Tag: art

The Beat Magazine was London’s premier independent arts print magazine from 2009 to 2013. After a long hiatus (nine years!), I reactivated its website as The Beat Magazine 2025 in late July.

My reason for doing so is straightforward. My goal is to gather together in one place the local arts and culture news that the mainstream London media outlets no longer seem interested in covering, unless there are exorbitant advertising dollars involved.

Since going live online, thebeatmagazine2025.ca has published Weekly Arts & Culture listings, Q&A Interviews with local musicians and artists, Media Releases about local Arts & Culture events, reprinted theatre Reviews from Entertain This Thought, and other general arts news, most of which has not been reported in the local media.

In mid-August, I invited all known active London and area theatre companies – community and professional – to participate in a Feature Story profiling them and their 2025-2026 seasons. Each company/group was sent a generic Questionnaire designed to enable me to gather the necessary information. Most (but, unfortunately, not all) responded with the information I was seeking.

Some companies/groups had lots to say, others not so much.

In light of this, I have decided to organize the responses in a Q&A format using the eight Guide Questions I sent to the companies.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting a new Local Theatre Q&A every other day.

Posts will appear alphabetically, beginning with London’s AlvegoRoot Theatre.

AlvegoRoot Theatre – Telling local stories and creating local theatre of Southwestern Ontario. An Interview with Adam Corrigan Holowitz.

Q When was your company founded? By whom and why? 

AlvegoRoot Theatre was founded in 2009 by Adam Corrigan Holowitz. Over our first three seasons, we found our mission to develop local plays which speak directly and meaningfully to London and the Souwesto Region.

Q Is your company best described as professional or not-for-profit community theatre?  

AlvegoRoot is a professional theatre ensemble that primarily focuses on presenting local plays and supporting new play development. A quick note of clarification: not-for-profit vs non-profit. I am not a tax expert by any means, so I may not have the finer points down, but a non-profit exists for the advancement of social good (this can include clubs or recreational organizations) whereas a not-for-profit means any organization that does not have shareholders or an owner to benefit directly based on revenue. Almost all theatres in Canada operate on a not-for-profit basis, meaning they do not have shareholders. This includes most professional theatres. The artists and employees being paid for their labour does not make the venture for one. There are very few commercial for-profit theatres in Canada; Mirvish is the most notable. So, the distinction I generally make is between professional theatre and community/amateur theatre. Both are important, and both take different kinds of sacrifice.

Q Does AlvegoRoot Theatre have a Mission or Statement of Purpose? 

Telling Local Stories, Creating Local Theatre

London Ontario’s AlvegoRoot Theatre supports the work of local playwrights and puts local stories onstage. 2025 marks AlvegoRoot Theatre’s 17th Season. Over those 17 seasons we have produced over 67 productions, 29 of which were world premieres of local plays. At The Manor Park Memorial Hall, AlvegoRoot presents theatre year-round, dedicated to providing a range of dynamic theatre experiences for audiences and supporting the growth of professional regional theatre makers.

Q What venue(s) do you use to stage your productions? 

Our home base is The Manor Park Memorial Hall, where we present plays and special events year-round. We are honoured to manage and develop The Manor Park Memorial Hall into a performing arts venue that hosts the work of theatre artists and musicians from across our city. We also produce a summer production annually in June or July at Fanshawe Pioneer Village. We have been partnering with Fanshawe Pioneer Village since 2014.

Q Does your company have a Board of Directors and paid Staff?

Adam Corrigan Holowitz is the Artistic Director of AlvegoRoot Theatre, and Kydra Ryan is the Associate Artistic Director.

Q Tell me about your 2025-2026 Season. Does it have any underlying theme?

This season, our three mainstage productions, Medical Wonder, London Fog, and Sleigh Without Bells, have all had an overarching elemental theme of fire. The characters in each play must reconcile with humanity’s ability to create the means for destruction. In Medical Wonder, the character of Dr. Imogen Volek chooses between using her medical research as a means for healing or a means to create a biological weapon. In London Fog, the characters of Victoria and Albert use arson to disrupt and disturb the elite of Edwardian London. Finally, in Sleigh Without Bells, the massacre of the Donnelly Family of Biddulph is central to the play.

Q What show(s) will you be staging this fall? Tell me a little bit about each. 

This fall, we present Sleigh Without Bells: A Donnellys Story by James Reaney (October 22) and a theatrical concert version of Colleening: The Letters and Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau (Nov 7 – 9).

About Sleigh Without Bells:
Lost in a blizzard, a young man finds himself at the Donnelly farmstead, the one place his father warned him not to tread. Now entangled in the darkest period in the lives of the Donnellys, his own life is in danger.

Written by James Reaney
Directed by Kydra Ryan
Performed by Adam Corrigan Holowitz.

About Colleening:
Going COLLEENING is always an adventure for the friends of the great London poet Colleen Thibaudeau. You never know where you may end up. Her letters and poems create a captivating journey through childhood memories, home life, and Canadian culture.

Featuring songs based on her poems by Oliver Whitehead and Stephen Holowitz, this theatrical concert celebrates a seminal figure in Canadian literature with all the playful intensity and tender wit for which Colleen was known.

Directed and Created by Adam Corrigan Holowitz
Text by Colleen Thibaudeau
Music by Oliver Whitehead and Stephen Holowitz
Music Direction by Stephen Holowitz
Featuring Katy Clark, Paul Grambo, Kydra Ryan

This concert version of Colleening is part of Colleening 2025, a grassroots celebration of the centenary of acclaimed London poet Colleen Thibaudeau (1925-2012).

Q Do you have any thoughts about the London area theatre community and your part in it? 

AlvegoRoot strives to create productions and events where our community can have meaningful interactions with live theatre. A goal of our work is to nurture rich relationships between the audiences, the artists, and the plays in a space where all members of the community can feel welcomed, needed, and comfortable to engage with theatre that tells our local stories and speaks to our local community.

The Souwesto arts movement, of which James Reaney and Colleen Thibaudeau were prominent members, greatly influences our work. The use of local stories, people, and geography is central to AlvegoRoot. Reaney’s playwriting influences me through aesthetics, poetry, and symbolism to tell local stories. Thibaudeau’s ability to saturate her poetry with local and personal details has influenced our writing and theatre-making. While a wide range of writers and theatre artists influence our work, Reaney and Thibaudeau’s work continues to influence AlvegoRoot on a spiritual level more than any other artists.

For more information about AlvegoRoot Theatre and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.alvegoroottheatre.com/

You can also follow AlvegoRoot Theatre on Facebook and Instagram.