World Theatre Day Blog

I was so excited to get this email today:

The NYC World Theatre Day Coalition is comprised of representatives of theatre companies and advocacy groups whose common goal is to promote World Theatre Day within the New York City theatre community. The primary functions of the coalition are to organize events, to distribute the WTD message, and to coordinate a central location for companies to communicate their World Theatre Day plans. Visit us at our website www.nycwtd.org.

This year we are planning a series of Flash Mobs all over NYC on World Theatre Day as tribute to the rich world theatre day flash mob tradition. To RSVP to partake in a flash mob email info@nycwtd.com. There will be 7 in total and they are as follows:

The Message

Join Us in Song

All the World’s a Stage

Zip Zap Zop

[UNTITLED]

Cheers to You

The Kiss

We are also planning a Celebration & Networking Event at The Houndstooth Pub located on the southeast corner of 37th Street and 8th Avenue from 5pm – 8pm on Saturday, March 27th. At the event we will hear the reading of the NYC Mayoral Proclation, watch teh premiere of the Dame Judi Dench multilingual WTD message video produced by The Internationalists, hear Lynn Nottage’s International Message read by a special guests, and give everyone a chance to meet and mingle with others interested in international world.

For information about other World Theatre Day Events happening in NYC see our website www.nycwtd.com.

Best,
Amanda Feldman

Keep up the good work, Amanda, and I’d expect no less from one of the greatest theatre cities in the world!

Today I received this email from Susan Weiss, an ex-pat British Colombian who now lives in Mexico. Everyone give Mexico a big welcome to the World Theatre Day Party!

WORLD THEATRE DAY 2010 IN MEXICO – A FIRST EVER STEP!

These words are especially appropriate for Mexico: “But theatre…provides opportunities to educate and inform. All it needs is a space and an audience. Theatre has the ability to make us smile, to make us cry, but should also make us think and reflect”. Dame Judi Dench – excerpt from her World Theatre Day message. (I admit it! I am a huge ‘FAN” of Dame Judi Dench).
On the occasion of World Theatre Day 2010 I am honored and extremely excited to help launch Mexico as a first-time participant in this magnificent “world event”.
Mexico, ah…there are so many Mexico’s. The richness of Mexico and her culture, is her people. Mexican culture is also very complex.
There is a long and bold history of theatre is this country that spans two centuries.  And, in this Bi-Centennial year, Mexico is celebrating its culture and its theatre all over this country in cities, towns, “pueblitos”, “plazas”, churches and “Casas de la Cultura” with great pride, dignity and above all, honor.
Great writers such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes; directors and innovators such as Luis de Tavira, (who created Casa del Teatro, a training ground for Mexican “creativity” by nurturing young writers, actors, directors, technicians, designers and teachers and inspiring the next generation); these “Mexican giants” all deserve a hearty round of applause.
My first “live theatre” experience in Mexico City was attending the play “Encuentros”, (Encounters), written, directed and acted by Guillermo Iván, Erik Heyser and Ragnar Conde and presented at the Casa Azul in Colonia Condesa. Casa Azul is a theatre centre, made up of many rooms, (it was at one time a Spanish conquest era “dignified Hacienda”). In one of those rooms, (9 feet by 12 feet – at the most), sitting in a circle on plastic chairs, 25 audience members anxiously waited for what was coming next; imagine, sitting in a room with only one door and one light bulb hanging from the high ceiling. BANG! The one door slammed shut.

What came in the next 90 minutes was gripping, gutsy, gritty and at times a ghastly encounter with three characters that had been kidnapped, (not knowing each other). It was raw and powerful emotion – that seared everyone in that 9 by 12 foot room.
And what could possibly be next? At the end of the “encounter”, a video tape rolled, recapping the events of the play and the audience was “compelled” to decide the fate of just one of the “kidnapped”.
My heart almost stopped, and, when the light bulb came on for the “Bows” I thought to myself, quietly, “Art imitating Life” or “Life imitating Art”? After all, this powerful, contemporary, in your face theatre piece, spoke volumes about the everyday life in this city.
From this theatre experience Ragnar, Guillermo, Erik and I have become fast and forever friends. I help them in any way I can to promote their work in theatre; they are visionaries, and they carry the “torch” for theatre in Mexico with immense honor, dignity, pride and humility. They are also “fearless” in their collective quest to inform. I love you guys, “un abrazo muy fuerte!”
In my current adopted home of Querétaro, Mexico I met another young, creative, ambitious and innovative Mexican theatre man: Alonso Barrera. Alonso Barrera is a writer, an actor, a director, a businessman; (he created La Fabrica, a theatre space in Querétaro), to further his passion of and for theatre.
When I first met Alonso he was writing, (with the Grade 11 Drama Club of the John F. Kennedy American School of Querétaro), a theatre piece in English. The acting, design, writing and “entrepreneurship” (securing sponsorship for the production), of these young people was remarkable. What an experience for these adolescent students, their families and the community of Jurica. I too applauded them one and all.
I asked Alonso if he and La Fabrica might participate in World Theatre Day 2010 and in true Mexican fashion, he said YES. (“No”, does not work in the vocabulary here). To this end he has secured the 50th performance of the play “La Estacion” performed by “Barón rampante” on WTD, March 27, 2010 in Querétaro, Mexico.

