NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE - CTR 154 / Spring 2013 "The New Saskatchewan"

Thu Apr 4 16:35:47 EDT 2013

CTR 154 / Spring 2013
The New Saskatchewan<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/kq6k85576478/>
In the past few years booming resource industries and a buoyant agricultural economy have transformed Saskatchewan from a "have-not" to a "have" province at the same time that most western economies have been struggling. Driven by the demand for workers and good paying jobs, Canadians from other provinces and immigrants from around the world have moved to both rural and urban communities in numbers that have not been seen since before the Depression. The wealth and increased cultural diversity of this "New Saskatchewan" has situated the arts on the threshold of potential opportunities which also come with substantial challenges. It is therefore a good time to take a close look at theatre in the "New Saskatchewan," and consider how artists are negotiating between old and new in order to make a home for themselves and others in theatre, drama, and performance in the province. Professional theatre in rural as well as urban centres, audio drama seeking global audiences electronically, drama transforming "the rez" and the future for aboriginal youth, thriving Fransaskois theatre, theatre by recent immigrants, site-specific theatre, and improvisationally driven performance are just a few of the many faces of "New Saskatchewan Theatre." Drawing upon the creative work of seasoned provincial artists as well as those new to Saskatchewan, this issue explores the ways in which they and others in the community are adapting theatre to make a space and a place for themselves on and beyond "the Land," which has traditionally dominated the province's identity

