Stage Door News
Stage Door News
WE'RE SOOOOOO OLD. BUT WE'RE SOOOOOO WISE. 20 years ago we popped into this world with a little two-hander called Over. That night we bowed, blinked and here we are. And we have some serious celebratory news.
Move & Residency
We're moving our operations! As of March 1st, we are insanely amped to announce that we will be the Gladstone Hotel's Company in Residence and (get ready for this!) our teen collective the Torontonians will be TEENAGERS IN RESIDENCE! The first Teenagers in Residence at an art hotel in the history of the universe. This shiz is about to get real real, yo. So, what are the plans, you ask? Well, we'll definitely be programming, programming and more programming. There's a lot we don't know and a bunch we do know. What we do know: 1. Live events starring the Torontonians, kicking it off with How to Hook Up, featuring live interviews and performances with other youth from companies North of the ol' 401. This bogus downtown/suburbs divide is officially DEAD. You heard it here first. 2. Gladwebstone. Okay, we're still working on the title. Gladwebstone is a web-based video series shot and hosted by The Torontonians and featuring all the activities and artists around the hotel and the local 'hood. Interviews, critiques, investigative reports, news, weather, and live coverage of all the Gladstone's events. It's going to be sick. 3. The Torontonians Media Services. With over 720 events happening at the Gladstone every year, someone's bound to need some documentation. So as a way to build skills, meet the arts community and make a bit of coin, the Torontonians are offering their media services at reasonable prices. Reach out if you need a kid with some high-end equipment to make you look good.
Website
The big birthday present we're giving to ourselves is... A NEW CAR! Joke. Seriously, we're giving ourselves a BRAND NEW WEBSITE. Jenna and Eva have been hopping up and down demanding this since 2010 and we've finally made it happen. What more can we say? Happy clicking: www.mammalian.ca. If you find any glitches, send us an email. We're still ironing out the kinks.
Award
The big birthday present we received from the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children is.... AN AWARD! We're so proud to announce that The Mammalian Protocol for Collaborating with Children has been awarded the 2012 Children's Rights Supporter Award. This really matters to us, and we're so grateful to the jury of kids that evaluated the document and gave it a high five. Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Mammalian Protocol outlines how we expect children to be treated when involved in our collaborations. It was written in 2011 at a feverish pace while on a train in the Chunnel from London to Brussels; triggered by yet another incident of censorship of children by adults we decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We now ensure that anyone who wants to engage us to work with children has read and agreed to respect the various articles. If you're not down with the document, then we're not the crew for you. We encourage arts organizations to take a look at the Protocol, use it, steal from it, imitate it, distribute it, shoot it out of a cannon into outer space. Do whatever it takes to stop adults from pushing young people around. Trying to figure out how to get that dusty last-century idea of revolution kickstarted again? Look no further than the kids, people.
Congratulations
We've got some other great news. Naomi Campbell, Mammalian producer 1998-2007, has snagged a slick new position at Luminato; she'll be calling herself Director, Artistic Development and will be working on new projects for future festivals including co-productions, commissions and the like. This is fantastic. She's the hardest working cat in showbiz and has been since day one. If there was a President of Canadian Theatre, she'd be it. Mammalian's partnership with Naomi began on February 20, 1997, when Naomi and Darren bumped into each other at the corner store at Queen and St. Patrick. Edmund Yu, a young man with mental health issues, had been shot dead by the police earlier that day because he was holding a small toy hammer. As they walked together in the mild night they discovered that they shared a passion for politics, social justice and a dedication to community fortification. Naomi was Mammalian's Producer for ten years and built the company's formidable infrastructure all while developing, producing and sometimes designing shows and events. No doubt about it, without Naomi there would be no Mammalian. Not only did Darren and Naomi work together for a decade, but also lived in neighbouring apartments, sleeping head to head, separated only by a very thin wall. What a champ. A big congratulations Naomi, you da bomb!
Post-script: when sent the above text for her approval, Naomi found three typos. Don't ever change, babe.
Now and beyond
Finally, because this eblast is going out during PuSh, Canada's premiere international performing arts festival, we wanted to say a big "hello, and hope you're well!" to everybody in Vancouver, particularly our friend and colleague Norman Armour. Speaking of the West Coast, we're stoked to announce a new partnership with our old friends Sherry and Jay at Boca Del Lupo who will be collaborating with us on the Vancouver presentation of Ask a Teenager, for their Micro Performance Series in May 2013. If all goes according to plan, we'll be working with Mammalian's West Coast Mammals, a crew of kids from Surrey who we've been chilling with since they were 12, as collaborators on Haircuts by Children, The Children's Choice Awards and most recently, Eat the Street. It's always great to work with our peeps in Vancouver; our only desperate wish is that Toronto were just few thousand miles closer. Oh well, absence, heart, fonder, you know...
As of March 1st, you can mail us at the Gladstone (see our new address below), or why mail when you can pop by? We're on the second floor, come anytime. Bring us a birthday cupcake and we'll love you forever.
Stay tuned: 20th anniversary party announcement coming soon.
Mammalian Diving Reflex. As usual, unusual.
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Photo: Michael Barker.
2013-02-01
Toronto: Mammalian Diving Reflex turns 20