On this World Theatre Day, NAC Indigenous, English and French Theatres join with artists and audiences from coast to coast to coast to celebrate the many exciting ways theatre stories have been shared during the past year of profound change. On stage and off, we are finding our light.
Created in 1961 by UNESCO, World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by theatre communities around the globe. The impetus behind World Theatre Day is to honour and further the goal of UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute to celebrate the power of theatre to serve as an indispensable bridge-builder for mutual international understanding and peace as well as to promote and protect cultural diversity and identity in communities throughout the world.
World Theatre Day offers us an important opportunity to highlight the indomitable imagination theatre artists have shown during these difficult times, delivering new experiences to audiences through ingenuity in staging and the innovative use of technology. From a performance recorded in a forest, to taking over city streets or buildings, or even reading a play online with performers across the country, theatre has persisted thanks to the courage, determination and heart of artists.
As we look to the future, we will continue to find inspiration from these amazing artists. Whether outdoors or in, online or in person, theatre will continue to share new stories, invent new experiences, and bring artists and audiences together. On World Theatre Day, we are proud to honour this limitless spirit of creation – a gift from theatre artists in every corner of the globe.
Thanks to them, we are all finding our light.
Happy World Theatre Day!
The NAC is proud to share more World Theatre Day wishes:
- A video salute from our partners, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), L’Association des théâtres francophones du Canada (ATFC) and Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC), featuring theatre artists and parliamentary guests answering the question why we love Canadian theatre.
- The 2021 World Theatre Day message from the International Theatre Institute (ITI), authored by award-winning artist Helen Mirren.
More theatre to experience:
Grand Acts of Theatre
Through Grand Acts of Theatre, the NAC invested in the creation of ambitious new work by some of the country's most ingenious artists, reached out to theatre audiences who had been missing the live experience, and is now deepening engagement with a wider audience by sharing the performances online.
The Transformations Project
This is a national project in which live performance companies from across Canada are asking some of their favourite artists to approach the above question in whatever way they see fit.
Prologue(s)
Prologue(s) is a series of eight theatrical sketches performed outdoors in front of a small volunteer audience. It features nine of French Theatre’s most beloved artists performing original works.
Ersatz
Ersatz is a brand new multidisciplinary platform born in pandemic times. So it’s not theatre, but theatre is still the portal through which you can access a ton of off-road discoveries. Creative projects, videos, multiple resources and learning tool—that’s just a taste of what’s on offer for you to explore anytime, in the classroom or even in your living room.
