Press Clippings
1990–1999
74 pages
Annotated archival collection
This collection of press clippings offers a glimpse into Toronto’s alternative theatre scene during the 1990s, a period of artistic experimentation, cultural upheaval and significant social change.
The reviews, articles and photographs document some of the performances and artists who were challenging established theatrical traditions, experimenting with new forms of storytelling and creating work outside the mainstream. They include STO Union productions as well as projects in which I participated as a performer or collaborator.
These were the years before the internet became a widely accessible platform for artists. Critics and reviewers held considerable power over which performances received public attention and how that work was understood. There were relatively few of them, and their individual tastes, preferences and prejudices could have an enormous influence on an artist’s career.
Looking back, I wanted to add my own observations to these clippings. The annotations offer memories of how productions were created, the people involved, the struggles behind the work and the ways in which the press sometimes reflected — or failed to recognize — what was actually happening.
They also trace a changing cultural landscape. The early 1990s were filled with experimentation and the determination to challenge established ways of making theatre. But the decade was also marked by the devastation of AIDS, political and economic changes, shrinking opportunities for independent artists, and the gradual dispersal of an artistic scene that had once been full of possibility.
Throughout these pages, I reflect on questions that have remained central to my work: whose stories are told, who gets to tell them, who receives recognition, and what happens when artists challenge the structures through which stories are made.
These clippings are not a comprehensive history of Toronto theatre in the 1990s. They are a partial record, seen through the work I was involved in and the performances the press chose to cover.
Together with my annotations, they tell a personal story of artistic discovery, conflict, loss and change — and of the experiences that shaped the next chapter of STO Union.
Nadia Ross
Read the Annotated Press Clippings
Press Clippings 1990–1999
74 pages | PDF
An archival collection of theatre reviews, articles and photographs, with annotations by Nadia Ross.
Read or download the annotated Press Clippings (PDF) : Press Clippings 1990-1999