Archive for the 'Community issues' Category

Mask update: a call to action

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

After it was announced here and other places that the city of Montreal was seeking to ban masks at protests, people opposed have not been silent and it seems that this issue will not go away. And why should it? This incursion on our rights to free expression has even garnered opponents in more conservative […]

Outlawing theatre activism in Montreal? City attempts new “anti-mask” bylaw

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Theatre activists, like actors in a theatre, rely on a gamut of artistic accessories – props, scenery, costumes, make up, and especially masks – to conduct performances on the streets, sometimes during demonstrations. Masks constitute important props in this theatrical arsenal, as they have the power to transform the actor into a different entity, which […]

THAW: From viral action to activist benefactor

Friday, January 16th, 2009

In 2003, a group of New York City-based theatre artists got together in an attempt to organize a theatre-based city-wide protest against the war in Iraq.  The group stuck together and formed Theaters Against War, or THAW, a group whose goal is to nurture a pro-peace culture by standing up to attacks on civil liberties, […]

Theatre activism for children

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Anyone who has children, or works with them, can tell you that there is almost nothing worse than the death of a child.  There can be no excuse to subject society’s most vulnerable members to oppression and massacre, and the realisation that over 250 children have being killed during the assault on Gaza is enough […]

First Nations pay Jean Charest a visit

Monday, January 12th, 2009

On Thursday afternoon a rally called Native Rights Under Lock & Key assembled outside the Montreal offices of Quebec Premier Jean Charest, on McGill College Avenue.   As security guards locked the doors to the glassy tower housing Charest’s offices, protesters unfurled a banner reading “Honour Your Word: Protect the Environment. Share the Land’s Wealth” and […]

Consulate occupation: Judy Rebick arrested

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Preceding yesterday’s presentation of an eviction notice by activists to the Israeli consulate in Montreal, a group of Jewish women were arrested for occupying the Israeli consulate in Toronto on Wednesday in protest of the Israeli attack on Gaza, among them were filmmaker BH Yael, psychanalyst Judith Deutsch and professor Judy Rebick. Rebick, a prominent […]

Reclaim your media

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

It’s not even really a debate anymore.  It’s almost gotten to the point of cliché.  Just about everyone with even the slightest activist leaning and even many who don’t have one knows that the corporate media does not represent all sides or show a complete picture of any story.  Getting a progressive message into the […]

Where to sleep

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Anyone who’s been outside in Montreal lately will be able to tell you that it’s cold out there.  This is obviously most relevant to the city’s homeless. There are some in Montreal who are compassionate about their plight and others who take steps to empower them through art, namely those involved in the annual État […]

2008 in the Optative Theatrical Laboratories

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

It’s New Year’s Eve, so what better time to look back on the past year and the year ahead.  2008 was a busy one for OTL on several fronts: Sinking Neptune II: We adapted our verbatim theatre critique of Canada’s “first play” Lescarbot’s Theatre of Neptune in New France and those remounting it, racism against […]

Sunday shoppers meet angry chorus

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Sunday shoppers on Ste. Catherine street were startled by a cacophony of voices. Rising above the din of consumerism, a chorus of profound human anger and frustration arose, voiced by hundreds of demonstrators furious with the overnight death of over 270 people in Gaza, killed by Israeli bombs. Traffic snarled as the street was transformed […]