Will the prime minister sue a group of Vancouver actors asks the Vancouver Sun, in an attempt to gain readers and to intimidate the artistic community in Vancouver who have decided to challenge Steven Harper and his censorship of the arts. The following is from the Vancouver Sun story and Google news
David Bloom, who's directing the Vancouver reading of the controversial play Proud, which features (Tom McBeath, John Cassini, Quelemia Sparrow and Gaelan Beatty), says the idea of a libel suit is a red herring, but he understands why artists might be afraid of offending the government.
"Obviously companies who depend on Heritage Canada - have reason to be nervous about upsetting a sitting government - The federal government can withdraw funding from an-body it likes. Would they do something punitive because of this script? Who's to say?" This would sound like paranoia if not for a few recent controversies where artists with an anti-government bent have had their federal funding pulled.
Summerworks, a Toronto theatre festival, lost its annual funding the year after a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office expressed "disappointment" that Heritage Canada funded a festival that presented a play about terrorism.
For more information on the event link here: Staged Reading of PROUD, July 22, 8 PM
Tickets are general admission, and by donation. For ticket reservations, email proudvancouver@gmail.com .
Vancouver artists stand in solidarity with Toronto colleagues by mounting a staged reading of Michael Healey’s controversial new play, Proud on Sunday, July 22 (8:00 pm) at PL 1422.
Michael Healey wrote Proud during his 11-year tenure as Playwright in Residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. When the company chose not to produce the play as part of their 2012-13 season, Healey resigned from his post. The play – a comedy – features an unnamed character called “The Prime Minister” and is about Canadian social and political values. The Tarragon Theatre denies that programming choices are effected by political pressure, but only last year Toronto’s Summerworks Theatre Festival had funding cut by Canadian Heritage after choosing to present a play that allegedly portrayed a homegrown “terrorist” sympathetically. Healey is mounting an independent production of Proud in Toronto this fall.
Vancouver’s reading of Proud is directed by David Bloom, Artistic Director of Felix Culpa, and features Tom McBeath (Death of a Salesman), John Cassini (God of Carnage), Quelemia Sparrow (August: Osage County), and Gaelan Beatty (Xanadu).
Director Bloom says, “We are producing Proud for two reasons: it’s an intelligent and provocative piece of theatre about our current political landscape, and because the greatest threat to the arts is self-censorship and fear.”
He continues, “The fact is we will never know for certain why Tarragon decided not to produce Proud. Here’s a question worth asking though: why is it so easy for us to believe they feared some kind of retribution for producing a play critical of the Harper Government™? Is it because theatre artists are innately timid, or is it because the government’s attacks on their perceived enemies have become so flagrant and outrageous? If they can set aside 8 million dollars to attack charities that disagree with their policies, surely anybody can be a target.”
Vancouver theatre companies supporting Proud include Felix Culpa, Neworld Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Arts Club Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Ruby Slippers, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Compassionate Bone, Leaky Heaven Circus, and Pi Theatre.
