For immediate release:
With the blessing of co-founder Michael Hollingsworth, The Board of VideoCabaret is proud to announce the new leadership team of Anand Rajaram as Artistic Director and Anthony Chung as Business & Development Manager of acclaimed theatre company VideoCabaret and The Deanne Taylor Theatre.
Founded in 1976 by Michael Hollingsworth and Deanne Taylor, VideoCabaret is an award-winning company renowned for its political satire and unique theatrical style. One of Canada’s most inventive, prolific and celebrated theatre ensembles, Hollingsworth and Taylor have created many enduring plays, devising spectacularly original styles of performance — black-box epics, multi-media cabarets, musicals, opera, and masquerades.
Michael Hollingsworth’s health struggles followed by Deanne Taylor’s death in 2020 left the board searching for the right person to lead the company into the future. The board wanted a person who could honour the history of the company while building on that legacy to continue the presentations of relevant, unique, politically savvy work.
The goal was to build a team that would engage with ‘the news’ while expanding Videocab’s creative and social range, inviting new communities into the Deanne Taylor Theatre at 10 Busy St.
As an actor, director, writer and a creative collaborator, Anand Rajaram has a remarkable shared history with VideoCabaret that goes back more than 25 years. Inspired by VideoCab’s “black box” production style, he performed in Michael and Deanne’s early plays and served as VideoCab’s first playwright in residence. His success since then as a multi-talented theatre creator has been entwined with the company’s evolution, from the back room of the Cameron House to the beautiful new VideoCab home in the east end.
“I am excited and still in some disbelief that 25 years after I was first art-stonished by seeing Deanne and Michael’s incredible work, I now have the honour of carrying on their legacy. It’s a weighty responsibility and one I hope leads VideoCabaret to continuing to be poignantly provocative, raucously relevant, and anarchically awe-inspiring for many more years to come.” – Anand Rajaram, incoming Artistic Director, VideoCabaret. “It’s impossible to imagine anyone whose experience and vision align more closely with VideoCabaret’s values. As we approach the company’s 50 th anniversary, we can’t wait to see how he takes us into the future!” – Marni Jackson, Board Chair.
Anand’s activities in his first year as Artistic Director will include: collaborating on a digital, living archive of the company’s 50 year history; establishing regular, civic engagement activities to bring the “cabaret” back to VideoCabaret; making the theatre technologically exciting for creative pioneers; playing in digital realms, honouring Deanne by presenting her work, and planning 50th anniversary celebration events.
Business and Development Manager Anthony Chung is a graduate of the Humber College Arts Administration and Cultural Management post-graduate program. He also holds an undergraduate degree in Criminology & Socio-legal Studies from the University of Toronto. Anthony joined VideoCabaret in 2023 and quickly proved himself to be a bright light among the new generation of Arts Administrators.
“I am delighted at the opportunity to take on a leadership position alongside theatre veteran Anand Rajaram to help lead VideoCabaret into a bright future. We both strongly believe in making this theatre widely accessible to the community at large. I look forward to taking the lead on our fundraising efforts to help significantly increase the reach and impact of the company.” – Anthony Chung, Incoming Business and Development Manager.
Please join the board in congratulating and welcoming Anand and Anthony into their new positions and in expressing a deep appreciation to the work and vision of Interim Artistic Director, Layne Coleman. Layne now resumes his position on the VC board.
The VideoCabaret Board is comprised of Marni Jackson (chair), Jim Gerrard, Layne Coleman, Janet Burke, Alice Klein, Astrid Janson and Aviva Armour-Ostroff.
For media inquiries, please contact: anthonychung@videocab.com
www.videocabaret.com