One of Toronto’s favourite companies is looking toward new worlds while building on its history, a history of what the troupe calls “serious comedy.”
Theatre Columbus, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is looking into the future with a rebranding: the company will now be called Common Boots Theatre.
The name change was announced Monday (May 4) by artistic director Jennifer Brewin and Martin Julien. Julien was a collaborator in the company’s early days under founders Leah Cherniak and Martha Ross, who established inclusiveness and collective development of shows as hallmarks of the troupe’s style.
The celebratory evening featured performances by John Millard’s Polka Dogs and excerpts from the company’s early works, performed by emerging artists who are part of the company's Devised Lab. The shows were Cooking With Columbus, Paranoia, Porch People, Fertility, The Betrayal and one of the plays that’s been a favourite of mine since it premiered, The Anger In Ernest And Ernestine.
“We love this company, its work, its history and its potential,” says Brewin. “Many theatre practitioners of my generation link their artistic identity to this company…We change the name to honour all that we love about it and to declare its history alive and to provide its future with energy and possibility.
“And the fact is that we are still here because our mandate and the mission remain the same and serve as a point of departure…We will boldly investigate what it means to be human in a constantly changing world.”
For the past several years, the company has presented an annual December walkabout family show, ending with cider and hot chocolate, at the Evergreen Brick Works. Currently in the works is a new ensemble-created show, The Public Servant, which runs in Ottawa next month.
Created by director Brewin and actors Haley McGee, Sarah McVie and Amy Rutherford, the show will play in Toronto next spring as part of the Nightwood season.
The new company name draws on a pair of images, explains Brewin.
“On the eve of my first directing job, Leah told me to consider carefully what I wore on my feet. She advised that shoes set the tone. The boots recall the pair Leah and Martha wore when they created their first Toronto show, Until We Part. The wings are from Melancholia, a play in which an angel falls from the sky. We aim for both grounded and inspired, a Canadian version of Hermes.”