The Question, December 10, 2012

Arm them with a strong work ethic, stubbornness, and dreams of producing their own work
by Estelle Rosen

Crystle Reid is a theatre artist and educator working in the Montreal English Theatre scene.  She is one of the founders of ArtHere!, a series of interactive theatre adventures in and around Montreal.  Selected directing credits include: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chamber Music, Slaughterhouse Sisters with Astra theatre, and Fool for Love and The Rocky Horror Show with Redshift Productions in Vancouver.

CHARPO: Last year, you presented the highly creative ArtHere! series where most presentations took place in a hotel with a different performance in each room. Any plans to continue ArtHere! this season?

REID: ArtHere! is currently on hiatus.  A combination of things happened that led to that decision: a few key people moved onto other projects, money became too tight and a lot of us–myself included–were feeling just a little burnt out. The constant struggle of making your own work is figuring out how to also make a little money; or at the very least how to break even so that you’re not losing money.  This was something we have never been able to figure out with ArtHere! At a certain point the project is no longer viable because it’s too costly.  My various part time jobs simply weren’t bringing in enough to support my theatre habit. We decided to take some time to reflect and consider what our next steps with Astra would be. 

The Sunday Read: Blog - Crystle Reid on ArtHere!, April 8, 2012

Sleepwalkers from Les Yeux Oranges

Part VI: Wrap-Up

by Crystle Reid

These days with the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre closing and Siminovitch Awards on the way out it feels like any act of creating and watching live theatre is one of resistance. And last month at ArtHostel! resist we did. Many artists came out and transformed the hostel, for a few hours, into a vibrant art community.  The sheer quality and ingenuity of their pieces impressed me. There was a really wide array of work.  

Blog: Crystle Reid on ArtHere!, March 14, 2012

Part V Happy Travels!

by Crystle Reid

Well we’re in the home stretch now: ArtHere! is happening this Friday night. In all honesty, at this point I generally tend to feel relieved we’re almost done and this one is certainly no different. After a series of unfortunate events with the Régie (or, as I prefer call them, the liquor Vogans), we finally have a liquor license. After easily more than fifty calls we finally have event insurance for a building that isn’t technically open yet. We’ve jumped through all the hoops involved in planning an event in a found space, in both French and English. With more than a 1000 emails under our belt we’re practically bureaucratic superheroes. I’ve come to the personal realization that the character trait in myself that most explains my career path is tenacity. In the whole history of ArtHere! there has really only been one “no” I couldn’t change. Oh Redpath Museum, when will you relent?

Blog: Crystle Reid on ArtHere!, February 7, 2012

Part IV: ArtGrant!

by Crystle Reid

(Photos of Jacqueline Van De Geer by Juliam Stamboulieh)

Last year at ArtCamp! Astra’s piece was a sort of “choose your own baptism” in the lake at dawn.  Patrons who wanted to participate filled out a form the evening before where they chose what the baptism was an act of: purification, praise, aspiration, healing, or goal setting.  Participants were invited to circle as many symbols of the divine from a list including: Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mother Earth, Kali, Kayne West, their ancestors or they could fill one in of their choosing.  Finally they could share any words or prayers that they wanted to include.  I know it’s all a bit sacrilegious.  When I came up with the framework of the piece it wasn’t my intention to offend anyone.  I wanted to provide participants with a fun but moving experience.  Plus, I always wanted to be baptized in a lake. 

Blog: Crystle Reid on ArtHere!

Anne Sophie Grenier performing Frida Kahlo at the last ArtHotel! (photo: Julian Stambouleh)

Part III

The Artists

by Crystle Reid

Each ArtHere! is made spectacular by the artists who are involved.  This week I asked a couple of them to share with me what’s it’s like to participate in an ArtHere! event.  First we have Anne-Sophie Grenier who,  at the upcming ArtHostel!,  will be presenting a Vaudeville Hall of Freaks:

After performing at ArtHere!, I needed a good sixteen hours of sleep to recover. Not only are you performing all night, but you also have to be on your toes and prepared for a different audience every time, especially if the piece is interactive. Since ArtHere! allows you to venture deep into the unexpected, push limits and break pretty much every conventional rule of theatre, you get exactly what you ask for: unexpected reactions. Before every new wave of audience members come into the performance space, I can’t help but think, “Will they get it?” Luckily, experience at ArtHere! has taught me that nine times out of ten, they do “get it”. Most audience members are fellow artists or art enthusiasts and happily embark on the adventure.

