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With Conservative leader Stephen Harper coming under fire for derogatory comments about the arts and those who practise them, a theatre performance has sprung to life to raise awareness and change political attitudes.
“There is no question that theatre exists in our news — the performances have all been top rate. The question is: where is the news in our theatre?” This statement was the catalyst for The Wrecking Ball, a political theatre event that first took place in Toronto in 2004.
“A group of artists wanted to engage in a night of political theatre,” says Simon Mallett, the artistic producer of Downstage, a company dedicated to socially charged Canadian theatre and host of the Calgary event. “They asked several playwrights to write short plays that were political and topical in nature. There have been six Wrecking Ball events in Toronto, and every one has sold out, so obviously, there’s a big demand for this kind of theatre.”
Recently, in Saskatoon, Harper dismissed artists as “a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up….” This comment, combined with recent cuts to arts funding and the upcoming federal election, enflamed the Wrecking Ball organizers enough to look beyond Toronto.
“There was a cross-country call for participants,” says Mallett. “We decided it was important to include Calgary in the nationwide discussion, given the province’s political history and the constituency of a certain prime minister.” On October 6, The Wrecking Ball will take place coast-to-coast, in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
The Calgary event will feature original works by local playwrights Ken Cameron (artistic director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival), Ellen Close and Neil Fleming, and a new piece by Governor General’s Award-winning author Judith Thompson. The plays will be directed by Stephen Hair, Stacie Harrison, Kevin McKendrick and Vicki Stroich and feature an all-star roster of local actors.
“We put a call out to some of Calgary’s finest actors, and every single person we asked has said yes,” says Mallett. “That includes people who are in the middle of other shows, doing this on their day off. There’s a huge amount of support for the event.”
“There’s a feeling that the people who are speaking for Canada are misinformed about Canadians’ real desires. The Wrecking Ball is an opportunity to engage with that divide,” says Mallett. “The current leadership has expressed distaste for the arts, and people across the country need to think about what that means. The arts go so much farther than the leadership wants to acknowledge. It’s not just live theatre, it’s everything from television, to what people hang on their walls to fashion design. The arts are a hugely significant part of Canadian culture, and if they’re important to you, then that needs to be a factor in your decision-making process when you vote.”
All of the cross-Canada events are fundraisers for the Department of Culture, which despite its bureaucratic sounding name is not an agent of the government. “It’s a group of artists who have a campaign ready for after the election to increase the prominence of arts and culture in the national debate,” says Mallet.
The Wrecking Ball takes place Monday, October 6 at 8 p.m. in the Jack Singer Concert Hall lobby (Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts). Admission is pay-what-you-can at the door. Visit www.downstage.ca or www.thewreckingball.ca for more information.
