On June 21st, we welcomed donors, board members, and special guests to Evergreen Brick Works for the return of our annual Gala, TheatreBall'22!
We marked our return with the creation of an award to recognize exceptional business and industry leaders in Toronto who have made meaningful contributions to the advancement and integration of arts and culture in our vibrant city. Canadian Stage was thrilled to present the inaugural Canadian Stage Creative City Builder Award to Babak and Tooran Mortazavi, founders and Chairman and Vice-Chairman of TAS.
We're deeply grateful to all of our sponsors, table hosts, ticket buyers, and Canadian Stage board members who supported us this year at Theatre Ball. Thank you for an unforgettable night and helping us continue the work of creating and sharing great performances!
A particular shout-out to members of our City Builders program, industry leaders in development and city-building, for their ongoing sponsorship and support of Toronto’s performance artists and creators, including SvN Architects + Planners, TAS, KingSett Capital, EllisDon Corporation, ERA Architects Inc., Multiplex Construction, BDP Quadrangle, Diamond Schmitt, Enwave Energy, kpmbarch, Newmark.....PLUS new supporters who joined this year’s TheatreBall: Woodbourne Capital, lemayonline, Smith + Andersen, Aercoustics, and suulin architects.
In this issue of CS Grid, Topdog/Underdog Dramaturge Jordan Laffrenier touches on the relationship between brothers Booth and Lincoln and how their stories echo the realities of many. Jordan also offers insight on acclaimed playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and what she has said about plays’ ability to rewrite history while navigating between theatre and real life.
We’re celebrating 40 years of Dream in High Park by bringing back our inaugural Shakespeare production from 1983, A Midsummer Night’s Dream!
Making his High Park directorial debut, in this edition of CS Grid, we interviewed Dream in High Park veteran performer Jamie Robinson on his thoughts leading this milestone production, why this play is beloved by audiences and why you need to check it out.
Canadian Stage sends its love to the family and friends of Daniel Brooks who passed away peacefully on Monday. A beloved artist at Canadian Stage, Daniel was most recently on stage in 2022 with Other People, a play that he wrote and performed in. Our Artistic Director, Brendan Healy, shares some thoughts on his experience of working with Daniel on that show and on the generous gift of mentorship that Daniel offered him and others over two decades. Daniel will be greatly missed.
In advance of the premiere of No Save Points, “a play you can play,” in this edition of CS Grid, we catch up with artist Sébastien Heins and his mentor David Rokeby, BMO Lab Associate Director. We’re fascinated to learn more about the inner artistic workings behind this innovative new theatre production and how the Canadian Stage residency allowed Sébastien to expand on his artistic endeavours.