This issue contains:
Theatre and Drama in the New Saskatchewan: Making Space and Place on and beyond the Land<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/9m2k9726326614u2/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=0>
Mary Blackstone and Moira Day
Abstract
Although Saskatchewan conjures up images of a persistently have-not but determined farming culture and ferociously cold winters contributing to out-migration and cultural bareness, this vision derives more from past mythologies than the New Saskatchewan of the twenty-first century. With only 35% of the population currently in rural areas, a roaring economy and high job vacancy rates, its cities are bursting at the seams with new immigrants from Canada and abroad. Although this prosperity has not led to increased funding for the performing arts, theatre artists are among those moving to the province lured by the opportunity both to explore new, innovative approaches to dramatic work and to draw creative energy from the land, its traditions, and established creative institutions. With a thriving rural as well as urban theatre scene, Saskatchewan theatre artists are contributing to a redefinition of its cultural and social climate and its sense of identity. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.001
The Driest Cold: Surviving as a Theatre Artist in a "Cold Climate"<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/06872j065w025206/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=1>
Yvette Nolan, Philip Adams
Abstract
One of the benefits of moving to Saskatchewan as a playwright, director, or actor is being able to experiment with new or hybrid approaches to dramatic work like Ken Mitchell's constantly evolving Medicine Line. However, like that play with one foot in the past and one foot in the present, the attraction to Saskatchewan also derives from key elements in the "old Saskatchewan." That includes the formidable history and ongoing developmental programs of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre, but it also encompasses the centre-piece of traditional indigenous and farming culture-a more immediate and sympathetic connection with the natural environment, traditional ways, and the land. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.002
Growing Opportunities: Theatre Thrives in Rural Saskatchewan<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/224l88l451685638/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=2>
M. E. Powell
Abstract
Saskatchewan rural communities provide fertile ground professional theatre. Professional theatres in small communities thrive by embracing a unique mandate, such as the commitment to produce new Saskatchewan and established Canadian plays at Dancing Sky Theatre in Meacham, 67 kilometres east of Saskatoon. Some have combined theatre with other arts, such as the combination theatre, tea room, and art gallery at Rosthern's Station Arts Centre, located in the former CN railway depot. Ken Mitchell's Burning Sun Theatre in Moose Jaw is known for historical drama and epics of frontier culture, such as Spirits of the Trail (2009) or The Medicine Line (2007). Of the many communities with amateur theatres, the Battleford Community Players have committed to producing short new Saskatchewan plays in cabaret formats and dessert-theatre festivals. In these and other examples, Saskatchewan rural theatres provide models for communities across the country. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.003
Linking Who We Are and Where We Are: Saskatchewan's Legacy of Community and Site-oriented Performance<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/34k888w0227g8j21/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=3>
Marnie Badham, Kathleen Irwin, Rachael Van Fossen
Abstract
In Saskatchewan, Common Weal Community Arts, born in the 1990s under Rachael Van Fossen and subsequently led by Marnie Badham, used the community event to promote social and cultural understanding between diverse communities in rural and urban settings to promote social change. Since 2002, Knowhere Productions Inc. has used site and community to investigate physical and conceptual space through large-scale performances that explore the relationship between people, memories, landscape and the anachronism of performing one's place in the world in the age of hyperconnectivity. Through collaborative and non-matrixed performances, both companies address the meaning(s) of belonging by amplifying the multiplicity of voices from certain places and cultures across rural / urban differentiations through new media and innovative processes. This article explores aesthetic and communal practices within a socio-historic context and grounded in a perception of the land as a potent and persistent actant in place making and playmaking. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.004
Homeless on the Range-Theatre without a Home<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/t4054132076l386w/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=4>
Kathryn Bracht
Abstract
Small theatre has to be adaptable and creative in order to thrive, but constantly moving homes can tax even the hardiest theatre company, let alone their audience. How does homelessness impact a small company? What's the key to building a loyal audience that will follow a company from venue to venue? Does the tall shadow of a regional theatre in a smaller urban prairie community impact the creative life of new, struggling companies? This article explores the creative choices, challenges, and successes of several Regina-based companies that began homeless. How did lack of permanency affect these companies, and how did things change once they found a home? This article examines these questions, and explores the adaptability, creativity, and artistic choices formed by "homelessness on the range." DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.005
Regina: The Little City with a Wild Side<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/uu83415104404k8k/?p=85cdcc9006274022bfe3913b29565eac&pi=5>
Daniel Macdonald
Abstract
This article focuses on the impact improvisation at the high school level has had on professional performance in Regina (and elsewhere) over the past twenty-five years. Regina is unique in that it is a small city with a large reputation when it comes to improvisation, rooted in the high school competitive improv format created by the Canadian Improv Games. The article traces the work of several Regina artists, all of whom were actively involved as high school students in the CIG format, and examines the kind of theatrical innovations these artists have designed in part as a result of their background in improv. The article examines the non-scripted element of theatrical creation and explores the effect improvisation has had on one film artist in particular as well as the educational and nurturing impact improvisation has had on students in general. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.006
Layering Theatre's Potential for Change: Drama, Education, and Community in Aboriginal Health Research<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/4142m873lp0p5v82/?p=7e7bfae8fc6c4320932151c470a235e8&pi=6>
Warren Linds, Heather Ritenburg, Linda Goulet, Jo-Ann Episkenew, Karen Schmidt, Nuno Ribeiro, Allison Whiteman
Abstract
In this article, we provide a short history of a research project that works in partnership with the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council Health Services in southern Saskatchewan that engages Indigenous youth through theatre to explore health issues that affect their lives and their communities. Using applied theatre and other arts-based approaches, we co-create spaces in which youth can critically examine the choices they make that affect their health. We explain why we chose theatre as a research method and describe how we adapted theatre workshop methods to respond to the needs of the Indigenous youth participants. Finally, we discuss challenges and limitations of this kind of work. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.007
La Troupe du Jour in the Fransaskois Community: Inclusion Strategies and Multicultural Spaces<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/l307718517w3k06q/?p=7e7bfae8fc6c4320932151c470a235e8&pi=7>
Marie-Diane Clarke, Ian C. Nelson
Abstract
The strategic thrust of La Troupe du Jour, with its principal mandate of creating new stage works, has developed from a reflection of the anecdotal or historical realities of its original Fransaskois communities to encompass the wider and even international cultural range of an evolving population of Saskatchewan Francophones. It has created an amalgam of dramaturgical supports to identify and nurture new and established writers for the French stage, with the eventual aim of diffusing their work through professional productions locally, on tour, and in festivals. Its growing reputation has been recognized with local and national awards and the publication of a number of its original creations. With more stable funding and the opening of its new production centre, LTDJ has achieved the status of an equal with theatre companies of the English majority, while its programming attracts an ever widening audience of both French and English speakers. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.008
Saskatchewan Radio Audio Drama<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/d76x876n682pn816/?p=7e7bfae8fc6c4320932151c470a235e8&pi=8>
Ian McWilliams
Abstract
CBC Saskatchewan has a prolific producer of Saskatchewan radio drama. But CBC's national elimination of radio drama has resulted in the loss of this venue for Saskatchewan artists to engage audiences within the province, as well as on a national and global scale. But does this loss of a terrestrial broadcaster mean a loss of Saskatchewan audio drama? Technological advances allow for greater access to the production and distribution of audio drama. Socio-technical advances are producing online consumers with (a) the expectation of absolute choice in both media and time of consumption of audible products; and (b) an increasing acceptance of the need to contribute to, or directly support, artistic consumables online. Is Saskatchewan's audio drama to shift from airwaves to the Internet? Is this a viable option for both artists and audience? What is the future space for "Theatre of the Mind" in Saskatchewan? DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.009
Playwriting in the New Saskatchewan: A Round-table Discussion That Didn't Really Happen<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/w741378824464782/?p=7e7bfae8fc6c4320932151c470a235e8&pi=9>
Kelley Jo Burke
Abstract
Almost twenty years ago, while visiting Toronto, writer Kelley Jo Burke was asked, in essence, What was she thinking, living in the middle of nothing, and as far as humanly possible from any significant theatrical something? According to the wisdom of the (Toronto) time, Saskatchewan, with its paltry number of stages, tiny theatrical community, and rural sensibilities, was no place for an ambitious playwright to ply her craft. In a Canada where suddenly Saskatchewan is an economic star, is Saskatchewan still a place that playwrights have to leave, to succeed? And if so, why do so many stay? In this article, a cross section of current and future Saskatchewan playwrights discuss playwriting in the "New Saskatchewan" and look at what has changed and what remains the same. DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.010
Scripts
Ham and the Ram<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/w02v77764217k676/?p=b1df08a61e1b46feacd366292834cb4d&pi=10>
Yvette Nolan
DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.011
Gramma<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/n123382757l041h8/?p=b1df08a61e1b46feacd366292834cb4d&pi=11>
Maki Yi
DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.012
Views and Reviews<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/714663k573t54101/?p=b1df08a61e1b46feacd366292834cb4d&pi=12>
DOI:10.3138/CTR.154.013

Canadian Theatre Review is the major magazine of record for Canadian theatre. It is committed to excellence in the critical analysis and innovative coverage of current developments in Canadian theatre, to advocating new issues and artists, and to publishing at least one significant new playscript per issue. The editorial board is committed to CTR's practice of theme issues that present multi-faceted and in-depth examinations of the emerging issues of the day and to expanding the practice of criticism in Canadian theatre and to the development of new voices.

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