Thought Residencies

Parents are champions. That's all I can say. And anyone who's raising twins, you're an even bigger champion. Anyone who's a parents and maintains sanity, you're the biggest champion. But it all honesty, it's completely bonkers, and, yeah, the best.

I'm spending a lot of time and struggling with my relationship to other people and their need for others to recognize their greatness.  I find it embarrassing and I'm not sure why. I think it might be connected to my embarrassment for the realities of humanity's needs and behavioural patterns — these desires towards greatness and how deep down they're just antidote for negotiating mortality. 

It's 8:30am and I'm feeding my son Lev, who's 7 weeks old today. And I'm thinking about how when he begins to talk, he will speak a language that I don't, as well as my own. And I wonder how that will make me feel about myself. Right now I don't necessarily feel foreign, but I wonder if, once I can no longer understand what my child is saying, if I will then start to feel like a foreigner. 

"I'm doing this from my home in Krakow Poland, where I've been living on and off for about two to three years. And I've been thinking a lot about language, and how the use of language informs practice. And despite living in a country that—I think—has one of the most exciting theatrical practices in the world, I have very little access to it because of language. The Polish language, which I don't s...

I'm coming to you live from Vancouver, where I'm attending my first ever Push Festival. I'm wrapping up this residency in such a fitting way: surrounded by artists, thinkers, and makers who have gathered to celebrate and promote an international sharing of artistic work. That, and to celebrate the escape from the polar vortex that is plaguing the rest of Canada. Though, perhaps that, too, is a met...

The Bell Let's Talk mental health campaign is ramping up, and I know this because I keep seeing their advertisements all over bus stops in every city I visit. And as I scroll through my never-ending Facebook feed, knowing that a deluge of mental health posts is coming... I'm thinking about taking a break. Which is maybe the opposite of what's supposed to happen? And I  acknowledge my year has been...

Good morning. Today I'm on an airplane and ... thinking about my carbon footprint, which has been significantly worse this past year, as I've had the great opportunity and privilege to travel quite a bit with work. Um. So how do we responsibly offset our carbon footprints? The amount that I fly can't be fixed by vegetarianism alone. What are some other options? 

It is widely acknowledged that our theatre industry is facing many challenges: declining audiences, declining revenues, and a lack of cultural diversity to name a few. How do we turn sinking ships? When is the right time to let something come to an end, and when do you play all your cards for an unprecedented resurrection? How do you gracefully close the doors of an organization? Who has the answe...

Hi. Good morning. I just did a facemask – #selfcare – one of those cute Tonymoly sheet masks that are trendy, or were trendy a year ago – I can't keep track. It was labeled "brightening", and packaged in a zingy yellow wrapper. I put it on my face, and then read the description on the back: "lemon mask makes dull and dark skin look radiant". Oh. Good morning. Fuck the beauty industry and the micro...

I've just started work on two new play process in different stages of development. One is in very early days, and the other is well on its way to production. And… I'm reminded of how incredible playwrights are, and how their minds need to be cherished. They are our world builders, our storytellers, and the nerve centre of our theatrical process. So this morning, I'm offering a thank you to all of...

In the world of equity, diversity, and inclusion work… I often feel like shows that are hopeful are ones in which the equity-seeking body has done the lion's share of the work for the audience member. The show is palatable, consumable, satisfying. I had dinner with JD Derbyshire tonight, and she shared with me that in Zen Buddhism, the goal is to live fully in the present, so there is little place...

We've had our puppy, Bramble, for four weeks now. She just turned 12 weeks on the weekend, and starts puppy classes this week. And I am reflecting on how fun it's been to have her in our lives, and how much change a small little creature can introduce into your world in a very short period of time. I'm thinking about how she's teaching me patience, and how easy she makes it to see what's really im...

This past weekend, my company, Chromatic Theatre participated in the 10-Minute Play Festival as part of the opening weekend of the High Performance Rodeo. A longstanding tradition – six companies are invited to create a 10 minute play in 24 hours with only a prop and a prompt. I'd like to share a line from our team's silly creation, Sparking Joy with Karie Mondo: "Your homework is to take some tim...