Blog: Crystle Reid on ArtHere!, February 8, 2012

Hayley Lewis and Isaac Bell of All The Fixin's Theatre

(photo credit: Kes Tagney)

February 8, 2012

The People

by Crystle Reid

The deadline for people to submit performance pieces to ArtHere! is like Christmas Day for me.  I even check my email right after midnight, just to see if there are any stragglers.  And this year my “presents,” for ArtHere! look really good.  We never force a theme on the event beyond the space itself.  One usually emerges as everyone separately submits.  This time around it’s shaping up to be a favorite of mine: carnival. 

Blog: Crystle Reid on ArtHere!

Bedbugs! (photo: Julian Stamboulieh)

January 25, 2012

The concept

by Crystle Reid

You’re in a hotel in downtown Montreal where you come across a bellhop on stilts crouching in the elevator, behind him is a very pregnant woman and her husband yelling back and forth at each other, they appear to have stepped out of a Christopher Guest movie.  The couple has a small crowd of people quietly following them.  When they leave the elevator the pair leads the crowd into a hotel room.  Down the hall you can see a large puppet escorting people out of another room; and you can hear sounds of laughter.  Have you found yourself in some sort of weird wacked out crazy parallel universe?  No, chances are you’ve come upon an ArtHere! event.

Opinion: Crystle Reid on Audience development

Why them? Why Not Us?

If one company draws in new audiences, chances are those same individuals will start exploring other local theatre companies as well.

by Crystle Reid

Last summer at Magnetic North Theatre Festival I attended a discussion panel about the arts in Canada.  One of the younger emerging artists' questions for the panel of more experienced artists was: “What can we do to improve the audience sizes in theatre?” The immediate response from the panel: “Why are you asking us?”

I agree with that response wholeheartedly.  Why are we asking older, established theatre artists to figure out how to appeal to people in our own age bracket?  Shouldn’t we be able to determine how to entice our peers?   I really believe we can.  First of all, many of our peers are already theatergoers, they just don’t know it yet.  For example, a Lady Gaga concert or WWE match are instantly recognizable as theatrical events.  I think that by broadening our perceptions of what defines a theatrical space we can increase interest in our artistic work. This notion has led me to presenting the ArtHere! series with my company Astra Theatre.   ArtHere! events take place in found spaces: a house, a hotel, even a crypt.  At each event there is a main area in which to relax, see lots of great visual art and listen to music.  This space serves as a launch site for various interdisciplinary pieces happening in repetition all night long.  The audience members can see as many of the 15-20 minute pieces as they like, choosing their own adventures.  Each piece is in a radically different space ranging from a hotel room, to a church tower, to a parking lot or a pool deck.  It’s exciting for the audience to see how the artists will choose how to use these new unexpected spaces.  Working in a non-traditional space is both a challenge and a thrill for participating artists.

First Person: Crystle Reid

On Words and Actions

"I’m truly sick of hearing companies wax poetic about supporting young emerging artists when in reality they don’t compensate them fairly for their work and time."

By Crystle Reid 

To choose the path of theatre is ultimately fulfilling, but inevitably challenging.  It’s increasingly difficult to ensure rent and student loans are paid while focusing on our craft, especially since there is no previously beaten path already established for us.

Indeed, each artist must carve out his/her own way in order to build a life in theatre, which is intimidating when we first start our journey into the field. The idea of helping up-and-coming artists begin their journey in theatre is a commendable one. Many theatre companies around town make the claim that they want to do this. It sounds very nice in interview, so I write this as a plea: please, if you’re making this claim, be sure you’re out there, really supporting.