A Celebration of a Canadian Cultural Icon in her 75th Year

Hosted by the University of Calgary
March 28–April 1, 2012
More info: www.albertaplaywrights.com

Celebration to Honour Outstanding Canadian Playwright and Long Time Calgarian

Calgary, AB — The University of Calgary, the professional theatre community, and artists and academics from across Canada and around the world, are coming together for a conference and set of performances focusing on the work of Sharon Pollock, one of Canada’s most outstanding playwrights. The Sharon Pollock: First Woman of Canadian Theatre Conference takes place March 28–April 1, 2012

Pollock moved to Calgary in 1966. In 1984 she became Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary and in 1992 she founded the Garry Theatre in Inglewood. Twice awarded the Governor General’s Award for Drama Pollock has written more than thirty plays for stage, radio and television. She has received numerous other awards and has been integral in the shaping of Canada’s national theatre tradition. Her plays, which run the gamut from political, to historical, to domestic, to psychological drama, receive continuous productions in major theatres throughout Canada and internationally.

Over the course of the conference many panels and presentations (including play readings) will be open to the public at no charge. Among these readings of a new works developed in honour of Pollock; a staged reading of Sharon Pollock’s Doc presented by Theatre Calgary; various panels featuring directors, performers, playwrights, artistic directors, and critics exploring the process of working with and being influenced by Pollock’s texts.

On Fri., March 30, a reception marking archival donations of Pollock’s works along with original designs by Terry Gunvordahl will take place at University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library. Included in this special presentation will be a video presentation of an excerpt of Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada’s Ghosts of Violence, a new ballet tackling the subject of domestic homicide by choreographers Igor Dobrovolskiy in cooperation with Canadian theatre icon Sharon Pollock.

On Sat., March 31, a special presentation of Verb Theatre’s Marg Szkaluba: Pissy’s Wife, by Ron Chambers, featuring Sharon Pollock in the title role will take place at the Auburn Saloon (base of the Calgary Tower at 6:30pm. Tickets for this special presentation are $20.

Sharon Pollock Conference 2012 Email Schedule

Looking forward to visiting with friends and family. Best wishes for a joyful Christmas and holiday season.

The Leaders Debate looks and sounds much better in 10 second clips. Taken as a whole it was disjointed and without substance for those who hoped to understand the platforms of the parties. Harper caught fellow leaders off guard when he began with a denial regarding the Conservatives plan to decrease corporate taxes.

Ignatieff, Layton and Duceppe engaged with each other while Harper who was positioned on the far left, chose to deliver messages directly to the camera. Since Harper is the incumbent, fellow leaders repeatedly tried to hold him to account, a futile effort. Using the rope a dope strategy, successfully, Harper’s lack of interaction and modulated tones removed the prospects for a knockout. Beyond the strategy of disengagement in the debate, Harper discounted the finding of contempt and avoided responding to any calls for accountability.

Michael Ignatieff raised the issue of Harper’s character. For those who follow Canadian politics, there were no surprises.

In case you missed it you can watch the debate for yourself on CTV website http://ow.ly/4yX3L

Twitter was active across the country. The comments were so frequent it was difficult to follow and interact with fellow Canadians. Calgary did not engage in a twitter discussion, although local tweets did engage in municipal twitter discussion of issues and followed the candidate debates last fall. Our Mayor Nenshi was prepared to engage and interact but even His Worship could not stimulate the Calgary twitterverse. Democracy in Canada is certainly one of the most important issues of our times. All of those participating in this election need to step up our work to engage fellow citizens.

For those of you who don’t follow twitter, here are some of the comments from local reporter Jason Markusoff and Mayor Nenshi and others. My twitter feed is found at http://twitter.com/#!/jcpollock/ 

 KevinNewman_tv Kevin Newman

Debate results/impact settle over time. It takes hours, not minutes. #db8 #elxn41

 MMFlint Michael Moore by Patrick_Johner

140 chrctr CanadianPM debate sumry: Should we b more like U.S.–more guns, less health care? Privatize services? Tax breaks 4 rich? #canusa

 jaypalter Jay Palter

by Patrick_Johner

Leaders’ debates distract us from what our democracy lacks: good policy, accountability & true leadership. #elxn41

 nenshi Naheed Nenshi

@FACLC @markusoff in fact Calgarians send about $10 bn more per year to feds and province then we get back. So, the answer to your q is yes.

nenshi Naheed Nenshi

Ok, I’m a half-hour into the #db8. I officially apologize to everyone who watched the 34 mayoral forums if they were this painful. #elxn41

nenshi Naheed Nenshi

Wow, not a lot of excitement about the debate. Maybe I should catch up on te last few weeks of Idol instead? #elxn41

nenshi Naheed Nenshi

Great United Way event, now I am going to watch the debate. Did I miss anything exciting? #elxn41

colbycosh Colby Cosh by markusoff

So, congrats, Canada, on NOT picking the womanizing jet-set novelist who has 100 awesome literal war stories. Who’d want to drink with HIM?

joeboughner Joe Boughner by markusoff

Ok. Inspired by #db8 and #elxn41, here’s my hastily assembled Canadian Democracy 101: http://youtu.be/qRNuPNGzMrs Hope @kady approves

markusoff Jason Markusoff

…. he asked the twitterverse.

markusoff Jason Markusoff

Has it gotten to point where watching the debate without Twitter or a blog open is on par with listening over the radio? #elxn41 #cdnpoli

jcpollock Jennifer Pollock

Me too #yycCentre RT @anitavandenbeld: Ignatieff defines ballot question – earning the trust of Cdns & respecting democracy, proud 2 B running with Michael Ignatieff #db8 #lpc

jcpollock Jennifer Pollock

RT @voterenee: @M_Ignatieff “I want more health not more healthcare”. #fed2011 #db8 #yycCentre

jcpollock Jennifer Pollock

RT @politicopinion: Harper: “I simply don’t accept the truth”. #cdnpol #db8 #elxn41

jcpollock Jennifer Pollock

RT @Mortgage604: Can’t help but feel that Democracy was broken by not having Elizabeth May #db8 #lpc #cpc #ndp #elxn41 #yycCentre

Today I signed up as a Pro Internet candidate on the website http://www.VoteNet.ca. It was developed by http://www.OpenMedia.ca to make access to the internet and its regulation an issue in this federal election on May 2, 2011.

The internet redistributes power in our society, giving voice and access to some groups that are marginalized unfairly. So long as the internet remains with limited censorship and affordable price, the internet is an important tool in a free democracy. The opportunity to access high speed internet connectivity at a reasonable cost is important to everyone but to especially those who are poor, isolated, less literate, creative and/or innovative.