Buddies in Bad Times
Encyclopedia
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian
professional theatre
company.
Based in Toronto
, Ontario
and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti
, and Sky Gilbert
, Buddies in Bad Times is dedicated to "the promotion of queer
theatrical expression".
Buddies' inaugural production was a Gilbert written play, Angels in Underwear. An anthology of Beat poetry, Angels starred Walsh as Jack Kerouac
and Ciccoritti as Allen Ginsberg
, and was performed at The Dream Factory on Queen Street
in Toronto in September 1978.
Gilbert was the company's first artistic director. Sue Golding
played a pivotal role as President from the early 1980s to the early 1990s.
Gilbert, Walsh and Ciccoritti also subsequently founded the Rhubarb Festival of Canadian Plays, first produced by the theatre company at The Dream Factory in January 1979 and featuring short plays written by local, unknown playwrights directed by all three of Rhubarb's founders.
The name Buddies in Bad Times was taken from the poem of the same title by the French poet Jacques Prévert
. It was originally the expression of the close friendship that prevailed between Walsh and Gilbert during their years at York University
and The Three Schools of Art.
Although the company, under Gilbert's leadership, eventually achieved notoriety and success in the 1980s as a so-called "gay" theatre company, it was not founded with that intent. Instead Buddies was among a number of alternative companies founded by a new generation of mid-1970s theatre school graduates (many out of York University) shut out of the "professional" theatre scene due to their youth. Other companies founded at this time in Toronto included Nightwood theatre
and Necessary Angel.
Shortly after Walsh and Ciccoritti stopped working with the company in its infancy, Gilbert moved its artistic direction toward the then emerging gay subculture of Toronto. Buddies has become one of North America's premiere examplars of the synthesis between so-called gay culture and modern theatre and has spawned the successful careers of dozens of Canadian actors, playwrights and directors.
Sky Gilbert
became the company's first Artistic Director that same year and The Rhubarb! Festival was mounted for the first time.
Buddies was one of the six influential companies who banded together to form The Theatre Centre in Toronto - a movement of theatre that was hailed as the Next Wave. Of all the companies involved in the venture, Buddies found an artistic and social connection to the work Nightwood theatre
was doing and an alliance was formed that showed itself in 6 collaborative Rhubarb! Festivals.
By 1983 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre was receiving funding from four levels of government.
. This festival was dedicated exclusively to the promotion of Lesbian and Gay writers and creators. Seed Shows came into being in 1986. Opportunity without intervention was a growing ethos in how Sky Gilbert
was building BIBT. Seed Shows such as DNA Theatre's This Is What Happens in Orangeville won a jury prize at The Festival Des Ameriques in Montreal. Platform 9 Theatre's Steel Kiss was also produced: born out of Rhubarb! and developed through Seed. It is now known as one of the most important plays of the 80's.
BIBT's first mainstage production, Sky Gilbert
's The Postman Rings Once opened at TWP (12 Alexander Street) in 1987. Tim Jones became General Manager in 1988. By 1990 BIBT had been directly or indirectly nominated or presented with numerous and various cultural awards. 1990 marked the year that Sky Gilbert's Drag Queens in Outer Space hit the stages of Seattle and San Francisco.
BIBT was a company on the move that utilized venues within Toronto to create exciting hit shows. In 1991, BIBT set up its first permanent performance space at 142 George Street. Sky Gilbert's Suzie Goo: Private Secretary went on to win a Dora Mavor Moore Award
for Best Production. Daniel MacIvor
's 2-2-Tango was nominated for a Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award
and Don Druick's Where Is Kabuki? was nominated for a Governor General's Award
. BIBT was a theatrical explosion and a meeting place of some of the greatest theatrical minds in the country. It was also integral in its support of smaller independent companies such as Robin Fulford’s Platform 9, Ed Roy’s Topological Theatre and the newly formed Augusta Company by Daniel Brooks
, Don McKellar
and Tracy Wright
, which were creating some of the most exciting theatre in Toronto at the time.
By 1993, BIBT had successfully negotiated a 40-year lease with the city and entered into a symbiotic partnership with The Alexander Street Theatre Project (a company formed primarily to raise funds and manage expenses for the renovation of the theatre).
's ambitious More Divine.
The community support for the company was at an all time high; Strange Sisters reached a new kind of notoriety, and an explosion of activity under one roof like the city of Toronto had never seen.
1994-1998 saw many exciting and challenging things happen for BIBT. Queerculture, 4-Play and Seed Shows were all laid to rest. Associate Artists took on a larger role of shaping the subsidized work in the building and as a result there was tremendous success with Daniel MacIvor
's Here Lies Henry and The Soldier Dreams, Sky Gilbert's Ten Ruminations on An Elegy Attributed to William Shakespeare tours to glowing reviews in Great Britain with stops in London, Brighton, and Cardiff. Two anthologies of Sky Gilbert's plays are also published.
In 1996, Tim Jones resigned as General Manager. 1997 marked the highly successful Martha Steward Projects and The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls
and the resignation of founding Artistic Director Sky Gilbert.
