Upcoming Events

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"Facing Backlash: Performance in the Age of Reactionary Politics."

April 2025 (exact dates TBD)

This symposium will weave together the threads of previous research activities over a two-day period in spring 2025 through paper panels, artist roundtables, keynote lectures, workshop presentations, and performances. Anticipating the eight year anniversary of the revelations that arose from the #MeToo campaign, the five-year anniversary of the resurgence of Black Lives Matter following the murder of George Floyd, and ongoing discussions about residential schools and the systemic discrimination of Indigenous men, women, and children as reported in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, this symposium will examine the theatre industry’s efforts to address sexism, structural racism, and colonialism where casting and the representation of marginalized communities are concerned. Organizing questions include: Whose stories appear on Canadian stages today? How, if at all, have professional theatre companies changed their approach to casting in response to #MeToo, BLM, and the TRC? How have these changes been received by actors, playwrights, directors, intimacy professionals, and audiences? How, if at all, has intensifying conservative backlash against Equity, Decolonization, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts impacted the way theatre artists work today? What has worked? What hasn’t? How can artists prepare themselves and one another for the next five years and beyond?