Shows In Small Spaces Part 6: Theatre Passe Muraille’s Back Space
Posted December 23, 2009 12:56 pm.
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 1: The Cameron House; 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, 16 Ryerson Ave. (65 Seats)
The intimate back space at Theatre Passe Muraille isn’t just a venue to take in groundbreaking plays — for the company’s former artistic director, it’s also a place to convene with our ancestors.
“If you want to talk mystically, there are certain places that encourage the imagination and the dialogue with history,” Paul Thompson, one of the key figures in Canadian collective theatre, told CityNews.ca.
“Somehow you can find and talk to our ancestors here.”
The 65-seat theatre has a storied past for hosting some of the country’s most cutting-edge and radical plays, including Judith Thompson’s “The Crackwalker”, a harsh and gritty look at urban life; Linda Griffiths’ one-woman show “Maggie and Pierre”, which went on to run at the Royal Alex; Native Earth Performing Arts’ “Trickster’s Cabaret” and Video Cabaret, known for its innovative Canadian history shows, also started out in the back space, to name just a few.
Thompson, who last year was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, served as artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille (“Without Walls”) from 1970 to 1982. He spoke of the Back Space’s history with great fondness, pointing out its reputation for showcasing top-notch and often experimental acting, directing, writing and stage design.
“It says that this place is really open and responds well to high commitment and important attempts at things,” he explained.
The original members of Theatre Passe Muraille acquired their Ryerson Avenue building thanks to the profits raised by the company’s controversial collective “I Love You, Baby Blue” — inspired by Toronto’s then-burgeoning sexual subculture, which included Citytv’s late-night blue flicks, a new crop of body rub parlours and stand-up comedy in Yonge Street strip clubs.
“In 1974 Toronto invented sex,” Thompson joked, “and it was quite amazing so we decided to make a collective out of that.”
The show, which ran at the Bathurst Street Theatre, was a massive hit, selling out every night. Everyone involved in the production agreed to commit a part of their pay to purchasing a permanent home.
When Passe Muraille took over 16 Ryerson Ave. the building was a run-down plumbing supplies warehouse destined to become a condo complex, Thompson said. The city stepped in and made it a site of historical significance — it used to be a bakery complete with a horses stable. That stable is now where the Back Space is located and the outline of its original windows, now bricked up, can still be seen on the building’s exterior north wall (see below).
While the work showcased in the Back Space could often be described as unconventional, the same could be said of the space itself.
“You can’t make it more comfortable for an audience without reducing the limited seating already. I think there’s also a kind of democratic business where, when somebody comes in … you have your butt against somebody else’s for the whole show,” he said of the row seating.
“I think somehow or other, when you come into this space [as an audience member], you can choose to be uncomfortable, or, to get involved in the show. And that’s a really interesting choice for the audience to make.”
Click here for more information on Theatre Passe Muraille’s season.
