2014


December eblast image

On the evening of Monday, December 16th, we here at ARC gathered in the Cabaret at Buddies In Bad Times to launch our creative path for 2014.

ARC is making world theatre in a world city. Toronto is one of the most diverse cities on earth, and we are so fortunate to be working here – at the intersection of so many stories, histories, and voices. This is a city of collision and confluence. The world is right here. And ARC’s current creative path reflects this.

We’re excited about some new additions to our Resident Company. ARC was founded upon the notion of being an artist-led entity, and our current Resident Artists reflect that thinking. It’s an outstanding roster of theatre makers: performers, designers, directors, writers, and production personnel. Many of our Resident Artists glide between multiple disciplines. As we forge ahead together this year, we will grow, we will learn, we will dream, we will flail, we will amaze, and we will create magic. These artists. Together. With you.

The ARC Resident Company is: AVIVA ARMOUR-OSTROFF, GORDON BOLAN, JACKIE CHAU, DEBORAH DRAKEFORD, JOHN FITZGERALD JAY, LAURA GARDNER, CARLOS GONZÁLEZ-VIO, RYAN HOLLYMAN, SAM MALKIN, JOELYSA PANKANEA, JANET PORTER, KATE SANDESON, ANDRE SILLS, CHRISTOPHER STANTON, and BAHAREH YARAGHI.

We are also pleased to announce the formation of The CO•LAB. This brand new creation initiative will give Resident Artists the opportunity to collaborate, create, explore and explode existing works within the international cannon. It’s a chance for us to build compelling, innovative theatrical works – inspired by the works that compel us. It’s also a way for ARC to enter the world of adaptation and translation. We are limited only by our own imaginations.

The first project to be developed under the auspices of The CO•LAB will be The Murakami Project. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s fiction struck us as the perfect opportunity to investigate the intersection of Japanese and so-called “Western” storytelling traditions, and to explore his principal themes of troubled love, urban isolation, and collective trauma. Collaborators will use Mr. Murakami’s body of work as a springboard to create a new and original performance. The work will be built from the ground up, using found text, imagery, movement, and music as source inspiration. Project director Christopher Stanton will draw on his experience in devised theatre creation – a skill honed for over 10 years with such unique and innovative shows as Minotaur, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Don’t Wake Me, and Red Machine: Under The Knife.

ARC is proud to be partnering on The Murakami Project with multi-talented theatre artist David Yee and Toronto’s fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company. fu-GEN is a company that shares many of ARC’s values, having a mandate to “build a stronger, truly multicultural Canadian community.” It’s a partnership we intend to foster.

Our mainstage production will open in the fall of 2014, when ARC will present the english-language Canadian premiere of Moment by Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan. Artistic Producer Christopher Stanton will direct. Ms. Kinahan’s play is a tense, thrilling, often hilarious exploration of the forces that bind a family together – even as they threaten to tear that family apart. If the staged reading of the first act we performed on Monday night was any indication, the full production will be shrewdly constructed, lightning paced, and whip smart.

So. A big year ahead. Thanks so much to Buddies In Bad Times for generously hosting our evening. Thank you to ARC’s endlessly amazing board of directors for providing the snacks and so much more. Thanks to everyone that braved the cold to come out and celebrate our upcoming year.

And to each of you – thank you for your continued support of ARC and the theatre we make. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve got.

– Janet Porter & Christopher Stanton
ARC Artistic Producers

ARC Moment Reading Promo Shot 2Reading Moment by Deirdre Kinahan.
Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, Ryan Hollyman, Andre Sills, Deborah Drakeford,
Caitlin Driscoll, Janet Porter & Gordon Bolan.
Photo by Alex Trimble.