14 years of inspiraTO: Mayhem, Madness & Magic! (over 100 photos)
Getting ready
We wanted to share some of the mayhem, madness and magic we experienced at inspiraTO over the years. Organizing the festival was a year-long ordeal. After reading from 300 to over 1,000 play submissions per year we needed to hit the ground running with the production. Lumir Hladik (Associate Artistic Director) would map out the set design based on that year’s theme. Here is the mock-up for the 8th season (scroll below to “Re-purposed” to see how it looked on stage).
Mayhem: aboard inspiraTO
Once the plays were announced we put out a call for directors and held a meeting. To manage so many plays we needed a master organizer. That person was Erin O’Hanley, the General Manager (seen here holding a meeting with the directors for the 8th season)!
The infamous “Ls”
With six to eight plays per show, we wanted to minimize set changes between plays. We re-purposed many of the set pieces with our infamous “Ls” (L-shaped cubes), with 14 different configurations. We could turn a couch into a car within 45 seconds!
Set madness
The theme for the 7th season was “vision”. The key element of the set was this “eye” (10 foot circle, within a circle, that could rotate) as seen behind the actor, Jonathan Ho. It was an engineering miracle how we constructed the “eye” and an even greater feat how we secured it on its axis on stage.
Re-purposed
This photo is taken after we did the load-in of the set design for the 8th season. Notice how the semi-circular structures were part of the the 7th season’s “eye” — just cut up and reconfigured. Lumir is feeling smug (rightly so)!
Projections
Lumir’s projections offered a way to transport the audience, from one play to the next, instantaneously, in space and time. Some of the projections were simply stunning – but always serving the intention and direction of the play
That’s not blue!
We grouped the shows in the red or blue Shows and wanted elements of each colour to be represented on stage. The blueShow, the costumes, the projections and even lighting design had to be a shade of blue. Lumir would go around and re-enforce what was appropriate for the actor’s costume. Occasionally you would hear him remind the director: “green is not blue!” Ah, the things we did for art. Then there was time we had a red dress in a blueShow—we never said we were perfect.
Site specific
We kept addding more elements to the festival, like site specific plays (near the Alumnae theatre). In one instance, we got chased out by a security guard for doing a play in an alleyway. In another instance, the owner of a cafe changed their mind at the last minute — we had to run across the street from Alumnae and ask if we could do the play in their pub. They saved the day!
Learn, grow
We were committed to having education be part of what we did. We started offering workshops and mentoring for playwrights from the 7th season on. Thanks to Pat the Dog, in our early years, in mentoring playwrights (and a host of other experienced playwrights). This photo is of the Playwriting Academy of 2015. In later seasons we added workshops for directors. It was inspiring to have playwrights and directors learn their craft and see their work on stage.
Craziness
The tenth season was the single craziest thing we ever did. In honour of being around for a decade, in addition to the Mainstage shows, and a Playwriting Academy, we added a symposium on art, a retrospective of inspiraTO, a jazz fusion band, site specific plays, and “quickies”(single performances of a ten-minute play) in a dressing room we converted in a performance space (Trinity Room). All this added up to over 90 performances. This was truly an “urban jungle” experience. Shakespeare rings in my head: “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”
Expanding
Many enjoyed the intimacy we created with the performances of the small space in the Trinity room. We added shows that incorporated both the Trinity room and Studio space, as well as, the Mainstage. The Black and White shows were born. In later years, we added an Unhinged show (plays chosen by a lottery system). A big thank you to Alumnae Theatre and their staff for being accommodating – we maximized every inch of their space!
After the pandemic we tried our hand in audio drama (which we enjoyed doing).
The last thing we did was the Beautiful Constraint workshop for playwrights: staying true to our roots.
The awards: a celebration of theatre magic
This review sums up what inspiraTO was all about:
“The one element that stands out all night (and one gets the feeling that it extends throughout the festival) is the energy and enthusiasm of all players involved. Everyone – actors, writers, directors and designers – truly believe in what they are doing and in the power of theatre. In the presence of such passion, one can’t help but feel inspired. The audience is also a strong believer in what is happening onstage. And with good reason – there is some excellent work to be found here.” –Ben Ross, The Theatre Reader, review of InspiraTO’s 2015 Festival
A heartfelt thank you to the leads, volunteers, crew, actors, directors, playwrights, board members, sponsors and audiences who supported inspiraTO.
TAKE A TRIP BACK IN MEMORY LANE
(inspiraTO through the years):
dominik loncar 