Shows In Small Spaces Part 1: The Cameron House
Posted December 21, 2009 9:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CityNews.ca writer Shawne McKeown highlights some of Toronto’s tiniest theatres – 100 seats or less – in the six-part series “Shows in Small Spaces”.
Part 2: The Alumnae Theatre Studio; Part 3: Bad Dog Theatre; Part 4: Bread & Circus; Part 5: Tarragon Theatre’s Extra Space; Part 6: Theatre Passe Muraille’s Back Space
Part 1 – The Cameron House, 408 Queen St. West (60 Seats)
Cindy Matthews, the operating owner of The Cameron House, lays out a verbal contract for theatre companies who want to rent out the performance space at the back of her Queen West bar.
It goes something like this: “This is a bar and you have to understand that. If I’m going to allow you to use this space I expect there to be 60 people back here watching your play,” she says.
And then there’s the issue of beer.
“OK, I want you to understand, the most important thing is not you, it’s selling beer. Now, if you don’t understand that, this is not going to work.”
After hosting theatre companies in the back space for just over a decade, Matthews said pretty much every troupe has complied.
Aside from the giant ants crawling up the exterior of the building at the corner of Queen and Cameron Streets, The Cameron House is probably best known for its live music, but the bar has also been hosting small theatrical performances in its back space since 1997.
That tiny, rough-around-the-edges theatre with café chairs and wobbly tables is the permanent home of Toronto’s Video Cabaret, which produces innovative shows about Canada’s history. The Cameron House also serves as a venue for the Fringe and SummerWorks theatre festivals and has proven to be a good spot for playwrights and directors to come in and test out a work-in-progress for a few nights.
Small and affordable spaces are becoming harder to come by in the city, and Matthews said she never has a shortage of requests, but rentals aren’t arbitrary. Matthews insists she must read and approve the play before handing over any stage time.
“[The theatre companies] have to have a history, I have to read the play,” she told CityNews.ca.
Offering space to a variety of acts wasn’t a decision based solely on artistic altruism. Matthews said it’s allowed The Cameron House to draw business without having to resort to lame marketing events.
“That’s what you have to do to stay alive in this business, but it’s great that we can do it with such artistic flare,” she said. “It’s not about bringing in the Budweiser chicks, like other bars have to do, or having a Jagermeister shooter night.”
After 28 years in business, the bar is currently up for sale. Matthews said she hopes whoever decides to purchase the building keeps providing space for artists to perform, but there are no guarantees.
The simplicity of the space – it has no dressing rooms, back stage space or alternative exits – provides some interesting challenges for people trying to stage a play.
“A lot of times you’ll see actors running up the street because there’s no access doors, so they’ll be in costume running up the street through the front door, through the bar to make their entrance,” Matthews said.
The bar’s bathrooms are also located in the back, so when a theatre production is on those having a drink in the front room who need to use the loo are rerouted upstairs. Wayward washroom seekers often accidentally stumble into the back space, pulling back the curtain with a deer-in-the-headlights stare, interrupting a show.
Since introducing theatre in the back space in 1997 Matthews admits creating a schedule that keeps both musicians and actors happy is stressful, but keeps life interesting.
“The funnest thing about this whole thing is watching the change through the day, you know on a Saturday we’ll have a duo at 3pm, we’ll have a country band from 6 to 8pm. At 8pm, the room is packed, people are screaming for more, we have to shut it off and then all these theatre people, which is a different demographic … [arrive],” Matthews explained.
“The play will go from 8 till 9:15pm and then the heavy metal alt-band will all be dressed up in the front room on the front stage with all their gear, with Marshall stacks, you know, ‘When are grandma and grandpa going to be out of the back room so we can set up our gear?’ It’s funny, but it’s a little bit stressful actually.”
Over the last decade one particular theatre production stuck out in Matthews’ mind. During a rather heavy SummerWorks play last summer, Matthews’ pooch escaped from an apartment upstairs and became the temporary star of the show.
“My dog came downstairs and went right up to the stage and started licking [the actor’s] hand,” she said. “It was right in his monologue. I felt terrible and my dog just wanted to be loved and somebody left the door open upstairs.”
For information on upcoming shows at The Cameron House, click here and here.
