content

Patrick Keating

Maiko Bae Yamamoto

Andreas Kahre

Noah Drew

Adrienne Wong

Barbara Clayden

Alex Ferguson

Ilena Lee Cramer

Erin Wells

James Long

what we do

acknowledgements
__________________

Guest Editor:
Craig Hall

Production Coordinator:
Kirsty Munro

Web Design:
Barry McKinnon

Cover photo:
Manipulations (1992) photo by Chris Randle, featuring Norman Armour and Patrick Keating

Other issues

Fall '97


Spring '98


Fall '98


Spring '99


Fall '99


Fall '00


Fall '01


Fall '02


Fall '03


Winter '05

editorial: Just So You Know

Just so you know, this issue of transmissions was to have come out several weeks ago. Way back in August, it was going to be a meditation on what it is to be an Artistic Director in 2006. I was contemplating my own AD or not AD future and I was looking for a little inspiration: a few shrewd words to charge my creative batteries, or, at the very least, to relieve a bit of my professional malaise. Turns out that Artistic Directors are a reticent bunch. Or perhaps they are just too busy attending to the health of their respective companies to take the time to contemplate their own careers. The few that I could convince to contribute pulled out one by one over the next few weeks until I was left with only one willing participant (thanks for being a trooper Kim).

It was about this time that the news of Norman's impending departure from Rumble was announced. For those close to him the news wasn't a shock so much as a validation of an inkling. Not only was he leaving, but a search for his replacement was to begin immediately. What would Rumble be without its brain? The company would go on without him, Norman had spent the last fifteen years making sure of that, but how would Rumble's extended family endure under the direction of…anybody else? Suddenly this edition of transmissions wasn't just one in a series but the last issue before Rumble changed forever. Well…not so suddenly. To be honest I completely neglected my work on transmissions for about a week and a half as I first wrestled with whether or not to apply for Norman's job and then rushed to get my application in. In that time, I also realized how important Rumble had become to me in the past four years and how vital the little bit of consistency that the company offered truly was. I cared about Rumble's past and future and judging by the buzz so did a lot of other people.

At this point transmissions took on a bit of an agenda. I have to admit that I didn't think I had much of a chance at getting the job. I thought there was a distinct possibility that it might go to someone from out of province. I hoped that the hiring committee or the Rumble Board wouldn't allow someone to step in and reject the company's goals but how could Rumble's new Artistic Producer be expected to fully invest in and capitalize on the company's history? Rumble is the collective experience of a group of artists and the radio, theatre, films, music and writings they collaborated on. To ignore this is to deny fifteen years of blood, sweat, tears and inspiration. Rumble has come to mean something distinctive to each of these people and it's inside this that the true worth of the company rests. This issue of transmissions became my attempt at leaving a reminder of this fact for the incoming Artistic Producer. I wanted to reinforce not only the importance of the company's history, but also the significance of its current momentum. To do this I enlisted a cross-section of contributors from Rumble's fifteen years and asked them to tell me what Rumble has come to mean to them. A few of these artists have been working with Rumble since the beginning, others for only a few years. What they have in common is a company and a respect for the man that made it what it is.

Irony has of course played its hand. This memorandum seems now to be directed at me. It will be my pleasure to incorporate this collected wisdom. The significance of these contributions goes far beyond me however. The passion, humour and loyalty contained within these writings, speak to a level of health for which we should all be striving. Thanks Norman for including each of us.

Letters to the editor - email: transmissions@rumble.org

transmissions is a publication on "theatre, art and ideas", dispatched by Rumble Productions Society in print and via the Internet. The views expressed in transmissions are those of the editors and writers. All rights reserved. Letters to the editor are always welcome.