Theatre Replacement announces new international fellowship program for Vancouver-based artists

Four local performance makers will travel to the Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts and Society in the Netherlands this summer as part of a research trip

By Gail Johnson

Theatre Replacement's artistic director Maiko Yamamoto.

THEATRE REPLACEMENT HAS just announced the launch a new program for experimental theatre artists called the Accelerator Lab International Fellowship.

Accelerator Lab is a cohort-based program for four mid-career Vancouver-based experimental theatre artists, focused on mentorship, shared learning, cultural exchange, and experience in international networking. Through group-based and individual activities throughout the year, the cohort will explore “new ways to grow mobility for their work and reinvigorate the current context for international touring, networking, and relationship-building”, according to a news release.

The four inaugural participating artists are Davey Samuel Calderon, Aryo Khakpour, Kyle Loven and Keely O'Brien.

“We are very excited to be embarking on this process with these four incredible artists—they all spoke so clearly and inspiringly about their artistic practices, the deep personal contexts for their work, and their curiosity and drive for international connection in this moment,” said Theatre Replacement’s artistic director Maiko Yamamoto in the release.

Accelerator Lab will pair each of the artists with an international mentor. The inaugural program’s mentors are Matthew Austin, co-director of MAYK + Mayfest in Bristol, U.K.; Juliet Knapp, co-director of Japan’s Kyoto Experiment; Ragnheiður Skúladóttir, artistic director and CEO of Festspillene i Nord Norge/Arctic Arts Festival in Harstad, Norway; and Meiyin Wang, director of producing and programming at New York City’s Perelman Performing Arts Centre.

The four cohort members will also travel to the Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts and Society in Groningen, Netherlands from August 23 to 31 as part of a research trip with members of the Theatre Replacement team. They will participate in festival activities and meet with the event’s curators and artists.

The fellowship will culminate in a community conversation in February 2025 as part of HOLD ON LET GO, an annual festival of contemporary performance work by Vancouver and Canadian artists put on by Theatre Replacement and Company 605. The artists will share their findings and offer proposals on how to reinvigorate the Vancouver scene as a cultural hub.

Accelerator Lab is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the City of Vancouver, with support from the Noorderzon Festival. 

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