The move to 12 Alexander was visionary and vision exacts a price. 1997 was the year designated to keeping the dream alive. Sarah Stanley was appointed as Sky Gilbert's successor in April, and Gwen Bartleman was appointed General Manager in July.
During the 1997-1998 season, BIBT's profile rose with the premiere of Brad Fraser
's Martin Yesterday and Diane Flacks
' Random Acts, plus a record-breaking 20th anniversary of Rhubarb! curated by festival director Franco Boni. RHUBARB-O-RAMA!, an anthology of works generated from twenty years of the Rhubarb! Festival was published.
1997-1998 heralded a renewed commitment to play development, marked by the birth of the Ante Chamber Series and the development of six scripts under the esteemed eye of company dramaturg Edward Roy.
BIBT's programming grew more ambitious in 1998-1999; the company produced the world premiere of R.M. Vaughan's camera, woman, the Toronto premiere of Live With It by Winnipeg playwright Elise Moore and the repertory run of Robin Fulford's Steel Kiss and Gulag.
The 21st Rhubarb! Festival grew to include provocative Guest Speaker and an exciting series that featured work by playwrights under the age of 21.
Expanding its commitment to gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, BIBT launched its first annual Summer Youth Arts Programme in 1999, providing a summer-long outlet for twelve queer youth, and two year-round internship positions.
On the producing front, BIBT's 1999 tribute to Canadian rock legend Carole Pope
, Shaking The Foundations, received Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for Outstanding Production, Direction, Musical Direction, and won in the category of Outstanding Female Performance (Paula Wolfson).
BIBT also increased its commitment to new play development in 1999 by introducing Winter Fling in partnership with The Shaw Festival
, to develop and present workshops of new Canadian scripts.
Vancouver-based artist Dorothy Dittrich's award-winning musical When We Were Singing, Winnipeg playwright Ken Brand's comedy Burying Michael, and PileDriver! from Edmonton-based companies Guys in Disguise and Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
.
For the 2001-2002 season Buddies produced the largest production in its history with Kelly Thornton's ambitious Peep Show, and also received eight Dora Mavor Moore Award
nominations for da da kamera's production of In on It by Daniel MacIvor
, and Damien Atkins' much lauded Real Live Girl, which won in the categories of Outstanding Male Performance and Outstanding New Musical.
During the 2002-2003 Gwen Bartleman resigned as General Manager. Jim LeFrancois stepped in to oversee operations as Buddies' Producer in the Spring of 2003. Shows presented that season included James Harkness' rural drama Homage and Stem (created by Greg MacArthur, Ruth Madoc-Jones, Erika Hennebury, Clinton Walker), both developed through Buddies' developmental programmes.
The 2002-2003 Season also launched a naughty late night series in Tallulah's Cabaret dubbed the Friday Superstar Series, featuring the outrageous, ultra-queer talents of such folks as Sasha Van Bon Bon, Kitty Neptune, R. Kelly Clipperton, Pretty Porky and Pissed Off, Will Munro
, Kids on TV
, and Buddies' resident trannypunk Josh Schwebel. A highlight of The 25th Rhubarb! Festival was the inclusion of two works from a contigent of Czech artists.
returned to direct the silver anniversary season opener, his much-lauded Play Murder (which starred Jason Cadieux, Marc Gushuliak, Ellen Ray Hennessy, Ann Holloway, Jane Johanson and Edward Roy) and Artistic Director David Oiye directed a re-mount of one of Sky's biggest hits, Suzie Goo: Private Secretary.
Moynan King returned as Associate Artist, and was instrumental in launching Hysteria: A Festival of Women. Moynan also joined forces with Franco Boni on The Retro Rhubarb! Festival which featured new work, and pieces from past incarnations of the festival. Hits of The Retro Rhubarb! Festival included Hope Thompson's Green and The Magic Key to Colourful Conversation by Peter Lynch. Damien Atkins' Real Live Girl returned, as did a remount of Brad Fraser
's Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love
from Crow's Theatre.
For 2004-2005, Buddies continued to fulfill its role as the centre for ground-breaking, challenging theatre in Toronto by offering a robust season of theatrical works by Greg MacArthur (Snowman), Daniel MacIvor (da da kamera's Cul-de-sac), Mirha-Soleil Ross (Yapping out Loud), Marie Clements
(Native Earth's The Unnatural and Accidental Women), Adam Bock (Theatrefront's Swimming in the Shallows), Darren O'Donnell
(Mammalian Diving Reflex's Suicide-site Guide to the City), Ann Holloway (Kingstonia), Sky Gilbert (Cabaret Company’s Rope Enough), and an adaptation by Judith Thompson
(Volcano’s take on Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
).
Moynan King also enjoyed tremendous success with the second incarnation of Hysteria: A Festival of Women, which saw artists flock to Buddies from as far afield as Sweden (The Lion Kings), Damien Atkin’s Real Live Girl toured to London (The Grand Theatre) and Winnipeg (Manitoba Theatre Centre
), and in June Cheap Queers returned home to Buddies, where it all began.
Our 2005-2006 Season marked a critical highpoint in Buddies' recent history. Shows such as R.M. Vaughan's The Monster Trilogy and Marie Brassard
’s Jimmy garnered four - and five-star reviews, and the Scandelles’ remount run of Under the Mink, Salvatore Antonio
's heartfelt family drama In Gabriel's Kitchen
and Daniel MacIvor
’s A Beautiful View all enjoyed sold out runs.
