Jordan Tannahill arrives in Vancouver

August 06, 2015

Thanks to everyone who came out to last week’s event at The Post at 750, “An Interview with the (Un)Impressed: Jordan Tannahill’s Multi-Faceted Artistic Practice” presented by the PuSh Festival and Touchstone Theatre and co-hosted by Touchstone Artistic Director Katrina Dunn and Club PuSh Co-Curator Tim Carlson. It was a real pleasure to kick off Jordan Tannahill‘s stint in Vancouver – as the PuSh Festival’s incoming Club PuSh Curator-in-Residence for the 2016 and 2017 Festivals – with such a warm and welcoming event (not to mention the gorgeous weather!).

Jordan is based in Toronto and his work runs the gamut: creating short films and media installations, running the renowned alternative arts space Videofag in partnership with William Christopher Ellis out of a storefront in Toronto’s Kensington Market, producing work with Erin Brubacher via their theatre company Suburban Beast, and developing new plays for Canadian Stage, UK’s Panic Lab, Necessary Angel/bluemouth inc. and the National Theatre School of Canada.

Touchstone audiences will remember him as the playwright of Late Company, and the 2014 recipient of the Governor General’s award for drama. He has been described by the Globe and Mail as “… the poster child of a new generation of (theatre? film? dance?) artists for whom “interdisciplinary” is not a buzzword, but a way of life.” Interdisciplinary as a way of life could also describe PuSh in a nutshell. Audiences here in Vancouver can look forward to Jordan’s work over the next two festivals as he embeds himself in our community of artists and talent to curate the Club PuSh line-up.

In addition to an interview with Katrina and Tim, Jordan read from his new book Theatre of the Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama recently published by Coach House Books. The Globe and Mail called it “…essential reading for anybody interested in the state of contemporary theatre and performance,” and described by Tim as “a tough love survey of where Canadian theatre is in the here and now.”

For his book, Jordan interviewed dozens of personalities – artists, audiences and laypeople alike – a few of whom were referenced and in the room during when he read from an excerpt thanks to the event coinciding with Theatre Replacement’s New Aesthetics performance intensive, this year featuring Sarah Thom and Mat Hand of Gob Squad Art Collective.

It was a fantastic introduction, of Jordan to Vancouver and vice versa. It was our first time to meet in person and in addition to having talent to burn, Jordan is a quick-wit and warm-hearted (a perfect fit for Norman’s informal policy around artists at PuSh). 2016 marks the seventh year of Club PuSh and I look forward to his outside eye and fresh perspective, taking the pulse of Vancouver performance, his take on the concept of Club PuSh itself, and bringing Toronto a little closer to the west coast.

Joyce Rosario
PuSh Festival Associate Curator