Setting the Scene: The Roots of Toronto Theatre

Guest speaker: theatre critic Lynn Slotkin

Uncover the vibrant and diverse roots of the Toronto theatre scene! Learn about touring productions to established venues like The Royal Alexandra, Elgin/Wintergarden and O’Keefe Centre, the 1960s explosion of groundbreaking companies Toronto Free Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Tarragon and Factory, and independents who gave voices to specific communities like Nightwood and Obsidian Theatres, Buddies in Bad Times, and Native Earth Performing Arts. What were some seminal Canadian plays? How are these companies today?
Join us in-person, on Zoom simulcast, or register to receive the recordings!

November 25 – What was already here (The Royal Alexandra, The O’Keefe Centre, The Elgin/Wintergarden Theatres)

December 2 – An explosion of Toronto theatre companies (Theatre Passe Muraille, Tarragon, Factory Theatre, etc.)

December 9 – Independent Theatre companies with specific focus: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (LGBTQ+ issues), Nightwood Theatre (Feminist issues), Obsidian Theatre (Black stories), Native Earth Performing Arts (Indigenous stories).

December 16 – Plays that reflected our world: Creeps, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, The Farm Show. And how are these companies today?

Lynn Slotkin has been a theatre critic for CBC Radio’s Here and Now, CIUT Friday Morning, and she conducted seminars in theatre criticism for Theatre Ontario. Her reviews and articles have been published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Performance Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, Eye Weekly, How Theatre Educates, Orbit, Mystery Scene Magazine, The Canadian Jewish News, the London Free Press and The Hollywood Reporter. She has done theatre commentary for Studio Two on TV Ontario and CBC TV-Newsworld. She has been profiled in The National Post, The Globe and Mail, and on Bravo TV for the Arts and Minds Program. She also publishes the e-newsletter The Slotkin Letter which chronicles her theatre going in Toronto and internationally, and which is used as a resource for actors, directors, artistic directors and theatre aficionados. Lynn sees approximately 300 plays annually in Canada, the U.S and internationally. At our JCC, Lynn has given the virtual lecture series Influential Jewish Playwrights: What Comes First, Being a Playwright or a Jew? and The Group Theatre: They Revolutionized Art and Changed the World. We are delighted to welcome Lynn to our building this fall! For more information, please visit www.slotkinletter.com