Those who have chosen to pursue an arts degree are often told that finding work will be nearly impossible. A group of alumni from U of T’s own UC Drama Program have challenged this assertion by creating their own theatre company. Pandemic Theatre has four resident artists: Tom Arthur Davis, Tara Grammy, Jiv Parasram, and Alex Rubin. With this base, they produce political theatre, often drawing on the talents of both past and present UC drama students, as is the case with their upcoming production entitled Murder on Ossington.
Pandemic Theatre had their first production in November 2009. Last year, they had their first full season, which they titled “The Season of Displacement.” They mainly produce works that are written and directed by one or more of their resident artists. Often, the scripts are inspired by events in the lives of the resident artists. For example, last season’s Mahmoud was inspired by the “split identity” of Tara Grammy, an Iranian-Canadian. Davis asserts that the plays, which are not directly linked to personal narratives, often derive from “reactions to the sensationalistic news coverage.” In Toronto, this sensationalism is very visible, especially with the memory of G20 barely behind us.
The official mandate of Pandemic Theatre is “to create productions emphasizing personal stories situated within their political realities.” The political theme is evoked simply in the names of past Pandemic productions — My Gaza ‘Tis of Thee and Guantanamo Hotels & Resorts, to name a couple. When asked about the mandate of the company, Artistic Director Tom Davis stated that “all theatre is political, no matter what. Just like life. […] I guess what we try to do is to be conscious of the politics we’re talking about.” Theatre helps to make accessible the stories which have been told again and again in North America. Envisioning the experiences of people who are either lauded or demonized consciously can give new levels of awareness to political situations in a way that is unavailable in journalism. Pandemic shows that the news and entertainment sections of the newspaper need not be divorced through their political theatre.
The company is prepared for another full season in 2011/2012, called “The Season of Violence.” There will be a total of five shows in the season, two of which had their runs over the summer. The most recent, This Wide Night, had its run at Theatre Passe Muraille and was directed by John Michaelson. Pandemic is becoming a more polished company, firmly out of its adolescence and into a more established playing field. The season will also feature a production of Professor Antje Budde’s Miss Toronto and will also have Stephen Bush, acting instructor and essayist, directing a work under the Pandemic name.
The next show on Pandemic’s roster is Murder on Ossington, but if you’re envisioning a theatre with a set, then think again. Instead, Pandemic has decided to do a site-specific show. This means that audiences (limited to 10 people per show) will meet at an undisclosed location at 8pm each night of the run. In order to see the show, potential audience members have been instructed to e-mail [email protected] in order to reserve their spots, at which point, they will be given directions to the opening location of the play. When asked about the limited audience size, Davis says that “it is an important aspect of the performance. It adds a very intense intimacy, which will bring a much larger sense of danger for the audience. The more intimate the setting, the less people feel that they can escape. This is kind of the opposite of a scary movie.” The larger themes of the play are also shrouded in secrecy, but with Pandemic, everything is political, even murder.
Murder on Ossington runs from Friday to Sunday at 8 pm during the last three weeks of October.