We also workshopped a new play by award-winning artist d'bi young
, and supported presentations of Ed Roy’s The Golden Thug (Topological Theatre) and Sky Gilbert’s Bad Acting Teachers and the workshop of Diane Flacks’ new one-woman show Bear With Me (Nightwood Theatre). Over half the work that we presented within the season was written, created or directed by women artists and we also presented the third annual Hysteria: A Festival of Women, which welcomed women artists from Montreal, Vancouver, Whitehorse and California. Our Queer Youth Arts Programme brought youth into Buddies throughout the season, to learn about theatre, see shows and meet artists and to create their own performance for our Pride Week Festivities.
Most of the presentations were only two or three performances long and the season was divided into three "waves" of development, each around a core theme: Wave One - The Creator/Performer; Wave Two - Audience Relocation (anchored around the presentation of Mammalian Diving Reflex's Diplomatic Immunities); and Wave Three - Art & Sex (which included a presentation by porn activist/performance artist Annie Sprinkle
; and founding Artistic Director Sky Gilbert
’s play Will The Real JT Leroy
Please Stand Up).
Among the memorable moments from the season were Keith Cole's sprinkler tap-dance from Mine in Wave One; Emergency Exit’s moody forest of headphones as part of their installation, the evening news; and the Scandelles intriguing and heartfelt Neon Nightz, an exploration of the relationship between strip clubs and the Church in Montreal in the 90s. Also developing work in ArtSexy2 were: Edwige Jean-Pierre, Andrew Kushnir, Nathalie Claude, Small Wooden Shoe, Ed Roy, Kids on TV
, Mikiki, 2BoysTV and One Reed Theatre.
This exciting schedule was anchored by Necessary Angel’s Dora award-winning production of Insomnia and the farewell season of one of Toronto's most challenging companies, da da kamera, which staged three of their finest solo shows, directed by Daniel Brooks and performed for the last time by core artist Daniel MacIvor. Here Lies Henry, Monster and House proved to be some of the most successful runs in Buddies’ history.
ArtHouse Cabaret, a modern queer vaudeville conceived and directed by Jim LeFrancois and David Oiye opened the 2007-2008 Season. Bawdy House meets Piano Bar. The set design for this multidisciplinary production completely transformed the theatre, creating a whole new world. Featuring Keith Cole as the omniscient MC, burlesque from The Scandelles, Shane MacKinnon (the Beefcake Boys) and the uber-fabulous Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard (2Boys.tv of Montreal), ArtHouse Cabaret won Outstanding New Musical at the 2008 Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
The 07-08 line-up also included a large-scale burlesque from The Scandelles (Who's Your DaDa?), a new musical from Sky Gilbert (Happy), an ultra-sexy modern dance programme (Art Fag), and the return of Hardworkin' Homosexuals' wildly popular Cheap Queers.
Two young artists developed through Buddies' Queer Youth Arts Programme took centre-stage. Agokwe, written and performed by Waawaate Fobister
, enjoyed critical acclaim and won a leading six Dora awards. Agokwe nabbed awards for outstanding production of a play, best new play, and outstanding performance by a male in a principle role, while Ed Roy was honoured for his direction. Mark Shyzer, also from the Queer Youth Arts Programme, wrote and performed Fishbowl: A Concise, Expansive Theory Of Everything. This limited run performed to sold-out audiences.
Buddies continued long-time partnerships with Canada's cutting-edge cultural artists and independent theatre companies. Crow's Theatre, Mammalian Diving Reflex, The Scandelles, Necessary Angel, Native Earth Performing Arts, 2boys.tv, Small Wooden Shoe and Sky Gilbert were also included as part of the 2008-2009 season.
2008-2009 saw its share of successes, but like so many art organizations during this season, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre felt increased pressure related to the economic downturn. Gay4Pay, written by Edward Roy fell victim and had its scheduled mid-season run cancelled. In the midst of 'bad times' Buddies' extended family of artists came forward to help weather the financial storm. Daniel MacIvor performed his one man show Cul-de-Sac, raising a significant amount of much needed revenue. Sharron Matthews and an entourage of Canada's finest musical theatre talent presented Sing Out, Louise! The Scandelles bared all in Funhouse. The comedy of Gavin Crawford
& Elvira Kurt
had audiences rolling in the aisles with Together Again For The First Time.
During the 2008-2009 Season major changes to staffing occurred. Jim LeFrancois resigned as Artistic Producer and David Oiye announced that 08/09 would be his last season as Artistic Director.
The programming for the 2009-10 Season (the final season programmed by outgoing Artistic Director David Oiye) was a groundbreaking endeavor. The entire season featured work led by female creators. This bold decision was in response to a national study on gender parity in Canadian theatre which revealed that female representation in our theatres is shockingly low. Staying true to its legacy as pioneers in art and social change, Buddies proudly provided an empowered platform for some of the country’s leading female artists such as The Scandelles (Neon Nightz), Nina Arsenault
(The Silicone Diaries), The Independent Aunties (Breakfast) and Nathalie Claude (The Salon Automaton).
