Optimism and the Arts Cuts

Many of you read my recent newsletter piece, Changes taking place in your society, which detailed some of the impacts of the restructuring of arts funding in BC. There was tremendous response to this newsletter from individuals and the media alike. People told me I gave a situation that is being obscured by the government some clarity and context. I was thanked for speaking honestly about what I think the impact of these changes will be, and for being vocal rather than waiting patiently for the government to repair the wrong they’ve done.

People also wanted to know what the future of the Fringe and the cultural life of BC will look like. I have no answer. The Fringe will be developing a three-year plan this summer to address this. For the province, I don’t know. I can say that we used to have two major funding bodies that fund arts and culture for adults and now we only have one (and it has a lot less money). That will have an impact.

People asked me: Is this a “sky is falling” scenario? Are we all overreacting? Not at all. While the impact of the funding cuts will not come down like a bomb, it will do its damage like acid rain—it will be slow and drawn out. With less funding, some arts groups will fold over time. Individual artists and arts organizers will burn out from the stress and leave the sector or the province.

Nevertheless, I’m an optimist, and I believe that plenty of artists and the people who support them are too. That will continue with less funding. Many organizations affected by the cuts will keep soldiering on. Optimistic souls will step up to make sure the work continues and our arts and culture organizations live on through hard times—after all, the definition of optimism is the ability to see things positively in the face of adversity.

So will there suddenly be no arts and culture in our province? No. But it means that our cultural and artistic growth will be stunted. I am often reminded of how young the arts are in BC. When my grandparents moved to Vancouver in 1957, the arts and culture sector was miniscule (the Arts Club wasn’t even formed until 1958). So, as a province, and as a city, our arts community is kind of like a teenager when compared to more established cultural meccas.

The changes taking place to BC’s arts funding structure will affect our maturation. As we know, adolescence is a formative time. What will this trauma do to our development? If we don’t take care of ourselves in this developmental stage, how will we recoup those lost years?

Yours in Fringe,

David Jordan

Executive Director

Michaëlle Jean Hearts Fringe

In 1982, Brian Paisely got a cheque for $50,000, rented five theatres, and told all his theatre buddies about his new project: the Edmonton Fringe Festival. The Edmonton Fringe was the first Fringe Festival in Canada and since then, the idea has spread like wildfire. There is now a Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals with 21 member festivals across the country (and a few in the States too). It’s pretty obvious that Brian Paisely has made an impression on Canada’s theatre community—and Michaëlle Jean, Canada’s Governor General agrees.

On April 7, 2010, Brain Paisely was awarded the Order of Canada for his lifelong commitment to the performing arts. The Order of Canada is an honour established by Queen Elizabeth in 1967 that “recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, and service to the nation.”

In addition to starting the Edmonton Fringe, Brain co-founded the Chinook Touring Theatre, produced the Victoria Arts Symposium, and won the 2003 CHUM TV Reel Edge competition for his feature-length screenplay, Lies Like Truth.

Congratulations Brian! And thanks Michaëlle for recognizing the importance of the Fringe!

The Bastard Returns!

“Red Bastard is pure id, slapped with a coat of red and pumped full of hot air! This half man/half demon from the subconscious comes to take the piss out of the audience by disguising himself as an elitist movement teacher instructing us in the ‘theater of life’” (from Red Bastard’s website).

The Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance, the Vancouver Theatre Sports League, and the Vancouver Fringe present Red Bastard on stage at the brand new Improv Centre on Granville Island, May 17 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $15 (plus $2 surcharge for advance tickets) and are available online now. (Proceeds from this benefit performance go towards the supporting the activities of the GVPTA.)

Or you can get in to the show for free if you sign up for the GVPTA’s Bouffoon Workshop!

Have you always wanted to parody your audience while wearing a fantastically ugly or absurd costume? If so, this is the workshop for you. Eric Davis, a.k.a. Red Bastard, is the founder and co-director of the New York Clown Theatre Festival, he’s performed in Cirque du Soleil, and has been teaching mask, improvisation, and movement for more than a decade.

During this workshop, you’ll create characters, parody society, and learn techniques for interacting with your audience. The workshop will be held May 15 and 16. For more details, and to register, click here.

Fringe Flashback: Eat Me

Eat Me
Shameless Hussy Productions
Photographer: Pink Monkey Studios

To this day, every time Deb Pickman cleans out her fridge, she thinks of her show Eat Me. The politics of food–genetically modified foods, obsessions with expiration dates, and using Ginsu knives—was the focus of the 2000 Fringe show.

Food has been a bit of a theme with Deb Pickman’s former work. Not only did she wear the candy get up in this photo, she also had a vest made out of candy and another made out of french fries. And a friend of Deb’s always thinks of her when steaming carrots because a costume for a show called the Happy Cunt had Deb wearing a bra made out of steaming baskets.

But the pinnacle of her food theme came during Eat Me. The cast cooked a cat in a microwave—and yes, the audience got to have a taste of that nuked kitty . . . or at least some beef stew representing the cat.

“[The show] was a bit of a flame-out,” Deb told us over the phone. But she and the audiences had fun.

All this talk of food and fun has got me thinking about the 2010 Fringe and what Jimmy, our cartoon mascot, will be up to. You’ll find out all about it in our next newsletter

Reminder: Fringe AGM on April 26

Just a reminder that our Annual General Meeting is on Monday, April 26 at 7:30pm. We’ll be meeting at the Carousel Theatre on Granville Island. You must be a member of the First Vancouver Theatrespace Society to attend. For details check out our Facebook event.

TJ Dawe will be reading from his new play, Lucky 9s, at the AGM, so be sure to come on out!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 12:21 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.