means it is live and a blue square means you are preparing your next feed. You can also control the zoom remotely by using the yellow magnifying glass along the left side.

Zoe Sweet in rehearsals for Behaviour (2018). Photo by Mariah Horner.

💥 SOUND 💥

If you are working in a small space with good acoustics, you can try to use your device microphones but this is not recommended. If you have an external microphone for your device, that will improve the sound quality immensely. 

In order to use an external microphone with your livestream set-up, you will require an I- Rig type system. Once you have connected an external microphone to the I-Rig system to the switcher device (not the cameras), you will need to select the audio input (it may say “external microphone” or I-Rig)  in Switcher Studio. You should also make sure that whatever microphone you’re using plugs into a ¼ jack. 

If you are planning to livestream a multi-media show with a sound mixer, your best option is to pull all sound directly from the mixer or a speaker when available. Using something like an I-Rig is cost effective and will allow you to broadcast the sound directly from the sound mixer to your live stream audience. The mixer or speaker has to have an available output and outputs will typically be 3 prong female XLR or ¼ inch jack. In order to plug into the switcher device you will need to plug into the I-Rig which requires a ¼ inch jack so you may need an adapter. Always double check all inputs and outputs before the day of live streaming.  

If you’re working on a site, always get permission from the on site sound tech before plugging anything into their system. Make sure you have selected the correct audio input on the switcher device once everything is connected. You can test the level by pulling up your livestream on another device. 

💥 LIVESTREAMING 💥

Switcher Studio will allow you to livestream to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn Live, Twitch or a Custom RTMP. Before going live, we recommend doing a private stream to test audio and video levels. 

On an iPhone:

Step one: Select the square with the arrow coming out of it in the centre along the bottom of your screen.

Step two: Select which platform you’d like to use for livestreaming. Then follow the prompts to set up your account.

Return to main resource page to read more!

Trello: The Online Filing Cabinet

By
Screenshot from a Trello board.

 

Trello is a free platform that can function as a digital filing cabinet. It is easily organized and can be accessed by a team of users so it may help your collaborators easily find documents online.

💥 THE BASICS 💥

Boards: are like shelves in your filing cabinet. At SWS we organize our boards by activities like “foldA”, “grants”, and “admin”. On a free account, you can have up to 10 active boards.

Lists: are like file folders in your filing cabinet. At SWS we organize our lists chronologically and name them like we would a file in a filing cabinet, like “CCA Grant: March 2020” and “foldA marketing materials”. There is no limit to the lists you can have in a board.

Cards: are like individual documents in your filing cabinet.

💥 SET-UP 💥

Step one: Go to Trello and input your email address.

Step two: Trello will then run you through a tutorial that invites you to get started with naming some boards, lists, and cards.

💥 USING TRELLO💥

Step one: On the far right side of your board you’ll see the capacity to + ADD ANOTHER LIST. If you want to add a card in the list, you’ll see + ADD A CARD.

Step two: There are many different functions within the cards. To modify what your card is for, first select the card. Along the right side you’ll see a few options, including:

  • Members: this allows you to directly tag members of your workspace in this document
  • Labels: this allows you to colour code cards for projects.
  • Checklist: this allows you to input a checklist into a card. This is especially helpful when writing grants, ensuring that you have collected all of the necessary material.
  • Due date: this allows you to select a due date for the card.
  • Attachment: this allows you to attach documents to cards.
  • Cover: this allows you to add a cover photo to a card.

Step three: You can rearrange cards by dragging them within a list or into another list.

Step four: You can see your other boards (or add new ones) by clicking BOARDS in the top left corner.

Return to main resource page to read more!

Slack 101

By
foldA 2019 graphic designed by Kevin Merritt.

 

Slack is a collaborative messaging service that helps alleviate email fatigue, encourages digital collaboration, and clear communication between online teams. SWS has been relying on Slack to collaborate across distance since 2013. We’ve used it to run a company with offices across the country, facilitate foldA with every artist/volunteer/attendee/staff in a common workspace, and to stage manage a show in 4 cities at once.

