Archive for the 'Activism' Category

Off the hook: 8th Buffalo infringement festival the most amazing yet!

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

“Infringe every day” was the mantra on everyone’s lips. The words were also prominent in performances, on posters and political buttons, and even on the enormous Trojan Buffalo that greets those arriving at the festival. A light-hearted take on the Trojan Horse, a deceptive weapon from antiquity that put adversaries into the heart of enemy […]

World Fringe Congress to welcome infringement festival

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

The Montreal infringement festival, sometimes described as “the anti-Fringe”, has been invited to the first-ever World Fringe Congress, a gathering of the leaders of 40 Fringe Festivals  – and one infringement festival – from 13 countries across the globe. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, now the largest arts festival in the world, will be hosting the unique event this year from […]

Festival Wars: 2012 Montreal infringement festival in context

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

Montreal’s summer festival season is heating up like never before! At play this year are two very different types of festival. The first is the typical Montreal staple: carefully stage-managed and highly corporate “festivals” that promote different brands, such as the F1 or Just For Laughs Festival. The second, joining in this year, is the festival of […]

Montrealers react to demolition of the Lower Main National Historic Site – with a dramatic funeral!

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

  A dramatic funeral for a prominent National Historic Site, presently being demolished, was held in Montreal on Sunday, May 27, 2012.  There was an outpouring of grief by over 40 mourners and funeral-goers for the Lower Main, an irreplaceable part of The Main National Historic Site, one of Canada’s most endangered heritage zones. Led by […]

“Demolition-by-neglect” threatens The Main National Historic Site

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

The Main National Historic Site has been the epi-center of a cultural war being fought in Montreal, and it is again the focus in the latest salvo. At stake is the city’s cultural future. Artists and activists demanding cultural integrity have been battling corporate interests hell-bent on Disneyfication, and this time the corporate side is […]

Occupy Movement puts Theatre Activism in the spotlight!

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Occupy Wall Street has put theatre activism into the spotlight like never before. Conceptualized by Vancouver-based Adbusters Magazine, the Occupy Movement kicked off on September 17 by taking over New York City’s Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street in Manhattan. The initial encampment consisted of a small tent-city, including everything from kitchens to libraries to performances spaces […]

Red Light District Walking Tour (Sunday, September 4, at Noon)

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

After hailing victory in the battle for Cafe Cleopatre, Burlesque queen Velma Candyass and cultural worker Donovan King are putting Montreal’s Red Light District firmly back on the map! As a cultural war unfolds in The Main National Historic Site between artists and developers, King and Candyass are working on behalf of the living culture, history, and […]

Fringe Festival censors artists and blocks random people from entering a public park (VIDEO)

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Last Sunday, St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival security prevented local artists associated with the Infringement Festival from entering a public park, which was temporarily privatized, on the grounds that they didn’t pay to be there. Security chief Ace Lopes also denied entry to anyone in the vicinity who seemed remotely associated with Donovan King, regardless of […]

OTL offers seven infringement festival projects!

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Optative Theatrical Laboratories is proud to announce seven unique theatrical projects for the 2011 Montreal infringement festival. Traditional favourites like Car Stories will appear alongside Red Light District and Greening Montreal walking tours (including an ecological picnic), a birthday party to celebrate Cultural Resistance, a screening of our new film “Global Invisible Theatre”, plus a new theatre experiment […]

Jane’s Walks by OTL on May 8th – Montreal Red Light District and Greening the Plateau & Quartier des Spectacles

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Optative Theatrical Laboratories, forever exploring cultural issues related to social justice, is pleased to team up with Montreal’s Urban Ecology Center for the 2011 edition of Jane’s Walk. Celebrating “walkable neighbourhoods, urban literacy, cities planned for and by people,” Jane’s Walk advocates the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by encouraging people to explore their neighbourhoods and […]