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What keeps us alive
July 8, 2020As you know, the performing arts sector will probably be the last to reopen. We don’t yet know under what conditions. This is of particular concern to us because we cannot yet count on an exact timeline. We’re told that nothing will ever be the same again. But for now, the future is hazy,…
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National Indigenous History Month with Samanqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier)
June 23, 2020Samanqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier) of Tobique First Nation is a leading voice in New Brunswick’s thriving Indigenous art scene. Her first play, Finding Wolastoq Voice, appeared as part of Mòshkamo: Indigenous Arts Rising, the two-and-a-half week festival that opened Indigenous Theatre’s…
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Celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and National Indigenous History Month at the...
June 4, 2020This National Indigenous Peoples Day and National Indigenous History Month, we honour the distinct perspectives and cultures of Indigenous artists through storytelling and performance. September brought the Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival, a resoundingly successful start to the…
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A continent to explore
May 21, 2020Trees are vertical, overhanging and solid, somewhat like adults. But a child is not only small in the forest: he can also see himself as a giant, discovering the microscopic abundance all around. - Ariane Voineau and Josué Beaucage GREAT EXPLORERS Activities based on the show Sous…
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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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From “Je n’y suis plus” to “Dans le bleu”: a correspondence between...
May 6, 2020We must learn how to lend ourselves to dreaming when dreams lend themselves to us. —Albert Camus Guy Warin (GW): From the original production in September 2013 of Marie‑Claude Verdier’s monologue Je n’y suis plus to the stage premiere of your very first play, the road you have…
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A celebration of words
May 5, 2020If you feel inspired, why not try to play with words like the characters of Elle (Her) and Lui (Him)? Here are some suggestions for activities to have some fun with words and poetry. > Word Games Activity #1 – Exquisite Corpse Collaborative writing game | Materials: Paper and…
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NAC Indigenous Theatre: Unikkaaqtuat brings Inuit stories to a wider world
January 6, 2020Guillaume Ittukssarjuat Saladin has a suggestion for audiences attending the upcoming world premiere of Unikkaaqtuat (meaning to tell stories), an all-ages show which opens the second half of NAC Indigenous Theatre’s inaugural season. The cross-cultural production fuses circus, theatre,…
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Inuit Myths Come Out of the Shadows
November 7, 2019Inuit founding myths are the inspiration for Unikkaaqtuat, a cross-cultural blending of circus arts, theatre, music, and video. The actors, musicians, and acrobats of Unikkaaqtuat perform in a world of shadows and video projections, transporting us to an ancient realm where life did not…
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Q&A: Mani Soleymanlou, director, playwright and actor
November 7, 2019Q. You’ve written a cycle of plays, titled from 1 to 9, which deal with identity. Your latest work is titled Zéro. What prompted this choice? A. Another word for zero in Persian and Arabic is “sefr”, which means “void”. I explored this idea in my first creations: Un, Deux and Trois. With…
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Mòshkamo: The beginning of a new era
October 4, 2019On Saturday September 14 hundreds of people gathered by the Rideau Canal just outside of the National Arts Centre to witness a great, long awaited moment. On this beautiful day, the audiences, artists and Indigenous peoples across Canada and around the world officially welcomed Indigenous…
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Where the Blood Mixes: A Journey to the Heart
October 4, 2019The first-ever performance of Kevin Loring’s debut play Where the Blood Mixes was in his hometown of Lytton, British Columbia in 2008. It was a staged reading of an earlier draft of the script—part of a British Columbian workshop tour by the play’s producers, the Playhouse Theatre Company…
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Come play with us
September 19, 2019Make theatre your playground and come play with us! Every time you visit, the space to be discovered will be unique and likely not what you expected. Who doesn't like surprises? Who doesn't like being amazed every now and then? That's good, because the stage is a magical place that artists…
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“Our Stories are Medicine”: Indigenous Theatre Takes Flight
September 11, 2019Indigenous Theatre is here. The highly anticipated inaugural season has taken flight with the Mòshkamo festival, a two-and-a-half week “takeover” of the National Arts Centre, showcasing some of the best Indigenous music, theatre and dance. “In a season focused on themes of…
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The Land: A Gathering Place
September 11, 2019We recognize the Algonquin Nation, on whose traditional, unceded territory the National Arts Centre is located. The NAC is taking to heart the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to preserve and promote Indigenous languages and cultures through actions such as creating the first…