Benefits to Slack
  • Separate work/personal communication tools
  • Encourage inter-team collaboration and clear communication
  • Organize conversations easily
  • Alleviate email overload

This page will walk you through the process of creating a workspace, some basics about Slack, and offer some playful tips for becoming a #slacklord. If you’ve got any questions, slide join the foldA workspace and slide into @mariah.horner’s DMs or you can connect with SWS. 

 

💥 SLACK BASICS 💥

Channels are chatrooms dedicated to certain topics. This is how you will communicate with members of your team. Channels can be project or team specific, but it is worth considering how you would like to organize your Slack workspace from the get-go. 

Direct messages are for private communication. 

Use threads and emojis! In order to keep communication clear, if you read a message, you can select the message and add an emoji below. If you are in a conversation with someone on slack, use a thread rather than an additional post. Click the message you are responding to and select “start thread”.

 

💥 GETTING SET-UP 💥

Step 1: Visit the Slack website. If you’d like to connect with a Slack representative directly, you can do so online. 

Step 2: In the top righthand corner, select the purple button LAUNCH SLACK. Then select CREATE A NEW WORKSPACE. Follow the prompts to confirm your email address.

Step 3: After confirming your email address, you will begin to create a workspace. Slack will ask you “what is the name of your company or team” which will become the title of your workspace is and “what’s a project your team is working on” which will become the name of a channel.

Step 4: Slack will then ask you to invite teammates through email. You can invite a few here and you can also add members later on. You will also see a link that says “Get an invite link to share”. This way you can share your workplace through a link instead of an email invite.

Step 5: You will then be invited to see your first channel. We’ll explain below what a channel is. For now, select SEE CHANNEL and you will be invited to explore Slack through a tutorial helping you set up your workspace by messaging your channels, inviting contacts, and selecting a display name/password.

Step 6: For easy access on the go, you can instal the free Slack app on your Smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc.). You can also download the app on your desktop if using an Apple Mac or Windows. If you are not able to download Slack, you can still use a browser on your phone or laptop/computer to access the website and login.

 

💥 CHANNELS 💥

Think about Channels as chatrooms dedicated to certain topics or departments. This is how you can communicate with your team on specific topics, like email threads. 

Step 1: Once you’re setup with Slack you will automatically be added to the #general channel, #random channel, and whatever channel you named during set-up.

Step 2: By clicking the + symbol next to the word Channels you can explore the other available channels in your workplace and add yourself to the relevant teams. If you are the workplace admin, you can add other channels. Some channels that may work for arts organizations include #grants, #scheduling, #fundraising and #boardmeetings.

 

💥DIRECT MESSAGING 💥

You can direct message anyone privately in your workspace. 

Step 1: Along the left side of your screen, under “Channels” you’ll see “Direct Messages”, select the + to create a new direct message. 

Step 2: Type in the name of the person you’d like to connect with, send them a message. You can add more than one person to a direct message if needed.

💥 NOTIFICATIONS 💥

Slack notifications are entirely customizable and have many options including the frequency of notifications and type of notification you receive.

Note that Slack does not always automatically send you notifications so it’s important to check and see that you are getting notifications.

Step 1: From the desktop version click on the bell to customize your notifications. From the app select the three dots next to the magnifying glass and then select the ‘Do Not Disturb’ bell.

 

 

Step 2: From both these locations you now have the option to temporarily snooze notifications. This is useful when you would like to work without disruption temporarily or over the weekend. Protip: you can also trigger this by using /dnd (TIME). Example: ‘/dnd Monday’ would snooze notifications until the following Monday

Step 3: In the web version select ‘Do Not Disturb Schedule’ and in the app select the three dots> settings>Do Not Disturb. You can then input your scheduled hours as to when you do not want to be notified. Note that this will cause notifications to turn off at the same time every day.

Step 4: In the web version scroll up to customize notification types and down to customize notification sounds. In the app go back to settings and select ‘Notifications’. Here you can select if you want to receive all messages or only messages specific to you.

Step 5: If you’re feeling extra adventurous you can customize your notifications to each channel. This is most commonly used to mute a channel like ‘Random’ and receive all notifications about your team specific channel. To do this, select the settings wheel in the web version or click on the channel name in the app. You will then be able to customize your preferences for that specific.

