La Presse interviews ELAN’s Guy Rodgers: “Effervescence chez les artistes anglos”

Alexandre Vigneault has an excellent column in today’s La Presse about the vitality of Montreal’s anglo arts scene in recent years. He refers to the new book Minority Report: An Alternate History of Quebec’s English-Language Arts Scene (Available through Guernica Editions), and interviews ELAN executive director Guy Rodgers.

I’ve translated the article below. You can read the complete original article on LaPresse.ca.

-Posted by Geoff

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Anglo-Montreal writers are not only numerous, many are popular internationally, including Trevor Ferguson, also known by his pseudonym John Farrow. PHOTO: ANDRÉ PICHETTE, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE

Translated from Effervescence chez les artistes anglos by Alexandre Vigneault for La Presse, 24 November 2011. (Translation by ELAN)

Renowned music scene, award-winning writers, bubbling theatre milieu, anglo-Montreal culture is experiencing a resurgence. This dynamism coincides with the first growth in the number of anglophones in Quebec in the past 30 years, according to the book Minority Report.

During the first half-decade of the 2000s, the number of anglophones rose by 2.7% in Quebec, according to 2006 Census data. The observation represents not only a reversal of the exodus begun in 1976 — it is also one of the factors contributing to the renewal of the Anglo-Montreal artistic scene, according to the essays collected in Minority Report.

“This increase isn’t limited to the artistic community, but among artists there has been enormous growth,” notes Guy Rodgers, director of the English-Language Arts Network (ELAN), an organisation founded in 2005 to bring together Quebec’s anglophone artists. The percentage of artists in the anglo-Montreal community (0.99%) is higher than the Canadian (0.65%) and Quebec (0.56%) averages, as noted in a Canadian Heritage report.

In recent years, the effervescence of anglo-Montreal creation has been emphasized by the international success of Arcade Fire. Minority Reports stresses that this phenomenon is not limited to the music milieu: the theatre scene experienced an unimaginable vitality 25 years ago, writes Marianne Ackerman, and this holds for the litterary community as well.

Festimania mise sur les médias sociaux (La Presse)

André Duchesne La Presse

SOURCE: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/arts/…/
 Montréal Festimania, regroupement de 11 festivals montréalais qui mettront leurs forces en commun pour promouvoir les activités de la métropole sur la scène internationale, misera essentiellement sur les médias sociaux afin d’attirer les touristes.

Au cours des prochaines semaines, les gestionnaires du Collectif des festivals montréalais (qui regroupe notamment Montréal complètement cirque, Juste pour rire et Nuits d’Afrique) annonceront le recrutement de 12 ambassadeurs internationaux, issus d’Amérique et d’Europe et reconnus autant pour leur amour de la culture et de la vie urbaine que pour le poids de leur réseau social. Ces ambassadeurs seront invités à venir vivre l’expérience des festivals estivaux montréalais.

«Ces personnes ne seront pas payées, mais elles auront des passes pour tous les spectacles du festival, des accès aux coulisses et tous les outils électroniques nécessaires pour parler de leur expérience», indique en entrevue la présidente du conseil d’administration du CFM, Isabelle Hudon.

A Few Words on Auditioning | Theatre For Thought, April 19, 2011

joel fishbane

Excerpt from ‘A Few Words on Auditioning’ by joel fishbane for CharPo
“Auditioning is sort of like me hiring a lawyer after watching the way she washes my car.”

It’s important to remember that when you walk into an audition, nobody is waiting to see whether you know how to act. They already assume that you do. What they want to see is whether you are Right for the Part (or for their Theatre School). How do you prove you are Right for the Part? Sadly, this is a question with no answer. If you are auditioning for Hamlet, perhaps you can try to show you know a thing or two about being depressed in Denmark; but if you are auditioning for Theatre School, you’re not so lucky.

If you’ve recently loaned Danny Boyle money or plan on being the next James Franco, then you probably don’t have to worry about auditions. But in case your career path isn’t following this trajectory, it might be good to remember the following things: (…)

Continue reading at charpo.blogspot.com/…/

Take a peek at Festival TransAmériques’ Program running May 26 to June 11

FTA – Festival TransAmériques program now online at www.fta.qc.ca.
Amazing shows from Montreal and the globe, including Montreal choreographer Chanti Wadge, one of the 154 artists profiled on www.RAEV.ca as part of the Recognizing Artists: Enfin Visibles! project.

EQUUS Play by Peter Shaffer Directed by Paul Van Dyck, April 13-24 at Rialto Montreal

Produced by Village Scene Productions Village Scène

by Richard Burnett, April 7, 2011

Most folks know the play Equus because it starred that kid from Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, stripping buck naked on stage in both London’s West End and on Broadway. All in the name of art, of course, for playwright Peter Shaffer’s famed 1973 play, which tells the psychodrama (inspired by a real-life incident) of psychiatrist Martin Dysart uncovering why 17-year-old Alan Strang – sexually obsessed with horses – deliberately blinded six horses.

