Studio 180 Blog

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Take a Picture – It’ll Last Longer!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then we have over a hundred thousand words to share with you in an effort to capture the essence of the experience that was Clybourne Park. We thought a quick post was in order to draw your attention to some of the wonderful photos available online that …

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The provocative calling card of ACT UP

“What Happens Next?”

Not too long ago we blogged about the role that cinema plays in our research and preparation for projects in general and for The Normal Heart in particular. We provided an extensive (but by no means exhaustive) list of films that inspired, educated and informed us as we worked to bring Larry Kramer’s landmark drama …

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Maria Ricossa gets her "Bev" on in a rehearsal photo by Rob Harding

The News Until Now

With Clybourne Park officially opened, it seemed a good time to piece together a few elements of advance press as well as our own efforts to document our creative process in the form of a blog. We’ll do our best to keep you up to date on all the coverage as the run continues but here’s …

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Maria Ricossa as Bev in Act I (left) and Kathy in Act II (right)

We Two Are One

Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park is a rare bird from a structural standpoint. In many ways a companion piece to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Clybourne Park is simultaneously ONE utterly compelling play spanning two centuries and TWO remarkably different one act plays bound by history and geography.  The former is certainly the more apt …

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Trippy OZ Treatment

If you can manage . . .

With our first preview on the horizon, we thought it made sense to share a different point of view on the backstage goings on of Clybourne Park, so we asked Stage Manager extraordinaire Rob Harding to share some insights on the production from his unique perspective. In addition to working as a Stage Manager, Rob …

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Jenn Buffett in Africa

Children on the Front Lines

In February 2010, a few weeks before the opening of our production of The Overwhelming, members of the Studio 180 team, along with a large group of our supporters, were treated to an unforgettable evening featuring two remarkable men at the podium. Both Dr. James Orbinski and Lieutenant-General Roméo A. Dallaire spoke movingly of the atrocities …

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A Walk in the Park

Monday, March 5th marked the first rehearsal for Clybourne Park and for all assembled it was a potent reminder of both the play’s great humour and its surprising emotional punch. Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-Winning comedy brings humour to the fore, which represents something of a departure for Studio 180. And yet, beneath its ribald veneer, you’ll find a …

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The Mayor’s Loss Could be Our Gain

With the launch of his much ballyhooed “Cut the Waist” program, Mayor Rob Ford has thrown down the gauntlet to Torontonians attempting to shake off some of that accumulated winter poundage. On the program’s website people are encouraged to “make a pledge to the charity of your choice and help the Ford brothers cut the waist.” …

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Lorraine Hansberry

It’s Not All Black and White

Here’s a fascinating article that takes a remarkably honest and straightforward look at the issue of appropriating communal and cultural voices that are not our own. The discussion stems from a theatre class wherein students felt strongly that A Doll’s House, though written by a man (Henrik Ibsen), is legitimately a “woman’s play” and that …

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Ravi Jain

Finding a Safe Creative Harbour

Today marks the deadline for Theatre Creators’ Reserve submissions to Studio 180 so it seems an apt opportunity to reflect on our past involvement with the program and to pass along an update from a previously recommended project, much like we did with The Normal Heart‘s Jonathan Seinen in this earlier blog. In 2009, Studio …

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