Note: Notification preferences are a matter of personal preference and should be set up in a way that suits your workflow best. If you’re eager to stay on top of all the Slack chat in the beginning leave your notifications to ‘All New Messages’, if you’re worried about adding another workspace to your life try testing ‘Direct messages, mentions, and keywords’.

💥OTHER SLACK HACKS💥

Think about Slack like you would facebook messenger, or group messaging on an iPhone. It’s an informal and collaborative way to connect both on a browser and on your mobile device. 

Tag people in conversations! You can tag people in conversations by using @theirname.

Format your messages! To bold text *bold me* and to italicize text _italicize me_. 

Add gifs! When you are in the desktop browser version of your Slack workspace (yourworkspacename.slack.com), select the workspace name in the top left corner and select SETTINGS AND ADMINISTRATION > MANAGE APPS.  Select BROWSE APP DIRECTORY. In the search bar, type giphy. Then along the left, select ADD TO SLACK, then ADD GIPHY INTEGRATION. Note: only workplace admin can authorize the app integration.

Add custom emojis! From your desktop browser version of your Slack workspace (yourworkspacename.slack.com), open the emoji bar by clicking on the smiley face icon in the message field. Select ADD EMOJI then Upload Image to select a file. Select Upload Image. Enter a name for your emoji, then click Save. Note: only workplace admin can add custom emojis.

Return to main resource page to read more!


Thought Residency: Eva Barrie

By

It’s Eva. This is thought number [thirteen].

I read this thing on facebook today that got me a bit frustrated. It was a post saying how versatile artists are, and how they’re used to having multiple jobs and hustling to make ends meet, especially in challenging times. And the thought behind this was very well-intentioned and I believe it’s true as well, but what frustrates me is the romanticization of that. Because we’re forced to do that hustle, because often being an artist is undervalued and not seen as a job in Canada. There will be a significant amount of people – especially emerging artists – who will come out of this and decide the arts aren’t possible for them. Precarity isn’t romantic. I’m hoping that rather than being so impressed with how scrappy artists can be, we can out of this thankful that artists exist, because of the vital service they do for their communities.

It’s Eva. This is thought twelve.

Today I was reading a play that I’ve been writing for the last year or so and I found it hard to hook into because I’m so consumed with the immediate moment. And I had to clock for myself that inside of this crisis my humanity is still existent. I’m still grappling with the same problems on top of this. So for me my desire is to not let this crisis consume me, and the art that I make, but how can it explode it? How can my plays not necessarily be about COVID, but how can they be about connection, need for each other? That’s my big ponder right now, and it’s hard, when something’s slamming in your face. Daily.

It’s Eva. This is thought eleven and it’s about the coolest fucking people in the world, and those are my parents.

They’re across the country right now and they’re both in their like, mid-late seventies and my dad, he came to Canada in the seventies and worked as an engineer, and then after he retired he started writing stories and self-publishing them, and then recently self-published this memoir called The Road From Mandalay which is all about how his family came from Burma and then moved to India and then to Pakistan and he wrote all this during his retired years. And then my mom – who is also super cool – she worked as a paediatrician when she came to Canada and then when I was little, she started this charity called Pound Rescue that rescues abandoned dogs and cats. She’s touched a lot of lives – human and non-human – and she’s still working right now because there are still a lot of little lives that depend on her. So I’m worried, but I’m grateful because they’re the most compassionate people I know.

It’s Eva Barrie. This is thought number ten.

I miss tapping someone on the shoulder when they’ve dropped something.

I miss two-handed handshakes that feel really strong, but caring at the same time

And

High-fives that went embarrassingly wrong, and the more embarrassing decision to try the High-Five again.

Grabbing your friend’s hand out of excitement

Or out of compassion.

The awkward and subtle “whoops sorry” when you brush someone’s hand against yours in the subway.

Stifling a laugh when a kid grabs you, thinking you’re their parent.

Passing someone a kleenex.

Taking a photo for a tourist on their cellphone.

