Recent Essays

In this last installment of the Beyond the Western Canon series, Sadie Berlin questions how marginalized voices are represented on stage and calls for more experimental work by artists of color on Canadian stages.

In the penultimate installment of the series, Emma Frankland details her experience staging a trans takeover of the canon with a cohort of trans, Two-Spirit, and non-binary artists. The article includes a set of recommendations for creating trans-affirming theatre spaces created by Emma and her collaborators.

Carmen Aguirre talks identity politics and the casting of Latinx plays in Canada.

Keith Barker and Lindsay Lachance talk about the challenges and rewards of working in mixed company with Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, including what it’s like to navigate work with sensitive subject matter, including Indigenous histories and colonization.

ted witzel, artistic associate for the Stratford Festival Lab in Ontario, Canada, introduces his series based on learnings from the Lab’s recent explorations under a mission of “gesturing toward a decolonial canon.”

Genevieve Beller argues that the current forced pause on society provides a rare opportunity for theatres to take stock, inventory priorities, and enact positive and lasting change, and she provides tangible steps to do so.

Anastasia Patlay talks about creating documentary theatre with the Moscow-based company Teatr.doc.

Israel Aloni argues that the lack of governmental support for artists has pushed them to pursue activism but contends that art ought to remain independent of the civil-political sphere.

Esther Fernández discusses how the emerging field of transnational studies is illuminating when it comes to early modern Hispanic theatre and uses productions of Sor Juana’s The House of Desires to dive into the topic.