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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Haunted Mountain: a Hallowe’en Walking Tour on Mount Royal

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

This Hallowe’en, horror-expert Donovan King is pleased to offer Haunted Mountain, a spooky walking tour up the slopes of Mount Royal.

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 […]

Montreal artists present new Urban Plan for Lower Main

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Eyebrows are once again being raised concerning the competence of urban planning on the Lower Main. First came the wholesale evictions and gutting of the now-crumbling historic block on the west side of the Lower Main, effectively transforming an area where entertainment once thrived into a dangerous and boarded-up eyesore.  Now, on the south-east corner of Ste. Catherine Street […]

Is Prince Charles too sexy for YouTube?

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

A few months ago, the OTL in solidarity with the coalition of artists trying to prevent the destruction of artistic venues on the lower Main produced a video appeal to Prince Charles. Burlesque dancers asked the Prince, a noted heritage buff, if he would do something to stop Café Cleopatre from being replaced by an office tower.

Envisioning a better plan for the Lower Main

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Montreal’s Lower Main has been the site of controversy as of late, with powerful business interests squaring off against artists and heritage activists to determine the future of the historic stretch of road that was once the heart of Montreal’s bustling Red Light District. The battle has been characterized by powerful business interests dislocating the area’s […]

Burlesque dancers ask Prince Charles to Save the Red Light District

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

After having exhausted all other means of stopping the destruction of their performance space in the heart of Montreal’s historic Red Light district, burlesque dance troupe the Dead Dolls have turned to Prince Charles with a simple request: Save the Red Light District and Save the Main

Reclaim the Main challenge

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

What will you do to preserve the Main’s historic status, promote the interests of those who live and work there and protect against corporate intrusions?