The quick point coupled with an eyebrow raise to see if a parent wants help lifting a stroller onto a street car.

Moving my backpack so someone can sit right beside me.

I miss strangers.

It’s Eva. Thought…nine? I think. And I’m longing for libraries.

One of my favourite libraries is the Calgary Public Library. It’s beautiful! It’s architecturally stunning and one of the reasons I love it so much is that they have all this programming and don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty certain, they have child-minding programs for parents who are taking adult learning classes there.  Which I think is really inspiring and wonderful. There’s also a mix of ages, which I think is way too rare. And the other reason that I love libraries so much is that they’re a place – they’re a public place – where you don’t have to pay. So anyone from any income level can be there and gather and be together and I think that’s really important. And in libraries I get very overwhelmed and melancholy because I think about all the books that exist that in my lifetime, I’ll never be able to read. And I think that’s a really beautiful reason to get melancholy.

It’s Eva. Thought eight. I’m thinking about Uncertainty.

We do a lot to feel certain, and we feel good when we feel certain – like we’ve succeeded, or we’ve done something right, really right. And now, a lot of us are looking at our calendars and seeing a lot of question marks where there used to be periods. I’ve been doing the emotional rollercoaster of that, and right now, on my rollercoaster ride, I’m trying to remind myself that uncertainty, the unknown, can bring about anything. Anything is possible. It can truly shake up the status quo in a very big way. It can bring about profound changes that Certainty couldn’t. I – and we – have a chance now, for something brand new. And that could be a great thing, that could be a terrible thing, the point is, it could be anything.

Eva. Thought seven, with a flurry of good things.

Good thing number one: I once met a dog that if you said SPEAK it would bark, but if you said WHISPER it would bark softly.

Good thing two: The book the Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It’s so good. It just makes me want to have my period and live in a yurt.

Good thing number three: My family gave me a personalized puzzle last year, and I finally got around to it, and I think it’s my childhood dog Molly.

Good thing four: Molly!

Good thing five: People offering support to individuals who need to self-isolate right now. You’re amazing! I love you. Keep going!

Good thing six: The Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin finds a hurt bird and then his mom teaches him about loss.

Good thing seven: I’m mentoring a young playwright with Tarragon right now and they wrote an amazing third draft this weekend.

Good thing eight: The BBC interview where that guy is being interviewed and then his kid bursts in and then his other kid bursts in and then his wife – it’s just … it’s comedy gold.

I’m running out of time. I want to know your good things. So share them. The world can be good. If we want it to be.

[sounds of children yelling and playing] It’s Eva. Thought five.

I’m currently sitting outside of a little… I wanna say they’re three-five [years old]… and it’s a ballet class where they’re currently throwing soccer balls at each other. So I’m thinking about imagination, I’m thinking about how we foster fun and creativity and recklessness into young people. I’m thinking about how this is probably thought six and I said thought five. And I’m thinking about how kids sometimes have the most fun when they’re alone… and how delightful that is. I also wish that I could take this class.

It’s Eva, thought five.

I’m thinking about the coronavirus and capitalism, and – yep, here it is, here’s my socialist rant – and how we’re asking people to stay home and not work, but living in a society that judges someone’s worth in the society by their working non-stop. I’m thinking about how staying home, staying isolated, is a privilege. I’m thinking about how these moments award “fend for yourself” behaviour: like the more toilet paper you have, that means that you…that is a direct correlation of how much you love and protect your family. I’m thinking about healthcare systems that don’t protect everyone. I’m thinking about compassion and caution. And I’m feeling like those two things can feel really far apart in moments of panic.

It’s Eva. This is my fourth thought.

The other day on Facebook I saw a photo of a kid, who’s the kid of one of the very first directors who invited me to assist them (so she’s like 7 or 8 or so now). And what’s really exciting is that I can track the length of my career by this child’s life. And in essence, we’re growing together.  She’s gone from being cooked inside her mama, to learning things about the world. And nowadays she’s learning math, and how to make friends, and meanwhile, I’m asking all these questions about the world, and in the next couple years, she’ll learn new math, like…I guess that graph shit, with the sine and cosine and all that.  And she’ll also be learning how fall in love. And I’ll be learning new things on how to be a human and an artist. And I really love that we’re learning and growing together. And I’d love the amount of learning I’m doing, to equal the amount she’s learning. Or maybe I should just relearn some of that math crap she’s learning but I dunno, that doesn’t sound as fun.