Brendan Healy’s first season in 2010/11 featured many artists long associated with the company such as Sonja Mills, Evalyn Parry
, Sky Gilbert
and 2boys.tv while also announcing some new directions for the company. For the first production of the season, Healy helmed the English-Canadian premiere of Sarah Kane
’s infamous play Blasted
, giving audiences a taste of the kind of visceral contemporary theatre that he wishes to create at Buddies. The Rhubarb Festival returned with a new festival director, Laura Nanni, and featured, for the first time, off-site performance in public spaces. Buddies also embarked on two major national tours of beloved productions from its recent repertoire: Agokwe and The Silicone Diaries. The season marked a banner year for the company, which took home five Dora Mavor Moore Awards (for outstanding production, lighting design, set design, sound design and direction) for its production of "Blasted
"on the same night as founding artistic director Sky Gilbert's Cabaret Company received awards (best new play and outstanding performance) for it's production of "The Situationists", which premiered as part of Buddies' season in the spring of 2011. This year also saw a 25% growth in attendance for the company's main stage shows and festivals which included sold-out runs of "Blasted", "The Silicone Diaries" and "Spin".
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
company.
Based in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti
Jerry Ciccoritti
Jerry Ciccoritti is a Canadian film, television and theatre director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country.- Biography :...
, and Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
, Buddies in Bad Times is dedicated to "the promotion of queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
theatrical expression".
Buddies' inaugural production was a Gilbert written play, Angels in Underwear. An anthology of Beat poetry, Angels starred Walsh as Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
and Ciccoritti as Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, and was performed at The Dream Factory on Queen Street
Queen Street West
Queen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...
in Toronto in September 1978.
Gilbert was the company's first artistic director. Sue Golding
Sue Golding
Sue Golding is a philosopher and artist. She is Professor of Philosophy in the Visual Arts & Communication Technologies at the University of Greenwich where she is also the Director of ICAS, the Institute for the Converging Arts & Sciences. Previously she was Head of Theory at the Jan Van Eyck...
played a pivotal role as President from the early 1980s to the early 1990s.
Gilbert, Walsh and Ciccoritti also subsequently founded the Rhubarb Festival of Canadian Plays, first produced by the theatre company at The Dream Factory in January 1979 and featuring short plays written by local, unknown playwrights directed by all three of Rhubarb's founders.
The name Buddies in Bad Times was taken from the poem of the same title by the French poet Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...
. It was originally the expression of the close friendship that prevailed between Walsh and Gilbert during their years at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
and The Three Schools of Art.
Although the company, under Gilbert's leadership, eventually achieved notoriety and success in the 1980s as a so-called "gay" theatre company, it was not founded with that intent. Instead Buddies was among a number of alternative companies founded by a new generation of mid-1970s theatre school graduates (many out of York University) shut out of the "professional" theatre scene due to their youth. Other companies founded at this time in Toronto included Nightwood theatre
Nightwood theatre
Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women’s theatre company. Based in Toronto, it was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe and Maureen White....
and Necessary Angel.
Shortly after Walsh and Ciccoritti stopped working with the company in its infancy, Gilbert moved its artistic direction toward the then emerging gay subculture of Toronto. Buddies has become one of North America's premiere examplars of the synthesis between so-called gay culture and modern theatre and has spawned the successful careers of dozens of Canadian actors, playwrights and directors.
1979: The beginning
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (BIBT) was established and incorporated in Toronto, 1979.Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
became the company's first Artistic Director that same year and The Rhubarb! Festival was mounted for the first time.
Buddies was one of the six influential companies who banded together to form The Theatre Centre in Toronto - a movement of theatre that was hailed as the Next Wave. Of all the companies involved in the venture, Buddies found an artistic and social connection to the work Nightwood theatre
Nightwood theatre
Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women’s theatre company. Based in Toronto, it was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe and Maureen White....
was doing and an alliance was formed that showed itself in 6 collaborative Rhubarb! Festivals.
By 1983 Buddies in Bad Times Theatre was receiving funding from four levels of government.
1985–1993
In 1985 BIBT gave birth to the 4-Play Festival which premiered at Theatre Passe MurailleTheatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Canada.-Brief history:One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Garrard, who started the company out of Rochdale College.Its radical intention was create a...
. This festival was dedicated exclusively to the promotion of Lesbian and Gay writers and creators. Seed Shows came into being in 1986. Opportunity without intervention was a growing ethos in how Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
was building BIBT. Seed Shows such as DNA Theatre's This Is What Happens in Orangeville won a jury prize at The Festival Des Ameriques in Montreal. Platform 9 Theatre's Steel Kiss was also produced: born out of Rhubarb! and developed through Seed. It is now known as one of the most important plays of the 80's.
BIBT's first mainstage production, Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
's The Postman Rings Once opened at TWP (12 Alexander Street) in 1987. Tim Jones became General Manager in 1988. By 1990 BIBT had been directly or indirectly nominated or presented with numerous and various cultural awards. 1990 marked the year that Sky Gilbert's Drag Queens in Outer Space hit the stages of Seattle and San Francisco.
