The Title Block – Details, episodes & analysis

On September 3, 202, we held a panel entitled Sustainability in Design.

The UN has named this the Decade of Action, our last chance to create the transformation to a livable future. What does it mean to align our practices with a 1.5 degree Celsius global temperature rise?

This event focuses on the aesthetics of climate-friendly sustainable design in theatre, as a core design practice and as part of a larger equitable green recovery.

Panel members include Logan Raju Cracknell, Kendra Fanconi, Paul Fujimoto-Pihl, Lauren Gaston, Elia Kirby, Ken MacKenzie, and Edward T Morris. The moderator is Ian Garrett.

On August 6th, 2020, we presented what proved to be another important discussion about todays theatre in Canada or Turtle Island: Grounding Indigenous Art & Design On Mixed-Raced Teams: A conversation reflecting on creating spaces and processes for Indigenous Theatre with anti-appropriative practices and inter-Nation collaborations. Our panel included performer Yolanda Bonnell, sound designer/composer Mishelle Cuttler, costume designer Samantha McCue, and projection, set and lighting designer Emily Soussana. The panel was led by Fire Creator, Indigenous Theorist and Cultural Evolutionist, Kim Senklip Harvey.

I met with Robert Gardiner at the University of British Columbia’s Fredrick Wood Theatre in the design department at the beginning of 2019. We speak about his early work in the US and is eventual move to the UBC drama department, and his thoughts on theatre training and the changes in producing theatre in Canada over the last 40 years.

On this inaugural Title Block Live event, join Conor Moore as he attempts to wrangle a rambunctious panel consisting of Bonnie Beecher, Kevin Fraser, Louise Guinand, Kevin Lamotte, Kimberly Purtell, and Michael Walton to answer your questions about lighting design.

Hey there, Michael Kruse here again - I have to recall that last announcement! We are also in a period of flux, I jumped the gun a bit, and the First Title Block Live episode will now be on Thursday April 16th at 8 pm EST. Join me, and designer Conor Moore, as well as an all-star panel every Thursday at 8 pm EST, starting April 16th on the Title Block Podcasts channel on youtube live. Find us at The Title Block Podcast on YouTube and plug into a great conservation about theatre design. The show can be linked to here: https://youtu.be/QAo7izFCuZ0 So, this Thursday, April 16th at 8 pm EST we start with lighting designers Louse Guinand, Kevin Fraser, Michael Walton, Kim Purtell, and Kevin Lamotte who will be answering your questions sent to thetitleblock@gmail.com, so start sending those in and we will try to address them during the show. We will have a panel on video design coming up in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that anouncement, and in the mean time, please visit thetitleblock.com for past episodes. I will be releasing the audio from the live shows on the podcast feed as well, and the videos will stay up to review after the event as well, so don't worry if you miss it.

I joined Rob at his home in Port Moody BC, just outside Vancouver in December of 2018. We speak about his start in lighting at the Banff Centre and move into live events at Christie Lites Vancouver. Waxing on about early movers we flesh out his work in large scale live events for television, including the opening and closing ceremonies for the Paralympics in Vancouver in 2010 and the Grey Cup half time show. You can find his portfolio at www.robert-sondergaard.com.

During these, um, what's the euphimism markerters are using? "Uncertain Times" we are all stuck at home waiting to make our art again; waiting for the world to change and settle and pushed apart from each other.

In an effort to build comm unity and to take one small advantage of this, tumolt, The Title Block is debuting a new weekly live event to deepen the conversation about design in Canadian theatre.  b

Join me, and designer Conor Moore, as well as an all-star panel every Tuesday at 8 pm EST, starting April 14th on the Title Block Podcasts channel on youtube live. Goto youtube.com/thetitleblockpodcast/live and plug into a great converstation about theatre design.

This tuesday April 14th we start with lighting designers Louse Guinod, Kevin Fraser, Michael Walton, and Kim Purtel talking about the Fourth Wall and how lighting designers think about it.

We will have a panel on video design coming up in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that anouncement, and in the mean time, please visit thetitleblock.com for past episodes. 

Thank you for your support, and take care during these outrageous times.

Mary and I met at her home in Victoria BC in December of 2018. We speak of her early days growing up in Winnipeg dancing in her mother’s dance studio and her transition to majorette, sculpture and finally nationally renowned set and costume designer. We speak for considerable length about her collaboration with the late Stephen Katz and her work on the spectacular opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games in 1994. Mary’s work was featured in the seminal book Scenography in Canada by Natalie Rewa and she currently is a professor at the University of Victoria.

I had a great opportunity while I was in Calgary in the winter of 2019 to speak with designer April Viczso. She is an associate professor and the chair of the department of design in the school of creative and performing arts at the University of Calgary. She is also the past president of the Associated Designers of Canada and a founding member of the controversial Designers Working Group. We speak about her early experiences at Scenotecnica Piu in Italy at the beginning of her career and her journey from Prudhomme Saskachewan to Toronto and back to Calgary. You can see examples of her work at https://aprilviczko.com/ .

On September 23, 2019, Sholem Dolgoy, the head of theatre production training at Ryerson University’s School of Performance retired. He taught at the school since the early 1980’s while building a towering career in lighting design in Canadian theatre and dance. I recorded the presentation that night and present here to you the juiciest bits of that evening, including an addendum to our talk from Episode #13 of the The Title Clock. We recap Sholem’s career, how he got into teaching and his efforts to laud the word of theatre administrators in a time when we need them most.

Thank you, Sholem, for being a mentor to so many great artists, and we wish you all the best on your next adventure.