Hey it’s Eva, and it’s my third thought.

On the weekend I got to see the Imagine Van Gogh Exhibit in Montreal which was super cool and it got me thinking a lot about how we love to attach narratives to an artist’s work. It’s really delicious, it’s really satisfying to imagine… and craft these stories around why people created what they created. And I think about it in terms of modern playwriting and directing and how we really want to define a person by their work, or like a solo piece of work. And that feels really… it feels like a lot of responsibility. And maybe that comes from scarcity mentality, that we feel like we only get one shot at something, but it doesn’t feel like it reflects the ephemeral nature of theatre, or the ephemeral nature of being a human being.

It’s Eva Barrie, this is my second thought.

I’m thinking about mistakes; I’m thinking about failure. I’m curious about the difference between the two.

I feel like sometimes when I make a mistake, or when I feel like I’ve failed, I stop. And I don’t know how to move forward, and I feel really paralysed. And I feel a deep shame, often, and think about some of the people that I idolize or I put on pedestals, and I think “oh, they would never be so stupid as to do what I’ve just done.” And what a kind of bullshit way of thinking? But huh… I think we’re bred that way, a little bit. So I guess I really want to know about these people that I think are so fantastic, these arts-makers in Canada, these heavy-hitters… I want to know about their mistakes, their failures. Hey Sarah Garton Stanley…can you make that happen? Please, please?

My name is Eva Barrie and this is my first thought.

I’m thinking a lot about Lobbies. Or more so… I’m thinking about the conditions we create for people to experience a play or an event.

So one of my favourite theatres is the Schaubuehne in Berlin and there’s a bar in their lobby, with a table reserved for the artists of the production, so that afterwards, the artists can drink or hang out at the theatre, and therefore be accessible to the theatre goers. I think about how in Toronto our lobbies don’t offer that opportunity readily. We don’t think about lobbies as part of the artistic experience. They’re more a passage to the place where we will sit quietly and listen to the performance. But… if we want a vibrant theatre culture, if we want people to talk about plays, if we want to create nuanced and challenging plays that require a bit of discourse – maybe even between strangers – we need to set those spaces to have those conversations.

