It is hard to believe, but Onelight Theatre is starting its 10th year of programming and Maggie and I felt that it is time to reflect on the journey that we have taken over the past decade and to look forward into the future of Onelight Theatre and Prismatic.

Onelight Theatre was founded in summer 2002, just before Azat was born, and many of you will remember our early years in The Crib on Gottingen Street — our 40 seat black-box theatre behind Persian Bazaar (Azat’s crib was in the lobby). Our lighting board was four dimmer switches on the wall.

Since 2002, Onelight Theatre has debuted nine original productions, we have undertaken tours across Canada and overseas and with the support of many people in our community, we have grown Onelight from The Crib to a company with a national and international profile.

Although we moved on to bigger performance spaces with more recent productions, we have never lost the spirit of The Crib. With each project, we continue to strive for artistic excellence and to bring our audiences and the production team a memorable theatrical experience.

Beyond creating theatre works, Onelight Theatre is committed to supporting the artistic development of our colleagues. Since 2007, we have offered an innovative mentoring program, Firestarter, that supports the development of emerging theatre artists from under-represented communities.

And, through Prismatic — a national festival and conference that showcases and celebrates the work of Canada’s leading Aboriginal and culturally diverse artists — we have brought the outstanding work of our colleagues to local and national audiences. In 2011, we formally registered Prismatic Arts Society to achieve our vision for Prismatic to grow into a multi-arts festival that draws artists and audiences from across Canada.

While building Onelight Theatre and Prismatic, we have been fortunate to engage with a number of organizations that support the work of artists in Canada:

• I currently sit on the Board of Directors of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre
   (PACT) as the Chair of the Distinct Artistic Practices Committee;

• I am also on the PACT Labour Relations Committee and I am part of the four-person team negotiating
   next iteration of the Canadian Theatre Agreement;

• Onelight is a founding member of the Ad Hoc Assembly (Assembly of Artists Driving
   Holistic Organizational Change), a national organization of Aboriginal and culturally diverse
   theatre companies and I am the official representative for the Ad Hoc Assembly;

• Maggie is on the Board of the Legacy Centre for the Performing Arts, a group that is working
   to build a new performing arts venue in Halifax;

• Maggie is also one of the founding Board Members of Halifax’s DaPoPo Theatre; and

• I have been asked to participate as a speaker at several national theatre and arts
   conferences and will be leading a series of workshops in Iran on production development
   and the management of non-profit arts organizations.

And now, on to the exciting stuff — what is Onelight up to these days?

Chess with the Doomsday Machine — this international co-production is one of Onelight’s most ambitious undertakings to date. We are developing a bilingual show that will be produced by a cast of Iranian and Canadian theatre artists. Chess tells the story of a young man who has been tasked with leading a band of left-behind misfits to safety when his hometown becomes the front lines in a war. The play will examine how people from vastly different backgrounds can build relationships of trust and support in times of intense upheaval.

Chess will debut in Iran as part of the Fadjr International Theatre festival in January 2012 and will tour to several cities in Canada.

Hawk or How He Plays His Song — staged in an innovative self-contained performance space designed for touring rural communities, Hawk is an intimate exploration of a year in the life of a young Mi’kmaq, Hawk, who is trying to balance the culture and traditions of his people with his dreams of finding success in the city.

Onelight Theatre is developing Hawk with the support of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre; it will debut in Fall 2012 during Prismatic.

Prismatic 2012 — following on the success of Prismatic 2010, in September and October 2012, Halifax will be hosting exciting new works by Canada’s leading Aboriginal and culturally diverse artists. We are inviting the whole country to join us for music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, and spoken word, in addition to a national conference and industry events.

We are fortunate to be working with partners such as Live Art Dance, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, AFCOOP, Dalhousie University, Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, Native Earth Performing Arts, Debajehmujig-Storytellers and many other artists and organizations to ensure that Prismatic 2012 will be one of the hottest events in the Canadian arts world — a great opportunity for artists and audiences, alike.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Onelight Theatre and Prismatic. I am looking forward to a 10th Anniversary year that is full of exciting opportunities to bring cultural experiences to Halifax, Canada and the world.

Before signing off, I would also like to take this opportunity to remember Dr. Sue Campbell, one of Onelight’s earliest and most beloved supporters and a past member of our Board of Directors. Sue passed away earlier this year following a valiant battle with cancer; she will be missed by many.

From my family — Maggie, our daughter Azat, our son Zand, who just had his 2nd birthday, the Board of Directors for Onelight Theatre and Prismatic Festival and myself, I wish you good health and continued success with your endeavors.

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