What is even more outstanding is that there will be no tickets sold; the audience will be asked to make a donation, of whatever they can afford, at the show. This is dedication and shows entrepreneurship on the part of La Fabrica and “Barón rampante”.
It is with great pleasure that I shall show my support by attending, (and taking a group of friends with me), to this historic, first entrance of Mexico onto the world theatre stage in celebration of World Theatre Day, 2010.
To Alonso, “Barón rampante” , La Fabrica, I thank you for your dedication, passion and I honor you for sharing your theatre with us!
Many, many, years ago I was invited to Jordan to “produce an event”, and I share an inside “glance” of one of my conversations: “If you can transport me from my everyday life, for three hours, I shall be eternally grateful to you”….Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan on the occasion of an audience with her planning for AIDA at the football stadium in Amman, Jordan to benefit her causes for women and children in Jordan. (SCW: alas this did not come to pass, the “Intifada” created another kind of theatre). Her Majesty’s words are forever burned onto my soul.
In closing, I say to all people, everywhere, “Run, don’t walk”, beg, borrow, barter, do whatever you need to do; please support theatre in your community, especially on March 27, 2010.
BUT, please do not stop there, continue to put your bottom and your friends’ bottoms in seats in theatres; by doing this you will support art, be informed and most of all “you will be transported, I guarantee!”
Susan C. Weiss
Producer, writer, entrepreneur; (passionate for theatre, wherever I am – right now in Querétaro, Mexico)
PS – and a very important one! A very special thank you to Rebecca Coleman of Vancouver, Canada, (herself), a theatre producer, marketer and publicist extraordinaire for introducing me to WTD; “una abrazo fuerte” Rebecca, from all of us participating in WTD 2010 in Mexico.
I also celebrate WTD 2010 with you in Vancouver, (in spirit), from Mexico. “VIVA EL DIA MUNDIAL DEL TEATRO! VIVA!”

Thanks, Susan. I look forward to your photos and video.

–Rebecca

Hello, my name is Scott Florence and I am the artistic director of a theatre company in Ottawa called A Company of Fools.

Every year (since 2002) we have hosted the OTTAWA THEATRE CHALLENGE on March 27 to celebrate World Theatre Day.

We invite theatre companies from across the region – professional, emerging, community, theatre training centres, French and English companies – to participate in a “contest of creation”. Each participating company has 48 hours to create and rehearse a new piece of theatre. Participating companies exchange “Inspiration items” to spark the creative effort (and ensure everyone is working on a new piece in the 48 hour period!) and then two days later the results of the creative frenzy are showcased at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage. Proceeds are donated to charity; the charity is chosen by the winner of the previous year. That’s right, we pretend it’s a competitive format – but the competition is very tongue in cheek, and the judges are expected and encouraged to take bribes to sway their opinion.

Our url is http://www.fools.ca.  We can also be found on Facebook.

I just discovered your blog and am very excited by it – I look forward to reading on previous posts to find out what is happening elsewhere around World Theatre Day!

Cheers,
Scott Florence,
Big Fool

If you live in Canada, you’ll probably recognize Jackson Davies.

Jackson will be hosting a series of panel discussions on Saturday, March 27, at the Central branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Come to the Alice MacKay room at 1, 2, and/or 3 pm. Admission free.

This article is reprinted in full, with permission from the authour, from 2am Theatre.

Odds are the first four words ever spo­ken were “tell me a story.” And the next four? “Once upon a time…” It’s why we have cave paint­ings, sculp­ture, the­atre, film, tele­vi­sion both scripted and “real.” Every­thing in our world is crafted to com­mu­ni­cate some­thing, whether mem­ory or infor­ma­tion, asso­ci­a­tion or emo­tion. Everything–and everyone–has a story.