Thought Residency: Chantal Bilodeau

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My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is thought number twelve, which is also and the last thought of this residency.
I’ve been craving focus. I don’t know if it’s me or the outside world but I feel like my life is very scattered and my ability to pay attention somewhat compromised. It’s difficult to have any thought that has any depth when you can only think in fifteen-minute increments, or when you’re always interrupted. I like the variety and I do enjoy some amount of chaos because it can be very energizing. But right now, I wish I could give myself a bit of stillness to catch my breath.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Eleven.
I’m thinking about two things – one was said to me and the other one I read – and for some reason these two things are resonating with me today. The first one is “You can never get enough of what you don’t need” and it was said to me by a massage therapist. The second one was written by playwright Sarah Ruhl and it’s “Life doesn’t get in the way.” So I’m thinking about things we crave but don’t need, and the way we always think that life is getting in the way when it’s actually the other way around.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Ten.
I’m thinking about translation because this is what I’ve been doing intensely for the past several days and I am grateful to be able to travel from one world to another like that, and to have the joy of seeing what’s unique in both worlds. But I’m also aware of the loss, of all those things that don’t travel well between languages because they can’t be captured outside of their context. And that makes me think of people like me, immigrants who were born in one country and one language and now live in another country and another language. Even in the best case scenarios, we gained something but we also lost something.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Nine.
The process of having a thought is interesting. Usually it happens sort of unnoticed in the background. But when you have to have a thought to record it, then you find yourself thinking about your thoughts, editing them, and trying to decide which one is worthy and which one is not. And so, I’ve been sitting here for about twenty minutes, wondering: OK, which thought is a good thought? And of course, in the process millions of them have gone by. But for one reason or another, none of them made the cut. So, in the end what you’re getting is my meta thought on having thoughts.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Eight.
Here’s a list of things that give me anxiety: deadlines, traffic jams, being late, avoidable conflict, unavoidable conflict, too much sugar, not enough sugar, financial insecurity, patterns that repeat indefinitely – like flowers on a wallpaper, bad theatre, climate change, overpopulation, inequality, presidential elections, having to disappoint someone, having to say no to someone, doing a bad job, not being a good friend, making English mistakes, making French mistakes, having to get up at some ungodly hour to catch a flight in the morning, and having eighty-four emails in my inbox.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Seven.
My thoughts today were a little bit like this: “Go!” “No, I don’t have time.” “But it’s beautiful outside!” “No, no, it’s gonna make me late.” “Go, go, just for five minutes!” “No! I’m so overwhelmed!” But in the end, I went and I looked at the river for five minutes, and it was completely worth it.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Six.
I was walking to the subway tonight, and I was walking fast because I was in a hurry. I was also trying to solve a problem in my head so I wasn’t paying much attention. But at some point I noticed a sculpture and I almost just glanced at it and walked away but I decided to stop and really look at it. And it immediately made me feel happy because for one thing, it was beautiful but also it reminded me that beauty is everywhere and that it’s always up to us to take the time to appreciate it.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Five.
Today, I was in a workshop titled The New Climate Story at Columbia University in New York, in a beautiful room that overlooks Manhattan. Out of a group of about fifty, there were only three of us in the theatre and the rest of the group was half journalists and half scientists. And I was reminded that though what we do in the theatre is often undervalued, in the climate world, I have always been not just welcomed but also called upon to help tackle this huge challenge. And I have to say, it’s very nice to be in a place where I feel needed.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought Number Four.
I didn’t watch the Oscars and I also haven’t see the movie “The Joker” [sic] but I am very grateful for Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar speech where he called out the injustices of the world and talked about how we have become disconnected from the natural world, and how our egocentric world view is causing us to plunder its resources. I’m grateful that he can reach millions of people and is willing to say these things.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is thought number three.
To eat the ice cream or not to eat the ice cream? That is the question. Is it better to be emotionally fulfilled and physically uncomfortable or to be physically well but emotionally deprived? I think life is full of these dilemmas and when we go for black and white solutions, we’re usually missing part of the picture. This said, I’m eating the ice cream.

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is Thought #2.
I’ve been reading the book The Patterning Instinct by Jeremy Lent and it talks about how with the advent of agriculture, we developed the concept of boundaries and lines and squares. As long as we were hunters and gatherers, we saw the world as fluid – boundaries were permeable and everything was sort of a curve. But with agriculture, when we started growing things and having our own fields, we needed to determine what was ours and what wasn’t. And that’s when boundaries and squares and straight lines were invented.
So it’s interesting to think since we were born in that system, that we see it as being inevitable. That’s just our world. And it makes me wonder what kinds of boundaries and straight lines have we inherited and put in our stories and how could that be different?

My name is Chantal Bilodeau and this is my first thought.
I wonder what it means to be blessed these days. I’m sitting on my bed drinking a cup of Chai tea out of a cup that says “Blessed” and I think about all the climate disruptions, the coronavirus, um, terrible elections in many countries, protests – all the things that are changing this world – and… maybe being blessed just means being – …  actually being able to sit on a bed and drink a cup of Chai out of a cup that says “Blessed.”

Thought Residency: Marcus Youssef

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Big THANKS to the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance for supporting Marcus Youssef’s Thought Residency.

Marcus Youssef here, thought number 15, I think. In the rehearsal room with Back to Back Theatre working on their project, the Democratic Set. Thinking about the way narrative is constructed in this image-based video/theatre project and how the creator/facilitators just kind of respond to offers that all these individual non-professionals and professionals make in these little, short pieces; and then weave them together through the kind of introduction of different prop elements and set elements and movement elements and construct meaning out of what is a random series of kind of offers.

