So I Guess I am a Dramaturg?: Reflecting on Toronto’s LMDA Mini-Conference

HowlRound: When I moved to Toronto last August to seriously begin my career as a playwright and dramaturg, many of my friends, family, and other Texan acquaintances asked, “Why Toronto?” They thought New York or London would make more sense, but I smiled and said, “No, it’s the third largest theater city in the world” and explained the burgeoning arts scene I had heard about and researched. I heard these thoughts echoed by incoming LMDA President Beth Bickers when she introduced Toronto’s mini Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America (LMDA) conference at Tarragon Theatre on June 9: “I’m here to listen and steal what’s going on here to take back to Boston.” I may not have moved to New York City or London and may not be able to attend the larger LMDA conference later this month, but I’m not missing out here in Toronto. Some have called the Canadian theater “adolescent,” but the mini-conference and my everyday interaction with the arts scene proves it be vibrant, multilayered and, most importantly, receptive to criticism and new voices.