News & Events

In the Media

Stay up to date on the buzz surrounding our projects and team members by checking out the articles below!

August 2024

The (Re)setting the Stage project is proud to support Nassim Abu Sarari, author of a powerful program note for Shakespeare in the Ruff’s 2024 production of The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers. Read it here!

Cover of the digital program for The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers.

June 2nd, 2024

This episode of Shakespeare in the Ruff’s podcast Ruff Radio features an interview with Professor Marlis Schweitzer, where they discuss the recent Shaking Up Shakespeare podcast amoung other exciting topics.

Listen below!

May 21st, 2024

The Shaking Up Shakespeare team is delighted to have been named as one of 40 nominees for a 2024 Community-Based Research Excellence Award. This national award recognizes “emerging community-based researchers and community-campus research partnerships all across the country.”

For more on this year’s award recipients and a map of all nominees, please see the links below.

2024 Community-Based Research Excellence Award Winners

Map of 2024 Award Nominees

Shaking Up Shakespeare Cover Art
Cover art created by Hope Van Der Merwe.

May 9th, 2024

York University’s student run newspaper, Excalibur, features the recent roundtable on Worlding Feminist Theatre and Performance Historiography. Article written by Sydney Ewert. Read it here!

January 23rd, 2024

Jamie Robinson wins the 2023 Nathan Cohen Award for Outstanding Critical Essay for his essay “The Conscious-Casting Conundrum,” published in Canadian Theatre Review 193: Casting and Race. Read it here!

See the announcement by the Canadian Theatre Critics Association here.

Jamie Robinson
Jamie Robinson.

January 16th, 2024

Article on York University’s YFile about Shaking Up Shakespeare. Read it here!

January 15th, 2024

Intermission Magazine feature article in conversation with the creators and hosts of the Shaking Up Shakespeare podcast. Article written by Nathaniel Hanula-James. Read it here!

(left to right) Hope Van Der Merwe, Liam Lockhart-Rush, Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho), and Marlis Schweitzer.

January 11th, 2024

York University’s student run newspaper, Excalibur, features Shaking Up Shakespeare in an article written by Sydney Ewert. Read it here!

Shaking Up Shakespeare Cover Art
Cover art created by Hope Van Der Merwe.

April 30th, 2023

Intermission Magazine feature article in conversation with Jamie Robinson and Walter Borden about the (Re)casting Shakespeare in Canada Symposium written by Jessica Watson. Read it here!

Cover image for the Intermission Magazine feature converstion with Jamie Robinson and Walter Borden.
(left to right) Jamie Robinson (original photo by John Bregar) and Walter Borden (original photo by Michael Meehan)

Recent Events and Projects

May 9th, 2024

A world history of women’s innovations in theatre, dance, and performance is still being written. To date, existing accounts of women’s innovations in theatre, dance, and performance in English have been overwhelmingly tied to Euro-American histories of stage actresses, concert dancers, and feminist performance artists. Yet, a vibrant world of women’s social performances, vernacular expressive cultures, and popular entertainment exists beyond these accounts. This roundtable seeks to explore how “worlding”—as a verb, as a method, and as a politics—might open up new trajectories for feminist theatre and performance historiography aligned with decolonizing and Global Majority social and aesthetic movements. 

See here for panelist bios.

April 13th, 2024

Engage beyond the stage with Mad Madge!  There are plenty of chances to learn more about the wild life of Margaret Cavendish, the incredible minds of the creative team, and some of the impassioned themes embedded in the show!

Join Director, Andrea Donaldson, and (Re)Setting the Stage Investigators: Keira Loughran, Jamie Robinson, and Marlis Schweitzer in a discussion on casting practices and conventions in Canada, and what it means when those conventions are broken.

Intentional Mis-Casting Panel
L-R: Andrea Donaldson, Keira Loughran, Jamie Robinson, and Marlis Schweitzer.

Launching January 2024

Welcome to Shaking Up Shakespeare, a podcast dedicated to examining the legacy of William Shakespeare’s work, specifically in the context of Canadian theatre culture and Canadian society more broadly. Building on recent conversations about diversity and casting practices, colonial structures, and accessibility, this podcast brings together the voices of many individuals with diverse perspectives on Shakespeare.

Shaking Up Shakespeare Cover Art
Cover art created by Hope Van Der Merwe.

(Re)casting Shakespeare in Cananda: A Symposium

April/May 2023

This two-day symposium seeks to challenge and engage professional theatre artists, scholars, educators, students, and the wider public in critical conversations about the history, legacy, and future of Shakespeare in Canada, with a specific emphasis on inclusive, intersectional casting practices modeled by IBPOC Canadian theatre artists.

This event took place at York University on April 30th and May 1st, 2023.

Poster for (Re)casting Shakespeare in Canada Symposium at York University. Poster by Hope Van Der Merwe.

Canadian Theatre Review 193: Casting and Race

Winter 2023

Excerpt from Issue Introduction:
“What appears to be new today is both a collective willingness to change and artists’ refusal to allow dominant practices to remain unchallenged. To amplify this moment of transformation and engage discussions of casting practices as they intersect with race, culture, and ethnicity, we have invited a group of artists, scholars, and students to offer their insights. We have prioritized the voices of racialized artists and scholars at various stages in their careers, while also recognizing that lasting change requires the attention and investment of all members of the theatre community.”

– Mariló Núñez, Jamie Robinson, and Marlis Schweitzer

Cover of Canadian Theatre Review 193: Casting and Race.
Cover of Canadian Theatre Review Vol. 193: Casting and Race. Image Info: Colin Wolf in There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death, or, The Born-Again Crow, Gwaandak Theatre, 2018. Photo by Kris Moore Photography.

(Re)Setting the Stage: The Past, Present, and Future of Casting Practices in Canada

May/June 2021

“The event is a response to the call for greater transparency and accountability in creative practices, including (but not limited to) casting decisions and play selection within the Canadian theatre industry. It aims to bring together professional artists to reflect on the harmful legacy of casting practices and to build towards a better, more equitable future.”

– Mariló Núñez, Moderator and Panelist

Presented in Collaboration with York University