The Artistic Director serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, providing artistic and executive leadership, and is responsible for the effective administration of the theatre in accordance with the policies of its Board of Directors.
The Artistic Director provides full oversight of organization-wide strategies, including artistic and strategic planning, board governance, financial stability, community engagement, programming, and staff management.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is one of Toronto’s premier theatre companies, and is North America’s largest Queer theatre. In an average season, it produces between four and six mainstage productions, three festivals, and presents the work of local, national, and international performing arts companies. It runs a year-long Queer Youth Arts Programme, a Young Creators unit, a dramaturgy and play development unit, as well as numerous special events.
Buddies is the resident company of the Alexander Street Theatre Project, a City-of-Toronto-owned building and initiative. It has two performance venues: the Chamber, a flexible black-box theatre that seats 150, and Tallulah’s Cabaret, a bar and cabaret space that seats 120, and is host to weekly performance and dance parties that serve Toronto’s vibrant queer communities.
Buddies strives to be the leading alternative, facility-based theatre in Toronto. It is committed to work that challenges the boundaries of theatrical and social convention. The company is committed to theatrical excellence, which it cultivates through its play development programs, strong volunteer base, youth-mentorship initiatives and ever-increasing wealth of Canadian Queer Talent.
These diverse commitments are articulated in the company’s mandate, which is:
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to the promotion of Queer Canadian Culture. We are dedicated to producing, developing, and supporting queer theatrical works that speak to one, or both, of the following criteria:
1. QUEER, referring to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered identity, encapsulates the core of our organization. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a queer-run organization committed to representing the LGBT community by supporting its artists, and by telling its stories.
2. QUEER, referring to anything different or outside of the norm, represents the nature of artistic work presented at 12 Alexander Street. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is dedicated to work that is different, outside the mainstream, challenging in both content and form. (This second definition of Queer is not LGBT-specific.)
The Board of Directors seeks an industry professional with a strong artistic vision for the company, who will be an articulate champion of queer theatre and performance in Toronto, in Canada, and internationally. The ideal candidate will be a dynamic artist and leader who possesses a thorough grounding in theatre creation, performing arts programming, and a strong acumen for facility and personnel management. The Artistic Director will have excellent analytical, financial, and organizational abilities.
Superb oral and written communications skills, political savvy and diplomacy, and the ability to deal humanely and wisely with a broad spectrum of personalities, are also necessary characteristics. We seek a track record in community participation and partnership, a strong commitment to diversity, and experience in managing staff.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, with a diverse and thriving theatre and cultural scene. It boasts world-class theatres, museums, art galleries, and film, theatre, and dance festivals. It has a large, active, and diverse Queer community with a long history of activism, and a diverse array of organizations, and services.
Salary commensurate with experience. Interested candidates are invited to submit a letter of interest, resume, and list of references by Friday, June 19, 2009 in confidence to:
Vasko Kocovski, Board Secretary
By E-mail:
buddiesadsearch@gmail.com
By Mail:
LAKS, KOCOVSKI
Barristers & Solicitors
303-717 Pape Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4K 3S9
For additional information about Buddies in Bad Times Theatre see: www.artsexy.ca
For questions about the AD position, write to: buddiesadsearch@gmail.com
