Details
Thursday, April 17, 2025
4:00-6:00PM ET
Location: B-Street Arts Hub, 1100 Bathurst St. & Remote Online (Hybrid)
Registration Deadline: April 14
The creation and dissemination of content, sensory and environmental warnings can be controversial in the performing arts sector. Using content & environment warnings as a starting point, join TAPA for a conversation about audience care, consent and access to explore options of crafting patron experience addressing safety and accessibility. What does a potential patron need to know before choosing to attend a show? Can artists and producers facilitate a welcoming atmosphere without compromising the artistic integrity of a show?
The first portion of this two-hour session will include hearing from Mandy E. MacLean and Shanae Sodhi about their recent work in this realm. The second portion will open the floor to discussion and ideating on the concept.
This hybrid workshop will accommodate both in-person and online participants.
Facilitators:
MANDY E. MacLEAN – (she/her) is a theatremaker and access & disability arts practitioner currently living in Tkarón:to with her Cocker Spaniel, Mulder. She is a proud Maritimer, a member of the Mad Community, and lives with a non-visible disability. She is currently the Artistic & Access Producer at Crossroads Theatre and just completed her role as Dramaturgy & Accessibility Associate (Metcalf Performing Arts Foundation Intern) at Theatre Passe Muraille, where she supported the producing and creation of a variety of work with a priority on access. She is passionate about challenging traditional approaches to creative meaning-making, and her recent & upcoming theatrical works include; Assistant Director for Neither Here nor There (Sick & Twisted Theatre), Associate Dramaturg & Access Support for Blind Dates (TPM), Live Line & Producing Support for The Flin Flon Cowboy (TPM), Access Dramaturg for Flux in the City (Major Matt Mason Collective), Access Coordination for Space Mosque, and is a TDSB Creates Artist in Residence. Mandy collaborates in a variety of roles and recently served as Access Coordination for the 2024 Summer in the Park with Crossroads Theatre, coordinated a year-long access-based research project with Prologue Performing Arts and the W. Ross School for the Blind, and served as Arts Activation Coordinator for Frog in Hand’s Art Shelter: a placemaking venture in Port Credit, Ontario. She is currently developing a piece of Sensory Theatre called The Concussion Play; or How I Learned to Wait, supported by the OAC, Why Not Theatre and Tangled Arts. As Mandy collaborates and interacts with structures and practices, she believes that considering access, in all forms, can lead to exciting work and experiences for everyone.
SHANAE SODHI – (she/her) is a Punjabi artist who lives in Tkaronto where he is the Marketing & Communications Manager at Theatre Passe Muraille and a freelance producer/director. He attended Studio 58 where he was an establishing member of the school’s Student Diversity Committee, a student lead group which works to give strength to marginalized groups within the theatre community by empowering students with the tools and knowledge to engage the conversations of inclusivity around them. Since graduating, Shanae has built a career on creating work that is community oriented and bridges performance with direct action activism. Recent producing credits include: associate producer on The First Stone (New Harlem Productions), producer on Catalina La O: Ahora Conmigo (winner of the 2020 Fringe New Play Prize) and Mx by Lili Robinson (winner of the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize and Cultchivating the Fringe Award). Select directing credits include: Panoptikon by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard (New Harlem Productions), Selective Memories by Todd Simmons (From the Corner Productions).
Follow the link below for more information and don’t forget to sign up as we only have a limited number of places available.
