Darren O'Donnell
Encyclopedia
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 That's Bad, Over, [boxhead] and pppeeeaaaccceee, and has published one novel entitled Your Secrets Sleep With Me. In addition to the novel he has published four other books with Coach House Books
: Inoculations, pppeeeaaaccceee, Social Acupuncture and the most recent [boxhead] (2009)
Social Acupuncture is both the title of his book and a wing of Mammamlian Diving Reflex where O'Donnell creates work that engages the public and claims to prove the "generosity, abundance and power of the social sphere." The book is an extended essay outlining the possibility for a civically engaged artistic practice as well as an in-depth description and analysis of his work in this field. Social Acupuncture projects include The Talking Creature, Home Tours, Q&A Slow Dance with Teacher, Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Westand Haircuts by Children. With Haircuts by Children O'Donnell worked with a grade 5/6 class at Parkdale Public School in Toronto and Luther Burbank School in Los Angeles, trained them and provided free haircuts to the public by 10-year-olds. During Toronto's 2006 inaugural Nuit Blanche
, an all-night art event, he presented Ballroom Dancing, a dance-party DJed by ten-year-olds in a gymnasium filled with thousands of rubber balls. In the 2007 Nuit Blanche
he presented Slow Dance with Teacher, an event that offered the opportunity for the public to have a slow dance with university professors and high school teachers. His company, Mammalian Diving Reflex, is the resident art company at Toronto's Parkdale Public School and has created a series of events entitled Parkdale Public School vs. Queen West that brought children together with artists, the public, businesses and cultural institutions along Toronto's rapidly gentrifying Queen Street West.
The work of O'Donnell and Mammalian Diving Reflex has been presented in:
He has collaborated with other artists across Canada including Karen Hines
, Daniel MacIvor
and da da Kamera, One Yellow Rabbit
, Rumble Productions, Theatre Replacement, Instant Coffee, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Passe Muraille
, Go Chicken Go, Factory Theatre
, the Theatre Centre and Downstage Theatre.
His writing has appeared in Pivot, Material, One Hour Empire, GreenTOpia, Public Access, the Canadian Theatre Review, Daily News and Analysis India, Descant, C Magazine, uTOpia and The New Quarterly.
He was the 2000 recipient of the Pauline MacGibbon Award for directors, and has also been nominated for several Dora Awards
for his writing, directing, and acting. He has won one of these awards for design. He also received a 2000 Gabriel award for excellence in broadcasting with his CBC piece Crazy Like a Fox.
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...
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 That's Bad, Over, [boxhead] and pppeeeaaaccceee, and has published one novel entitled Your Secrets Sleep With Me. In addition to the novel he has published four other books with Coach House Books
Coach House Books
Coach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. Coach House publishes innovative and experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundaries of convention.-History:The company was...
: Inoculations, pppeeeaaaccceee, Social Acupuncture and the most recent [boxhead] (2009)
Social Acupuncture is both the title of his book and a wing of Mammamlian Diving Reflex where O'Donnell creates work that engages the public and claims to prove the "generosity, abundance and power of the social sphere." The book is an extended essay outlining the possibility for a civically engaged artistic practice as well as an in-depth description and analysis of his work in this field. Social Acupuncture projects include The Talking Creature, Home Tours, Q&A Slow Dance with Teacher, Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Westand Haircuts by Children. With Haircuts by Children O'Donnell worked with a grade 5/6 class at Parkdale Public School in Toronto and Luther Burbank School in Los Angeles, trained them and provided free haircuts to the public by 10-year-olds. During Toronto's 2006 inaugural Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...
, an all-night art event, he presented Ballroom Dancing, a dance-party DJed by ten-year-olds in a gymnasium filled with thousands of rubber balls. In the 2007 Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...
he presented Slow Dance with Teacher, an event that offered the opportunity for the public to have a slow dance with university professors and high school teachers. His company, Mammalian Diving Reflex, is the resident art company at Toronto's Parkdale Public School and has created a series of events entitled Parkdale Public School vs. Queen West that brought children together with artists, the public, businesses and cultural institutions along Toronto's rapidly gentrifying Queen Street West.
The work of O'Donnell and Mammalian Diving Reflex has been presented in:
- Birmingham UK - Fierce Festival, 2006
- Bologna - F.I.S.Co.F.I.S.Co.F.I.S.Co.,is an international festival that showcases examples of the convergence taking place across the contemporary arts . F.I.S.Co...
2008 - Calgary - High Performance Rodeo, 2002; Alberta Theatre Projects, 2005,06
- Chicago - The Dollar Store Show, 2005
- Derry - Context Gallery, 2009
- Greensboro - Weatherspoon Museum, 2009
- Lahore - World Performing Arts Festival, 2007
- Los Angeles - Outpost for Contemporary Art, 2006
- Melbourne - The Melbourne Festival, 2008
- Milan - Uovo, 2009
- Montreal - Les Escales Improbables, 2008; Gallery B312, 2009
- New York - Performa, 2007
- Portland - Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, 2007
- Sydney - The Sydney Festival, 2008
- Terni - Es Terni, 2008
- Toronto - The Toronto Free Gallery, 2004,08,09; Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2008,07,04; Theatre Passe Muraille, 2000,02,03; The Theatre Centre, 1998, 2010
- Vancouver - The PuSh International Performing Arts FestivalPuSh International Performing Arts FestivalThe PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival presents work in the live performing arts: theatre, dance, music and various hybrid forms of performance...
2004,05,08,09
He has collaborated with other artists across Canada including Karen Hines
Karen Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actress, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions."Hines has appeared in several television series, including many of Ken Finkleman's satires such as The Newsroom, Foreign Objects, and Married Life for which she was...
, 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 da da Kamera, One Yellow Rabbit
One Yellow Rabbit
One Yellow Rabbit is an adult-oriented contemporary theatre company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.One Yellow Rabbit began as a small troupe in 1982 and has grown into one of Canada's best-known theatrical voices at home and abroad. Blending elements such as drama, dance, poetry and monologue,...
, Rumble Productions, Theatre Replacement, Instant Coffee, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre 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...
, Go Chicken Go, Factory Theatre
Factory Theatre
Factory Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, founded as Factory Theatre Lab in 1970 by Ken Gass and Frank Trotz.Factory was the first theatre to announce that it would exclusively produce Canadian plays, but it soon became a widely emulated policy by other theatre companies...
, the Theatre Centre and Downstage Theatre.
His writing has appeared in Pivot, Material, One Hour Empire, GreenTOpia, Public Access, the Canadian Theatre Review, Daily News and Analysis India, Descant, C Magazine, uTOpia and The New Quarterly.
He was the 2000 recipient of the Pauline MacGibbon Award for directors, and has also been nominated for several Dora Awards
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 his writing, directing, and acting. He has won one of these awards for design. He also received a 2000 Gabriel award for excellence in broadcasting with his CBC piece Crazy Like a Fox.
External links
- Mammalian Diving Reflex Web Site
- An index of web-based articles and reviews about O'Donnell and Mammalian Diving Reflex.
- Suicide Site Guide to the City blog
- Eat the Street blog
- Children's Choice Awards Vancouver and Melbourne blog
- Blog from working in Pakistan during state of emergency
- Discussion between O'Donnell and Vancouver theatre artists
- Diplomatic Immunities, Calgary blog
- Blog following O'Donnell working in Pakistan, India and Banff
- "Time Management for Anarchists" comic featuring O'Donnell
- The Dollar Store Show, featuring O'Donnell in 2005