The undercurrents theatre festival has made a name for itself by trying to showcase some of this country’s boldest theatre performances here in the Capital city. Last year saw the exhilarating stage presence of Sébastien Heins and the bass-thumping Brotherhood: the Hip Hopera, not to mention the audio-adventure that was Ghost River Theatre’s Tomorrow’s Child. … Continue reading Undercurrents 2018 Launch: Undercurrents Gets Politcal
One of the great things about digital media is that it’s a lot easier and faster for the publisher to open up a dialogue with the public: updating a problematic sentence on a web page is simple and guarantees that future readers will see the corrected version, whereas the corrections in a newspaper, for example, … Continue reading On Reaching Out to the Media
By Tamara LaPlante On November 21, 2011, Iain Armitage posted his first theatre review to his YouTube channel: IainLovesTheatre. He was three years old at the time. After seeing a production of Hairspray at Signature Theatre, Armitage filmed a 34 second stand-up with his reactions to the musical. His channel is one example of the … Continue reading Ottawa’s theatre criticism landscape is changing
Edited by Caitlin Gowans The hype around #Canada150 has seemingly come and gone and like many others, I spent Canada Day in reflection. On this occasion there was an outpouring of ‘think pieces’ from white individuals, myself included, stating their discomfort or feelings of awkwardness in regards to celebrating Canada Day this year because of … Continue reading New Criticism & Writing From a Place of Privilege
I had my first day off in 4 months after the Ottawa Fringe let out on June 18th. That day off was real nice. And now I’m supposed to wrap up the festival this year. I’ve been on the road doing theatre, both Fringe-y and not, since April, and I have no plans to really … Continue reading Do you miss Fringe?
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
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
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
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)
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