As the­atre artists, no mat­ter our dis­ci­pline or tech­nique, we find, cre­ate and tell sto­ries to our audi­ences. What if we let them have a turn? Would that lead to a stronger bond, a bet­ter appre­ci­a­tion of what we all do? Could it let them get a glimpse behind the cur­tain, a look at the “process” to see how it’s done?

That’s the idea–and the meta-idea–behind 360.

What is 360?

A gath­er­ing, much like this, but with­out com­put­ers, iPhones, what-have-you. And you all tell sto­ries. It’s just that sim­ple, really.
Why 360?

Your story can start any­where, go any­where. It may be a mem­ory, some­thing you’ve done, some­place you’ve gone. You have six min­utes–or 360 sec­onds–to bring your story full cir­cle. The time limit helps to keep you focused, and also helps to keep the event moving.
All you need is a space and a timer.

Let the peo­ple know, see who shows up. We’ll even pro­vide the logo and other images you might need for sig­nage, mail­ing lists, posters, etc. The license is free–all we ask is that you credit it back to us here at 2amtheatre.com.

Unlike the Moth and other sto­ry­telling con­cepts, this can be as for­mal or infor­mal as you like. It can be made up of invited sto­ry­tellers or open to any­one in the crowd. If you want to guar­an­tee a theme, you might invite a few peo­ple and give them a prompt before­hand, but then open it up and see what their sto­ries inspire from the crowd. You want to stand, sit, doesn’t mat­ter, what­ever feels right.
What kind of space?

Any space will do. Any the­atre at any size can set up a 360. If you’re Actors The­atre of Louisville, do it in the mez­za­nine. If you’re River­run The­atre, you do it in a book­store that’s one of your sponsors.

You could move from spon­sor to spon­sor, bring­ing peo­ple into a cof­fee shop one month, a win­ery the next, a book­store or library the next. Now, you’re doing some­thing even more con­crete than adver­tis­ing their busi­ness, you’re bring­ing actual peo­ple into that business.
Was it dif­fi­cult to set up?

Not at all. The idea’s been per­co­lat­ing for some time, but once we decided to do it, I just walked in to our book­store spon­sor, asked if we could do it. Then, a Face­book event page. A word on Twit­ter, a note here and there. I did not send a mail­ing, I did not go to the radio or the news­pa­per, I didn’t even put it up on our web­site. This was as under-the-radar as it gets. And then, one week later, I walked in the store with fif­teen min­utes to spare and we did this thing.

You can do it that quickly and eas­ily, too. I know you can.
The idea is not the pol­ished, prac­ticed story.

That’s for the Moth and oth­ers. This is not a com­pe­ti­tion, this is not a show. If the sto­ries are pol­ished and prac­ticed, that’s icing on the cake. This is mainly to engage your audi­ence, your com­mu­nity. It’s a way to share with them the joy of craft­ing and telling a clear and enter­tain­ing story. And it really works.
The pos­si­bil­i­ties are endless.

Maybe you archive sto­ries, record them, share them on your web­site. You become a de facto Story Corps for your neigh­bor­hood, city, etc. Maybe you craft a larger work–I’m sorry, maybe you “devise” a work–based on some sto­ries for a wider audi­ence. Maybe you host poetry edi­tions in April for National Poetry Month.

Eric Ziegen­hagen posted a link over on Twit­ter the other day, which was an idea every inde­pen­dent book­store should steal. (He’s right, by the way, in case any inde­pen­dent book­stores are read­ing this.) 360 is very much the same idea, only with your own sto­ries instead of books.

I hosted the very first 360 this past week­end as a River­run The­atre event at the Vil­lage Lights Book­store in Madi­son, Indi­ana. We kept it low-key, wanted to see who would show up. I com­pared it to a restau­rant hav­ing a soft open­ing. (Eric Z. ought to like that anal­ogy.) What amazed me was not that it worked–though it did–or that peo­ple came–though they did–but how the evening played out…
Light­ning in a bottle.

We had a small group, quiet at first, wait­ing and won­der­ing how the con­cept worked. (This was all right, the book­store is small, very inti­mate.) I started the evening off with a story to show how it was done, fin­ished with sec­onds to spare.

Once the ice was bro­ken, the sto­ries flowed.

As the time­keeper and host, I would wave at the speaker at the three minute mark and then again at the one minute mark.

For a timer, I used my iPhone. When it counted down to zero, it would play Take Five by Dave Brubeck. The book­store owner loved that; Brubeck’s on their speak­ers most of the time. You could use a stop­watch and a bell. Any­thing will work.

