The three focal points of our programming are performance, education and community participation. Our work is both local and international. We are proudly multicultural in our artistic associations. We are determined to bring our international experiences and what we are developing as our culturally collaborative adapting process to our productions. Our key local programming includes:
• Signing th
e Bard - Romeo and Juliet, five developmental workshops of a bi-lingual adaptation/translation in partnership with Equity Showcase Theatre/ Shakespeare Link UK (2006) and Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (2009-10) and with support of the Young Centre (2011).
• The Sunnybrook Project – With Love, Will Shakespeare was our first commissioned work, enjoyed by residents of the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre. Further development of this project includes Have-A-Go, a program intended to develop opportunities for the residents to explore Shakespeare.
• Bard on the Block – an ongoing series of Shakespeare workshops with The Yonge Street Mission and the Evergreen Youth Drop-in Centre.
• Bring Your Own Bard – A monthly Shakespeare reading evening open to all.
• Professional Training Program – Classes for actors began Fall 2010 and have included Master Classes with UK Director Tim Carroll January 2011. Over the past eight years, we have established strong connections with our international partners, notably Montes Namuli in Mozambique and Shakespeare Link in Wales. Our key international programming includes:
The Africa Project: Dance with Us, Not with AIDS
June 2012 with 6 classically trained artists including a performer from the USA to create a bilingual/bi-cultural production of A Winter’s Tale.
• Adaptations/translations of four other Shakespeare plays in collaboration with A Companhia de Canto e Danca Montes Namuli, Quelimane, Mozambique; - Sonho Nocturno – Dream at Night, A Tempestade and Medida por Medida, and a bi-lingual (English/Portuguese) Romeo and Juliet including 8 Canadian New Generation artists. These shows have been seen by approximately 70,000 people in Canada and Africa
• An exploration of Measure for Measure (in collaboration with Montes Namuli and Humber College Theatre Performance Program Graduating Class, 2007)
Co-Creator of the Shakespeare Link International Festival (SLIF)
• Co-producer of the inaugural SLIF - Voices in Shakespeare in Llandrindod Wells, Wales, in July 2008, including a youth exchange and training program between 12 Canadian new-generation artists and young actors from Theatre Powys, Wales. Premiere performance of Drowning Ophelia and Hamlet, Alone two solo shows created by Kennedy C. MacKinnon and performed by members of SLC.
• Participation as performers and workshop leaders in SLIF 2009 – The Sonnet Weekend.
• Participation as performers and workshop leaders in A Weekend Festival July 2012
