IDEAS and Toronto's Crow's Theatre explore 'urgent' problems of our times
The collaboration is a series inspired by plays in Crow's Theatre's 2024/25 season
At a time of polarization and division, IDEAS has joined with Toronto's Crow's Theatre to explore the crucial questions that shape our world, and the ideas that animate great art. The collaboration is part of an effort aimed at bringing meaningful conversations to audiences old and new.
This series is inspired by plays presented by Crow's Theatre.
Each IDEAS at Crow's Theatre event featured a 45-minute onstage talk followed by an interview conducted by IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed.
"These five thinkers will bring deep knowledge and wide curiosity to our collective stage, bringing fresh perspectives to some of the most urgent problems of our time," said Ayed.
"This partnership captures the importance that theatre holds in modern culture. It serves as a powerful platform through which the questions shaping our time find meaningful discourse, hopefully fostering a deeper understanding of each other and the world around us," said Paolo Santalucia, associate artistic director of Crow's Theatre.
Singing Through Dark Times | Sandeep Banerjee
"In the dark times, will there also be singing?" Bertolt Brecht once asked. World literature scholar Sandeep Banerjee explores the power of art in times of war — and how ghost stories can help us imagine another world. This talk kicked off the public lecture series called IDEAS at Crow's Theatre. His talk on love and art in times of war is inspired by NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812.
The Endless Progression of Days | Ian Williams
Giller Prize-winning novelist and poet Ian Williams (Reproduction) explores the relationship between the past and future, inspired by the Crow's Theatre's production of Anton Chekhov's classic drama, UNCLE VANYA, presented by David Mirvish at the CAA Theatre.
The Making and Unmaking of Violent Men | Miglena Todorova
The play DANA H. tells the true story of a chaplain in a psychiatric ward who is abducted by one of her patients, assaulted and held captive for five months. Professor Miglena Todorova explores violence against women as a historic and collective act — and why efforts to enshrine political and economic gender equality have so far failed to foster new cultural, educational, and spiritual environments.
(Land) Back to the Future | Riley Yesno
Anishinaabe scholar Riley Yesno will explore Indigenous futurism and the connection between dreams and new realities, inspired by Governor General Award-winning playwright Cliff Cardinal's HUFF, his solo show about how three brothers cope with the death of their mother and struggle with solvent abuse.
Community, Citizenship and Belonging | Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Novelist and immigration and refugee lawyer Jamie Chai Yun Liew explores how our ideas of kinship and family shape the way we understand community, citizenship, and belonging. Her talk will accompany THE WRONG BASHIR, a laugh-out-loud farce that explores personal freedoms, familial expectations, and cultural traditions, by Zahida Rahemtulla.
Making Justice Imaginable | Lex Gill
"We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust," wrote Albert Camus. In a lecture delivered at Crow's Theatre, lawyer and human rights advocate Lex Gill considers what law can and can't do to create a better world. She considers how social and cultural movements can nudge the evolution of law and how to keep working for justice, regardless of the odds. Gill's talk explores injustice, defiance, and what it takes to build a better world, inspired by Ibsen's play ROSMERSHOLM.
There's No Place Like Home | Leilani Farha
Our homes are repositories of our memories — and they hold our hopes for the future. But today, our homes have become something else: commodities. Leilani Farha, the global director of The Shift and the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, considers what happens when the humanity is stripped out of housing — and what it means for us to collectively 'return home.' Farha's talk is inspired by the current Crow's production of THE BIDDING WAR. A comedy that follows hopeful homeowners and their realtors as they bid for the last affordable home in the city.
*Produced by Philip Coulter and Pauline Holdsworth. This series was made possible with the generous support from Nicky Davis, executive director of Equity and Inclusion at CBC.