Today, I am thinking about audiences. Who doesn't show up? And how do we open doors for them to do so? Is the theatre flexible enough to be relevant to outsiders? Especially out west, where we seem to carry a cowboy attitude: anything goes, everyone is welcome… yet, almost all of our artistic powerhouses found success elsewhere. So what do we do? How do we engage new audiences? Or how do we reinve...

artEquity. This is a program that deeply shifted my personal politics, and helped me feel rooted in who I am. Today, connected with a number of my cohort, and I am thinking about how grateful I am to be connected to this incredible community of artists, advocates, and activists. These folks challenge me to be accountable and to continue to find ways to decolonize artistic practice. They ask hard q...

I'm thinking about vaccinations and puppy cuddles; about strategic planning, and long-term organizational health; about volunteerism; about whether or not working from home is a gift or a curse; about family and travel and travel insurance; about contract negotiations and systemic bias; and really just hoping it all slows down in time for me to rest and try again tomorrow.  

I'm currently participating in the Cultural Leadership Program at the Banff Centre, and we've been asked to 'test drive' an aspirational core value over the past couple of months. Something like… respect, honesty, beauty… a value we can use to guide our decision-making processes as leaders. I'm finding this a near impossible experience. I picked the value "truth", and right now, I think that my tr...

Happy New Year everyone! Um, today… on a day where it feels like everyone is thinking about bettering themselves… what habits to form or break, and which practices to begin… I think I'm joining the fray. It's not wholly formed yet, but I think it's somewhere in the realm of starting a mindfulness practice. To do less, but to try to enjoy what I'm doing more.  My spouse and I got a puppy in mid Dec...

For this final thought, I'm writing it out first, so that I don't have to do several more takes at it. Someone I love very much is trying to sleep and it's 1:30 in the morning. I'd like to give her, Caitie, a shout-out for being great. It's been a long month, and year, but it's people like her who keep me going through it all. She reminds me to never take myself too seriously, and to find laugher...

Merry Christmas to everybody out there listening who celebrates that, and happy holidays to everyone, and Happy New Year to those whose New Year starts soon. Had a great conversation with my family about belief systems at the Christmas dinner tonight. And it was, it was nice to hear my aunts like really come together and listen to the different perspectives that people have now on the world. And I...

Every Christmas Eve my mother, my sister and I play a card game called Wizard, the last thing we do before bed. And for the last, I dunno, five or so years my sister has won. And uhh before that I was the reigning champ for four years or so, and she won again tonight. So I just wanted to take the opportunity to give a shout-out to my little sister Cassandra, who is not little at all. She's much ta...

So I've been doing a lot of these thoughts as one take, which is kind of fun. Sometimes I put songs behind them and I like that. So this is Janet Jackson right now. This year I decided I wanted to rent the Mini Cooper at some point just because I've always wanted to drive one and then I got a chance to. And uh it was great— cost me more money than to rent a regular car, but I needed to rent a car...

I've been doing a lot of reflecting on 2018 as the year comes to an end, and thinking forward to 2019. And I really liked the resolution they had for this year. And I don't feel like I've quite gotten there yet. So I feel like 2018 is more like a stepping stone to 2019. I'm not going to tell you what that thing is, uh because I don't have to, and I choose not to.

I was really excited this week when I found out that uhh Blue Planet 2 is on Netflix now. Um, and I wanted to watch it on Sunday morning and didn't get a chance to. And then Sunday night I went home and I kind of claimed that time and watched the first episode of Blue Planet 2… and it's great! It's beautiful…Definitely check it out.

On the second night back-to-back, on the road, without Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 113- 93. They beat the Clippers last night. And, it's just great to see them really come into form, and play their game, and most importantly they're having fun. And something I've noticed the last couple nights is that the Raptors are having fun. And I think sometimes when things a...