[1] Self-described as “a grassroots, Popular Theatre company of diverse artists and non-artists/catalysts of change who create pathways to systemic equity – in and through the arts,” Stage Left’s activities “promote equity & diversity, provide support services for still-excluded artists and community groups, and produce radical forms of Political Art.”[2] Based in Canmore, Alberta, the company is active in Calgary, as well as provincially, nationally, and internationally.
Stage Left’s output is intercultural and multifaceted, encompassing Guerrilla theatre actions, production, presenting, training, education, advocacy, and organizational support work.
[3] Stage Left was established in 1999 by a group of individuals including Michele Decottignies, a lesbian activist-artist with mental and physical disabilities who serves as the current Artistic Director.
[6] Augusto Boal’s popular theatre techniques are an important aspect and hallmark of Stage Left’s activities, from the company’s inception through to the present day.
[4] As Decottignies explains in a 2005 profile article, Stage Left’s mandate is to craft a “professional artist-community collaboration” performance model that will “integrate marginalized people into the creative, artistic, and social life of [the] community by providing safe and accessible space in which they can explore, define, and celebrate their culture; develop confidence, imagination, and artistic expression; contribute to the culture of community in meaningful ways; and express both individual and collective identity.” Moreover, the company uses “the arts to enable marginalized people to establish a visible presence in the larger community, increasing awareness of specific issues and fostering an appreciation of diverse cultures through the presentation of authentic, dynamic, and non-sentimental images of personal experience.”[8] By the early 2000s, Stage Left was facilitating different streams of activity grounded in Theatre of the Oppressed and other popular and political theatre practices, such as Active Arts for people with disabilities and Acting Out for LGBTTTIQ+ youth.
[4] Engagement with First Nations communities has always been central as well, as demonstrated by a 2004/05 joint initiative with Dr. Lindsay Crowshoe (a physician and assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary at that time)[9] intended to improve doctor training and cultural competency for Aboriginal healthcare.
[10] The Medical Education journal reports that Forum Theatre was utilized for first-year students “to connect mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally with the content and begin to develop an appropriate approach towards interacting with Aboriginal patients.”[10] Forum Theatre is an interactive technique in which various problematic scenarios are played out on stage, facilitated by a ‘joker’ or emcee figure who encourages audience members to stop the action on stage, replay it, and insert themselves into the scene in an attempt to find an acceptable resolution for the issue at hand.
The skit highlighted what it would be like to be "different"; the frustration of having learning challenges, the anxiety of dealing with issues of peer acceptance and bullying, and struggles with special needs assistants and teachers who, at times, do not understand.”[14] Audience members were able to stop to the play and insert themselves into the action to find alternate solutions to the problems presented.
[citation needed] Productions of this nature include As I Am (2002), Mercy Killing or Murder: The Tracy Latimer Story (2003), Notwithstanding: 100 Years of Eugenics in Alberta (2005), Same Difference (2008), Time to Put My Socks On (2008) Women’s Work (2013), Le Crip Blue (2018, 2019), and more.
"[21] The production “sought to redress an imbalance the artists perceived in the media coverage of the criminal case,” which was “more typically focused on public sympathy for Robert as well as debates about euthanasia and the human rights of people with disabilities.
Stylistically, the play draws on documentary and verbatim theatre techniques, quoting from media coverage and trial transcripts for the lines of the Latimers, Judges, Lawyers, Witnesses, and the like, whereas the dialogue of the other characters is original and most often the performers’ own.
[24] The original production included one of the actors with a disability sitting in the house and delivering his lines from there, implicating and involving the audience further by breaking the fourth wall.
[24] Additional tactics along these lines included the audience sharing popcorn with the actors, and at the end of the play, participating in a candlelight vigil for Tracey Latimer, so that spectators were “aligned” with the “layered and complex” perspectives of people with disabilities.
[33] Stage Left expanded its activities and moved into the realm of commissioning in 2008 when it introduced the Balancing Acts Commissioning Project to bring into being “challenging, thought-provoking performance work of high artistic merit from emerging and established professional disabled artists whose work aligns with the goals and principles of the global disability arts and culture movement.
[39] The company focused on developing “a global rather than a national culture,[40] and it commissioned ten new plays by artists with disabilities with the intent of a series of mainstage production between the years 2008 and 2010.
"[41] Based on the success of the first show[citation needed], Stage Left commissioned Meg Torwl again in 2010, resulting in a new play entitled, Cancer Town.
[43] Another branch of Stage Left’s activities includes advocacy, alliance building, and support for organizations working towards greater equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts.
[48] Representatives from each organization met for three days and discussed such issues as: “the balance of professional and community-based art; audience development; sustainability and lack of operating funds; burnout and coping with success; relations with mainstream arts organizations; research and documentation; marginalization; assimilation and cultural appropriation; regional disparities; lack of colleagues/support; competition and cooperation within the network,” and more.
The Beyond Access Gathering featured discourse, an artists’ roundtable, a reception with stakeholders, and more,[54] providing “a domain of collective resistance to the cultural erasure of the true purpose and practice of Disability Arts.”[55] Also of significance, it was the Beyond Access Gathering that led to the formation of a more permanent network and an arts service organization; the Deaf, Disabled and Mad Arts Alliance of Canada.
As a Stage Left initiative, the Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts Alliance of Canada (DDMAAC) has been led by Michele Decottignies as the Executive Director from its inception to the present day.
[58] DDMAAC reported a total of twenty-nine professional companies, approximately 250 artists, several commercial organizations, and an unknown number of amateur arts groups.
[64] Referring to this ongoing and multi-year project as “Metaxis: An Arts in Indigenous Health Congress”, Stage Left’s role is to support a pan-Indigenous Youth Coalition by working with Boal’s Legislative Theatre techniques to advocate for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, particularly numbers 18 to 22, which address the legacy of residential schools and colonization as it pertains to health in present day Canada.
Executed in partnership with the Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) in Victoria, BC, the event was originally planned as a live affair for June, but due to high demand, the format was switched to a digital presentation model for the end of the year.