Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Praxis Theatre and The Theatre Centre announce debaters for Civil Debates 2: Arts Boards:
•Tarragon Theatre General Manager Gideon Arthurs;
•The Theatre Centre General & Artistic Director Franco Boni;
•Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Artistic Director Brendan Healy;
•Creative Trust Research Fellow, Toronto Arts Foundation Jini Stolk.
The role of boards and their relationship to artistic direction was the most suggested subject relating to the arts when we were planning Civil Debates. Following several recent instances of Artistic Directors being dismissed by boards across Canada, this debate occurs at a moment when these relationships are being examined and re-imagined.
On Monday April 1st, we invite the community to an open public debate on the following resolution: Be it resolved that Boards of Directors have the right and responsibility to overrule the Artistic
Direction of a theatre company.
CIVIL DEBATES 2: Arts Boards
Monday April 1, 2013; doors 7pm, debate 7.30pm
The Theatre Centre Pop-Up, 1095 Queen St. West, at Dovercourt
PWYC at the door. No RSVP required. Cash bar. Twitter Hashtag: #CivilDebates
About Civil Debates:
Civil Debates is a series of public debates powered by the community. In 2012, praxistheatre.com was home to a number of passionate, intelligent, informed and respectful debates. This year, Civil Debates go live at The Theatre Centre Pop-Up using the Canadian parliamentary debate model: 2 speakers on each side, strict time allotments, moderated exchange and a vote Yea or Nay.
Audience members at Civil Debates are given the opportunity to participate through a moderated Q and A that follows the debate, and through before and after polls that seek to discover if the debate impacts or further polarizes audience opinion on a given issue. Popcorn and adult beverages are also available.
Civil Debates launched March 15, 2013 with Civil Debates 1: Creative Cities – a standing-room only event that tackled the impact of Richard Florida’s Creative Cities theories. Debaters included, “Official Statistician of the Creative Class” Kevin Stolarick, Beautiful City activist Sabra Ripley, artist-run-centre Executive Director Roy Mitchell, and multi-disciplinary artist Darren O’Donnell.
In favour of the resolution:
Franco Boni:
The Theatre Centre’s General & Artistic Director Franco Boni has led the organization since 2003, and he is currently working on building its permanent home. Franco is a recognized cultural innovator, facilitator and community builder. Franco has previously served on the boards of Paprika Festival (Chair) and Fuse Magazine (Chair). He currently sits on the Board of Directors of bluemouth inc. and Platform 9 Theatre. Franco is the inaugural recipient of the Ken McDougall Award for emerging directors, and was awarded the Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award, recognizing his outstanding leadership in the development of arts and culture in the City of Toronto.
Brendan Healy:
Originally from Montreal, Brendan began his career as an actor. Since relocating to Toronto over a decade ago, Brendan has established himself as a central figure in the city’s theatre scene and his work has been presented across the country. Notable productions include: Jean Genet’s The Maids, Nina Arsenault’s The Silicone Diaries and Sarah Kane’s Blasted. Brendan’s productions have garnered multiple Dora Mavor Moore Awards and he is a recipient of the Ken McDougall and the Pauline McGibbon awards for directing. Brendan was the associate artist at Crow’s Theatre before becoming the Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times and he is a regular instructor at the National Theatre School of Canada.
Against the resolution:
Gideon Arthurs:
Gideon is the General Manager of Tarragon Theatre and Artistic Producer for Groundwater Productions. He is the former Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Before that he worked as Company Manager at Soulpepper Theatre and in fundraising at Ryerson University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, where he was the past chair of the Media Relations Committee and works with the Indie Caucus, and is on the Board for STAF. Prior board service includes Pleiades Theatre (Secretary), Public Recordings (Treasurer), and the Paprika Festival (President). He has produced and directed numerous independent theatre productions.
Jini Stolk:
Jini was cofounder and Executive Director of Creative Trust, where she worked to strengthen the financial capacity and organizational potential of Toronto’s performing arts companies. As the newly appointed Creative Trust Research Fellow at the Toronto Arts Foundation she hopes to bring those 12 years of experiences and learnings to the City’s wider arts community. Previously, she was Managing Director of Toronto Dance Theatre, Executive Director of the Toronto Theatre Alliance/Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Associate Director of the Association of Canadian Publishers and GM of Open Studio. Jini is involved in many community and cultural advocacy activities, and is Chair of the Ontario Nonprofit Network, and a director of the Centre for Social Innovation. She received the 2012 William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life, and was a Sandra Tulloch Award and Harold Award winner.
About the organizers:
Praxis Theatre has created eleven original theatrical productions in Toronto over the past decade. A community leader in online engagement, praxistheatre.com was named a Toronto Theatre MVP by The Grid as an “outlet for informed, well-reasoned debate” in 2012.
The Theatre Centre nurtures artists, invests in ideas, and champions new work and new ways of working. The Theatre Centre provides artists with an infrastructure and resources to create their art – from an idea to a production. In 2013, The Theatre Centre will move to a new live arts hub and incubator at 1115 Queen West.
Photo: Civil Debates. ©2013 Hans Soete.
2013-03-25
Toronto: Praxis Theatre and The Theatre Centre announce debaters for “Civil Debates 2: Arts Boards” on April 1