Lane's News, May 27, 2013

News Round-Up
by Chris Lane
@chrislanetweets

Another one bites the dust: 
The Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver will no longer be a home for Vancouver theatre, according to reports that it has been sold to an evangelical church. This follows last year’s closure of the Playhouse Theatre, one of Canada’s oldest theatre companies. Some are lamenting the Centre’s relatively quiet exit as a tragedy in a city sometimes criticized for the state of its arts scene, while others won’t miss what might never have been more than a white elephant.

Seasons announced: 
The University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre has announced the four plays it will feature next season, which include Twelfth Night and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet). Ottawa’s Gladstone Theatre has announced a packed lineup for their next season, including works by Noël Coward, Linda Griffiths and Norm Foster.

Congratulations:
Ontario’s best community theatre productions have been recognized by the Theatre Ontario Festival 2013 Awards. Espanola Little Theatre’s production of Looking took the top spot, while individual awards went to director Walter Maskel and actors Michèle Browne and Jeff Bastien, as well as others from theatres in Markham, Windsor and Merrickville. The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres has presented its Mallory Gilbert Leadership Award to Toronto’s David Abel, who selected Rebecca Singh as a “protégé” who will receive part of the award.