From January 21 to 23, the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama will be holding its annual Festival of Original Theatre (F.O.O.T). Founded in 1993 by U of T Graduate Students of Drama, F.O.O.T is an entirely student-run event that incorporates theatre, film, dance, visual art, performance art, and conference papers which aim to introduce and explore a wide range of topics.
This year’s festival focuses on the theme Performing Space/Space in Performance. “I am interested in cultural geography and 'scenography' in production, and how that can become a very powerful and useful element for interpretation and reception,” explains Melissa Campbell, a PhD student at the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama and the event’s Artistic Director. “However, that’s just one aspect, and this year’s festival has been developed to include a wide variety of topics and research interests.”
Past F.O.O.Ts have seen wide-ranging themes such as Intercultural Performance (2007), Feminism(s) in Representation (2008) and Representations of Violence (2009).
Campbell and her team of volunteer PhD and MA Drama students deliberately left this year's theme ambiguous in order to encourage a variety of scholars and practitioners from a number of departments to get involved. “It helps to open up ideas of ‘performance’ as more than just a theatre or drama term,” explains Campbell.
This year’s festival is no exception to F.O.O.T’s interdisciplinary vision. Speakers from several universities will represent their fields - from theatre and dance to journalism and political science.
"There are some fantastic and original papers being delivered this year,” Campbell remarks. She makes special mention of Rebecca Harries's paper, SurroundSound, which will be delivered on Saturday. Harries is one of the original co-founders of F.O.O.T.
This year's F.O.O.T has been in the making since June and is shaping up to be a stimulating and unique look into ideas of performing space.
F.O.O.T 2010 runs through January 23 at Robert Gill Theater (214 College St.) and is free and open to the public. Admission to performances held at 8 p.m. on 21-22 is $5.00 or a canned item in donation to the University of Toronto Food and Clothing Bank. To reserve a ticket for nightly performances, call the Drama Centre box office at 416-978-7986. For a full schedule visit www.graddrama.utoronto.ca.