BIBT was a company on the move that utilized venues within Toronto to create exciting hit shows. In 1991, BIBT set up its first permanent performance space at 142 George Street. Sky Gilbert's Suzie Goo: Private Secretary went on to win a Dora Mavor Moore Award
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
for Best Production. Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director and film director. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and educated at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and then at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario....
's 2-2-Tango was nominated for a Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award
Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award
The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards were a Canadian literary award, given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having at least ten performances in the Toronto area....
and Don Druick's Where Is Kabuki? was nominated for a Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
. BIBT was a theatrical explosion and a meeting place of some of the greatest theatrical minds in the country. It was also integral in its support of smaller independent companies such as Robin Fulford’s Platform 9, Ed Roy’s Topological Theatre and the newly formed Augusta Company by Daniel Brooks
Daniel Brooks
Daniel Brooks is a Canadian theatre director, actor and playwright. He was born in Toronto, Ontario.A highly regarded theatre maker in Toronto's "alternative" theatre scene, Daniel Brooks has a reputation for creating and directing cutting edge productions which combine fiercely intellectual...
, Don McKellar
Don McKellar
-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...
and Tracy Wright
Tracy Wright
Tracy Wright was a Canadian actress who was known for her stage and film performances, as well as her presence in Canada's avant-garde for over 20 years...
, which were creating some of the most exciting theatre in Toronto at the time.
By 1993, BIBT had successfully negotiated a 40-year lease with the city and entered into a symbiotic partnership with The Alexander Street Theatre Project (a company formed primarily to raise funds and manage expenses for the renovation of the theatre).
1994–1998
In 1994 BIBT opened its first season at Alexander Street with Sky GilbertSky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
's ambitious More Divine.
The community support for the company was at an all time high; Strange Sisters reached a new kind of notoriety, and an explosion of activity under one roof like the city of Toronto had never seen.
1994-1998 saw many exciting and challenging things happen for BIBT. Queerculture, 4-Play and Seed Shows were all laid to rest. Associate Artists took on a larger role of shaping the subsidized work in the building and as a result there was tremendous success with Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director and film director. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and educated at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and then at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario....
's Here Lies Henry and The Soldier Dreams, Sky Gilbert's Ten Ruminations on An Elegy Attributed to William Shakespeare tours to glowing reviews in Great Britain with stops in London, Brighton, and Cardiff. Two anthologies of Sky Gilbert's plays are also published.
In 1996, Tim Jones resigned as General Manager. 1997 marked the highly successful Martha Steward Projects and The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls
The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls
The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls is a comedy collectively written by Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Jennifer Brewin, Alisa Palmer and Leah Cherniak...
and the resignation of founding Artistic Director Sky Gilbert.
The move to 12 Alexander was visionary and vision exacts a price. 1997 was the year designated to keeping the dream alive. Sarah Stanley was appointed as Sky Gilbert's successor in April, and Gwen Bartleman was appointed General Manager in July.
During the 1997-1998 season, BIBT's profile rose with the premiere of Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. Fraser's plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of...
's Martin Yesterday and Diane Flacks
Diane Flacks
Diane Flacks is a Canadian comedic actress, screenwriter and playwright.She has co-written and starred in numerous television series, including The Broad Side, P.R., Behind the Scenes and Listen Missy. She has also written for The Kids in the Hall, and acted in Walter Ego and Moose TV...
' Random Acts, plus a record-breaking 20th anniversary of Rhubarb! curated by festival director Franco Boni. RHUBARB-O-RAMA!, an anthology of works generated from twenty years of the Rhubarb! Festival was published.
1997-1998 heralded a renewed commitment to play development, marked by the birth of the Ante Chamber Series and the development of six scripts under the esteemed eye of company dramaturg Edward Roy.
BIBT's programming grew more ambitious in 1998-1999; the company produced the world premiere of R.M. Vaughan's camera, woman, the Toronto premiere of Live With It by Winnipeg playwright Elise Moore and the repertory run of Robin Fulford's Steel Kiss and Gulag.
The 21st Rhubarb! Festival grew to include provocative Guest Speaker and an exciting series that featured work by playwrights under the age of 21.
1999–2000
In 1999, following a national search, David Oiye was hired as BIBT's third Artistic Director.Expanding its commitment to gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, BIBT launched its first annual Summer Youth Arts Programme in 1999, providing a summer-long outlet for twelve queer youth, and two year-round internship positions.
On the producing front, BIBT's 1999 tribute to Canadian rock legend Carole Pope
Carole Pope
Carole Pope is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian famous entertainers in the world...
, Shaking The Foundations, received Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for Outstanding Production, Direction, Musical Direction, and won in the category of Outstanding Female Performance (Paula Wolfson).
BIBT also increased its commitment to new play development in 1999 by introducing Winter Fling in partnership with The Shaw Festival
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...
, to develop and present workshops of new Canadian scripts.
2000–2003
Over the 2000-2001 season, BIBT explored the notion of a national queer repertoire by programmingVancouver-based artist Dorothy Dittrich's award-winning musical When We Were Singing, Winnipeg playwright Ken Brand's comedy Burying Michael, and PileDriver! from Edmonton-based companies Guys in Disguise and Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie are a Canadian comedy group from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Childhood friends Wes Borg and Joe Bird met actress Cathleen Rootsaert at a weekly Theatre Sports comedy jam to form the initial group. Later, Neil Grahn was recruited...
