Are online theatre critics, or digital content creators in general, artists? To answer this seemingly rhetorical question, let me begin with a story: Not too long ago I found myself walking in a park in a quiet town in Germany and sat down by the edge of a pond, where I was greeted by an … Continue reading Online Criticism & Artistic Darwinism
Critics on the Road: Tampa International Fringe
The season is upon us. What season, you ask? Fringe season, of course. It’s less than 3 weeks ‘til Ottawa Fringe begins, and last week I was in attendance at the 1st annual Tampa International Fringe Festival as a kind of warm up for the long haul of the season. This week for Dark Day … Continue reading Critics on the Road: Tampa International Fringe
D is for Diversity
Fresh Meat Theatre Festival just opened their call for submissions for their 6th annual edition, and have also taken some really exciting steps towards increasing the diversity of programming available in the awareness of the Ottawa theatre community. What’s the big deal about diversity anyways? Diversity exists on a (ha ha) wide range of axes, … Continue reading D is for Diversity
Half-baked
I wrote some time ago about “the end” of art. Now it’s time to talk about the beginning. How does the artist know when a piece is ready? How does the audience know when it’s half-baked. There are different kinds of ready. A play might be ready for a staged reading. It might be … Continue reading Half-baked
The Unresolved
There’s a tendency I’ve noticed in theatre writers and theatre-goers alike to want things to be tied up in a neat little bow. But what if things weren’t so tidy? What if the playwright conspired with the director and the actors to leave a few things unresolved. What if we left the theatre with questions, … Continue reading The Unresolved
On Mediocrity in Theatre
I’ve been reading Jordan Tannahill’s Theatre of the Unimpressed, and it has been hitting some chords for me. The main inspiration for writing this book is Tannahill’s observation that a lot of the people he talks to have sworn off ever attending the theatre. They went once, their experience made them unforgivably bored, and they … Continue reading On Mediocrity in Theatre
Happy Birthday to Me (or Blow Out the Candles, Make a Wish)
The New Ottawa Critics is celebrating its 5th birthday this week, so this Dark Day Monday Tuesday, we’re here to tell you a little bit more about our plans for the upcoming year and why we need your help more than ever. Over the last 5 years, the New Ottawa Critics and I have been … Continue reading Happy Birthday to Me (or Blow Out the Candles, Make a Wish)
Momentum
In the wake of the Magnetic North cancellation last week, (to say nothing of the hopefully non-permanent Puppets Up cancellation) I’ve been thinking a lot about the way momentum works in the theatrical ecosystem. Festivals of all kinds are effective because they create an environment where many different creators can come together, and do the administrative … Continue reading Momentum
The Collaborative Audience
It was brought to my attention last week that I was talking about theatre criticism as a collaboration between theatre artist, critic, and spectator without really exploring what that means. I touch on the relationships between these types of people a bit in the article on The Separation of Art and Critic, but I think it might … Continue reading The Collaborative Audience
The End? of Art
This Dark Day Monday I’d like to lean back into a more theoretical query: what is the end of theatre? I’m being deliberately vague (not to mention pretentious) about this question, because it lets me explore a few boring assumptions about theatre in an interesting way. This question has two distinct meanings that I’d like to … Continue reading The End? of Art
The New Ottawa Critics 