No one ran over­time, although we do plan for that–if you’re in the mid­dle of a thought, fin­ish the thought. If you’re nowhere near fin­ish­ing your story, if there’s time, we’d have an “over­time” list for peo­ple to come back up and fin­ish in three min­utes. But that wasn’t an issue this time around.

What did sur­prise me, and what’s per­fectly log­i­cal in ret­ro­spect, is that one story trig­gered another and on through the event. The con­nec­tions weren’t so obvi­ous as if it were a planned, themed set of sto­ries, but there were clear themes and through-lines from one story to the next. None of us really knew one another, we’ve all led very dif­fer­ent lives, but all of the sto­ries con­nected and res­onated. And that res­o­nance was excit­ing, because it wasn’t scripted, it wasn’t pro­scribed or planned. It just happened.

It was the joy of cre­at­ing a larger patch­work of sto­ries, shared with every­one in the room.

By the end of the event, every­one was wired, buzzing, talk­ing, chat­ting, shar­ing more and more. They had seen what we do, if only on a small scale. It wasn’t like watch­ing a lec­ture or an open rehearsal, it was participation.

They didn’t get a look at the process. They were the process.

They had seen how excit­ing it is to be in the room with the story being told. They had seen how dif­fer­ent it was from the fourth wall of tele­vi­sion or film. And those who had never come to a River­run show–those who only came because they’re book­store patrons or hap­pened upon the list­ing and were curious–they’re com­ing to our next show. Some didn’t even know we were doing live the­atre in town–now they’re on our mail­ing list.

Some had never been to live the­atre. Now, they want to come.
So what have we learned?

This is a fun, easy way to con­nect with and develop your audience.

It’s a great way to sup­port and engage your spon­sors and bring some of your magic–and patrons–through their doors.

You can set it up and pro­duce it at the drop of hat. The only real cost to you is the hat.

All you need is a space, a sign, a timer and some­one to act as a host.

Want to do it? Go right ahead.

Very soon, we’ll be set­ting up a sep­a­rate sec­tion of the site to host 360 infor­ma­tion, news, sto­ries, etc. If you want to record any sto­ries either as audio or video and upload them to YouTube, Vimeo or another video site, we’ll hap­pily embed them here as part of the 360 website.

This will also be where you can go for pro­mo­tional lan­guage, logos, images and more for mail­ings and PR purposes.

As I said, the license is free–see the Cre­ative Com­mons license below for details.

And you know, this would be an excel­lent instant event to pro­duce for World The­atre Day on March 27th…

Last year, Ian MacKenzie, a writer from Toronto, came up with the idea of a World Theatre Day meme. For those of you that are new to this concept (and I certainly was), Wikipedia defines a meme as

a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet, largely through Internet-based email, blogs, forums, Internet-based social networking sites and Internet-based instant messaging. The term derives from the original concept of memes, although it has come to refer to a much more narrowly defined category of cultural information.

Ian’s idea was to take a picture of us standing on our favorite theatre books–the books that had supported us throughout our career in the theatre. You can see the results here.

Us WTD10 faciliators loved this idea, and wanted to do it again this year. So, we are asking people to create a short video, 1-2 minutes long, on the theme of “Why I love the theatre” OR “What theatre means to me.” Once you’ve created your video, go to this URL for further instructions about how to share it with the world.

Here is mine:

And look for lots more over the coming weeks!

–Rebecca

2010 will mark the seventh year that The Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance has organized local World Theatre Day celebrations. While World Theatre Day was established by the International Theatre Institute on March 27th, 1961, many theatre artists are still unfamiliar with this one day a year when we commemorate Theatre.

This year’s WTD celebrations will take place primarily during the final week of March, and include free and discounted theatre performances, open rehearsals, play readings, backstage tours, and talkbacks. Also, expect the unexpected in the form of theatre flashmobs popping up all over.

This year also includes the ever-popular Art by Actors, where well-known theatre personalities try their hands at visual art for a change. Their paintings will be on display at The Stanley Industrial Alliance Theatre and viewable online on the Arts Club website from March 11–April 17.

On March 21, at the Central Branch of the library, Vancouver’s beloved stage and screen actor Jackson Davies (The Producers, The Foursome, The Beachcombers) will be hosting a series of intimate, no-holds barred discussions with people who shape theatre in this city. The panel includes Pat Smith (Playhouse Costume Mistress), Colleen Wheeler (Bard on the Beach), Amiel Gladstone (writer and Artistic Director), Sasa Brown (Jessie-winning actor) and many more.

