Archive for the 'Road Trips' Category

“Critical Report from the World Fringe Congress” to hit Europe’s Fringes!

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

When infringement festival founder Donovan King was invited to the first-ever World Fringe Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland, he thought there had been a mistake! After being kicked out of the Montreal Fringe Festival in 2001 for criticizing a corporate sponsor, King has made a point of crusading to protect Fringe Festivals from excessive corporate interference in order […]

Montreal’s amazing arts export: the Infringement Festival circuit covers three cities in 2014!

Monday, February 17th, 2014

Montreal’s infringement festival is one of the city’s most amazing cultural exports and has inspired a whole new way of doing the arts in cities and countries far beyond Montreal’s island shores. In 2014, the Infringement Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary with 3 festivals in 2 countries, and a plan to provoke critical discussions […]

OTL hits the road for Buffalo infringement with 2 shows!

Friday, June 28th, 2013

Optative Theatrical Laboratories is going to the Buffalo Infringement Festival, easily Western New York’s largest and most popular arts festival, and arguably the world’s most independent and authentic one! With absolutely no corporate interference, artists can breathe freely and get  important work done within a supportive community. It’s an artistic paradise that doesn’t normally exist under the […]

Infringement offers artists chance to tour festivals in 2013

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

The dream of touring a performance seems more out of reach than ever for artists, but with the infringement festivals, there is hope! Because the cost of touring is often seen as prohibitive, many artists (and their works and performances) stay put in their home communities. Not only are there expensive  travel and accommodation costs associated […]

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 […]

OTL brings three shows to the Buffalo infringement festival!

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

The 8th annual Buffalo infringement festival runs from July 26 – August 5, 2012, and this year Optative Theatrical Laboratories (OTL) will be in attendance for the entire duration! The Buffalo infringement festival is a both world leader in grassroots arts management and the largest arts festival in Western New York. This year, OTL will be presenting three […]

Infringement season is upon us! Collaborators welcome!

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

The infringement season is upon us, and it is looking to be a red letter year for the global network of festivals!  With four unique infringement festivals on offer in both Canada and the USA, it is going to be a great summer for both infringers, new and old, and audiences seeking daring and authentic arts! The […]

Cars, stories and people

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Of all the projects OTL has created, Car Stories is most certainly the longest-running, at times has been the most controversial and if it wasn’t for the infringement Festival, a true viral phenomenon, it would undoubtedly be the best known. In a nutshell, Car Stories is a play containing several shorter plays, a piece of […]

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 […]

Revolutionary theatre in Rimouski

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

I’ve played in many culture-jams, but never as a videographer and never in a city I was visiting for the first time in my life.  That changed last spring, when I was part of a culture-jam at Tim Hortons in Rimouski. Since 2002, OTL has offered a workshop called Revolutionary Theatre: Culture-Jamming and Theatrical Activism.  […]