When you think of a laboratory, what comes to mind? Experiments? Ground-breaking innovations? Maybe an explosion or two? These are all true of BMO Lab, the country’s only theatre workshop solely devoted to explorations in emergent technologies.
Think of Sébastien Heins and Ryan Cunningham as the latest “scientists” to explore, experiment, and break new ground in their crafts.
They are the two innovative artists that Canadian Stage has invited to join the Lab for this singular opportunity and to share their results at our Festival of Ideas and Creation next spring.
If there has ever been a time to experiment with the boundaries and possibilities of live theatre, this is it.
At University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, Sébastien and Ryan, amongst others, will engage in an educational, transdisciplinary space unlike anywhere else in Canada. Here, they will spend months immersed in creative research surrounding the arts, performance, emerging technologies, and AI.
Canadian Stage’s Associate Artistic Director, Mel Hague, says, “Our partnership with the BMO Lab is an incredible opportunity for Canadian Stage to support professional artists’ presence at the forefront of emergent technology research in the country.”
“With this program, and these incredible artists involved, Canadian Stage hopes that the exciting discoveries within academic communities, in the melding of live performance and computer science and technology, will be brought back to the live arts performance communities in deep and innovative ways.”