BACKSTAGE SPACES:
Progress Lab 1422 and the Future of Performance Creation Space
Progress Lab 1422 is a unique space where dozens of theatre and dance productions have been created and later presented locally, nationally and internationally. Its unique configuration of production and administration spaces allows the nine resident companies to develop their performance works at scale and over dedicated periods of time. The space is shared under an artist-led framework rooted in values such as collaboration, equity, mentorship, experimentation, and self-sufficiency. It has long been praised as a model of space-sharing for its ethos, efficiency, and effectiveness.
C-Space, the nonprofit created in 2012 to manage PL1422, continues to expand how performing arts creation spaces can operate with values and intention. The C-Space board has worked proactively to ensure the organization’s ongoing financial stability, contributing hundreds of pro bono hours each year to advocate for this space and others like it.
The Backstage Spaces reports articulate the unique needs of performance creation spaces, offering insights for fellow stakeholders, policymakers, and funders to learn from C-Space’s lived experiences and take action.
In Backstage Spaces Volume One, consultant Caitlin Jones analyzes in depth the matrix of challenges facing the spaces where Canadian performance is created. Her recommendations point to the fundamental next steps to create security for our essential backstage spaces.
In Backstage Spaces Volume Two, the C-Space Board and Staff, with Jones, prototyped and tested several potential new financial and infrastructural options that have the potential to work within the tenant companies’ financial capacities and meet their critical artist-led values.
C-Space will continue to seek bold solutions that adhere to the values that have made Progress Lab 1422 such an important space. We welcome the support of policy-makers, colleagues and community as we dedicate ourselves to a new vision for thriving backstages in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.