.
For the 2001-2002 season Buddies produced the largest production in its history with Kelly Thornton's ambitious Peep Show, and also received eight Dora Mavor Moore Award
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
nominations for da da kamera's production of In on It by Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director and film director. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and educated at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and then at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario....
, and Damien Atkins' much lauded Real Live Girl, which won in the categories of Outstanding Male Performance and Outstanding New Musical.
During the 2002-2003 Gwen Bartleman resigned as General Manager. Jim LeFrancois stepped in to oversee operations as Buddies' Producer in the Spring of 2003. Shows presented that season included James Harkness' rural drama Homage and Stem (created by Greg MacArthur, Ruth Madoc-Jones, Erika Hennebury, Clinton Walker), both developed through Buddies' developmental programmes.
The 2002-2003 Season also launched a naughty late night series in Tallulah's Cabaret dubbed the Friday Superstar Series, featuring the outrageous, ultra-queer talents of such folks as Sasha Van Bon Bon, Kitty Neptune, R. Kelly Clipperton, Pretty Porky and Pissed Off, Will Munro
Will Munro
William Grant "Will" Munro was a Toronto artist, club promoter, and restaurateur known for his work as a community builder among disparate Toronto groups...
, Kids on TV
Kids on TV
Kids on TV are a punk-house queercore band based in Toronto.The group consists of John Caffery on bass and vocals, Minus Smile on drums, electronics and vocals, Wolf on guitar and vocals, and Roxy on keyboard and vocals. The band is known for performing outside of the usual venues, such as bars,...
, and Buddies' resident trannypunk Josh Schwebel. A highlight of The 25th Rhubarb! Festival was the inclusion of two works from a contigent of Czech artists.
2003–2006
In 2003-2004 Buddies celebrated it's 25-year contribution to Toronto's cultural landscape by programming its largest season ever. The year was decidedly retrospective in flavour, and welcomed back key artists who helped shape the company over the years. Sky GilbertSky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
returned to direct the silver anniversary season opener, his much-lauded Play Murder (which starred Jason Cadieux, Marc Gushuliak, Ellen Ray Hennessy, Ann Holloway, Jane Johanson and Edward Roy) and Artistic Director David Oiye directed a re-mount of one of Sky's biggest hits, Suzie Goo: Private Secretary.
Moynan King returned as Associate Artist, and was instrumental in launching Hysteria: A Festival of Women. Moynan also joined forces with Franco Boni on The Retro Rhubarb! Festival which featured new work, and pieces from past incarnations of the festival. Hits of The Retro Rhubarb! Festival included Hope Thompson's Green and The Magic Key to Colourful Conversation by Peter Lynch. Damien Atkins' Real Live Girl returned, as did a remount of Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. Fraser's plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of...
's Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love is a 1989 stage play written by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser. Set in Edmonton, Alberta, the comedy-drama follows the lives of several sexually frustrated "thirty-somethings" who try to learn the meaning of love — during a time in which...
from Crow's Theatre.
For 2004-2005, Buddies continued to fulfill its role as the centre for ground-breaking, challenging theatre in Toronto by offering a robust season of theatrical works by Greg MacArthur (Snowman), Daniel MacIvor (da da kamera's Cul-de-sac), Mirha-Soleil Ross (Yapping out Loud), Marie Clements
Marie Clements
Marie Clements is a Métis playwright, performer, director, producer screenwriter, and founding artistic director of urban ink productions and fathom labs highway. Clements lives on Galiano Island British Columbia Canada...
(Native Earth's The Unnatural and Accidental Women), Adam Bock (Theatrefront's Swimming in the Shallows), Darren O'Donnell
Darren O'Donnell
Darren O'Donnell is a Canadian novelist, essayist, performance artist, playwright, director and actor.He is the artistic director of theatre company Mammalian Diving Reflex, has written many plays including A Suicide-Site Guide to the City, White Mice, Who Shot Jacques Lacan?, Radio Rooster Says...
(Mammalian Diving Reflex's Suicide-site Guide to the City), Ann Holloway (Kingstonia), Sky Gilbert (Cabaret Company’s Rope Enough), and an adaptation by Judith Thompson
Judith Thompson
Judith Clare Thompson, OC is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail once declared that "...in this country, a playwright as good as Judith Thompson is a miracle." She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the...
(Volcano’s take on Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
).
Moynan King also enjoyed tremendous success with the second incarnation of Hysteria: A Festival of Women, which saw artists flock to Buddies from as far afield as Sweden (The Lion Kings), Damien Atkin’s Real Live Girl toured to London (The Grand Theatre) and Winnipeg (Manitoba Theatre Centre
Manitoba Theatre Centre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country...
), and in June Cheap Queers returned home to Buddies, where it all began.
Our 2005-2006 Season marked a critical highpoint in Buddies' recent history. Shows such as R.M. Vaughan's The Monster Trilogy and Marie Brassard
Marie Brassard
Marie Brassard is a Quebec actress, author and theatre director living in Montreal. For many years her professional endeavors were closely linked with Robert Lepage...
