Theatre is Territory

It’s true
When we started this theatre blog in October of 2006, we set out to plot our own little map of Toronto’s independent theatre scene. Through this collection of interviews, surveys, roundups, announcements, questions, answers, comments, listings, Steel Diaries and theatre quotes, we feel we’re a little closer to understanding the terrain.

But here’s the thing: the deeper we look, the more we see how much there is to know and how many different methods there are for collecting and interpreting all this information. It’s like the good book says – what you see depends on where you stand.

Classism and the theatre cat
So, we’re looking for guest bloggers to help us see what we’re not seeing, and maybe to ask the questions we’re not asking. No idea is too silly (does anyone remember theatre cat?), or too serious (anyone want to do a series on theatre and class?).

Our community spends a lot of time looking for inventive ways to offset its relative lack of resources – same goes for this blog. And in a way, blogging about theatre is a lot like making theatre: You’re only as good as your last post. (Thank God Simon Michellepis gives good interview.)

Hopefully, some of you feel as we do: that this exercise in theatrical cartography is worthwhile. And that it’s worth considering – if only for a moment – what you might have to offer as a guest blogger.

So here it is:
An open invitation to guest bloggers. Got a column idea? A theatre-related top-five list? Feeling soap-boxy? Good with a camera? Could be a snappy one-off or a wordy academic series. Whatever it is, please drop us a line with your theatre-related idea and start guest blogging on Theatre is Territory today!

Thanks so much for reading this.

We hope you don’t see this as an invitation to take your theatre blog dollars elsewhere (so to speak), but these other theatre blogs are just too good to keep to ourselves.

In no particular order, here are the other theatre blogs we’re currently reading:

Theatre Ideas
Scott Walters is an Associate Professor with the University of North Carolina’s Drama Department. Unlike some other theory blogs we’ve come across, Walters’ insightful Theater Ideas finds a nice balance between weighty theoretical discourse and clear and direct language. Frequent posts covering a wide range of theatre-related topics and a lively comments section makes this a worthwhile boomarker.

The Wrecking Ball
The folks at the Toronto-based The Wrecking Ball present a broad range of insightful theatre- and arts-related posts falling from their “new political theatre” mandate: “There is no question that theatre exists in our news — the performances have all been top rate, but the question is: where is the news in our theatre?” Good question.

Histriomastix
David Cote is a theatre editor with Time Out New York (TONY) and pens this meaty theatre blog under the banner, “Sound and fury from a New York theater critic.”

Take a gander at this diamond sharp delivery from one of Cote’s recent posts:

“[Richard] Foreman’s and [Wallace] Shawn’s careers have complemented one another for years. Both are masters of blunt but surgically precise language that insinuates itself into your conscience (or unconscious), and, at its best, forcibly realigns your basic relationships to objects and people.”

Enjoy.

Got the inside scoop on an interesting theatre blog or website? We’d love to know about it. Drop us a line and share the love.