 

Marcus Youssef, thought number 14. I’m thinking about the nature of this form, the thought residency. I think the intention is to capture a thought in the moment of having it. That’s been my experience. I have a thought and I think, “OK, this will be great. This is a thought worth exploring or sharing.” But it’s funny. Something happens because I don’t alway — I don’t usually go and record that thought. I kind of file it in my brain for later and then I do what I’m doing now, which is attempt to recapture that thought hours or a day later. At which time it’s not the same.  Because it’s not happening in that context in my mind. And it makes me think of the Internet and how it’s trying to capture the moment and how — I said — I have to stop because it’s too long.

 

Hi, it’s Marcus Youssef and it’s thought number 13.

I’m sitting in a rehearsal room with Back to Back theater from Australia, beginning work on their project, The Democratic set. And thinking about Back to back, which is a company, that has inspired me and my work, or aspects of my work, for close to 15 years. It’s an ensemble that is mixed-ability. It’s neurodiverse folks and neurotypical folks, and they make extraordinary shows that — in which disability, intellectual disability, is not the focus at all. It is just a fact that occurs in the performances. And I’m super excited to have the opportunity to work with them for the next week and also really shy and feeling sort of useless. (At this moment, ed.)

 


Hi, it’s Marcus Youssef. Thought number eleven.

I’m thinking about the recent events in Iran and the assassination of the Iranian political and military leader. And then also in particular, the images of his funeral and the sort of breathless coverage of the people who are trampled and the millions of Iranians who are out, at least according to the news reports I saw, mourning his death. And the way this image of millions of Iranians out in the streets has driven the narrative of the West’s relationship to Iran and the Middle East more broadly for such a long time. And how these stories just keep repeating with the same kind of exact visual representation over and over again. Especially in the era of 24-hour news where it’s like every single thing seems important. Yet this is exactly what we were thinking and feeling and seeing and being told in the wake of the Shah’s death in 1980 or not. Not the Shah sorry, the Ayatollah’s death.


Hi, it’s Marcus Youssef and this is number 11. I’m thinking about – whatever – the usual thoughts of how toxic social media is. But in particular about – the fewer and fewer times I’m on social media recently – how those feelings of resentment and upset I have about my friends posts, which are always about their success. And thinking about Shoshana Zuboff’s book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, and all the data analysis stuff that’s come out in the last year. And how I just literally want to talk to all of my friends and say, let’s stop. Like me too, because I post successes on social media too. Because it feels like the only way to advertise it. But like, to just like, let’s just stop. Let’s just stop. Can we all just stop? Which I get is only part of the picture, but it’s what I want to do.

 

Hi, it’s Marcus Youssef. Thought number 10. Thinking about the number of times that I’ve been in rehearsal rooms, mostly as a writer recently, and had my language or perspective or presumptions challenged – often about gender fluidity or, I guess, gender identities. And how that’s been mostly great. Like, I’m always kind of like, “Huh? What? Huh?” And that makes me think about the condition of getting older, and as a political person who always thought they would be on the cutting edge and leading the thinking on how we think about ourselves and each other relationally … how that changes. And what an interesting, provocative and kind of cool place it is. If difficult to occupy — being the one who doesn’t know.

 

Marcus Youssef here. Thought number nine. Thinking about a conversation I had with Sarah Benson last week. She’s the artistic director of Soho Rep. And was a big part of developing the play Fairview, which is an extraordinary play about race in the United States, and representation of race in the U.S. In which, like so much of the work I’m most excited by right now, the form, formal inventions perfectly reflect the analysis and the exploration and investigation of the content. Anyway, talking to Sarah about how that occurred, like how they discovered these formal inventions. Because it’s pretty it’s pretty formerly inventive. It starts like you think you’re in a three-act play and you’re not at all. And yet you are. And it was heartening to hear from her how long and involved that process was and how much time it required. And how many investigations of what they were doing and throwing out what they were doing or digging deeper into what they were doing. Just a good reminder of how formal invention, yeah — is as deep – like a struggle — as any other kind of creation.