’s Jimmy garnered four - and five-star reviews, and the Scandelles’ remount run of Under the Mink, Salvatore Antonio
Salvatore Antonio
Salvatore Antonio is a Canadian actor and playwright. He was born to Italian-immigrant parents...
's heartfelt family drama In Gabriel's Kitchen
In Gabriel's Kitchen
In Gabriel's Kitchen is the debut play of Salvatore Antonio, centering on an Italian-Canadian family's reaction to their son's homosexuality. For Gabriel, the youngest son, falling in love leads to decisions which cannot be reversed...
and Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director and film director. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and educated at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and then at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario....
’s A Beautiful View all enjoyed sold out runs.
We also workshopped a new play by award-winning artist d'bi young
D'bi Young
D'bi Young is a Jamaican-Canadian dub poet, monodramatist, and educator, as well as a Dora-winning actor and playwright. Raised Debbie Young in Jamaica, she moved to Canada in 1993...
, and supported presentations of Ed Roy’s The Golden Thug (Topological Theatre) and Sky Gilbert’s Bad Acting Teachers and the workshop of Diane Flacks’ new one-woman show Bear With Me (Nightwood Theatre). Over half the work that we presented within the season was written, created or directed by women artists and we also presented the third annual Hysteria: A Festival of Women, which welcomed women artists from Montreal, Vancouver, Whitehorse and California. Our Queer Youth Arts Programme brought youth into Buddies throughout the season, to learn about theatre, see shows and meet artists and to create their own performance for our Pride Week Festivities.
2006–2007
Our 2006-2007 Season, dubbed ArtSexy2, was a glorious experiment in structure, development and presentation. In order to fully embrace our new directions in the areas of performance creation and multi-disciplinary work, we set aside the old model of a season based on full-scale productions, and instead presented a series of works-in-development, which allowed the audience a unique opportunity to see artists developing non-linear work in workshop settings.Most of the presentations were only two or three performances long and the season was divided into three "waves" of development, each around a core theme: Wave One - The Creator/Performer; Wave Two - Audience Relocation (anchored around the presentation of Mammalian Diving Reflex's Diplomatic Immunities); and Wave Three - Art & Sex (which included a presentation by porn activist/performance artist Annie Sprinkle
Annie Sprinkle
Annie M. Sprinkle is an American former prostitute, stripper, pornographic actress, cable television host, porn magazine editor, writer and sex film producer...
; and founding Artistic Director Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
’s play Will The Real JT Leroy
JT LeRoy
Jeremiah "Terminator" LeRoy was a pseudonym created by American writer Laura Albert. The name was used from 1996 on for publication in magazines such as Nerve and Shout NY. After his first novel Sarah was published, "LeRoy" started making public appearances...
Please Stand Up).
Among the memorable moments from the season were Keith Cole's sprinkler tap-dance from Mine in Wave One; Emergency Exit’s moody forest of headphones as part of their installation, the evening news; and the Scandelles intriguing and heartfelt Neon Nightz, an exploration of the relationship between strip clubs and the Church in Montreal in the 90s. Also developing work in ArtSexy2 were: Edwige Jean-Pierre, Andrew Kushnir, Nathalie Claude, Small Wooden Shoe, Ed Roy, Kids on TV
Kids on TV
Kids on TV are a punk-house queercore band based in Toronto.The group consists of John Caffery on bass and vocals, Minus Smile on drums, electronics and vocals, Wolf on guitar and vocals, and Roxy on keyboard and vocals. The band is known for performing outside of the usual venues, such as bars,...
, Mikiki, 2BoysTV and One Reed Theatre.
This exciting schedule was anchored by Necessary Angel’s Dora award-winning production of Insomnia and the farewell season of one of Toronto's most challenging companies, da da kamera, which staged three of their finest solo shows, directed by Daniel Brooks and performed for the last time by core artist Daniel MacIvor. Here Lies Henry, Monster and House proved to be some of the most successful runs in Buddies’ history.
2007–2008
The 2007-2008 Season, Guilty Pleasures, was decidedly flirtatious in flavour. Less focused on traditional script-based theatre, this tonic offered a wild array of performance styles.ArtHouse Cabaret, a modern queer vaudeville conceived and directed by Jim LeFrancois and David Oiye opened the 2007-2008 Season. Bawdy House meets Piano Bar. The set design for this multidisciplinary production completely transformed the theatre, creating a whole new world. Featuring Keith Cole as the omniscient MC, burlesque from The Scandelles, Shane MacKinnon (the Beefcake Boys) and the uber-fabulous Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard (2Boys.tv of Montreal), ArtHouse Cabaret won Outstanding New Musical at the 2008 Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
The 07-08 line-up also included a large-scale burlesque from The Scandelles (Who's Your DaDa?), a new musical from Sky Gilbert (Happy), an ultra-sexy modern dance programme (Art Fag), and the return of Hardworkin' Homosexuals' wildly popular Cheap Queers.
