World’s largest international showcase of performance designers comes to UCalgary

From Aug. 6 to 16, 2022, the world’s largest international showcase of individual performance designers illuminates the University of Calgary and selected locations in Calgary.

World Stage Design (WSD) is the first and only designer-based exhibition to showcase and celebrate performance design from individual designers. Held every four years, WSD welcomes several hundred artists, designers, technicians, and architects from around the globe who practice, study, and create performing arts events. There will be performances, exhibitions, and speakers sharing and celebrating stage design for 11 days on the UCalgary campus, as well as downtown locations, including cSPACE and containR.

The themes of WSD:

• Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Connection to the land and storytelling, working in traditional methods in the contemporary world
• Ecoscenography, ecology, economy, and community-building through experience
• Multiple Realities: VR, MR, XR, and relationships to carbon reality, historical context, and cultural context.

“World Stage Design is an opportunity for the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) to demonstrate our commitment to Indigenous ways of knowing, sustainability, and future technologies,” says April Viczko, SCPA drama professor and WSD project lead.

“This conference-meets-a-festival is also a remarkable opportunity to inspire and re-charge the local and national arts community in a recovery from a long struggle through the pandemic. And our students, audiences, and campus community will be enriched through all of the exhibitions, performances, and exchange of knowledge.”

First presented in Toronto, WSD has been held in Seoul, South Korea; Cardiff, Wales; and Taipei, Taiwan. WSD2022 will present 158 designs from 35 countries which will be on display in both carbon (physically present) and VR formats.

Twenty-one live in-person performances and several hybrid performances will be presented. Several productions by UCalgary faculty members will be included in the offerings: Iniskim: Return of the Buffalo by SCPA drama assistant professor Peter Balkwill; Henry G20 by SCPA drama lead Christine Brubaker; and Formations by Christine Brubaker, Meg Braem, sessional instructor and alumna, and April Viczko. The performances are open to the public, and passes and tickets can be purchased through University Theatre Services.

MacEwan Hall will be home to Rendez-vous, the trade show and conference of the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology. This exciting event will bring the newest and most relevant technology in live performance to the UCalgary campus.

The Reeve Theatre will be home to the professional and student international exhibition of stage design. WSD2022 will exhibit the best of performance and stage design from around the world. In the prestigious Theatre Architecture Competition (TAC) the shortlisted projects of the competition will be on display for delegates and the public to enjoy. And the Technical Invention Prize will be showcased in the Reeve Lobby.

A $20 day pass will grant access to all exhibitions at Reeve Theatre and Lobby and Rozsa Centre, which includes the WSD main exhibition and Technical Invention Prize and Theatre Architecture Competition.

The conference also offers free public events:

• Climate Shorts: Daily, noon to 1 p.m., in the Quad. Short plays on climate change from the hilarious to the terrifying. Look for the banner with a penguin!
• Indigenous Artisan Market: Daily, the Rozsa Centre
• Family Performances: ContainR in Sunnyside and Climate Change Theatre Action exhibition at CSPACE hallway galleries