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Finding Our Light - World Theatre Day
March 23, 2021On 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…
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Black Theatre Workshop named inaugural Co-Curating Company for NAC English Theatre
December 9, 2020On Wednesday, December 9, National Arts Centre English Theatre, in partnership with Black Theatre Workshop, announced an unprecedented shared curation model for the national stage. Beginning in the 2021–22 season, NAC English Theatre has committed to the annual appointment of a Co-Curating…
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A Grand Success for Canadian Theatre Companies Across Canada
December 1, 2020This past summer NAC English Theatre created Grand Acts of Theatre to re-ignite creativity, bring hope, and lift the spirits of theatre artists and performing arts lovers from across the country. Co-curated by English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley and Sherry Yoon, Artistic…
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The show must go on, even for an audience of six
May 13, 2020Jillian Keiley, Artistic Director of NAC English Theatre, and the cast and crew of Copenhagen were in their final days and nights of tech week. It’s an intense period when a production shifts from the rehearsal hall to the theatre. Sixteen hour days are the norm. So is adrenaline,…
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Bringing Light to Darkness: Neverending is a tale for our troubled times
January 29, 2020Dragons, giant turtles and a massive spider — what’s not to like. All that and much more is in the production The Neverending Story, coming to the National Arts Centre at the end of January. Jillian Keiley has read a lot of scripts and seen a lot of plays in her career. The head of the…
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A gathering of Artist Leaders in Deaf and disability arts and inclusion
September 1, 2016For two and a half days, 13 Artist/Leaders and 12 institutional Respondents gathered at the Stratford Festival to immerse themselves in conversations led by artists from the Deaf and disability arts community, about theatrical performance. "We're building what we hope will be a living…
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Jack Charles’ story of resilience and reconnection
January 14, 2016Jack Charles' experience as a stolen child echoes the plight of Canada's own Indigenous people. This was made clear when he and director Rachael Maza were invited to speak at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa. "It's exactly the same story. It actually started so much earlier…
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Q & A: Algonquin Elder Annie Smith St-Georges and Metis André-Robert St-Georges
January 11, 2016Q. You’ve been welcoming NAC English Theatre audiences to traditional Algonquin Nation Territory since last season. How do you go about this? A. On opening nights, before the play begins, we greet people with a message of peace in a way that acknowledges our presence together on Indigenous…
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Alice’s Looking-Glass Adventures Continues Across Canada
June 25, 2015Director Jillian Keiley with actors playing Alice across Canada: Gwendolyn Collins (Winnipeg’s Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Ellie Heath (Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre), Trish Lindström (the Stratford Festival) and, seated, Natasha Greenblatt (NAC and Charlottetown's Confederation Centre of…
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The Summit: A vital conversation on Indigenous theatre
May 7, 2015In the spring of 2014, NAC English Theatre, the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA), the Luminato Festival and the Banff Centre collaborated on an initiative called The Summit. We brought together leading Indigenous artists from across the country for a vital conversation that would…
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Behind the scenes with English Theatre
April 30, 2015Attending pre-rehearsal chats and open rehearsals are one of the many benefits donors receive when they support performance, creation and learning across Canada through the National Arts Centre Foundation. On Thursday, March 26, members of the Donors’ Circle were treated to a Q&A between…
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Robert Lepage speaks about ‘Needles and Opium’
April 9, 2015Theatrical wizard Robert Lepage’s Needles and Opium arrives at the National Arts Centre through a unique collaboration between the NAC English Theatre, Théâtre français and Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Originally created in 1991 when Lepage was Artistic Director of Théâtre…
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Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival: Bringing together Canadian artists one festival at...
March 10, 2015Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival has the distinction of being Canada’s only national theatre festival. Co-presented by the National Art Centre’s English Theatre, Magnetic North travels to a new host community in Canada every second year from their base in Ottawa, helping to support…
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Director David Ferry on Stuff Happens
February 5, 2015Award-winning actor and director David Ferry describes Stuff Happens by legendary British playwright Sir David Hare as a cautionary tale of Shakespearean proportions. "It's like Richard III, or Henry V,” he said. “It deals with huge issues of power, of access to power, and how power can be…
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The Summit: English Theatre explores the power of Indigenous stories
January 20, 2015Excerpt from Prelude Magazine Sarah Garton Stanley, Associate Artistic Director NAC English Theatre, admits she was nervous. She and Yvette Nolan, co-curators for The Summit, were about to bring together a distinguished group of 12 Indigenous leaders and artists from across the country…