2008–2009
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre turns 30! Celebrating its third decade, Buddies rebellious youthful tendencies began to collide with considerations for the future. 2008-2009 saw the programming of an exceptionally rich season.Two young artists developed through Buddies' Queer Youth Arts Programme took centre-stage. Agokwe, written and performed by Waawaate Fobister
Waawaate Fobister
Waawaate Fobister is a Canadian playwright and actor, whose debut work Agokwe won six Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2009. The play, which premiered at Toronto's Buddies in Bad Times theatre in 2008, is a gay-themed play which explores the burgeoning attraction between two aboriginal teenagers, one a...
, enjoyed critical acclaim and won a leading six Dora awards. Agokwe nabbed awards for outstanding production of a play, best new play, and outstanding performance by a male in a principle role, while Ed Roy was honoured for his direction. Mark Shyzer, also from the Queer Youth Arts Programme, wrote and performed Fishbowl: A Concise, Expansive Theory Of Everything. This limited run performed to sold-out audiences.
Buddies continued long-time partnerships with Canada's cutting-edge cultural artists and independent theatre companies. Crow's Theatre, Mammalian Diving Reflex, The Scandelles, Necessary Angel, Native Earth Performing Arts, 2boys.tv, Small Wooden Shoe and Sky Gilbert were also included as part of the 2008-2009 season.
2008-2009 saw its share of successes, but like so many art organizations during this season, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre felt increased pressure related to the economic downturn. Gay4Pay, written by Edward Roy fell victim and had its scheduled mid-season run cancelled. In the midst of 'bad times' Buddies' extended family of artists came forward to help weather the financial storm. Daniel MacIvor performed his one man show Cul-de-Sac, raising a significant amount of much needed revenue. Sharron Matthews and an entourage of Canada's finest musical theatre talent presented Sing Out, Louise! The Scandelles bared all in Funhouse. The comedy of Gavin Crawford
Gavin Crawford
Gavin Crawford is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for The Gavin Crawford Show and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Crawford is a graduate of the BFA Acting Program at the University of British Columbia...
& Elvira Kurt
Elvira Kurt
Elvira Kurt is a Canadian comedian and was the host of the entertainment satire/talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt on The Comedy Network in Canada. The show's style was similar to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and began in 2005, and was canceled due to poor ratings in early 2006...
had audiences rolling in the aisles with Together Again For The First Time.
During the 2008-2009 Season major changes to staffing occurred. Jim LeFrancois resigned as Artistic Producer and David Oiye announced that 08/09 would be his last season as Artistic Director.
2009–present
Following an extensive national search for a new artistic head, the company underwent two major shifts in leadership in 2009. Award-winning director Brendan Healy became the Artistic Director in October 2009, and Acting General Manager Shawn Daudlin officially became the General Manager of the company in December 2009.The programming for the 2009-10 Season (the final season programmed by outgoing Artistic Director David Oiye) was a groundbreaking endeavor. The entire season featured work led by female creators. This bold decision was in response to a national study on gender parity in Canadian theatre which revealed that female representation in our theatres is shockingly low. Staying true to its legacy as pioneers in art and social change, Buddies proudly provided an empowered platform for some of the country’s leading female artists such as The Scandelles (Neon Nightz), Nina Arsenault
Nina Arsenault
- External links :* * Arsenault's at Fab Magazine.* Nina Arsenault...
(The Silicone Diaries), The Independent Aunties (Breakfast) and Nathalie Claude (The Salon Automaton).
Brendan Healy’s first season in 2010/11 featured many artists long associated with the company such as Sonja Mills, Evalyn Parry
Evalyn Parry
Evalyn Parry is a Canadian Quaker singer/songwriter and actress/playwright who grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market Neighborhood...
, Sky Gilbert
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
and 2boys.tv while also announcing some new directions for the company. For the first production of the season, Healy helmed the English-Canadian premiere of Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...
’s infamous play Blasted
Blasted
Blasted is the first play by British author Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. This performance was highly controversial and the play was fiercely attacked by most newspaper critics, many of whom regarded it as a rather immature attempt to...
, giving audiences a taste of the kind of visceral contemporary theatre that he wishes to create at Buddies. The Rhubarb Festival returned with a new festival director, Laura Nanni, and featured, for the first time, off-site performance in public spaces. Buddies also embarked on two major national tours of beloved productions from its recent repertoire: Agokwe and The Silicone Diaries. The season marked a banner year for the company, which took home five Dora Mavor Moore Awards (for outstanding production, lighting design, set design, sound design and direction) for its production of "Blasted
Blasted
Blasted is the first play by British author Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. This performance was highly controversial and the play was fiercely attacked by most newspaper critics, many of whom regarded it as a rather immature attempt to...
"on the same night as founding artistic director Sky Gilbert's Cabaret Company received awards (best new play and outstanding performance) for it's production of "The Situationists", which premiered as part of Buddies' season in the spring of 2011. This year also saw a 25% growth in attendance for the company's main stage shows and festivals which included sold-out runs of "Blasted", "The Silicone Diaries" and "Spin".
Artistic Directors
- Sky GilbertSky GilbertSchuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
(1979–1997) - Sarah Garton Stanley (1997–1999)
- David Oiye (1999–2009)
- Brendan Healy (2009–present)