“We programmed this year’s undercurrents festival under a guise of uncertainty. In previous years, there were always wild cards — the Arts Court elevator, traffic around the theatre, the weather — this year it’s just a pandemic.”
aly murphy
Theatre without audiences, music without concerts, fine arts without galleries — these paradoxes represent the troubling reality for arts students of the early 2020s.
Weezer released new music — naturally, it’s our job to review it
Nostalgia is an okay way of coping with COVID-19, say psychologists.
Teaching a hands-on theatre course over Zoom can be quite the balancing act — literally.
One need look only as far as Ottawa’s own National Arts Centre to see that art isn’t dying during these disquieting times; in its own, exciting ways, it’s even thriving, shape-shifting to fit the needs of a socially distant world.
“Buying guitar strings is an expression of love for humanity,” says Pegg of the music he makes promoting truth over denialism.
Local theatre makers Nicholas Leno (a 2016 U of O MFA directing alum) and Norah Paton have created an immersive, site-specific, audio production of A Christmas Carol to be delivered to audience’s houses in a convenient box.
Taylor Swift’s new film is, in truth, the ultimate treat for fans, allowing us into her creative processes while also serving us brilliant new arrangements of the folklore album.
There’s utility in these platforms to talk about eating disorders without triggering vulnerable targets into having them.
