Canadian Stage Company initiative offers chance to helm 2009 CanStage TD Dream in High Park
Toronto, ON (July 16, 2008) – Artistic Producer Martin Bragg announced a new initiative today in which The Canadian Stage Company will open its doors to emerging and mid-career Canadian directors with a vision for the 27th annual CanStage TD Dream in High Park.
For the first time in the Company’s history, directors will be invited to submit proposals for the CanStage TD Dream in High Park with an opportunity to direct the submission during the summer of 2009. Selected candidates will be interviewed and the successful finalist and play will be announced in Fall 2008.
The Dream has a history of providing training and development opportunities for actors, designers and directors. This initiative will provide emerging and mid-career theatre professionals with an opportunity they do not typically receive in the early stages of their career – the opportunity to direct a large-scale production which involves a cast of 15-20 actors, a 10 week run and attracts over 25,000 patrons each summer. The initiative is part of The Canadian Stage Company’s ongoing commitment to providing vital opportunities for theatre artists to evolve their professional careers.
“This initiative is about cultivating the next generation of theatre professionals,” explains Mr. Bragg. “It’s about expanding the Canadian Stage family. It’s about empowering and enriching the theatre community at large.”
Submission Guidelines:
- Applicants must be emerging or mid-career professional directors and Canadian citizens, permanent residents or landed immigrants of Canada
- The production must be a Shakespearean play, appropriate for families and under two hours in duration with no intermission
- Proposals must be submitted on one single-sided page and describe the Shakespearean play to be directed, the director’s vision for the production and list the collaborative artistic team. The director and collaborators’ biographies must be included along with the director’s contact information
- Proposals must be dropped off in person or mailed to:
CanStage TD Dream In High Park 2009: Proposals from Directors
The Canadian Stage Company, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto, ON M5A 2W3
Deadline for submission is no later than 5 p.m. Friday, August 15, 2008.
CanStage TD Dream in High Park is the oldest annual outdoor theatre event in Canada. An estimated 1.3 million people have enjoyed the tradition since its inception in 1983. The Dream plays a key role in expanding theatre-going audiences by remaining an accessible event through pay-what-you-can admission, courtesy of TD Bank Financial Group. This summer marks the Dream’s 26th anniversary, and a return of ahdri zhina mandiela’s urban interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her colourful, hip-hop twist on the Bard’s tangled tale of mischievous fairies and mismatched lovers who wander through an enchanted forest-meets-industrial-wasteland continues to August 31, 2008 at the open-air theatre in High Park. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. Gate opens at 6 p.m. Admission is PWYC and free for children 14 and under. For more information contact, 416-367-1652 or canstage.com.
Nationally and internationally acclaimed, The Canadian Stage Company is Canada’s leading not-for-profit contemporary theatre company. Founded in 1987 with the merger of CentreStage and Toronto Free Theatre, the Company is dedicated to developing and producing landmark Canadian works which have been awarded some of Canada’s most prestigious literary and performing arts honours, including Governor General’s, Chalmers and Dora Mavor Moore Awards and to programming international contemporary theatre. The Company presents a roster of the best Canadian and international plays and musicals – from edgy and provocative works at the Berkeley Street Theatre to productions with universal appeal at the Bluma Appel Theatre and a summer of Shakespeare with a contemporary twist at the Dream in High Park. Canadian Stage holds to the highest standards in every aspect of its productions, delivering an intelligent and thought-provoking live theatre experience. Through its long-standing commitment to educating the public and nurturing theatre professionals, Canadian Stage plays an essential role in bringing the joys of contemporary theatre into the lives of millions in Toronto, one of North America’s largest theatre centres.
