Brief History

TIFT was formed in Toronto in 2001 by Arkady Spivak, its current Artistic Producer and four other founding members as an artist-driven theatre company. As a reaction to the prevailing theatre practice in Canada, our plans were to follow the European repertory theatre tradition. We wanted to program repertoire with the goal of challenging a predetermined ensemble of actors, rather than producing work strictly on the merits of the script. Our producing approach was not to explore one given style, form or issue, but to focus primarily on a creative ensemble capable of tackling anything from experimental drama to musical comedy.

    

While in Toronto, TIFT produced three full-scale productions, most notably an absurd Russian Comedy Christmas at the Ivanovs, for which it received a Dora Nomination for Outstanding Production in the Independent Theatre Category. Talk Is Free operated on a project basis during its early days.

In 2002, TIFT relocated to the City of Barrie to achieve a better positioning for our artistic vision, within the framework of our new community's evolving cultural needs. Talk Is Free Theatre was incorporated as a Barrie-based, not-for-profit, charitable organization, retaining its original mandate. Talk Is Free has been producing full seasons since its relocation. Some of the 41 works produced in Barrie to date include: site specific production of The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol at Barrie City Hall, environmental production of Oliver!, Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of An Anarchist, Nikolai Gogol’s The Marriage, Leslie Arden’s Harvest Moon Rising, Carol Bolt’s One Night Stand, Colette: The Colours of Love by Christopher Covert and Barbara York (Spence Potter), Mikhail Bulgakov’s Moliere or League of Hypocrites, Joey Miller's Playground, Daniel MacIvor's This Is a Play, Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, two productions of Emily, a World Premiere of Shumskawsling written by Deaf playwright Michael Cyr and featuring an integrated company of hearing and deaf actors, the Canadian premiere of Anyone Can Whistle (In Concert), Kiss of the Spider Woman, the world premiere of the musical Variations on a Nervous Breakdown by the first-time writer Jonathan Monro, the North American Premiere of 1949 play by Alejandro Casona Trees Die Standing Tall, an in-concert production of Canadian musical Napoleon and a smash hit production of Darrell Dennis’ Tales of an Urban Indian, held on a moving city bus. 

Among the artists who have worked with TIFT are Leslie Arden, Richard Ouzounian, Cathy Elliott, Mike Nadajewski, Glynis Ranney, Jennifer Stewart, Sam Strasfeld, Marek Norman, Darrell Dennis, Herbie Barnes, Adam Brazier, Maja Ardal, Juan Chioran, Jennifer Phipps, Aleksandar Lukac, Blythe Wilson, Jeannette Lambermont, Salvatore Antonio and many others.

In 2007, Talk is Free Theatre was invited to perform excerpts from our production of Canadian musical Emily at the prestigious NAMT (National Alliance of Musical Theaters) Songwriters Showcase, part of Festival of New Musicals in New York City. In September 2008 Talk Is Free Theatre was invited to perform excerpts from our production of Moliere or League of Hypocrites at the annual International Bulgakov Festival of Creativity in Kiev, Ukraine, a first for a Canadian theatre company.

This year, our Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak won the inaugural Barrie Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts. Our long-time supporter, North American Centre Corp, won the prestigious 2008 Globe and Mail Business and the Arts Award (First Dance).

In November 2008, Talk Is Free Theatre moved into the Barrie Performing Arts Centre in downtown Barrie, a 120-seat facility renovated, owned and managed by the City of Barrie as part of its cultural plan.

 

Organizational Mandate

As an artist-driven company, our mandate is to support the emerging artist community by producing a wide range of ensemble-based, off-centre, inventive and rare programming. We strive to:

  • Address the well-being of local youth by involving them in the core of all our activities Break barriers for wider public participation and access;
  • Build a distinct local professional artistic community by providing increased opportunities to local professional artists.

Through our artistic work, community involvement and business innovation our goal is to develop a unique, vibrant and internationally recognized cultural identity for the City of Barrie.

Artistic Vision

Our artistic vision is to develop and to produce ensemble-driven programming of wide range. We concentrate primarily on theatrical works that had a fractured production history. This includes those styles and forms of theatre that are still in search of a wider audience, either within the local community or within general theatre practice in Canada. In our producing activity we continue to be especially concerned with the evolution of the Canadian Musical as a distinct theatrical form and the re-examination of classics from the International and Canadian repertoires. Whenever possible we also develop and produce works by local playwrights and/or about local themes. This is within our vision of building a unique cultural identity for Barrie that is internationally recognized, while deeply rooted in the local community and, when possible, the work of local artists. Our overall choices are driven by the necessity to educate our audience in the appreciation of alternative, innovative and challenging theatrical repertoire, particularly from the stand-point of a smaller municipality, producing work with a national, international resonance.  

 

Previous Productions

Click here for our production archive.

 

New Work Development

Talk Is Free Theatre's New Work Development Program parallels our operating philosophy to create new work for or by our company members. We are particularly dedicated to Canadian musical theatre, new types of theatre practice and locally written plays. However, our mandate is deliberately diverse and no restrictions are in place.

In addition to commissions and world premieres, TIFT has been a third-party recommender under the Theatre Creators' Reserve Program of the Ontario Arts Council, where the priority is to fund creation of new musical theatre by writers who are in the early stage of their careers. This year's deadline is October 30, 2010. For more information, please see http://www.tift.ca/submissions.htm.

For other new work development inquiries, please contact Arkady Spivak, Artistic Producer at arkady@tift.ca or

(705) 792-1949 ext. 22.

 

TIFT Venues

Talk Is Free Theatre's trademark is to perform in intimate settings. We typically use the following venues:

  • Our new home venue "Downtown Theatre" or "Barrie's Performing Arts Centre" opened in November of 2008 and is located at 1 Dunlop St. West in Downtown Barrie. It is a 100-seat flexible studio theatre where our conventional programming will be offered. Map here
  • Our Musical-in-Concert productions will be performed at the Georgian College Theatre (Gryphon Theatre - part of Georgian College) at 1 Georgian Drive, Barrie. The Georgian College Theatre is the 427-seat venue, which has been used by world renowned artists over the last 30 years. Map here
  • Ocassionally we undertake special site-specific productions like Tales of an Urban Indian which was performed on a city bus in the Summer of 2009.

 

TiFT STAFF
Artistic Producer
 Arkady Spivak
Administrator
 Cara McRae
Director of Development
Andrea Roylance
*Associate Artistic Producer
Adam Brazier


* The services of Adam Brazier are made possible through a special grant from the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation - Professional Development Program.

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