Let’s turn the page: Announcing a nationwide program for emerging performing arts critics
iPhoto caption: Logo by Sunyeong Han.
Do you like writing about the performing arts but wish you had more skills and contacts to help you advance in the field? Would you like to continue to build your writing and critical thinking skills? Are you IBPOC or from another equity-seeking background?
There’s a new program for you.
Neworld Theatre in Vancouver and Intermission editorial advisor Karen Fricker are pleased to announce Page Turn: a two-year professionalization and skills-building network for emerging performing arts critics in Canada. Intermission is a partner on this project, along with Punctuate! Theatre, Stir Magazine, and the Toronto Fringe. The project is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Page Turn aims to equip writers of any age with some experience and training in performing arts criticism, feature writing, and/or online content creation with further professional skills; and also intends to build community and solidarity among emerging performing arts writers.
The project, which will involve a cohort of 10 writers, is intended to complement entry-level criticism training projects such as Neworld’s Critical Futures, Intermission/the Stratford Festival’s IBPOC Critics Lab, and Toronto Fringe’s New Young Reviewers.
“We’ve realized that while these programs have been useful in getting writers started,” said Fricker, “many still need more support and mentorship as they advance in the field. How to match a story idea to a publication, for example, how to develop relationships with editors, and how to nurture your specific voice — these are next-level skills that the program will focus on.”
“If Critical Futures and the IBPOC Critics Lab were Criticism 101, this program is the 201,” said Neworld’s artistic director Chelsea Haberlin.
Page Turn is open to writers who identify as IBPOC, and is also open to applications from others who face barriers to participation in the performing arts-writing field, including those who identify as 2SLGBTQ+, Non-binary, d/Deaf, Mad, Disabled, or who face other barriers to participation.
Participants will be compensated for time spent participating in project meetings and other activities, and will be paid for articles written as part of the program.
The program is co-facilitated by cultural critic Jose Solís and multidisciplinary theatre artist and Intermission staff writer Nathaniel Hanula-James, with support from project co-directors Fricker and Haberlin, as well as project managers Daniela Atencia and Angelica Schwartz. Neworld Theatre is producing and administering the project.
Please see the call for participation for further details. The application portal is open now through July 24, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Liam Donovan
Liam is Intermission’s senior editor. He lives in Toronto. His Substack newsletter is available at loamdonovan.substack.com.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: Eric Woolfe in 'The Call Centre of Cthulhu.' Photo by Jack Woolfe.
REVIEW: In Eldritch’s puppet-packed Call Centre of Cthulhu, coincidence signals apocalyptic doom
It's a campy-as-ever blend of puppets, character voices, and card tricks — a dose of classic Eldritch excess, timed to the Halloween season.
iPhoto caption: The Lula Lounge in Toronto. Photo by Sam Gaetz.
At events across the country, Canadian Actors’ Equity Association celebrates 50 years
Equity represents nearly 6,000 professional artists working in opera, English-language theatre, and dance nationwide, advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, and more.
iPhoto caption: Karen Robinson in 'Prophetess.' Photo by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: In Tarragon’s outstanding Prophetess, language is both mighty and inadequate
Margaret’s facility with text helps her maneuver through an institution like York University, where words hold significant power. But the brilliant middle-aged scholar finds herself surprisingly unequipped to process the true sense of more elemental forces: love, grief, spiders.
iPhoto caption: 'Documents Perform 3.' Photo by T Photo Factory.
Joining online from across the Americas, more than a dozen artists, artistic producers, cultural leaders, and policymakers add live suggestions to the document, together transforming stuffy bureaucratic language into a rowdy patchwork of compassionate imagining.
iPhoto caption: Stratford's Tom Patterson Theatre. Photo by Ann Baggley.
2027 highlights include a new Canadian Jacob Two-Two musical and two of the Bard’s thornier plays: The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew.
iPhoto caption: Devon Michael Brown as Rusty Charlie with members of the 'Guys and Dolls' company.
“It's so exhausting, but it's really rewarding when you get to dance so full-out,” says Devon Michael Brown. “You get to use your technique and your training to the fullest extent.”
Comments