We’ve Got A Winner! (or 3)

Congratulations to Emily Dix, Anna Douglas and Chad Allen for their Broadway World Toronto Award wins for their work on our 2023 production of The Birds.

Thanks to all who voted!

Broadway World Toronto Award Nominations

Bygone Theatre receives 20 nominations for our work last season!

We’re thrilled to announce we’ve received a number of nominations for the 2023 Broadway World Toronto Awards. Voting is open now, so if you liked what you saw during our tenth season, please drop by and cast your vote!

Here’s a list of our nominations:

The Birds

BEST PLAY

BEST NEW PLAY

BEST ENSEMBLE
Anna Douglas, Alex Clay, Oliver Georgiou, Kiera Publicover, Chad Allen

BEST PERFORMER
Anna Douglas as Daphne

BEST PERFORMER
Alex Clay as David

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER
Oliver Georgiou as Mitch

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER
Kiera Publicover as Annie

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER
Chad Allen as Hank

BEST DIRECTOR
Emily Dix

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Wes Babcock

BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Wes Babcock and Emily Dix

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Emily Dix

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Emily Dix

The Yellow Wallpaper

BEST PLAY

BEST NEW PLAY

BEST PERFORMER
Kate McArthur as Woman

BEST DIRECTION
Emily Dix

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Emily Dix

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Julia Edda Pape

Wayne & Shuster, Live!

BEST ENSEMBLE
Matt Baram, Aurora Browne, Bren Eastcott, Leigh Cameron, Oliver Georgiou, Darryl Hinds

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Emily Dix

Bygone Theatre Launches 11th Season With a New Downtown Arts Venue!

The Bridge Offers Affordable Space for Artists in Toronto’s Entertainment District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TORONTO, ON (November 21^st, 2023) Bygone Theatre is thrilled to announce the launch of our new space, The Bridge, at 379 Adelaide St. W., 4^th floor. This 7500sqft mixed-use art space is inhabited by Bygone along with partners UKAI Projects and Vodkow and will provide affordable rentals for artists looking for anything from a self-tape studio to a rehearsal space, a performance venue and more. As well, our eleventh season will feature the return of one of our award-winning plays; an expanded business and financial literacy program; and several fun workshops and events.

ABOUT THE BRIDGE

The art world, like everything else, is in a period of profound transition. The Bridge is a space for research and experimentation on how to best respond to these changes and to make art that engages audiences in the shifts underway.

As a response to the rapidly increasing cost of living, The Bridge is committed to providing artists space at hourly rates that are below minimum wage. “Affordability is really important to us”, says Bygone founder and Artistic Executive Director, Emily Dix, “and I mean real affordability. Affordable for artists who are often making minimum wage. Not just ‘below market value’ – artists shouldn’t have to choose between paying for a space to make and present their art and paying to eat”. It’s this belief that has led The Bridge to prioritize extremely low rates for artist rentals, with rehearsal and performance space starting at $10/hr for eligible artists and art groups.

The space at 379 Adelaide is leased until January 31, 2026, and efforts are already well underway to raise money to support its operations. Allied Properties REIT has provided in-kind support through favourable and flexible leasing terms for the space.; Beanfield is our connectivity sponsor, and has provided us with high-speed internet; derooted is hosting an extensive, responsive lighting set-up, valued at about $30,000; our partners UKAI Projects provide management and grant support; and co-tenants Vodkow have generously sponsored our bar and events.

Our funding goal for The Bridge over the course of our lease is $250,000. Approximately $105,000 of that will be programmatic funding, providing free access and support to a cohort of approximately 45 artists a month. About $5,000 a month will go towards regular staffing costs, and the remainder will cover our lease and overhead. While a large and ambitious sum, the value potential for the community is huge. If we successfully secure this funding then all artists can access the space at the lowest rates of $10 an hour, half the cost of some of the next cheapest rentals available in the city. The first phase of our campaign has been launched on Bygone Theatre’s Canada Helps page as we work to raise $15,000 before the end of the year to complete set-up and add to some of the infrastructure.

THE REAR WINDOW

This May, Bygone is returning to the historic Hart House Theatre, this time with a remount of their award-winning 2019 production, The Rear Window. Bringing back some of the original cast while adding a few new faces, the show is undergoing a few tweaks and will feature some exciting new technical elements. Stay tuned for details.

PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

For the second season in a row, IG Wealth Management has generously provided us with a substantial donation to expand our Business and Financial Literacy program as well as support community arts. This season’s program will include in-person workshops as well as streaming and will encourage participants to take a more hands-on approach to learning. As well, our partner, Consultant Adam Malcolm, BA Hons, QAFP, RRC, RIS is offering a free drop-in here at The Bridge for anyone looking for financial advice on things from budgets, to RRSPs, estate planning and more.

SEASON EVENTS

DIY Holiday Ornament Drop-In: Saturday December 9, 2023, 11am-4pm
This free family-friendly event is part of our Mend and Make Do sustainability initiative. Come craft some holiday ornaments out of scraps and learn how to make something from nothing. Donations happily accepted, including donations of crafting supplies.

Enigma: What Will Your Future Hold? NYE, 10pm – 3am
Join us New Years and step back into the past while looking to the future, in a vintage inspired night of burlesque, fortune telling and all things mystical. Tickets starting at $20, see our website for details.

BROADWAY WORLD TORONTO AWARDS

Finally, Bygone is honoured to be the recipient of 20 Broadway World Toronto Award nominations for last season, including awards for Best Play and Best New Play (The Birds, The Yellow Wallpaper) and Favourite Local Theatre. Visit broadwayworld.com/Toronto to cast your vote today.

MEDIA CONTACT: Emily Dix| emily@bygonetheatre.com | 647-343-5965
SOCIAL MEDIA: @BygoneTheatre, @379TheBridge
MORE INFO: www.bygonetheatre.com | www.379thebridge.com

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Our First Ever Charitable Campaign

Bygone Theatre’s last show was in 2019. Throughout the pandemic, we pressed pause on producing live theatre so that we could develop our company and strengthen our values, preparing to come back bigger and better than ever.

We developed a diversity & accessibility mandate to promote equity. We committed to the United Nations SDG Action Plan to ensure we are contributing to a sustainable world. And we became a registered charity to ensure that we had the structures in place to grow and support our community.

Now, as we prepare for our next season, we are looking for your help to create a sustainable Fund that will allow us to guarantee our artists fair wages all season long.

Over the past ten years, we have created outstanding theatre working with phenomenal actors who joined our productions in a profit-share format. We were voted Toronto’s Best Live Theatre (Toronto Star Readers’ Choice, 2021), were runner-up for NOW Magazine’s Best Small Theatre (2021), and our last production, The Rear Window, was nominated for 10 Broadway World Toronto awards, and won 4: we have done a lot with a little. This fund will allow us to hire our actors at Equity DOT rates – whether they are union members or not.

We are a small company – we have no operational funding and no salaries, the majority of our admin and production work is done by our Artistic Executive Director and Chair; we have learned over 10 years how to generate marketing, press, and create fantastic scenic design for cents on the dollar. But now it’s time to move into the next chapter, and we want to put artists first.

$25,000 will allow us to commit to industry standard rates all season – we will commit to reinvesting the profits of every show to top up this fund and provide fair wages for every show after.

In this way, you will help not just Artists today, but those we engage with on future productions.

Donations can be made directly through our Canada Helps page.

Thank you for your time and support.

• The Bygone Theatre Team

Toronto’s Best Live Theatre!

Thank you for voting us Best Live Theatre, Diamond Level, for this year’s Toronto Star Readers’ Choice Awards! We’re thrilled to be on a list that includes incredible companies like the Stratford Festival, Soulpepper, Ed Mirvish Theatre and Young People’s Theatre, and we promise we’ll live up to the title!

We’re up there with the Stratford Festival! Definitely what we needed to brighten this gloomy November.

We were also NOW Magazine’s Runner-Up for Best Small Theatre.

We’re Runner-Up!

Thank you Toronto for voting us the runner-up for Best Small Theatre for NOW Magazine’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards!

Congrats to all the winners and nominees, and special shout-out to:

Best Small Theatre, Coal Mine Theatre

Best Site-Specific Theatre, Outside the March

Best Independent Theatre, Revue Cinema

Best Vintage Clothing Store, Courage My Love

We’ve Been Nominated!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been nominated for Best Live Theatre for the Toronto Star Readers’ Choice Awards!

As the smallest and youngest company on the list, it’s exciting to be able to represent some of Toronto’s indie theatre.

Voting is open until September 12 – if you’ve liked what you’ve seen from us before, and can’t wait to see more in the future, please take a moment to case your vote by clicking here.

Broadway World Award Winners

The Broadway World Toronto Award Winners have been announced! Congratulations to all the winners and nominees, including;

EMILY DIX – Best Director, The Rear Window

TRISTAN CLAXTON – Best Performance by a Leading Actor, The Rear Window

KATE MCARTHUR – Best Performance by a Featured Actress, The Rear Window

WESLEY BABCOCK – Best Original Lighting Design, The Rear Window

THOMAS FINN – Best Cabaret Performance, A Rat Packed Christmas

See the complete list of winners here.