Robert Motum

Robert Motum is a Canadian playwright and theatre creator.[1] He is noted for his background in site-specific performance[2] and for his 2018 play, A Community Target.[3]

Personal life and education

Motum was born in Oshawa, Ontario. He attended the University of Waterloo for his BA in Drama[4] and Aberystwyth University for his MA in Practising Performance.[5] He is currently completing a PhD in performance studies at the University of Toronto[1] and teaches at Sheridan College.

Theatre career

As a site-specific theatre practitioner, Motum has a history of staging new theatrical work outside of purpose-built auditoriums.[2] His 2013 play, Transience, was staged on an active Grand River Transit city bus as it circled its loop of Kitchener-Waterloo.[6] He has since staged work in public parks,[5][7] in a Queen Street art gallery,[8] inside a vacant Target store,[9] in a castle,[10] throughout the streets of Hamilton, Ontario,[11] and in augmented reality.[12] His work has been supported by the Stratford Festival, the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award,[13] Outside the March[3] and others.

His verbatim play, A Community Target, is based on interviews with over 60 former employees of Target Canada and recounts the dramatic collapse of the retailer in the country. Staged inside a vacant Target store in Hamilton, Ontario, the piece garnered national[14][15] and international media attention.[16]

Academic scholarship

Motum has written about the ethics of site-specific performance for various academic publications including the Canadian Theatre Review and Theatre Research in Canada.[17] Motum also researches the political performance of micronationhood and has organised a symposium on subversive states in 2023 at the University of Toronto.[18]

References

1. "Robert Motum". Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
2. Motum, Robert (2022-11-01). "Performing in Public: Ethics of a Site-Specific Theatre Practice". Canadian Theatre Review. 192: 37–40. doi:10.3138/ctr.192.009. ISSN 0315-0836.
3. "Outside The March A Community Target". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
4. "Collecting the Ghosts of Waterloo and Staging our Memories". Alumni. 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
5. "Memory book aims to touch community heart". therecord.com. 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
6. WIP (2013-04-07). "Theatre review: Transience". Retrieved 2023-05-26.
7. Bueckert, Kate (September 30, 2016). "KW Guidebook uses personal memories to promote local attractions". CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
8. "Toronto Fringe: Art, friendship & astroturf in the quirky, edgy, hilarious The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome". life with more cowbell. 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
9. "Soon you can watch a play about Target Canada's demise (from inside an old Target store)". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
10. Week, System Whitby This (2017-02-22). "Local playwrights a part of Trafalgar 24 in Whitby". DurhamRegion.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
11. "Bringing Little Africa back to life on Hamilton Mountain". The Hamilton Spectator. 2021-08-16. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
12. "index". playthishamilton.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
13. tugrul. "2018 Winners of the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Awards Announced – Ontario Arts Foundation". Retrieved 2023-05-26.
14. Horgan, Colin (2016-02-24). "Target, the play: A fallen retailer becomes theatre". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
15. "Target Canada play marks a new stage in retailer's tale". thestar.com. 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
16. "Ontario man writing play about the rise and fall of Target in Canada". CBC As It Happens. February 25, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
17. Motum, Robert (2021-10-01). "Reflections on a Verbatim Approach to Staging Age". Theatre Research in Canada. 42 (2): 293–299. doi:10.3138/tric.42.2.f03. ISSN 1196-1198.
18. "A Symposium on Subversive States". Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies. 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2024-03-19.