OUR MANDATE & VISION:
ARC is a diverse and multi-disciplined group of Resident Artists — performers, designers, directors, visual artists, musicians, composers, writers, curators, producers, and stage management. ARC takes a rigourous, energetic, socially active, and highly collaborative approach in presenting contemporary international works that have rarely – if ever – been staged in Canada (or Turtle Island); in re-imagining world theatre “classics;” and in devising original performative work based on global literary sources.
By partnering with other theatre companies, community stakeholders, non-government organizations, and other non-artists, we endeavour to use the work we make as a means of creating dialogue, of making space for underprivileged voices, of fostering understanding and awareness, and of building bridges.
We are committed to making theatre that illuminates universal human themes through a thorough and thoughtful exploration of specific international works. In so doing, we seek to reflect and to engage with the unique diversity of the modern Canadian audience.
OUR MISSION:
When the founding members of ARC created the company in 1998, they started with a simple idea: an artist-run theatre company that would bring the very best of the international stage to Toronto (or Tkaronto). Company members would lead every project right through to production – from curation to design to performance. Since then, we have produced an eclectic and acclaimed collection of shows garnering fourteen Dora Mavor Moore nominations and two awards.
We are committed to the ongoing development of our Resident Artists – both as individuals and as members of an interdependent company of theatre makers. Together we learn, we grow, we dream, we flail, we build, we shock, we amaze, and we create things far greater than any one of us could have conceived of alone.
ARC is making world theatre in a world city. Toronto/Tkaronto is one of the most diverse cities on earth, and we are so fortunate to be creating performance right here – at the intersection of so many stories, histories, and voices. This is a city of collision and confluence. In many ways, the world is right here.
As we move forward, we strive to tell stories that reflect and engage with our audiences. We strive to actively facilitate a socially conscious dialogue with the community around us based on the work we make. We strive to forge and foster new creative partnerships with artists across this land, and around the world. And we strive to create work that is innovative, rigourous, energizing, and bold.
ARC has been incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable organization since 2000.
ARC IN THE COMMUNITY:
In recent years, ARC has made a name for itself as a company of artists that places great significance on engaging our communities within the context of our work. We have spearheaded initiatives like World Theatre Day: A Celebration (2014-present), post-show TalkBack sessions (2013-present), moderated Post-Show Panels (2013-present), and this year we unveiled our most ambitious initiative: The Open Room. The Open Room aims for a uniquely Canadian interpretation of international plays by embracing social and cultural diversity, and inviting artist and non-artist community stakeholders into a creative and political dialogue based on the play at hand. Recent productions include BEA by Mick Gordon (2013), MOMENT by Deirdre Kinahan (2015), POMONA by Alistair McDowall (2016), KISS by Guillermo Calderón (2017), DISSIDENTS by Philippe Ducros (2018), and HUMAN ANIMALS by Stef Smith (2019).
