MANDATE & COMPANY HISTORY

HERE BE MONSTERS COLLECTIVE

On old nautical maps, cartographers inscribed uncharted regions with the legend, “Here Be Monsters”.

MANDATE
Here Be Monsters Collective (HBM) ventures into uncharted territories to rouse the creatures that lurk in the depths. We are dedicated to producing arts festivals, and facilitating the creation and dissemination of new theatrical works. We curate random acts of creativity (visual art, theme, performance, music, workshops) to enrich any event, creating a fresh, well-rounded, dynamic experience.

Group Profile:
Jeff Gladstone – Producer, Curator of Carnival of the Arts
Heather Lindsay – Show-Off Producer, General Manager, Publicity
Ryan Gladstone – Producer, Graphic Designer, Marketing
Jennifer Fitzpatrick – Producer, Visual Art Curator, Publicity
Mike Fitzpatrick – Producer, FOH, Audience Services, Bar Manager
Michelle Field – Producer, Stage Manager
France Perras – Show Off Associate Producer
John Bessette – Technical Director
Board Members: Bruce James (President), Laurie Guy (Vice President), Adrienne Lindsay (Treasurer), Caroline James (Secretary)

Companies who have participated in Here Be Monsters events:
Sunday Service, Morgan Brayton, Crawford Twins, The Pussy Willows, Victoria’s Atomic Vaudeville, Screaming Flea, Sticky Fingers, Blyss, The Skinny, Voco Loco, Melody Mangler, The Teen Angst Poet, Company B-Jine, Sexy Party, Wolf, Ragamuffin, upintheair, Fidel Castro’s Christmas Party, Lobo Solo Theatre, Bellaluna Productions, The Theatre Set, The Mice and Mentors Co-op, REIRart Productions, Genus Theatre Company, Tell Not Tell Collective, Tigermilk Collective, The Temporary Bonbons, Theatre Bagger, Felix Culpa, Broads’Way Theatre Factory, The Plant, The Royal League of Dramatics and Histrionics, Steamboat Fattie, Woodhead, Old Chunks of Fudge, Theatre Melee, Charlie Demers, It’s Good to Know People, Andrea Tucker, Nicole Steen, Holly Ruth, Alexis Moreau, Cory Van Ieperen, T. Paul St Marie …and more…

Mentors & Writers who have supported our festivals by donating their wisdom & works to aid original creation and development:
Daniel MacIvor, Darren O’Donnell, TJ Dawe, Amiel Gladstone, Chris MacGregor, Neworld Theatre, Carmen Aguirre, Lucia Frangione, Kathleen Oliver, Guillermo Verdecchia, Camyar Chai, Marcus Youssef, Aaron Bushkowsky and Rumble Productions.

Here Be Monsters Collective: Company History

October 2007
Show-Off: Theatre Under the Gun Exploded!
Performance Works, Granville Island

14 independent companies participated in our annual original creation event. Receiving only 48 hours, and a few tools to help inspire creation; companies created, rehearsed, designed, and performed original short plays. The outcome was 14 new masterpieces, cooked up by these companies, under an exciting, pressurized time period. Two unconventional, innovative evenings of performance, that makes for an always ground-breaking event.


September 2007
The Vancouver International Fringe Club
1494 Old Bridge St, Granville Island

The Vancouver International Fringe Festival contracted Here Be Monsters’ Heather Lindsay to design, program and manage the Fringe Club. After many years of the Vancouver Fringe Festival not having a specific ‘meeting place’ for artists, patrons and community to gather at before or after a show; this year an old woodshop was transformed in to, what was called over and over again, ‘The best Fringe Club in North America EVER!’ In true Here Be Monster style, over 100 artists performed on the cabaret stage to celebrate theatre and art in Vancouver. Everyday the Fringe Club was rocking, keeping artists, friends and audience on Granville Island feeling together as a community for the two week duration of the festival.


June/July 2007
Show-Off at the Sweatshop Festival
Victoria Arts Centre, Victoria BC

Victoria’s Atomic Vaudeville invited HBM Collective to produce and run their successful Vancouver Show-Off: Theatre Under the Gun event in the island city’s summer Sweatshop Festival. Featuring local Victoria performance groups (ITSAZOO, Horse of Air Dance Company, WAVE Theatre, The 30 Cent Players, SNAFU dance, Intrepid Theatre and others), these companies presented original theatre, dance and comedy performances from the result of only 24 hours of creation.


February – May, 2007
The Improvised Soap Opera
The Beaumont Studios, 5th Ave & Alberta

Every Monday at the Beaumont Studios, audiences came to witness a completely improvised Soap Opera. Directed by Jeff Gladstone and Veena Sood and garnering great reviews and a rapidly growing audience, this was the first time Vancouver has taken on this popular project, originating from Toronto improvisers.


March 14 – 31, 2007
TREMORS: Rumble’s Festival of Emerging Arts
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St. on Granville Island

The Here Be Monsters Collective, Rumble Productions premiere Producers in Residence, presented the following events at Tremors:
The Tremors Monster Bar and "Salon Des Refusés" Gallery: Featuring some of Vancouver's most respected (and rejected) low-brow artists! Creating an environment for artists and audiences to stay and socialize, talk about shows, the art and what is happening in the world.
Foreshocks and Aftershocks: A theatre company, a line of text, an image, a sound byte, and a limited time to create a short show. You may have heard of this recipe before, but you’ve never seen it like this! Inspired by Show Off: Theatre Under the Gun and HIVE, 3 hot emerging companies will be given six days to create a performance that will take place in and around Performance Works— anywhere except the stage, because why make it easy?! Audience arrived early, grabbed a drink at the Monster bar and witnessed the mayhem!
St. Patty’s Day Psychobilly Hoedown: Artists and audiences celebrated St.Patty's day and joined us for a wicked night of live music with the Cryptomaniacs, the notorious Psychobilly band from Calgary!
New Play Café: In celebrating World Theatre Day, HBM created a free event that brought people out to hear and talk about new plays that are being developed in our city.


November 4, 2006
MONSTER PROM
The Anza Club

Here Be Monsters Collective introduced themselves to the “world” at the ANZA CLUB with their Web, Season, and Company launch party. This sold-out audience was witness to over 150 artists in one evenings span. These artists helped celebrate what Here Be Monsters is passionate about: all aspects of art…and lots of it at all times!!


March 8 – 18, 2006
HERE BE MONSTERS: A Carnival of the Arts
Performance Works

In March 2006, HBM produced "the highly successful premiere event”, HERE BE MONSTERS: A Carnival of the Arts, at Performance Works on Granville Island. Involving over 200 artists in its two-week span, the carnival proved to be an incredibly inspirational and successful arts event. It left people wanting more. As a result of our inaugural carnival HBM was asked by Craig Hall of Rumble Productions to be their Producers in Residence.
HBM Collective was thrilled and honoured to be working with one of Canada’s most respected companies.

HERE BE MONSTERS: A Carnival of the Arts! exploded onto the scene with performances including SHOWOFF: Theatre Under the Gun Reloaded (the resurrection of the 7 year tradition of plays created in 48 hours), Theatre Melee’s LAZY SUSAN (the remount of the Fringe Hit garnered three Jessie Richardson Award Nominations including Best Production, Small Theatre), Keith Johnstone (improv guru), world-renowned self-taught low-brow artist Andrea Tucker, and Performance Theatre Renegade Michael Green’s The Whaler.