Talk Is Free Theatre is a not for profit theatre company in Barrie whose mandate includes youth outreach and involvement in our community.
In our efforts to reach out to local youth, we offer many programs and volunteer opportunities benefitting young people by enriching their cultural experiences at a local level.
We offer student matinee performances for most of our season productions. Student matinee tickets are $15 (includes HST and all ticket fees). Teachers’ tickets are complimentary when escorting a group of students to a matinee.
For more information, please contact:
Arkady Spivak
arkady@tift.ca
Each semester, Talk Is Free Theatre invites a Simcoe County high school drama class to ‘adopt’ a production – and see first hand how professional theatre is created! Students meet the creative team, attend read-throughs and rehearsals and are invited to a regular performance. Best of all, this program is entirely free – including busing! Applications are welcomed annually for participating classes.
For more information, or to be added to our list of teachers, please contact:
Arkady Spivak
arkady@tift.ca
The Ms Main Asked For This Program program is designed to bring assistance from the theatre professionals directly to school staff and students, who would like support on one or more necessary aspects of their upcoming productions. Productions can include annual plays or musicals, Sears Festival productions, independent works, etc. The goal of this program is to support staff and/or students on their independent work, especially on an extra-curricular basis.
Applications are available for teachers as well as students.
For more information, please contact:
Arkady Spivak
arkady@tift.ca
The Talk Is Free Theatre Drama Award recognizes senior Drama students for outstanding contributions to the art of theatre throughout their high school career.
This award is given at the discretion of the teacher. The selection may be based on a combination of academic achievement, leadership, enthusiasm and effort. It is available to those participating in any aspect of theatre production. All recipients of this award will be presented with a certificate of acknowledgement. Each school may honour two recipients per year.
In order to receive this award, please contact Talk Is Free Theatre to receive the application form and return it to Talk Is Free Theatre by the indicated deadline. Certificates will be forwarded to your school to the attention of the nominating teacher.
There is no charge for the drama award.
For more information, please contact:
Arkady Spivak
arkady@tift.ca
Each semester, TIFT accepts up to two co-op students to complete their placement with Talk Is Free Theatre.
For more information on the positions and availability, please contact:
Cara McRae, Administrator
cara@tift.ca
705-792-1949 ext. 121.
Talk Is Free Theatre is on the lookout for people to work as ARIA operators for our upcoming shows and presentations.
As you may know, ARIA (Augmented Reality for Immersive Accessibility) is an innovative language translation tool developed through TIFT’s Service Projects. Using smart glasses with small embedded screens, ARIA delivers real-time translations directly into each audience member’s view, enabling multilingual access and enhanced accessibility during live theatre experiences. It’s designed to help audiences connect beyond language barriers and supports captioning and translation in over 40 languages, broadening who can fully engage with our work.
We are looking for artists who are comfortable with tech and hardware — folks who are curious, detail-oriented, and excited to help bring ARIA to life in performance contexts. Some technical experience with both software and hardware is an asset, but artists of any level are welcome to apply.
There will be a paid in-person training session in Toronto in February for all selected applicants. This session will introduce the ARIA system and get you up to speed on operating it during rehearsals and performances; attendance at this training is required for this round.
Successful applicants will be added to a roster of ARIA operators and will be compensated on a project-by-project basis throughout the season.
Please send the following to Gabi Epstein:
Talk Is Free Theatre is on the lookout for people to work as ARIA operators for our upcoming shows and presentations.
As you may know, ARIA (Augmented Reality for Immersive Accessibility) is an innovative language translation tool developed through TIFT’s Service Projects. Using smart glasses with small embedded screens, ARIA delivers real-time translations directly into each audience member’s view, enabling multilingual access and enhanced accessibility during live theatre experiences. It’s designed to help audiences connect beyond language barriers and supports captioning and translation in over 40 languages, broadening who can fully engage with our work.
We are looking for artists who are comfortable with tech and hardware — folks who are curious, detail-oriented, and excited to help bring ARIA to life in performance contexts. Some technical experience with both software and hardware is an asset, but artists of any level are welcome to apply.
There will be a paid in-person training session in Toronto in February for all selected applicants. This session will introduce the ARIA system and get you up to speed on operating it during rehearsals and performances; attendance at this training is required for this round.
Successful applicants will be added to a roster of ARIA operators and will be compensated on a project-by-project basis throughout the season.
Please send the following to Gabi Epstein:
