Clay and Paper Theatre is currently located in a transitional studio space, if you need to contact us please feel free to send us an email or give us a phone call.
Saturday, October 29th, 2016
Dufferin Grove Park
Pay-What-You-Can ($10 Suggested)
Join Clay & Paper Theatre on Saturday, October 29th for the 17th annual Night of Dread, when we will parade our private and collective fears through the darkened streets of Toronto. Night of Dread, is an unforgettable evening of pageantry, music and masquerade, towering puppets, stilt dancers, fire-spinners and fearful masks. The interactive parade begins in Dufferin Grove Park at 6pm. Admission is PWYC ($10 suggested) and all are welcome.
The hour-long procession 
then returns to Dufferin Grove Park for an evening of ceremonial festivities that allow us to call on, mock and banish the fears that unite and divide us in these times. Each year we select a “Big Fear of the Year” as a theme, which will be unveiled after the parade through wonderfully choreographed theatrics and music.
In the week leading up to Night of Dread we will be hosting a series of programmed workshops in the rink house focusing on Mask Making and Shrine Building! There are workshops for all community members, and are 100% accessible. Please visit the workshop_page for more info.
This much-loved community celebration incorporates international folk and theatrical traditions, drawing inspiration from festivals of death and remembrance around the world. Come and dance in the streets with our city’s finest musicians, puppeteers, dancers and stilt walkers – together we’ll laugh at our fears, waltz with death, eat the bread of the dead, and remember those who have gone from our midst.
DRESS CODE
Black & White & Dreadful
Masks or puppets to wear are also available to the public in the Rink House from 4:00 – 6:00pm. Everyone is invited to participate in the parade!
EVENT SCHEDULE
Parade Assembly – 4pm to 6pm
Parade – 6pm to 7pm
Fear of the Year Scenario – 7pm
Mockery (Post Scenario Events) – 7:15pm to 9:00pm
Live Band at the Music Tent – 7:45pm
LOCATION
Dufferin Grove Park (875 Dufferin St., South of Bloor St. W., across from Dufferin Mall)
Parade begins in Dufferin Grove Park and we have Toronto Police escorts throughout
– North on Gladstone to Bloor
– West on Bloor to Brock
– South on Brock to Lindsey
– West on Lindsey to Havelock
– North on Havelock to the South entrance of the park
And we’re back at Dufferin Grove!
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Too Short to Suck is an evening dedicated to works-in-progress. The second edition of Too Short to Suck will be held March 11, 2016. This is an evening where people can perform in a low-pressure environment for an encouraging audience and experiment with new ideas.
Requirements:
– performances must be in the categories of puppetry, object theatre, street theatre or circus arts
– 250 word max description of your project
– 100 word bio or you/your group
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
It is the fervent desire of Clay & Paper Theatre to encourage people to abandon propriety, escape the mundane, astonish the innocent, and perplex the sophisticated. With this in mind, shows that are scrappy and have something to say are more exciting to us than polished shows that are vapid. If you have a show that can change the world in under 10 minutes, you’re our kinda creative rabble-rouser!
Please send your questions and/or submissions to Kristi at clay.paper.theatre@gmail.com by February 19, 2016.
David Anderson in Yaroslava, Russia, 1989
A rarely seen street theatrical device, the CRANKY MOVIE will be demonstrated this WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2nd, at the Clay & Paper Studios. The fantabulous Mister David Anderson will be putting on a performative demonstration the likes of which have nary been seen on these Toronto City streets in o’er a decade.
Join us for an evening of learning, laughing, and raucous-theatrics from one of the proper Masters in CRANKY MOVIE un-technology! David Anderson has been a street performer for over 45 years, and has graced the international common “stage” countless times throughout. Although his methods may seem mad, his insights are true.
E-mail our Production Manager, Sandra Mannila, at sandra.clayandpaper@gmail.com to RSVP!
Join us tomorrow afternoon for a workshop in miniature theatre with our visiting artist and puppeteer, Roberto. Miniature theatre, or toy theatre, was originally conceived in early 19th century Europe and quickly took hold as a popular and accessible form of home and street entertainment. In recent years it has a seen a revival amongst puppeteers and actors across Europe and the Americas, especially in Roberto’s hometown of Valparaiso, Chile. The workshop will go over the basics of design, construction, story-telling and movement.
The workshop has the capacity for 6 people. It is free and open to the public.
A little bit about Roberto…
Hailing from the puppet-enthused city of Valparaiso, Chile, he has come to Canada to share in his love of puppetry with Toronto’s own puppeteering community, and introduce to us the art of miniature theatre. He spends his days in Toronto volunteering with us at Clay and Paper, or performing his one man show, Pesadillas, in our city parks. Roberto is an actor, teacher, and puppeteer who works with Teatro Lambe Lambe in Santiago.
This summer a raft of refugee animals gets pushed out of their homes and into Dufferin Grove Park for an epic papier-mâché fight for the future of the planet in Clay and Paper Theatre’s giant puppet tale, Animal Nature.
A neurotic Caribou poet, a storytelling flatulent Possum, a sleep deprived Grizzly with anger management issues, and a lonely Orca lost in her watery dreams, are just a few of the colourful and bold creature characters in Animal Nature. “How did we get pushed to the very edges of the earth itself?” they all demand.
With its cast of puppet tricksters and merrymakers, Animal Nature rallies audiences to love the planet entirely, absolutely, fervently and to find the way back home together. With original and vibrant design, music, dance, and signature Clay & Paper Theatre satire and wit gone awry, Animal Nature is provocative puppetry in public space at its best.
Directed by Clay & Paper Theatre Founder and Artistic Director David Anderson and Assistant Artistic Director, Kathryn Durst, and written by David Anderson and associate artists, Tamara Romanchuk and Anna Sapershteyn, Animal Nature features music direction by Dr.Chris Wilson, puppet sculpture by David Anderson, puppet and scenic painting by Liudmila Lipovskaya, shadow puppets by Craig Morrison, set design by Maria Wodzinska and a stellar cast of emerging professionals: Brendan Austin, Felix Beauchamp, Sam Bowen, Kathryn Allison Durst, Oriane Edwards, Cameron Grant, Laura-Lee Lewis, Jake Runeckles.
Animal Nature runs in Dufferin Grove Park , from July 23 to August 16 (Preview July 22) @7:30pm, Wednesdays to Sundays. The performance is approximately an hour in length. Admission is Pay-What-You-Can, $10 suggested. No reservations are necessary.
VENUE: Dufferin Grove Park (875 Dufferin St., South of Bloor St. W., across from Dufferin Mall.) North of the Children’s Playground
PREVIEW PERFORMANCE: July 22, 2015 @ 7:30pm
PERFORMANCES: July 23 to August 16, 2015 (Wednesday through Sunday) @ 7:30pm
ADMISSION: Pay-What-You-Can, $10 suggested. No reservations necessary.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sandra Mannila sandra.clayandpaper@gmail.com 416.708.3332
PHOTOS: Please contact us at clayandpaper@sympatico.ca production photos. We also welcome media photographers at all Clay & Paper Theatre events.
