Shadowland Theatre
Encyclopedia
Shadowland Theatre is a community art
s theatre
and collective of visual and theatre artists
on Toronto Island
. It is a professional, not-for-profit theatre
company and registered charity, incorporated
in 1994.
and radio diva Jessica Dragonette
, was co-written by Christopher and Coleman and toured artist-run centres across Canada.
During the World Stage in 1982, the British company Welfare State International
worked in collaboration with the Toronto Island community to produce the Tempest on Snake Island. Inspired by this production, Island residents Jacob and Kaitlin Jonason raised funds for a second Shadowland production, along the same lines, to be part of the city’s 1984 sesquicentennial celebrations. Welfare State principals Boris and Maggie Howarth were hired to assist and the result was "Island Follies", a historical fantasia. In 1985 Smith and Coleman handed over the company to the key group of Toronto Island artists who worked on the show — Kathleen Doody, Leida Englar, Jerry Englar, Brad Harley and Sarah Miller — and it was renamed Shadowland Theatre.
Shadowland’s early development was significantly influenced by Welfare State's format of professional artist
s engaging communities in collective performance, and this method has become the backbone of Shadowland’s way of working ever since. Other major influences are Bread and Puppet Theater
, Peter Minshall
and Trinidad Carnival
( leading to many years of involvement in Caribana parades
) and ongoing working relationships with many Caribbean artists. These influences have contributed to Shadowland's bold and visually distinctive form of theatre
and performance events
. In the past decade the theatre has created signature processional outdoor theatre performances and collaborated with a wide range of communities and artists from many disciplines.
• Experiences of spectacle, mystery, and magic are essential to a full cultural life.
• The raw, transformative power of live theatre is vital in our increasingly technological age.
• Theatre should be accessible to all members of society.
• Draws on ancient theatre traditions to create stories for our contemporary world.
• Expresses collective aspirations through popular cultural forms.
• Mixes the mythic and the mundane to create socially relevant, visually poetic theatre.
• Works with communities and all generations to revitalize stories of place, time and the journey through life.
• Invites non-professionals into the theatrical process as part of developing an articulate and expressive society.
Mystery Play
Place at the Table
Crude-mentary Tales
It's Who We Are
Sarnia Art Walk Sarnia, Ontario
The Traveling Medicine Show Toronto Island
Stories of Our Island Toronto Island
The Order of Good Cheer Toronto Island
The Essence of Ambrose Ichor Toronto Island
The Lost Supper Tarragon Theatre
, Annex Theatre (2004) Toronto
The Bridge Toronto Island
(1980)
Right of Passage Toronto Island
Quixsand
for Outstanding Costume
2009 Voted ‘’Best Grass Roots Theatre’’ in Toronto
by NOW magazine
Community art
Community Art could be loosely defined as a way of creating art in which professional artists collaborate more or less intensively with people who don't normally actively engage in the arts. Community arts, also sometimes known as "dialogical art", "community-engaged" or "community-based art,"...
s 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...
and collective of visual and theatre artists
Artist collective
An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims...
on Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
. It is a professional, not-for-profit 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 and registered charity, incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
in 1994.
History
Shadowland Repertory Company (named after the early Hollywood magazine, Shadowland) was founded in 1982 by Elizabeth M. Christopher and Victor Coleman with a mandate of producing musicals using shadow puppetry and other alternative theatrical media. The first production, Radio Ghost, a musical about the fictional meeting of Canadian radio inventor Reginald FessendenReginald Fessenden
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden , a naturalized American citizen born in Canada, was an inventor who performed pioneering experiments in radio, including early—and possibly the first—radio transmissions of voice and music...
and radio diva Jessica Dragonette
Jessica Dragonette
Jessica Dragonette was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort.-Early life and career:...
, was co-written by Christopher and Coleman and toured artist-run centres across Canada.
