A Magnetic Moment for Ottawa

Another fantastic festival has come and gone, and Ottawa is left in a state of wonder. With thought provoking, beautiful, inspiring productions throughout the 11 day Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Ottawa was able to get a taste of what Canadian theatre has to offer. Presenters came from across Canada and around the world to experience just that. Magnetic North brings together 185 artists, 115 volunteers, over 100 Canadian presenters, 15 international presenters from as far away as Brazil, Moscow and New Delhi with the local community to discuss and learn more about what is happening in theatre here and around the world.

RICHARD NEWMAN AND KERRY SANDOMIRSKY

While all the shows were well received, The One That Got Away, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, The Russian Play and Bear With Me played to sell out crowds.

“I have seen Magnetic North grow in confidence, ambition and direction over the three events that I have attended and think that the festival has done much to raise the profile and self confidence of English speaking Canadian theatre.” – Gavin Stride, Director of Farnham Maltings, England.

Magnetic North is happy to announce that the box office clocked in at over $100,000 surpassing our 2007 goal and breaking all previous festival box office records! A fantastic team of staff and volunteers worked to make it all come together for the fifth anniversary festival. With 9000 attendees at 75 events, Magnetic North attracted many to Ottawa, increasing tourism, filling several hotels to capacity and packing the Festival Bar each night. Ottawa can enjoy the boost Magnetic North brings to the capital every other year.

Magnetic North will travel to Vancouver for the sixth edition June 4-14, 2008. Stay tuned to Magnetic North events and announcements at www.magneticnorthfestival.ca.

Magnetic Encounters

We were pleased with the response to our Magnetic Encounters programming this year. Our Speaker Series featured impassioned and entertaining words from theatrical greats Marti Maraden, Antoni Cimolino, Andrew Moodie and a very special 85th birthday celebration for speaker Douglas Campbell. Post-Performance Talkbacks were a wonderful opportunity for our audiences to get behind the scenes with our artists. The Teas with the Artists were definitely a festival favourite: well-attended, engaging and informative interviews conducted by Sarah Stanley with various artists in the festival over afternoon tea. For the final Tea, Sarah interviewed the outgoing leadership team of Mary Vingoe and Barbara Howatt, which provided festival devotees an opportunity to bid Mary and Barbara a fond farewell and congratulate them on a job exceedingly well done.

While you munched your lunch, Magnetic Ottawa brought local artists to your table. The all female cast of Medea and stilt production of Beowulf were well attended, despite the heat wave Ottawa was experiencing. There was much excitement surrounding The Rideau Project / Derrière le Rideau, with staged readings in English and French of new works. Ottawans can look forward to the work-shopped pieces in 2008.

We received positive feedback on all our Master Classes, "The Dancing Word" with Daniel Mroz; "Physical Approaches to the Art of Puppetry" with Peter Balkwill, and the CAEA Directors' Master Class with Peter Hinton, Catherine Alexander and Charles Marowitz. Participants greatly benefited from the sessions and were grateful for the opportunity to work with these master teachers in the festival environment.

Future Flashing, our Student Forum, provided a fantastic opportunity for students attending the festival to have their say on the final day of the festival at Cafe Nostalgica. Concordia theatre students presented a lively, thoughtful and imaginative "performance report" which outlined their experience of the festival and their impressions of the Canadian theatre milieu. This was followed by a general discussion about the evolving role of students at the festival, and issues surrounding mentorship and the transition from student to professional. Also discussed was the potential for a full student conference in Vancouver during the 2008 Festival, and the groundwork was laid for those plans to begin to take shape.

Other highlights of the Encounters series included "Directors' Buzz", where it was standing-room only at Cafe Nostalgica as Sarah Stanley interviewed Directors' Master Class teachers Catherine Alexander and Charles Marowitz. The Lamplighter's Walking Tour with Martin Conboy was most enjoyable and illuminating for participants as he took them through the downtown core, visiting architectural landmarks through the prism of how lighting shapes our perception of the city at night.

