[Candrama] Call for Participants: Theatre as Service Seminar at CATR 2026

[Fitz-James, Anthea]

Please see the call for participants for the seminar, Theatre as Service, as part of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research's 2026 conference in Victorica, BC. Here's some general information on the conference: https://catracrt.ca/conference/

The seminar is scheduled for Friday, May 29, from 9:00-12:30. Deadline for expressions of interests is May 1st.

Call for Participants – Theatre as Service Seminar

This discussion-based seminar gathers artists and scholars around the provocation that theatre is a form of service. Inspired by Audre Lorde’s assertion that “poetry is not a luxury,” and drawing from Alex Sarian’s The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture, this working group asks: what does theatre do within a larger cultural and economic landscape? If arts institutions are to locate their value not only in artistic merit but in community relevance, how might we understand theatre as a form of service? Understanding "service" broadly, including philanthropic service (volunteerism), labour and hospitality (the service industry), and the position that theatre and the arts plays in a larger sociocultural network (public service), this seminar invites participants to examine the roles theatre plays, or might play, in local and global economies. How have Canadian theatres adapted (or failed to adapt) to shifting conditions shaped by sustainability, affordability, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and COVID-19? What assumptions about productivity, care, value, and cultural labour underpin our industry, and how might they be challenged? This call for participants invites short papers, provocations, rants, case studies, performances, editorials, manifestos, and critical reflections that engage with theatre as service in the context of Canadian culture and economy.

If you're interested, please submit a ~250-word abstract and a brief bio to Thea Fitz-James at thea.fitzjames at usask.ca by May 1st.

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