 

Hi, it’s Marcus Yousef, thought number eight. I’m thinking about being a freelancer and how I’m no longer artistic director at Neworld. I stepped down from that position and the difference between controlling the conditions under which we make work. And when we don’t, when you’re working in relationship with others who control those. And the kind of tradeoff which is that — like I stepped down from Neworld because I kind of had stopped sleeping through the night because there’s all the details in my head, the stress that I had worked myself into it was way too much. I’ve been relieved of that, which is so great. And on the other side, it’s a different position to be not in control of the conditions that will manifest the creation of the new things that I’m working on.

 

Hi, it’s uh Marcus Youssef here with thought number seven, which I think might extend into thoughts number eight and nine. Um, thinking about Saturday night when, uh, my partner and I were invited to a party for someone in our community, who was actually a theatre person. Um, and we didn’t realize it — we knew she was uh sick — um but we didn’t realize it was actually the party the night before she, uh, decided to, uh, end her life. So it was kind of like her assisted suicide party. Um, and I’m still absorbing that event. She, uh, killed herself yesterday at 2:00 p.m. Um, and by all accounts, it was extraordinarily beautiful. The party was, um, overwhelming and beautiful. And I’m out of time. But, um, one of the things that occurred to us is that this is the beginning of this ritual becoming a part of our lives. Um, now that this is a choice we in Canada can make legally. And it is going to change us. Um, yeah, and I’ll talk more later.

 

Marcus Youssef here with thought number six.

At a production of a mainstream, big theatre musical and thinking about how it’s illegal for me to take this picture. And how I really want to take a picture because this set’s really beautiful — I’m not going to say what the production is. The set’s really, really beautiful. And yeah, it’s just the risk — this is a boring thought — but the rigamarole around the photographic recording of performance. And what that does and doesn’t mean, and how much time we’ve spent over the years just trying to get permission to share our work so that it can live.

 


Marcus Youssef here, this is thought number five.

Thinking about the ideology of busy-ness and its connection to technology. And how, you know, as we all know, like busyness can be sort of weaponized. Or I feel like I weaponize it in relationship to other people. “I’m so busy. I’m so busy.” But how also that’s a real thing. And the desire to feel useful. The excitement of working a lot. The way it can feel like a status symbol and how it’s related to anxiety and panic. How all those things are weaved together.

 


Hi, it’s Marcus Yousef, and this is my thought number four.

I’m staring at Jamie Long, my friend and often collaborator, as we write a screenplay adaptation of our play Winners and Losers in the same room that we wrote the play in ten years ago, or something like that. And just thinking about the long trajectory of projects. Or how when you start a project, you know, once in a while, one of those projects becomes actually a good chunk of what you’re doing with your life. Or can. And how that both changes and stays the same over the course of many years. Or can.

 

Marcus Youssef here again, and this is thought number three. Thinking about two plays, An Octoroon and Fairview. Two remarkable plays that I love. I have yet to see productions, I’ve only read them. How those two plays — which seem to be fundamentally changing the theatrical discourse about race and whiteness and the African-American experience or its relationship to culture in the U.S. — were both commissioned and developed and had their first productions directed by Sara Benson. She runs Soho Rep in New York, in her mid to late 30s, maybe early 40s, and a white British woman. And how I kind of like that … Yeah.

 

My name is Marcus Youssef. I’m a bit throaty and this is my second thought. I’m thinking about my friends, theatre makers James Long and Maiko Yamamoto, who just won this Siminovtich Prize for directing. And thinking, particularly about something Maiko said to me when I was doing some work helping another company, pals of our’s, strategic plan. She said a question she was really interested in asking about her and Jamie was like, what if this is it? What if this company we have built, if this is what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives? What if it’s not like, “What’s next? What’s going to be different? What’s going to change everything?” What if this is it? And I thought that was such a useful question.

 

Hey, my name’s Marcus Youssef. This is my first thought.

Today, I’m thinking about transitions, as theater artists and for me, as a writer who’s just come out of like two intense rehearsal periods and coming back to writing and spending the vast majority of the day by myself and how it feels utterly unfamiliar and terrifying. Although like seven weeks ago, it was – it felt utterly right and exactly what I should be doing.

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