Event: Play Reading Week, Tarragon Theatre

Tarragon’s Program Of Free Play Readings Includes Works-In-Progress By Members Of The 2009 Playwrights Unit

Tarragon Theatre is gearing up for their annual Play Reading Week, which runs from November 19 to 28, 2009, and boasts an impressive nine readings. Since its inception, Play Reading Week has offered both artists and audience alike the opportunity to participate in the creation of new work as Tarragon searches for the newest plays to grace its stage. Many of our Mainspace plays were first seen at Play Reading Week. Courageous by Michael Healey and Hush by Rosa Laborde enjoyed readings just last year.

All readings will take place in the Near Studio at 8 pm. Admission is free, and no reservations are taken. For more information, please contact our box office at 416-531-1827 or go online at www.tarragontheatre.com.

Thursday, November 19 at 8pm
BEATRICE CHANCY by George Elliott Clarke
Directed by Richard Rose
Beatrice, the daughter of a black slave woman and her white master, is sixteen and just returned from a convent school where she was sent “to copy white ladies ways”. She is the apple of her father’s eye until her declaration of love for a slave sparks a monstrous act.

Friday, November 20 at 8 pm
MOTHER OF HIM by Evan Placey
Directed by Kelly Straughan
It could be a morning like any other as Brenda cooks breakfast for her two sons, but eight year-old Jason’s refusing to go to school and teenager Matthew is under house arrest upstairs. As Brenda struggles for justice for her son, she learns it’s the laws inside the house that matter most. Winner of the inaugural RBC Tarragon Under 30 Playwriting Competition.

Saturday, November 21 at 8 pm
SMUGGLING BUDDHA by Nicolas Billon
Directed by Richard Rose
When Anna asks her children, Colin and Elizabeth, to return home right away, they expect the worst. As always, animosity between the siblings quickly surfaces, but after Anna’s unexpected announcement, brother and sister must face some truths that have remained obscured for years
— and deal with their mother’s impossible decision.

Monday, November 23 at 8 pm
WIDE AWAKE HEARTS by Brendan Gall
Directed by Richard Rose
Wide Awake Hearts is a nightmare about love and fidelity set against the backdrop of the Toronto film industry. Four nameless characters are ripped from one scene into the next against their will and before they are ready, blurring the fine line between fiction and reality.

Tuesday, November 24 at 8 pm
SPINE by Michelle D’Alessandro Hatt
Directed by Richard Rose
A family is caught in the crossfire of gang violence after a mother and son witness a stabbing outside Christie Subway Station. As threats and fears loom large inside and outside their urban home, it is clear their lives will never be the same again.

Wednesday, November 25 at 8 pm
CARRIED AWAY ON THE CREST OF A WAVE by David Yee
Directed by Richard Rose
Set in the years following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave is a play about causality and the interconnectedness of things. From a hitman in Bangkok, to a priest in Tamil Nadu, to a housewife in Utah, it asks what happens when the events that tie us together are the same that tear us apart.

Thursday, November 26 at 8 pm
INCENDIARIES by Jane Maggs
Directed by Richard Rose
He saves her, she burns him, he plays her a song he wrote, she teaches him all humans are capable of all things. And after a life altering irrevocable act, they divide on an issue. She realizes all humans are not capable of all things at the precise moment he realizes they definitely are.

Friday, November 27 at 8 pm
THE ATTIC SEQUEL by Jennifer Brewin, Leah Cherniak, Ann Marie MacDonald, Alisa
Palmer and Martha Ross
Directed by Alisa Palmer
This follow up to the acclaimed The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls opens twenty years later as the sisters reconvene for a family crisis. Jayne and Jojo will do anything to rescue Jelly, but end up rescuing themselves instead in this painfully funny look at family intimacy and the surprising truths of middle age.

Saturday, November 28 at 8 pm
BETHLEHEM by Aaron Bushkowsky
Directed by Richard Rose
Ari, who needs a better job to keep his wife in money, ends up being the foreclosure specialist for a bank only to foreclose on his wife’s ex-boyfriend – a man she never “got over”. A funny, dark comedy about betrayal and interest rates.

Space for Rent: Artscape Artist Lodge, Artscape

Inspiration from the changing seasons…and space is available at Artscape Artist Lodge.

Artscape Lodge is an affordable short-term studio and accommodation rental service for professional artists and arts administrators looking for time and space to focus exclusively on their work in the distraction-free environment at Artscape Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island.

