Shaw Festival 2022
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60 and FABULOUS. On one of his birthdays, Bernard Shaw declared to a reporter: The more my birthday is forgotten, the better I am pleased. By deed poll I have discarded my birthday forever - (Evening Telegraph, 25 July 1930). Well Bernard Shaw may have wanted to forget his birthday, but we here at The Shaw are overjoyed to be celebrating our 60th Season … and welcome you to our expanded 2022 Season! We are celebrating this anniversary season with more theatre offerings than ever before. First up is the heartwarming and heartbreaking (winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award and Governor General Literary Award for Drama finalist) This Is How We Got Here. Written by the splendidly talented playwright Keith Barker, This Is How We Got Here took the Toronto theatre scene by storm and now will be performed in our Studio Theatre from February 9-19. Produced by Native Earth Performing Arts and presented by the Shaw Festival, this will be one show you won't want to miss seeing. Keith Barker, a Métis artist, playwright and Artistic Director of Toronto's Native Earth Performing Arts, sat down with us to chat about his complex and hopeful story. Can you tell our readers a little about yourself? Where did you grow up, and what led you down a path into the arts? I grew up in several small towns in Northwestern Ontario. Not the four-hour drive from Toronto to North Bay kinda north, but rather the 18-hour drive past the Great Lakes Northwest to Kenora kinda north. My grandfather's home territory is Mattawa, Ontario, near Sudbury, but he moved away from his home community when Atikoken opened an open-pit mine. You see, he was deeply afraid of working underground in the nickel mines of Sudbury and took the first opportunity that presented itself to work above ground. The arts didn't factor into my life until I met Mrs Sajo, my high school teacher at Beaver Brae in Kenora. She was the first person to introduce me to the process of theatre-making. She advocated for the Sears Drama Festival; which had mostly served Southern Ontario, to include Northwestern Ontario in its competition. They obliged, and in 1994 Beaver Brae made the Ontario Finals at Hart House Theatre in Toronto. That week changed my life and culminated with a trip to the Shaw Festival for a production of Arms and The Man by George Bernard Shaw. These experiences changed the trajectory of my life and why I pursued a life in the arts. I will be forever grateful for Mrs Sajo's advocacy for arts in northern communities. In fact, this past year, her son Ben reached out to me to ask for Indigenous plays and playwright recommendations for his students in Gjoa Haven. It is exciting that her son is taking up the torch by introducing new plays into classrooms in the north. What inspired you to write This Is How We Got Here? Was it related to a personal experience? I have experienced three suicides in my lifetime. Each person was dear to me, and each loss will remain with me. The most significant teachings I have received have been about how to live with and move through great loss. This play also came out of my frustrations with the shame and silencing I have witnessed from people who are uncomfortable with suicide and death. In my experience, the people I love were expected to grieve within a set window of time, and anything beyond that was seen as burdensome and uncomfortable. Despite the serious nature of the play, there are quite a few comic moments. Did those moments come easily to you when writing the play. Humour has always been a big part of how my family operates. If we could make my mother laugh, we knew we wouldn't get into trouble. My mom was a 911 dispatcher. Her job was to speak to people on their worst day, every shift, for thirty-one years. I don't think it is a coincidence that she filled every other part of her life with humour and laughter. Looking back now, I know it was her way of coping. I feel the same way about plays dealing with challenging subject matter. Laughter has always been the best way for a playwright to take care of me in the theatre, and I have always tried to return the favour. Yes, the play deals with difficult subject matter, but hopefully it will also make you smile and laugh too. Are you working on any new theatrical pieces right now? I am currently in the research phase for my next play, which explores masculinity. The play will focus primarily on my own experiences, but also research that I am gathering. Growing up, the men in my life showed little interest in me, so I didn't have any real male role models. That meant that everything I learned was through the women in my life: my mom, my sisters, my aunties, and my cousins. I learned so many awkward lessons along the way, and I am looking forward to unpacking some of these hilarious, frustrating and ridiculous learnings. Thank you, Keith, for shedding light into your personal life and work! And as a wonderful bonus Keith has generously agreed to stay after all the performances of This Is How We Got Here and act as facilitator for our Continue the Conversation discussions. You won’t want to miss out on this unique opportunity! Book your tickets with confidence! During your visit your well-being is top of mind. Ticket exchanges and refunds are easily processed. Find out more about our Duty of Care policy. Buy now. Do you have your Season's Pass yet? With only 1000 available, the Season's Pass is the hottest ticket (that gives you access to many tickets) of the year. Enjoy productions again and again. The pass is valid for 10 plays including the lunchtime one-act Chitra. The pass also includes a 25% discount to This Is How We Got Here, Irving Berlin's White Christmas and A Christmas Carol. Starts at $400. Call 1-800-511-7429 to buy yours today. New and interesting events that take you beyond the Shaw stages. THE ART OF IDEAS. You know TED Talks? Join us for Shaw Talks! Two speakers - one an academic and one an artist - reflecting on big ideas connected to our 2022 productions. A two-hour morning program. $50 | $40 for Shaw Friends. WHAT COMES NEXT?. What comes first? Actors read Act One of a play. What comes next? A facilitated discussion about what we think will occur in Act Two. A rich and engaging two-hour morning experience. $40 | $30 for Shaw Friends & online attendees. Shaw Monologue Master Class. A week-long online program for post-secondary theatre school students and recent grads. Exclusive access to Shaw professional artists, coaches and teachers with a focus on process and refreshing your actor's toolkit. $165. Click here for more Shaw events. Get gliding on the new Ice Rink. A new and stylish ice rink has arrived at The Gardens at Pillar and Post in Niagara-on-the-Lake! Skate on the 120 x 60 ice rink and enjoy food and beverage options at The OutPost. It is free to the general public and skate rentals are available for a fee. So come and spend some time this January practicing your triple axel and toe loops or just trying to stay upright. For more information on hours, rentals and more, click below. Find out more.

© 2022 Shaw Festival Theatre

10 Queen's Parade, Box 774, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0 Canada 1-800-511-7429

Cast of Grand Hotel (2018). David Andrew Reid backstage (The Magician’s Nephew, 2018). Backstage Tour. Photos by Peter Andrew Lusztyk.

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