Industry Series

“Congratulations on yet another brilliant Industry Series. It was fun, warm spirited, and exceptionally well organized.” – Laurie Steven, Odyssey Theatre, Ottawa

Produced by Toronto’s Sherrie Johnson and Festival Associate Judi Pearl, the Industry Series brings together artists, producers and presenters in an informative and engaging forum to exchange ideas, collaborate on future projects, discuss touring opportunities, attend performances and get together to take part in invigorating discussions over two days.

A PITCH IN PROGRESS. RICHARD LEE FROM CAHOOTS THEATRE PROJECTS.

The 2007 Industry Series was attended by over 120 delegates from across Canada, as well as presenters from the U.S., Brazil, India, Iceland, Japan, Germany, Scotland, England, and Russia.

Programming included creative pitch sessions, speed dating, a networking breakfast, panel discussions and informal networking at the Festival Bar.

“For me, the Magnetic North experience was even better and more productive than I was hoping for. And the Industry Series was fantastic – it was a unique experience, which helped me to learn about Canadian Theatre none the less than the shows did.” – Nadya Gaidash, New Drama Festival, Moscow

Performance Creation Canada

Magnetic North was very pleased to partner with local organizations Galerie SAW Gallery and Artengine to present Performance Creation Canada during the festival. The gathering consisted of a series of formal and informal networking events for multidisciplinary artists, arts professionals and enthusiasts. Attendance was very high, consisting of a healthy mix of local and national participants, and a few international guests. Much provocative discussion was generated, on topics ranging from site-specific performance to the evolving relationship between audience and performer and the nature of interdisciplinary practice.

"Funding Face to Face" provided a valuable opportunity for the arts community to meet members of the funding community in a relaxed, informal setting at La Nouvelle Scène Bistro. Of particular interest to the local community was the session entitled "The Artist and the City", which examined the recent trajectory of the Ottawa performing arts community and our hopes and dreams for the future. A splendid time was had by all at Trashed, the opening night party, and Rock My Boat was surely the best fun to be had on the Ottawa River this summer, as we were entertained by various roving performers and danced the night away. Many thanks to all the panelists, moderators, sponsors, participants and steering committee members who helped make PCC a resounding success. Ottawa can now proudly take its place among other Canadian performing arts communities who have played host to PCC, as an integral part of a nationwide grassroots network of artists and arts professionals.
Stay tuned to www.performancecreationcanada.ca for news about future PCC gatherings.

Congratulations!

Magnetic North would like to congratulate the following involved in the 2007 MNTF for their Siminovitch Prize nomination in directing. The $100,000 prize, created by scientist Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore, honours a professional director, playwright or designer whose body of work advances Canadian theatre.

Kim Collier: Director of The One That Got Away
Patrick McDonald: Director of Cranked
Daniel Mroz: Master Class instructor
Sarah Stanley: Tea with the Artists, Former Artistic Associate of Magnetic North

Thank you!

Volunteers selflessly contributed thousands of hours from very early mornings to very late nights, and occasionally on quite short notice. They were there through it all! These hours represent the enthusiasm, dedication and goodwill of our 115-member team.

MNTF Volunteers served as amazing ambassadors to our festival and our city. We received many compliments from staff, artists, national and international delegates and patrons on the helpfulness and positive attitude of our blue-shirted volunteers. Volunteers are the backbone of this festival - people who give of their time, talent and energy to support this unique Canadian contemporary theatre festival.

Finally, we'd like to thank the National Arts Centre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, University of Ottawa, Arts Court and the Soloway Jewish Community Centre for being our host venues. Many thanks to the local companies who played host to visiting companies as part of our buddy system, and all the artists, staff, volunteers, sponsors and audiences who contributed to making Magnetic North the most successful to date.

See you in Vancouver!