Event Details

The Theatre Centre is a nationally-recognized arts incubator, serving as a research and development hub for the cultural sector by providing space, subsidy and mentorship to new generations of arts leaders.

The Theatre Centre’s mission is to nurture artists, invest in ideas and champion new work and new ways of working. The company fosters a culture of innovation by embracing risk and questioning traditional notions of failure and success.

This application is for “Progress Festival and Ontario Tour 2019”, taking place at The Theatre Centre in Toronto and various cities across the province. The two elements of the proposal are:

(1) 2019 Progress Festival: an international festival of performance and ideas presented in collaboration with the SummerWorks Performance Festival. Highlights include: (i) “Blood on the Dance Floor” by Jacob Boehme, a choreographer, dancer and writer from the Narangga and Kaurna first nations of South Australia; (ii) “Salt” by Selina Thompson (U.K.), a new solo show about grief, ancestry, home, forgetting and colonialism; and “Les New Cackle Sister” an interdisciplinary performance by L’Orchestre d’Homme Orchestre (Quebec); and

(2) The Theatre Centre’s 2019 Ontario Tour: (i) “Sea Sick”, a solo performance by Alanna Mitchell and adapted from her award-winning book. Since its premiere in 2014, the show has toured to various international festivals including Australia (Sydney International Festival, Darwin Festival), Europe (Luxembourg Fundamental Monodrama Festival), and Asia (Mumbai). Tour stops include Haliburton, Fergus, Kitchener-Waterloo, Picton, and Waterford (5 shows); and (ii) “This is the Point”, a portrait of four individuals whose lives have been shaped, in part, by cerebral palsy. The show was created and developed through The Theatre Centre’s Residency program, and is the winner of two Dora Mavor Moore awards including outstanding production and ensemble. As part of the tour the Theatre Centre will work with presenters to ensure that the production reaches deaf and disability communities. Tour stops include Kingston (6 shows), St. Catharines (4 shows), Burlington (2 shows), Oakville (2 shows); Mississauga (2 shows), and Brampton (2 shows).