• PuSh Assembly

Keynote Manifesto Address – Alex Lazaridis Ferguson

Showing on

February 5, 6-7PM
Performance Works, Granville Island

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Individual  tickets $25
available online at pushfestival.ca

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man.i.fes.to   n
A public written declaration of principles, policies,and objectives.
Artistic manifestos can be a call to arms, a statement of principles, or a line drawn in the sand. They can be  a provocation and a challenge to existing tastes and aesthetics, an analysis of  landmark productions, a spotlight on seminal points in time, or simply a confirmation of emerging trends, values and practices.

Dangers of the Dramaturgico-Theatrical Complex
A call to artists to run faster and jump higher on their own two feet

Theatre artist Alex Lazaridis Ferguson believes a good manifesto should offend, be filled with provocative half-truths, and put the speaker’s career in jeopardy. Not one to readily accept anyone’s “truth,” including his own, he has been shouting half-truths and putting his career in jeopardy for two decades. His manifesto will address the rising power of the dramaturge (Question: How many theatre artists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: A dramaturge), Dysneyfication of the North American regional theatre scene, “THE” Intercultural Body (Q: Who was that Lady I saw you with last night? A: That was no lady, that was my intercultural body), the value of Democratic dialogue in theatre, the fear-based culture of the local theatre scene, the diminishing power of artists in theatre, the lack of an elite corps of theatre directors in Vancouver, the damaging effects on theatre of actor self-centeredness, why theatre artists don’t understand their audiences, the destructive legacy of 20th century realism, why the theatre scene hates playwrights, why understanding a performance is not the point, and more. He promises arrogant, absolutist advice, bad jokes, shaky metaphors, and infuriating digressions.

Alex Lazaridis Ferguson Bio
Alex Lazaridis Ferguson is a theatre artist who also writes on performance for various publications nationally and internationally. His controversial writings have touched on topics ranging from artist communities and gentrification, citizenship and theatrical events, improvisation and documentary theatre, to the embodied nature of performance from both artist and spectator points of view. He is part of an international theatre journalism exchange investigating the PuSh Festival, the PAZZ Performing Arts Festival (Germany), and Het  Theaterfestival (Belgium).

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