2025 WORLD THEATRE DAY HIGHLIGHTS HARD WORK AND HARD LOSSES
World Theatre Day began in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI). It is celebrated every year on March 27 by theatre communities and programs worldwide. Its goals are to promote and make people aware of theatre, encourage theatre enjoyment, celebrate its value, and share in its joy.
The 2025 World Theatre Day was marked at the University of Ottawa by a conference, “honour[ing] our community’s stage managers and technicians, the craftspeople who work behind the scenes to create the magic of theatre.”
Tina Goralski, production manager (PM) of the University of Ottawa’s Theatre Department, and Jon Lockhart, technical director (TD), were both spotlighted and celebrated. As PM and TD respectively, Goralski and Lockhart are the brilliant technicians who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the university’s theatre department running successfully.
Associate professor Daniel Mroz, part of the Department of Theatre, spoke on Goralski, stating that “[Tina is] my friend and colleague who can simultaneously draw with one hand while writing with the other. This superpower is a great metaphor for what Tina contributes to the Department of Theatre. With one hand, she looks after space, and with the other, she masters time … Folding time and space, Tina ensures the when and the where of the deluge of theatre we produce here.”
When speaking of Jon Lockhart, Sylvain Scryburt had this to say: “Jon seems to have developed ubiquitous abilities that enable him to work simultaneously in three theatres, on as many productions… Not once have I seen him turn down a good – feasible – idea.”
Although World Theatre Day is a cause for celebration, it is a time to speak of loss too. This year’s festivities were also a call to action, a call to “stand in solidarity with our colleagues and students in theatre training programs recently suspended or in danger of disappearing.”
The past few years have seen hard times for theatre programs in post-secondary institutions. Ten programs across Canada have been shut down within the past five years, nine of which are in Ontario. Among these, three are located in Ottawa: Algonquin College’s Certificate in Performing Arts and Certificate in Scriptwriting, both closed in 2025, as well as Carleton University’s Minor in Drama, which also closed its doors in 2025.
Local directors, producers, and actors, amongst others, also took the opportunity to shout out the productions currently ongoing around the city, providing a much-needed ray of hope amongst the difficulties presently occurring in the theatre scene. From Fringe festivals, to professional theatre, to student-run shows, to community theatre, Ottawa has plenty of theatre to partake in and enjoy!
We recommend taking a look at local venues such as the National Arts Centre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa Little Theatre, The Gladstone, Meridian Theatres, La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins, Arts Court, and U of O’s own Theatre Department and LabO.
Among many, many others!