Strang is portrayed in the Montreal production by local actor Bobby Lamont, who doesn’t have a problem stripping for the stage. “To be honest, I haven’t spent any time worrying about how my own particular naked body will look in the context of our production of Equus,” says the handsome Lamont.

Further reading in Hour

News: Segal Season Launch

The Segal team (Bryna Wasserman, AD, centre) (Photo: Randy Cole)

By Joel Fishbane
Excerpt from The Charlebois Post

(…)

The strengths of Segal Centre has always been its commitment to all artistic disciplines and it’s new season features a slew of dance, music and cinematic offerings which I’d encourage everyone to explore. Theatrically, their studio space offers the most intriguing possibilities: Tableau d’Hote will present Timothy Findley’s astounding Elizabeth Rex while Scapegoat Carnivale (Segal’s new resident company) will be presenting a new play by Joseph Shragge, The Heretics of Bohemia. I can’t tell you anything about it, other that it involves puppets, fairy tales and that it’s producers are the same people who gave us Medea - which, as I continue to tell Artistic Director Alison Darcy every time I see her, was the best show I saw in 2010.

(…)

Continue reading on charpo.blogspot.com/…/

Montreal’s Guilty Pleasure – Rover review of Schwartz’s: The Musical

by JAMES GARTLER for Rover Arts

If you’re used to seeing long line-ups outside Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen on The Main, prepare to see them at Centaur Theatre’s box office as well. The love-letter to Montreal that is Schwartz’s The Musical will surely be drawing in crowds both meat-loving and vegetarian, local and visiting, and young and old for one reason and one reason alone: this city’s long overdue for a love-in.

Leading the musical charge are Bowser and Blue, the legendary local duo who have made a career out of poking fun at our political situation and cultural quirks. Along with Director Roy Surette, they’ve adapted Bill Brownstein’s book on the beloved restaurant into a two-act celebration of everything that’s note-worthy about its on-going success. But does it all go down as easy as a smoked meat sandwich and a Cott Black Cherry Soda?

That depends on your tastes (…)

Continue reading on www.roverarts.com/…/

 

Stacey Christodoulou on The TNM/Cantat Debacle

Stacey Chrisodoulou

Excerpt from “The Reality Show That Makes Intellectuals Feel Good About Being Voyeurs”
By Stacey Christodoulou for The Charlebois Post

(…) There is a novel by French writer Amélie Nothomb called “Concentration” about a reality show that takes place in a concentration camp. If the TNM’s programming is any indication, that will be coming soon to a theatre near you.  Maybe I should program this.  Are you listening, Amélie?  That would make your ironic concept even more ironic!  It’s brilliant PR and think of the merchandising possibilities!  Striped pyjamas for Christmas with a copy of Sartre’s Nausea !

Casting a murderer in a play about murder is not a way to “engender debate in the theatre and society”.  It is about manufacturing controversy for profit.  It is the desperate last gasp of an art form that feels its own irrelevancy in the age of Youtube.  This venture can try to hide behind its intellectual sheen but, in the end, it is nothing more than Charlie Sheen. Get your T-shirts now.

Read the complete article on charpo.blogspot.com/…/

Lost Voices: Are our female writers being left behind?

Theatre for Thought, April 5, 2011
despite a wealth of feminine talent and influence, male writers continue to dominate our stages
By joel fishbane for The Charlebois Post

I first became aware of  Theresa Rebeck after I realized I had stolen one of her titles. Sort of. In 2009, I developed a play with PWM called The Understudies only to learn that a few years earlier, Theresa Rebeck’s play The Understudy had opened on Broadway (fortunately for me, the plots are very different). I’ve been paying attention to Ms. Rebeck’s career ever since – mostly to ensure I didn’t steal anymore titles – and I noticed a few weeks ago that she did a remarkable thing: at a recent conference in NYC, Ms. Rebeck tackled the question of sexism in theatre.

Review: Schwartz’s: The Musical

Schwartz’s lyrics are amusing, and tailored to each character. Photograph by: Pierre Obendrauf, THE GAZETTE

Review: Schwartz’s: The Musical
By Pat Donnelly, GAZETTE CULTURE CRITIC April 2, 2011
Source: www.montrealgazette.com/…/

About Schwartz’s: The Musical, by Rick Blue and George Bowser, two things can be said with certainty. Centaur Theatre has a runaway hit on its hands, with more than 80 per cent of available tickets sold. Secondly, this show is easily the most impressive original creation within the musical comedy genre that has emerged from within Montreal’s anglophone theatre community in decades.

But what is it, exactly?