Canadian theatre has found a new home away from home at North London’s artsdepot. With support from Arts Council England and Future Arts Centres, artsdepot is forging relationships with artists from across Canada. The Autumn 2018 season marks the beginning of the venue’s ambition to become a permanent focal point for outstanding Canadian performance and Canadian artists in London.
The three shows in the inaugural Canada Season, opening in October and running to November, represent some of the most innovative and engaging work on the Canadian contemporary scene.
artsdepot’s Director of Programming Louisa Bartlett-Pestell says, “We are very excited to open our doors to remarkable productions, and to programme new theatre which audiences in London would not be able to see otherwise. We are hoping for the Canada Season to become a permanent feature of London’s cultural calendar, celebrating originality, diversity, and international exchange that have long been a strength of the arts.”
Theatre Conspiracy (Vancouver) open the season with Foreign Radical, a thrilling immersive theatre experience exploring security and freedom in the age of cybersurveillance. Audiences will enjoy a unique experience, as their collaboration, investigation and debate influence the outcome of the show. Performed in three languages, Foreign Radical has been described as “boundary-pushing” and won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Next follows Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story by 2b theatre (Halifax). Starring genre-bending singer Ben Caplan, the show blends a dark folk tale with a high energy concert. Playwright Hannah Moscovitch has woven the true story of her Jewish-Romanian immigrant grandparents into a reflection on love in the time of war, infused with moving Klezmer and folk songs by Caplan. Old Stock won the Herald Angel award and enjoyed a hugely successful tour in North America, as well as a publicly and critically acclaimed run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The season concludes with We Keep Coming Back by Selfconscious Productions (Toronto). This complex drama follows real-life mother and son, Mary Berchard and Michael Rubenfeld, as they trace their family history on a journey through Poland. In a soul-baring, and often humorous performance they attempt to capture the truth of a Polish-Jewish reality that keeps changing. Documentary storytelling takes audiences deep into the genuine traumas of the post-war generations.
Since opening in 2004, award-winning artsdepot has been presenting artists from across the globe, while remaining firmly rooted in the community of Barnet and North London, nurturing emerging artists and young talent, and engaging with people through participation and outreach projects. A thriving venue, the arts centre welcomes over 154,000 visitors every year.
