NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE TO BRING CANADIAN ARTISTS AND AUDIENCES TOGETHER WITH GRAND ACTS OF THEATRE
NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE TO BRING CANADIAN ARTISTS AND AUDIENCES TOGETHER WITH GRAND ACTS OF THEATRE
New initiative will reunite theatre artists and live audiences in 11 Canadian locations and a national audience via online experience.
August 27, 2020 – OTTAWA (Canada) – As the performing arts sector continues to face unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Arts Centre today announced Grand Acts of Theatre, an initiative led by English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley in which 11 of Canada’s most innovative theatre companies have been engaged to create and perform large-scale, new works in response to these times. The works will be performed outdoors in front of live audiences in various Canadian locations, filmed, and later shared with a national and international audience online.
As part of the NAC’s recently announced three-year plan titled “The Next Act”, the NAC is determined to lead and support the renewal of the Canadian performing arts sector. Through Grand Acts of Theatre, the NAC will invest in the creation of ambitious new work by some of the country's most ingenious artists, reach out to theatre audiences who have been missing the live experience, and deepen engagement with a wider audience by sharing the performances online.
Jillian Keiley teamed up with Vancouver theatre maker Sherry Yoon, Artistic Director of Boca del Lupo, as the co-curator of Grand Acts of Theatre. Boca del Lupo is an acclaimed theatre company that creates and presents performances in unconventional spaces. For this new initiative, Ms. Keiley and Ms. Yoon have selected companies that will create highly theatrical, large-scale outdoor work that will have great artistic impact and broad community reach.
"Grand Acts of Theatre will offer new, large-scale works by fantastically inventive artists to capture the public's imagination with artistic statements on a grand scale, inspired by these current times,” Jillian Keiley said. “The artists are excited to engage with live audiences again, are ready to practice their craft with safety in mind, and looking forward to going even further, connecting with online audiences through digital technology. We cannot wait to see what these incredible companies will create.”
“The National Arts Centre is committed to leading and supporting the renewal of the performing arts,” said NAC President and CEO Christopher Deacon. “Through Grand Acts of Theatre, we will invest in new creation by extraordinary Canadian theatre artists, and create wonderful experiences that will allow audiences and communities to engage with the performing arts both live and online.”
For more information, visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/englishtheatre/packages/grand-acts-of-theatre
GRAND ACTS OF THEATRE PERFORMING COMPANIES
Representing 11 regions in Canada, the celebrated companies commissioned to create and perform original works are:
Black Theatre Workshop (Montreal, QC) - Black and Blue Matters - Track 1: No One Gives a F*ck About a Cop October 11
Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry (Calgary, AB) - Iniskim October 3
Catalyst Theatre (Edmonton, AB) - until the next breath October 4
Curtain Razors (Regina, SK) - Trespassers Waltz September 20
Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver, BC) - Reframed October 7
Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Six Nations, ON) - Continuance: Yonkwa'nikonhrakontáhkwen - our consciousness continues unchanged October 3
L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres (Quebec City, QC) - Entre-temps October 3
Neighbourhood Dance Works (St. John's, NL) - The Fire Kedgys’ Howl October 8
Prismatic Arts Festival (Halifax, NS) - Shifting Verse September 19
Talk Is Free Theatre (Barrie, Ont.) in association with Outside the March (Toronto, ON) - Something Bubbled, Something Blue September 12
Théâtre Cercle Molière / Synonym Art Consultation (Winnipeg, MB) – Intramural.e September 13
Dates are subject to change.
The live performances will take place in various regions of the country and will respect health and safety guidelines in each location. After the live performances have taken place, the NAC will share videos from each performance on its website and social media channels. Schedule to be confirmed.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
The National Arts Centre Foundation wishes to thank RBC Foundation as Presenting Partner of Grand Acts of Theatre. RBC has a long-standing commitment to supporting the development of emerging Canadian artists, most recently demonstrated through their leadership support of the National Arts Centre’s #CanadaPerforms livestream series, which provided emergency relief funding to 700 Canadian artists.
Grand Acts of Theatre is also made possible thanks to the generous support of The Jenepher Hooper Fund for Theatre at the National Arts Centre Foundation, established as a result of a generous gift from the estate of Jenepher Margaret Hooper.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams —the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety; and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
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Sean Fitzpatrick Communications Officer NAC English Theatre 613 899-9737 |
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