During the World Stage in 1982, the British company Welfare State International
Welfare State International
Welfare State International were an influential performance group based in the UK and founded in 1968 by John Fox and Sue Gill. Fox was, and remains, a vociferous proponent of 'celebratory theatre' and an anarchic, energetic and imaginative approach to creating theatre. In 2006 they felt the...
worked in collaboration with the Toronto Island community to produce the Tempest on Snake Island. Inspired by this production, Island residents Jacob and Kaitlin Jonason raised funds for a second Shadowland production, along the same lines, to be part of the city’s 1984 sesquicentennial celebrations. Welfare State principals Boris and Maggie Howarth were hired to assist and the result was "Island Follies", a historical fantasia. In 1985 Smith and Coleman handed over the company to the key group of Toronto Island artists who worked on the show — Kathleen Doody, Leida Englar, Jerry Englar, Brad Harley and Sarah Miller — and it was renamed Shadowland Theatre.
Shadowland’s early development was significantly influenced by Welfare State's format of professional artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s engaging communities in collective performance, and this method has become the backbone of Shadowland’s way of working ever since. Other major influences are Bread and Puppet Theater
Bread and Puppet Theater
The Bread and Puppet Theater is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, currently based in Glover, Vermont...
, Peter Minshall
Peter Minshall
Peter Minshall is a Trinidadian Carnival artist .-Early life and career beginnings:...
and Trinidad Carnival
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the most significant event on the islands' cultural and tourism calendar, with numerous cultural events running in the lead up to the street parade on...
( leading to many years of involvement in Caribana parades
Caribana Festival (Canada)
Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Annually, the festival draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the globe to Toronto's lakeshore...
) and ongoing working relationships with many Caribbean artists. These influences have contributed to Shadowland's bold and visually distinctive form of 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...
and performance events
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
. In the past decade the theatre has created signature processional outdoor theatre performances and collaborated with a wide range of communities and artists from many disciplines.
Shadowland Theatre Believes That
• Live theatre is a basic component in the well-being of our societies.• Experiences of spectacle, mystery, and magic are essential to a full cultural life.
• The raw, transformative power of live theatre is vital in our increasingly technological age.
• Theatre should be accessible to all members of society.
Shadowland Theatre
• Creates live theatre that is vital, entertaining, challenging, and has wide appeal.• Draws on ancient theatre traditions to create stories for our contemporary world.
• Expresses collective aspirations through popular cultural forms.
• Mixes the mythic and the mundane to create socially relevant, visually poetic theatre.
• Works with communities and all generations to revitalize stories of place, time and the journey through life.
• Invites non-professionals into the theatrical process as part of developing an articulate and expressive society.
Current projects
Annual Ward's Island Fire ParadeMystery Play
Place at the Table
Crude-mentary Tales
It's Who We Are
Sarnia Art Walk Sarnia, Ontario
Sarnia, Ontario
Sarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....
Productions
The Light That Stands Still Toronto IslandToronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
The Traveling Medicine Show Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
Stories of Our Island Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
The Order of Good Cheer Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
The Essence of Ambrose Ichor Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
The Lost Supper Tarragon Theatre
Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill was the Artistic Director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as...
, Annex Theatre (2004) 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...
The Bridge Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
(1980)
Right of Passage Toronto Island
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
Quixsand
Awards and honors
3 Dora Mavor Moore AwardDora 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 Outstanding Costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
2009 Voted ‘’Best Grass Roots Theatre’’ 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...
by NOW magazine
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
See also
- Community artCommunity artCommunity Art could be loosely defined as a way of creating art in which professional artists collaborate more or less intensively with people who don't normally actively engage in the arts. Community arts, also sometimes known as "dialogical art", "community-engaged" or "community-based art,"...
- Community TheatreCommunity TheatreCommunity Theatre or Community Theater may refer to:*Community theatre, the putting on of generally amateur theatre productionsIn the United States:...
- Kensington MarketKensington MarketKensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Robert Fulford wrote in 1999 that "Kensington...
- MaskMaskA mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
- Kathleen McDonnellKathleen McDonnellKathleen Elizabeth McDonnell is a noted Canadian author. She has been writing plays, fiction and non-fiction for both adults and young audiences since the late seventies, and has also been a freelance broadcaster for CBC Radio. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947, she came to Canada in 1969...
- Ruth Howard (artist)Ruth Howard (artist)Ruth Howard is a Canadian artist who creates large-scale arts and theatre projects with urban communities and has been called "a key figure in the Canadian Community Play movement"...