Artscape Lodge is open year-round and has provided an inspiring and productive artist retreat to hundreds of artists from Toronto, across Canada and around the world.

The 30-Night Studio & Bedroom package is available at seasonal rates, with shorter stays, and custom & group bookings also available. All studios are equipped with wireless access. Rentals at Artscape Lodge consist of a furnished private studio and private bedroom. Amenities include a fully-equipped common kitchen, shared bathroom, laundry facilities, shared Internet access, and bicycles for on-island excursions.

If nature inspires you and a quiet, work-oriented retreat is of interest please make an appointment to come and visit. The Lodge package information can be found here.

Announcement: Contemporary Circus Art Recognized As Distinct Art Form, Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council recognizes contemporary circus art as a distinct art form. Professional artists and arts organizations practicing circus art are eligible to apply for funding through grant programs offered by the Council’s Inter-Arts Office.

Note: There are no new funds allocated for this art form; support is available through existing resources.

 

Definition of contemporary circus art

The Canada Council defines it as a form of artistic expression that integrates the mastery of one or more circus techniques in an original and innovative artistic concept of this art form. The practice, discourse and works are aimed at the creative evolution of this art form. Eligible contemporary circus art techniques are those recognized by professional circus arts schools such as the National Circus School.

How to apply for funding

Artists and arts organizations whose work meets the description above can consult the Inter-Arts Office of the Canada Council website for available grants, or contact our Office at 1 800 263 5588 extension 4062.

Grant applications for contemporary circus art activities will be assessed by a range of integrated arts professionals, including those working in contemporary circus art, and they will take into account the specificities of this art form.

Artists and arts organizations that apply for funding for artistic activities that include elements of, or are informed by contemporary circus art, may be better placed to apply to their specific artistic discipline.

For example:

• An applicant who requests support to create or circulate a theatrical work that includes contemporary circus art in a theatrical context should apply to the Theatre Section.
• A dance artist who requests support for a dance work that includes circus art techniques but remains within the discipline of dance should apply to the Dance Section.

Please consult the program information of the appropriate section or the Inter-Arts Office to help determine the best fit.

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Le Conseil des Arts du Canada reconnaît les arts du cirque contemporains comme une forme d’art distincte. Les artistes et organismes artistiques professionnels qui pratiquent cette forme d’art peuvent présenter des demandes de soutien financier aux programmes de subventions offerts par le Bureau Inter-arts du Conseil des Arts.

Remarque : Il ne s’agit pas de nouveaux fonds; le soutien provient des ressources actuelles.

Définition des arts du cirque contemporains

Le Conseil des Arts définit les arts du cirque contemporains comme une forme d’expression artistique qui intègre la maîtrise d’au moins une des techniques du cirque dans un concept artistique original et novateur de cette forme d’art. La pratique, le discours et les œuvres visent à favoriser l’évolution créative de cette forme d’art. Les techniques des arts du cirque contemporains admissibles sont celles reconnues par les écoles professionnelles du cirque, telle l’École nationale de cirque.

Comment obtenir des fonds

Les artistes et organismes artistiques dont le travail correspond à la présente définition peuvent consulter la section du site web du Conseil consacrée au Bureau Inter-arts pour connaître les subventions offertes. Ils peuvent aussi communiquer avec notre Bureau au 1-800-263-5588, poste 4062.

Les demandes de subventions pour des activités des arts du cirque contemporains seront évaluées par différents professionnels des arts intégrés, incluant des praticiens des arts du cirque contemporains, et ces professionnels tiendront compte des caractéristiques propres à cette forme d’art.

Les artistes et organismes artistiques qui présentent des demandes de subventions pour des activités artistiques qui incluent des éléments ou s’inspirent des arts du cirque contemporains auraient peut-être avantage à soumettre leur demande à leur discipline artistique habituelle.

Par exemple :

• un candidat qui soumet une demande d’aide en vue de la création ou de la diffusion d’une œuvre de théâtre qui inclut des éléments des arts du cirque contemporains dans le contexte du théâtre devrait plutôt présenter sa demande au Service de théâtre.
• un artiste de la danse qui soumet une demande d’aide pour une œuvre de danse qui inclut des techniques des arts du cirque, mais qui s’inscrit dans la discipline de la danse devrait présenter sa demande au Service de la danse.

Consultez l’information sur les programmes des arts intégrés pour trouver quel programme s’applique le mieux à vos activités ou communiquez avec notre Bureau Inter-arts.