Tag Archives: theatre

CKMS News -2025-01-17- MT Space hosting “Works-in-Progress” mini festival this weekend

CKMS News – 2025-01-17- MT Space hosting “Works-in-Progress” Mini Festival this weekend.

dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – Theatre lovers in Waterloo Region will have a chance this week to peek behind the curtain and experience some of the creative process involved in creating a play, as MT Space hosts their first ever “Works-in-Progress” mini-festival, part of their 20th year celebrations.

Patrons are invited to the Registry theatre for presentations of plays which are still being worked on by their creators.  Putting the “process over the product” each play will give audiences a glimpse into the creative process, and provide them the opportunity to give feedback to the playwrights.

This show features an interview with MT Space artistic director Pam Patel. Patel discusses the themes of the plays being presented and speaks about the value of developing a piece of theatre with audience feedback. Visit MTSpace.ca for more information about the festival.  Tickets for shows on January 17th and 18th are still available and are pay-what-you-can. 

CKMS News -2024-10-16- MT Space screens recently rediscovered documentary following capacity boost from resiliency fund

CKMS News -2024-10-16- MT Space screens recently rediscovered documentary following capacity boost from resiliency fund.

dan kellar
Waterloo, ON – 
The rediscovery and presentation of a piece of local theatre history are the latest results of a resiliency grant for the MT Space theater company.  The 2022 grant from the Ontario Trillium Fund, added 3 apprenticeship positions to the group. This boost to organizational capacity led to the rediscovery of a documentary which was filmed during the first IMPACT festival that MT Space organized in 2009.

On October 4th, at the First United church in Waterloo, MT Space presented the documentary, which invited viewers to “See the vision that our Founding Artistic Director Majdi Bou-Matar had laid out for MT Space”. Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife spoke at the event which also celebrated the organization’s 20th year of producing theater.

This show features an interview with Yazan Maarouf, MT Space’s Associate Producer. Maarouf speaks about the funding’s effects, the documentary screening, the fundraising events which run until November, and upcoming projects from MT Space.

A black and white near-profile headshot photograph of Yazan Maarouf who has short hair and a beard and is wearing a dark shirt. The background is black.
Photo courtesy of Yazan Maarouf

CKMS News -2024-08-08- Kitchener based playwright presenting double-bill at Guelph Fringe festival

CKMSNews-2024-08-08-Kitchener based playwright presenting double-bill at Guelph Fringe festival

dan kellar
Kitchener –
Kitchener based playwright Ciarán Meyers is presenting a double bill at Guelph Fringe, his debut at the local theater festival.  According to Meyers, the two short plays, Hum-Buzz and Amygdalal  take a “goofy—sometimes biting—view of human evolution, how we got here, and what we are”.

Recent UW theater graduate Zaniq King is featured in both plays, which are polished versions of works Meyers has been developing for several years in more informal settings..

The Guelph Fringe festival runs from August 8-11 with 45 total performances. Meyers’ will have 3 show times for Hum-Buzz and Amygdala, one on each of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Visit GuelphFringe.ca for more information.

CKMS News -2024-08-01- Ontario pirate festival drops anchor outside of Guelph in Marden Park

CKMS News -2024-08-01- Ontario Pirate Festival Drops Anchor In Marden Park, Outside Guelph

dan kellar
Marden
, ON – Dropping anchor 1.6 nautical miles north-west of Guelph to set up the Dry Bluffs shanty town, the
Ontario Pirate Festival will take over Marden Park on the civic holiday long-weekend.  The immersive festival will have different styles of live entertainment, local vendors, “food for yer gob”, an ale and grog house, “the spray of the sea” (misting tents),  and child-focused theater.

This show features an interview with Captain Zoltan the Adequate, who along with captain Kelly have taken over organizing the festival, following a few years of the event sailing through choppy waters.  Calling this the “recovery breakout year” Captain Zoltan gives CKMS News the details on what folks can expect at the festival over the weekend, provides some background on the festival’s voyage, and answers one of life’s big questions “Why Pirates?”