On March 28, come to the World Theatre Day Wrap Party at the WISE Hall. Mix and mingle with other theatre lovers and artists as we party it up, World Theatre Day style! Program includes reading the International WTD message, encore performances and videos of our flash mob events, and video conferencing with other WTD parties world-wide. Admission is by donation.

In addition, this year’s World Theatre Day message, written by Dame Judi Dench, will be read prior to curtain on stages all over Vancouver and the World on March 27.

For a full schedule of local events go to: http://www.gvpta.ca/world-theatre-day.

Join Chicago theatre’s WTD Celebration at the Chopin Theatre on Saturday, March 27. In the evening, experience a special World Theater Day performance of The House’s WILSON WANTS IT ALL or BackStage’s ORANGE FLOWER WATER. Then, beginning at 9:30 as the city’s Saturday shows come down, join us for some complimentary food, music, conversation, and performances all provided by the League of Chicago Theatres, the Chopin Theatre, and folks in the Chicago theatre community.

FACEBOOK INVITE

Every space in the Chopin becomes a promenade party, with a little bit of something for everyone to celebrate our corner of the world, and reach out to all the others. Downstairs will feature live music and loungey hob-nobbing with the folks who make Chicago theatre tick. In the lobby, social media connections fuel an international conversation with a host of Chicago’s international friends. And on the mainstage, Chris Piatt, former theatre editor for TimeOut Chicago, brings his PAPER MACHETE live magazine to investigate – and roast – Chicago’s historic relationships with other cities in “The Second City Complex.”

INTERNATIONAL THEATER SHOUT-OUTS
Since World Theatre Day is all about generating cross-cultural dialogue that explores the power of theater to celebrate life and effect social change through collaborative performance, we’re hoping to foster some real international dialogue and collaboration leading up to the event. So this goes out to both Chicago companies and theatres outside of the United States – we want to be “sister” companies with you this year!

STEP ONE – Let’s make contact. Connect with an artist or company in Chicago, or outside the country – and think about what issues, ideas, and dialogue you would want to share them. Tell them about World Theatre Day and how theater changes your community.

STEP TWO – Talk it out. Record a video or audio greeting to that sister company, and have them send one to you. Share your thoughts about social issues, community issues, aesthetic exploration, or just who you are. Listen to what your new friends across the globe are working on and trying to accomplish. Find common ground.

STEP THREE – Share. Make a record of your conversation – a video greeting, an audio recording of a skype conversation, a collaborative art project, a photo – and post it to the internationally-contributed World Theatre Day tumblr blog (http://wtd10.tumblr.com), just by emailing a link to what you’ve made to http://tinyurl.com/wtdmedia, or ask us for help with this project at worldtheatreday@nikku.net.

In celebration of World Theatre Day Mind The Gap Theatre is taking over the Crooked Knife Bar & Restaurant in Gramercy for the night! This cozy bar/restaurant is located at 29 E. 30th Street (between Park and Madison).

We’ll be celebrating theatre and the wonderful people who make it. Enjoy a relaxing night with fellow thespians and make some great new contacts over a pint.
There will be $4 Well drinks and $3 Miller lights, raffles, fun and so much more.  bring a HEADSHOT AND RESUME or a short scene you have written for us to consider for our upcoming short play festival BRITBITS.
More details will be announced in the coming weeks, but for now SAVE THE DATE and plan on joining us for drinks specials and witty repartee from 7pm!

Paula D’Alessandris
Mind The Gap Theatre
www.mindthegaptheatre.com

Dame Judi Dench – Message 2010

World Theatre Day is an opportunity to celebrate Theatre in all its myriad forms. Theatre is a source of entertainment and inspiration and has the ability to unify the many diverse cultures and peoples that exist throughout the world. But theatre is more than that and also provides opportunities to educate and inform.

Theatre is performed throughout the world and not always in a traditional theatre setting. Performances can occur in a small village in Africa, next to a mountain in Armenia, on a tiny island in the Pacific. All it needs is a space and an audience. Theatre has the ability to make us smile, to make us cry, but should also make us think and reflect.

Theatre comes about through team work. Actors are the people who are seen, but there is an amazing set of people who are not seen. They are equally as important as the actors and their differing and specialist skills make it possible for a production to take place. They too must share in any triumphs and successes that may hopefully occur.

March 27 is always the official World Theatre Day. In many ways every day should be considered a theatre day, as we have a responsibility to continue the tradition to entertain, to educate and to enlighten our audiences, without whom we couldn’t exist.